Re: Richard Flanagan: The Unknown Terrorist
Good thoughts on Flanagan's work there Cocko. I agree with you entirely. The Unknown Terrorist was an unusual book for Flanagan. He consciously set out to write a popular thriller rather than his usual literary novels and he had an overt political point that he wanted to make that arose out of his own persecution by the media for opposing the Gunn's mill in Tasmania. It didn't work for me at all, and I was amazed to see that it got mostly positive reviews overseas.
Flanagan's a really talented and interesting guy. I had a lengthy chat with him after a writer's festival session a few years ago, and he had lots of interesting things to say about Gould's Book of Fish.
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“He wishes he had never entered the funhouse. But he has. Then he wishes he were dead. But he's not. Therefore he will construct funhouses for others and be their secret operator--though he would rather be among the lovers for whom funhouses are designed.”
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