Lost Voices

Twice winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Christopher Koch returns with a remarkable novel of gripping narrative power.Young Hugh Dixon believes he can save his father from ruin if he asks his estranged great uncle Walter a wealthy lawyer who lives alone in a Tasmanian farmhouse passed down through the family for help As he is drawn into Walter s rarefied world, Hugh discovers that both his uncle and the farmhouse are links to a notorious episode in the mid nineteenth century.Walter s father, Martin, was living in the house when it was raided by members of an outlaw community run by Lucas Wilson, a charismatic ex soldier attempting to build a utopia But like later societies with communitarian ideals, Nowhere Valley was controlled by the gun, with Wilson as benevolent dictator Twenty year old Martin s sojourn in the Valley as Wilson s disciple has become an obsession with Walter Dixon one which haunts his present and keeps the past tantalizingly close.As Walter encourages Hugh s ambition to become an artist, and again comes to his aid when one of Hugh s friends is charged with murder, the way life s patterns repeat themselves from one generation to another becomes eerily apparent.Dramatic, insightful and evocative, Lost Voices is an intriguing double narrative that confirms Koch as one of our most significant and compelling novelists. Read Lost Voices author Christopher J. Koch – kino-fada.fr Lost Voices is the seventh novel by Australian author, Christopher Koch When Jim Dixon makes a serious error of judgement that could affect the whole family, his son, Hugh secretly goes to Walter Dixon, the great uncle he has never met, to ask for help He gets quite a bitthan he bargained for As well as providing aid, his great uncle becomes a source of inspiration, a patron and the revealer of a fascinating piece of family history the story of Walter s father, Martin Dixon s involveme Lost Voices is the seventh novel by Australian author, Christopher Koch When Jim Dixon makes a serious error of judgement ...I read this book in 36 hours Could not put it down To say I m a fan of Koch s is an understatement The Double Man, Year of Living Dangerously, Highways to a War, and Out of Ireland are three of my favourite books His last novel The Memory Room didn t impress me as much however But this one is back to his compelling best Such a wonderful story tellers Characters are never flat although sometimes verging on caricatures He does telegraph his punches a bit with his depictions of baddies H I read this book in 36 hours Could not put it down To say I m a fan of Koch s is an understatement The Double Man, Year of Living Dangerously, Highways to a War, and Out of Ireland are three of my favourite ...Maybe 4 1 2 stars as I really enjoy this interesting, fast paced style of writing I know a bit about the area it is set in, and it s beautifully described The characters are also very well drawn and their voices are feel very time related, authentic GREAT WRITER.Late in life, I ve come to the view that everything in our lives is part of a pre ordained pattern This novel is organised as three books the first and third are the fictional memoir of Hugh Dixon in the 1950s, the second looks back a century earlier to a part of the life of Hugh s great grandfather Martin Dixon The two are connected by Hugh s great uncle Walter, and elderly lawyer living alone at Leyburn Farm, owned by the Dixon family since colonial times and now being encroached upon by t Late in life, I ve come to the view that everything in our lives is part of a pre ordained pattern This novel is organised as three books the first and third are the fictional memoir of Hugh Dixon in the 1950s, the seco...Christopher Koch is brilliant at exploring charismatic personalities This is territory that he has covered in a number of his books, including The Memory Room which I reviewed on this blog back in 2009 In that book, even though the character Vincent is a nerd, he is able to attract friends, andimportantly, loyalty Here in Lost Voices Koch shows us the lure of the charismatic leader, and the effect he has on men in search of a mentor It s superbly well done.The choice of narrative persp Christopher Koch is brilliant at exploring charismatic personalities This is territory that he has covered in a number of his books, including The Memory Room which I reviewed on this blog back in 2009 In that book, even though the character Vincent is a nerd, he is able to attract friends, andimportantly, loyalty Here in Lost Voice...Another novel from a favourite author it didn t capture my imagination as did his previous novels, particularly Highways to a War and The Memory Room but it kept my interest in the subject of Tasmanian convicts and bushrangers and in how people can rekindle interest in the past and in lost voice...I loved this novel Koch s prose is remarkably beautiful, especially his descriptions of the Tasmanian wilderness A wonderfully constructed story of family history and the lessons learned and not learned from generations within.Odd read really One section I liked the rest I could have done without Perhaps just telling one good story rather than three would have been better Giving it one star because I can t get a handle on rating it Too perplexing.Fascinating of particular interest for those interested in Australian historyFabulous writing and I really enjoyed reading about some of the history of Tasmania Knowing that Christopher Koch has died in September , the passing of Uncle Walter was quite poignant.

• English
• 01 June 2018
Christopher J. Koch
• Paperback
• 480 pages
• 0732294630
• Christopher J. Koch
• Lost Voices