On this day in 1990 Patrick White died. White won the 1973 Nobel for having "introduced a new continent into literature," but he remains one of the 20th century's under-read giants, even in his native Australia. The neglect is due in part to the challenging writing -- the "profound and beautiful" Voss, the "difficult but immensely powerful" The Solid Mandala, the fictional Sydney suburb of Sarsaparilla which White made "as real as Faulkner made Yoknapatawpha County," say the critics. But the neglect is also due to the challenging man, as viewed through Australian eyes especially ... FULL STORY »
