Blurry Portrait

Reading literary criticism can be like viewing a portrait: you are essentially subjected to another person’s vision of the subject. One can feel that the perspective is unduly harsh at some points, lavishly lenient at others. It is easy to project one’s own bias onto the work, and to take issue with the representation too quickly. This is particularly true of a critical monograph on a subject such as Christopher Koch, who has been both prominent and controversial throughout his career. It is difficult for any commentator on Koch not to be drawn into the ‘Australian Melodrama’ that Peter Pierce identified in Australian literary culture in 1995.

In this respect, Jean-François Vernay has done Koch a service in Water from the Moon: Illusion and reality in the works of Australian novelist Christopher Koch. He has avoided both the mud-slinging and the starry-eyed fandom that has sometimes characterised readings of Koch’s work, and this monograph contains some valuable insights and attempts to engage with Koch’s work theoretically. It is testament to the fine work of Cambria Press in bringing academic writing to a general audience, although the listed price will be prohibitive for most. Unfortunately, Vernay’s portrait of Koch is blurry and its purpose unclear. It also needed the attention of a thorough editor.