Tuvalu (novel)
Author | Andrew O'Connor |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | Allen and Unwin, Australia |
Publication date | 2006 |
Media type | Print Paperback |
Pages | 347 pp |
ISBN | 1-74114-871-5 |
OCLC | 74946085 |
A823.4 22 | |
LC Class | PR9619.4.O286 T88 2006 |
Tuvalu is a 2006 novel by Australian author Andrew O'Connor. It won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under 35.
Plot introduction[]
The novel is set mostly in Tokyo and tells the story of a young Australian teacher of English, and his relationship with two women, Tilly, another Australian English teacher, and Mami, a Japanese hotel heiress. It is told in first-person.
Explanation of the novel's title[]
Tuvalu is a small Pacific island nation. It doesn't appear in the novel except as an idea. Tilly describes it to Noah as follows:
I guess for me Tuvalu's always done the trick. I've never been anywhere near it. I've never even studied it. For all I know it might well have sunk. But that one word's taken on a meaning all of its own. [...] Haven't you ever once looked into the future and pictured a different life for yourself, made it a destination in some abstract way? A place in which you are content and from which you never look forward, except maybe to hope for more of the same?[1]
Awards[]
- 2007: Commonwealth Writers' Prize SE Asia and South Pacific, Best First Novel: Winner
- 2005: The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Winner
Reviews[]
- Delaney, Brigid (2005) "The loneliness of the long-distance writer pays off", The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 January 2005
- Dooley, Gillian (2006) Review of 'Tuvalu' by Andrew O'Connor, recorded for Writers Radio, Radio Adelaide, 6 October 2006
References[]
- ^ O'Connor, Andrew (2006) Tuvalu, p. 245
- 2006 Australian novels
- Novels set in Tokyo
- Japan in non-Japanese culture
- 2000s novel stubs