The Solid Mandala – by Patrick White

Review by Gabriel

The Solid Mandala tells the story of the Brown brothers, Waldo and Arthur, non-identical twins living in the small Australian town of Sarsaparilla.  It’s a novel about lost souls and everyday saints, and what they do to find a place in the world, told with all the beauty and poignancy one can expect of White.

White has gone for the literary trope of twins that embody his notions of “good” and “bad”, and his world view is clearly laid out as a result.

Patrick White – An Overview

by Gabriel

Patrick White doesn’t write books that you can casually pick up and put down, or read for five minutes before bed. You need to be willing to devote time to them to fully appreciate their rhythm and complexity. This alone probably makes White’s novels a tough prospect, but he’s also a modernist, which I understand is enough to send many people running for the hills.