Winner of the ALS Gold Medal in 1934, Prelude to Christopher was the second novel of Eleanor Dark (1901-1985). A radical departure from her debut novel Sun Across the Sky, it is regarded as Australia's first modernist novel.

Set over four days in the aftermath of a car crash that critically injures Doctor Nigel Hendon, the story is revealed in fragments; flash backs; feverish dialogue contrasted with mannered calm; disjointed interior monologues; and characters starting and failing to express their fractured thoughts in words. There are four main characters: Nigel; his wife Linda; his mother Mrs Hendon, and the young nurse Kay. (Who fancies Nigel even though he hasn't given her any encouragement at all). The plot is minimal: this is a novel of ideas.

A sense of transgression arises as the reading progresses because Dark is exploring territory that is viewed differently today. Yesterday I posted about Thomas More's 16th century political satire Utopia, because I found myself comparing More's discredited economic ideas of shared ownership of property, with the failed Utopia in Prelude to Christopher exploring an equally discredited form of social organisation. It makes for uneasy reading when it is eventually revealed that Nigel, a brilliant young man whose mother has great ambitions for him, abandons a conventional future to set up an island colony based on the principles of eugenics. He bases the criteria for membership on medical suitability: presciently provoking today's reader to remember the Lebensborn (1935-1945), Nigel wants healthy bodies and minds to breed a better society. But because he loves his wife Linda dearly and cannot leave her behind, he compromises his own rules because her family has a history of mental illness.

But Nigel's colony does not fail because of Linda or because of the moral contradictions in its 'scientific' approach. It fails because of the collective madness of World War 1 mass hysteria.

As the stigma around mental illness fades in our own time, this novel — written nearly a century ago — was groundbreaking in the way it challenged prevailing beliefs about mental illness. It shows how Nigel's 'chosen people' — selected for their superior physical and mental qualities — descend into an irrational rabble not unlike the boys in William Golding's Lord of the Flies though that wasn't written until twenty years later in 1954. Nigel's 'superior' people riot with escalating violence because they want to leave: they want to join the excited hordes clamouring to send their young men to be slaughtered in the war.

And Linda? The novel depicts Linda being subjected to gaslighting by her uncle and by local gossip as an example of how nurture can be just as harmful as nature.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/01/05/prelude-to-christopher-1934-by-eleanor-dark/ ( )

A testament to the wretchedness of the entire philosophy of the Eugenicist. ( )

I read this for a university course in my undergrad, and I'm so glad I did!

This book is very modernist, so if you like that style, you might really enjoy this. This book is an Australian classic, written by Eleanor Dark. (Isn't that a fantastic name?)

The writing itself is very interesting and not something I would usually find in a book, but I still remember some of the lines or passages really well. I liked the female characters in this book, particularly the main character's wife. (I'm terrible with names! Apologies.)

I thought this novel was really dark and brooding and atmospheric - one of the female characters was almost witch-like, really haunting and arresting. I like how complex and layered this book is, I feel like I could reread it and get a lot out of it.

(And just a quick trigger warning, this book contains self-harm themes, mental health themes and suicide.)

4 stars from me. c: ( )

This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

This modernist novel is a classic of Australian literature that is not talked about nearly enough. It is a discussion of the effects of eugenics in the 1930s Australia, as well as the hereditary nature of madness.

The beginning of this novel starts off interestingly enough, with Nigel being injured in a car crash. We are then almost immediately introduced to the fragmented consciousness of Linda, his wife. Things get progressively more melodramatic from there though.

I have to confess I didn't finish reading this text. The modernist style and flow of consciousness style really wasn't up my alley. I had to read it and write an essay on it on how modernism and realism developed in Australian literature. I have to say it's not one of my better essays at all.

It took me ages to work out that Dark was the surname of the author who wrote the book! Well, not ages, but I was confused for a bit, when I was searching to buy it online. The cover certainly fits in with the Dark theme don't you think?

I think the most interesting thing about this novel was that the time progression is really strange (modernism!!). The book is officially set out into 4 parts of 4 days, but the time period covered within is much more than that due to flashbacks.

When reading about this novel, I found it interesting that Dark took a long time to write it because she was dealing with raising a small child, and she felt that it was impossible to write while trying to look after him during the day. Perhaps that is where the idea of Linda's desire for a child comes from. The idealism in the text is said to come from the ideas of Dark's own husband.

I'm unable to give you a link to buy this text, as it seems to be out of print everywhere (much to the dismay of my literature teacher). I got mine from a friend who had previously studied the unit. If you live in Australia, and want to read it, you're welcome to my copy! ( )