The Idea of Perfection
 First edition | |
| Author | Kate Grenville |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Publisher | Picador |
Publication date | 1999 |
| Media type | Hardback & paperback |
| Pages | 401 pp |
| ISBN | 0-330-39261-1 |
| OCLC | 44736512 |
| Preceded by | Dark Places |
| Followed by | The Secret River |
The Idea of Perfection is a 1999 novel by Australian author Kate Grenville.[1]
Synopsis[edit]
The novel is set in the fictional town of Karakarook, New South Wales. There Douglas Cheeseman, a shy engineer, is employed to pull down an old timber bridge so it can be replaced with a new concrete version. He meets Harley Savage, an outspoken museum curator who opposes his work.
Critical reception[edit]
Writing in the Australian Book Review Don Anderson noted that the novel is a "love story, though it warms both heart and head, for the bliss it affords is not so much visceral as aesthetic, even architectural...The Idea of Perfection is written with the simultaneous complexity and simplicity of fine structural engineering – a Gladesville Bridge of a novel, though modest. Its own poetry appreciates the poetry of others."[2]
A reviewer for Kirkus Reviews called the novel "Wonderful entertainment: a cockeyed romance that will have you cheering for all of these unlikely, wayward lovers."[3]
Notes[edit]
- "Dedication: For Tom and for Alice with love"
- "Epigraph: 'An arch is two weaknesses which together make a strength.' - Leonardo da Vinci "
Publication history[edit]
After the novel's initial publication in Australia by Picador,[4] it was reprinted as follows:
- Viking Books, USA, 2002[5]
- Text Publishing, Australia, 2014[6]
- Picador, UK, 2017[1]
The novel was also translated into Dutch and Danish in 2002, and German in 2008.[1]
Awards and nominations[edit]
- Orange Prize for Fiction, 2001: winner[7]
See also[edit]
- 1999 in Australian literature
- Magdalena Bell interviewed Kate Grenville about the novel for the Compulsive Reader website[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Austlit — The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville". Austlit. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ ""The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville"". Australian Book Review, September 1999. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ ""The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville"". Kirkus Reviews, 1 April 2002. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ "The Idea of Perfection (Picador 1999)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ "The Idea of Perfection (Viking 2002)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ "The Idea of Perfection (Text 2014)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ ""Out of the 'gum tree and wombat culture'"". The Guardian, 6 June 2001. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ ""An Interview with Kate Grenville"". Compulsive Reader, 19 March 2003. Retrieved 10 March 2024.