 | | |
| Gilgamesh - a novel by Joan London |
An Australian author Joan London wrote her novel Gilgamesh in 2001.
"Gilgamesh takes us from a small farm in Western Australia to Soviet Armenia during World War II and back via Middle East ... Despite its wide range and large gallery of memorable characters Gilgamesh is not a long novel, just one in which every word counts."
From the Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist citation
 |
| Joan London |
Edith and Frances, living with their mother on a tiny farm in the
south-east of Australia, are visited by their cousin Leopold and his
Armenian friend Aram. The two young men are taking the long way home
after working on an archaeological dig in Iraq. It is 1937. The modern
world they say, is waiting to erupt. Among the tales they tell is the
story of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk, in ancient Mesopotamia.
Gilgamesh's great journey of mourning after the death of his friend
Enkidu, and his search for the secret of eternal life, is to resonate
through all of their lives. In 1939 Edith and her young child set off on
an impossible journey of their own to Armenia, to find themselves trapped by the
outbreak of war. The story of this journey is the story of encounters
and escapes, of friendship and love, of loss and acceptance.
Book description from amazon
In 2002, the novel was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and was selected as The Age Book of the Year for Fiction.
Parts from the book:
... 'You say you can go anywhere you want,' she said. 'How would you get to Armenia?'
'Armenia?' said Ronnie, smoothly as a ticket seller, 'From here? For yourself? Single or return?' He winked.
'Oh, just in theory.'
'In theory, nobody wants to go to Armenia. You do know it's a territory of the Soviet Socialist Republic? Lord knows how one would ever acquire a visa.'
'Can you get in without a visa?'
'In theory no. In prcatice, my dear Edith, as we both know, you can get in anywhere.' A little later he said: 'But you'd have to have a passport of course.'
Armenia had become a landscape superimposed over the hills and valleys around her. Armenia was certain marked glowing places, like the path down the escarpment where she had first seen Aram. The full moon was Armenian, and so were the Honey-moon Gardens when no one else was there. The look-out was a citadel to Armenianness. The spire of the Anglican church on the outskirts of Torville was very Armenian, because as you saw it from the bus it seemed to promise something ancient and spiritual, not Torille's flat municipal streets. The delicate morning light was Armenian, and when Ronnie Tehoe made them all laugh at the kitchen table, that was Armenian. The spirits were high in Armenia. The people were proud and reserved but they had generous, hospitable hearts. ....
... 'Armenia,' she said to Jim in the darkness of their room. 'Armenia.' There was no one else she could say the word to. She liked the symmetry of the word, the way it started as it ended, with an 'a'. She thought it had an optimistic sound....
Each set includes 12 chocolate-bars. (6 different wraps for Armenian drams and 12 different wraps for sights in Armenia). The chocolate set is available for sale only in Armenia.
