The Complete Stories

by David Malouf

From the internationally acclaimed Australian a single volume gathering a brilliant new collection of his short fiction, Every Move You Make, and all of his previously published stories.

In the heretofore unpublished Every Move You Make : bookish boys and taciturn men, strong women and wayward sons, fathers and daughters, lovers and husbands, a composer and his muse, a builder-architect and his legacy--here are their stories, whole lives brought dramatically into focus and powerfully rooted in the vividly rendered landscape of the vast Australian continent, from the mysterious, glittering Valley of Lagoons in Far North Queensland to bohemian Sydney to Ayres Rock in the Great Victoria Desert. These tender, subtle, and intimate stories give us men and women looking for something they seem to have missed, or missed out on, puzzling over not only their own lives but also the place they have come to occupy in the lives of others.

Heartbreakingly beautiful, richly satisfying, The Complete Stories also includes David Malouf’s short fiction from Dream Stuff, Antipodes, and Child’s Play . It is a major literary event.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Australia, Literature

528 pages, Hardcover

First published July 24, 2007

About the author

David Malouf is a celebrated Australian poet, novelist, librettist, playwright, and essayist whose work has garnered international acclaim. Known for his lyrical prose and explorations of identity, memory, and place, Malouf began his literary career in poetry before gaining recognition for his fiction. His 1990 novel The Great World won the Miles Franklin Award and several other major prizes, while Remembering Babylon (1993) earned a Booker Prize nomination and multiple international honors.
Malouf has taught at universities in Australia and the UK, delivered the prestigious Boyer Lectures, and written libretti for acclaimed operas. Born in Brisbane to a Lebanese father and a mother of Sephardi Jewish heritage, he draws on both Australian and European influences in his work. He is widely regarded as one of Australia's most important literary voices and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.

Reviews

[Lewis Woolston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been having a good run lately with short story collections, discovered some real gems in recent months. This continues that run.
I had previously read "Johnno" by David Malouf and thought it was very good so i thought i'd take a punt on his short stories.
There are some real diamonds here. Malouf has that knack for seeing the interior of a person, their quite moments, hopes, dreams and fears and turning that into a story that is compelling and readable. Two of these really stand out for me: "War Baby" a young man in a small town in 1968 gets the call up for the Army and Vietnam, he comes back changed. "Closer" about a Christian Fundamentalist family and their black sheep son told through the eyes of a ten year old girl.
Up there with some of the best short stories i've ever read.

[Julie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chose this book to read as part of Reading Around the World Challenge. It has been hard finding books from some of the countries in translation, and with Australia we finally had a plethora from which to choose. Malouf is touted as the next potential Nobel winner from Australia, so after much consideration we chose his Complete Stories, and it was a good choice. A lot of books clang along with bumps and swerves, telling a story being the only consideration; Malouf's work is a sports car sailing smoothly along the highway, taking stops to observe the scenery, sit in contemplation, see the landscape. His strength lies in his insights, his compassion, and his curiosity in inhabiting different people. For instance, a minor character in a story is said to have left behind her life to move to the country with her pastor husband; she is adrift without much to anchor her intelligence, which she had leaned on and moved toward so much, that she was left unsteady. The first story takes us on a fateful hunting trip, in which the boys become men in the Australian outback, and a little boy who is asked to join along despite his father's disinterest, and how he inserts himself into a large group with his friend's family and sheds his skin is both interesting and realistic. Another story follows an old woman whose son has taken her on a holiday to Red Rock, and the visitors that haunt her. Malouf moves frequently through the lives of soldiers on leave or back from a conflict, or in one memorable story readying himself to leave for one. His people are ordinary but graceful in their own way. This book has way too many stories to read at one go, unfortunately; I would read it again in short bursts, to take down every couple of weeks or so and read a few stories. A lot of the stories are very short, many have the same themes, and there are a lot of stories. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys insight and writing that rises about the ordinary and normal.

[Ron Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been waiting patiently for many years now for the news to break that David Malouf has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The wait continues.
I first read Malouf while at university in the early eighties, Fly Away Peter, Johnno and Harland’s Half Acre. I then went to a period of only reading non-fiction, however, I was always conscious of Malouf’s work. About a decade ago I went to a symposium he held at a local library. He such a dignified man. Prim, proper, with delicate hands and clear pale skin. I wanted to ask him if he ever considered the possibility of winning the Nobel prize. I didn’t.
I was putting an order for a delivery of books when I came across this book and quickly included it in my list. I am so glad I did.
Malouf is a master of the short story. He can say so much in a sentence, the world can spin countless times, lives can change drastically, and Malouf has just finished a two line sentence.
The book contains approximately thirty short stories of varying lengths. They in turn vary in length from a few pages to a virtual novella. Some I found enthralling others were meandering stories. I did try to read each short story in a sitting.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in 2008 with Dad.

The March selection in Dad’s and my reading challenge. I had read a few Malouf novels so this was one of my suggestions.

LOVED it. [Both of us did.] Had no idea going in, but the dude is a MASTER of the technique and these are certainly some of the best stories I’ve ever read, and probably the best overall collection. [Dad might not be QUITE as nutty about them as I am.]

