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Books : Fiction : Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards : Authors A-Z : K : Keneally, Thomas
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In a long and distinguished career, Thomas Keneally has produced many first-rate novels, written with a total command of narrative and immense sympathy for the human condition. If The Tyrant's Novel doesn't initially appear to boast the power of such Keneally classics as Schindler's Ark patience should be utilised: in fact, the cumulative effect here is as persuasive as anything Keneally has given us.Alan Sheriff has enjoyed the spoils of the life of a successful writer and his decision as to where he should continue to reside is curious. This land (unnamed by Keneally) is a Middle Eastern state, suffering under the heel of a murderous tyrant (no prizes for guessing the inspiration here), known by the sobriquet Great Uncle. And as a lengthy and bloody war with a neighbouring country destroys the lives of the people, Sheriff (unlike most of his fellow intellectuals) declines to leave--even when American sanctions cause further woe for the "Great Uncle's" benighted people. By a strange twist of fate, Alan is ultimately forced to meet the tyrant; his life changes irrevocably when the despot puts a proposition to him--one that will test the limits of his conscience, his courage and his humanity.
If Schindler's Ark is the yardstick by which all Keneally's subsequent work is judged, he may finally have written another novel to rival that masterpiece, even though this is a much less ambitious piece of work. The real-life model for the author's tyrant is a hard figure to match in fiction, but Keneally performs a remarkable job, and his Arabic hero is characterised with intelligence and sympathy. There are revelations here that transform this novel into something more surprising than the reader might initially realise, and recent history has given the narrative new relevance. --Barry Forshaw
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