Seems he can write from any angle, any point of view: young boy, middle-aged woman, loner, popularity queen, happy, sad, criminal, just. The atmosphere is rich and vivid (and reeks of Australia, I could feel myself there again). The language is thick and layered and sensual [reminded Dad of D.H. Lawrence stories]. Really beautiful. In many stories, a BIG event has taken place “offscreen” (never to be known), with the focus on the human reactions and following chain of effects.

My favorite stories were: “Every Move You Make”, “The Domestic Cantata”, “Sally’s Story”, “Great Day”, and “A Traveller’s Tale”.

Highly recommended.

[Old Man JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Malouf is a master of the short story. He simply writes some of the best I've read. This is a compilation of outstanding stories, a few I had already read from other books. Some of the stories that stood out most to me are:
"The Valley of Lagoons" about a young man who goes on a hunting trip with the family of a friend.
"War Baby" about a young man who has enlisted and was excited because he is about to be sent to Vietnam and then after his return.
"The Sun in Winter" a tourist has a very strange woman begin talking to him and convinces him to allow her to guide him through Burges.
"Bad Blood" a young boy tells us about his fathers Uncle Jake.
All of the stories in the book were great and written in Malouf magnificent prose.

[Sara Norquay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of stories introduces the reader to Australia and specifically Brisbane where the author grew up. David Malouf is interested in the inner lives of his characters and he seems to understand a great variety of people from all walks of life. It is a large collection (all the stories he wrote to the year of publishing) and had to be read over a period of time but no matter when I picked it up to read I found interesting people and a profoundly vivid description of the places.

[Aaron Ambrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I give this book six stars? It has been a looong time since I fell in love with an author so fast and so hard. I read one of Malouf's short stories in a compilation a couple years ago, and that prompted me to hunt down a couple of his books (all of which are long out of print as of this writing).

I took my sweet, slow-ass time with this collection, never reading more than one story in a sitting. I savored and luxuriated in them, and I will be revisiting them again and again. I can't recall ever reading a male author with such a deft psychological scalpel. On this strength he joins my highest honors club that includes Mavis Gallant and Edith Wharton. Never fussy or labored, in language that's plain but slightly upside-down (i.e., Australian), Malouf teases out the ticklish/ surprising/ chilling/ heartbreaking desires, fears and tensions of an amazingly diverse cast of characters - from horny spinsters to daydreamy army men to hapless child abductors.

Cool but compassionate, tender but fearless, without the palest shadow of a cliche, this is everything I look for in fiction. It's only June 1st when I write this, but this will be my favorite book this year, no doubt.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enkel Blacksoil Country gelezen

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these in three parts,first two were excellent,from Antipodes on,middling.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

UGH. These were dense, boring, dreary. I finished one story, came up for air and then I was plunged into someone else’s dreary life. Yes, there are messages about identity and the human condition, but yuck, I didn’t like this. I only read about half because I didn’t want to know what happened in the next short story of dreariness.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He is, they tell me, the one surviving speaker of his tongue. Half a century back,
when he was a boy, the last of his people were massacred. The language, one of
hundreds (why make a fuss?) died with them. Only not quite. For all his lifetime this man
has spoken it, if only to himself."

[Brett Warnke · Rating 5 out of 5]

His lyrical style enchants as much as his twisting plots delight. Try "Lone Pine" and "Jacko's Reach." You'll get hooked.

[LisaMarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing, but didn't do much for me.

[Katharina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the story "The only speaker of his tongue"

[Richard Jespers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuanced and penetrating, these stories are among the best I've ever read, each one like a poem.

[Susan Ffoulkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writing

[Jade Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for exam marking purposes, but very happily so. Collection of short stories that explores individuals as they explore their place in the world. Malouf is a master storyteller.

[Janet]

Aswirl with characters, most lovable, and interestingly Australian to my limited scope of anything Australian.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to say upfront, I didn't finish reading this book. I renewed it 3 times at the library thinking, Oh, I'll finish it now! yet I never did. I can't say why except that his stories seemed incredibly dense, but not rewarding.

Here's the opposite problem of which I often complain: this felt like beautiful writing (usually my favorite, as anybody who reads just a few of my reviews can gather) but the stories lacked a plot or character that evoked any sort of emotional response in me. So, there you go! Finally, I admit that it's not just about how well you can turn a sentence! Is somebody nothing this day?

[Sean Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

While some of the stories are interesting, most are nostalgic, sentimental, and, dare I say, aristocratic. However, magnificent writing and authorship, relatively easy to read. Some things are said in a straight forward way, but are very complicated things to say.

[Bcpl]

Ok, I gave up on this one. I read a few stories, but didn't keep going.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's no doubt this is a well crafted collection. It's not an easy read. The stories really need to be studied, unlocked, so to speak, to appreciate them. Not bad, just not my cup of tea.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Australian author, well written and a new view point for me - fresh and intriguing.

[RUSA CODES · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the 2008 RUSA Notable Books winners. For the complete list, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rus...

[Rusty Wright]

Too much angst.

[Mark Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short stories. Malouf is a master>