The first thing he notices about them is what had sometimes been described as the arrogance of the plainsmen was no more than their reluctance to recognise any common ground between themselves and others. I judged from their dress and bearing that they were not sheepmen or cattlemen, although they might have spent much of their time out of doors. I chose a group that seemed to include intellectuals and custodians of the history and lore of the district. He goes to an unnamed town on the edge of The Plains where the plainsmen tend to come and talk and drink and he goes into one of the enormous bars. He is making a film and wants to do something that, apparently, no-one else has done before and that is to film a part of the film in The Plains, particularly ending with a view of the Plains and with a shot of one of the daughters of the barons against a background of the Plains. The unnamed narrator has come from Melbourne (the only place to be named in the book). The book could perhaps be described as a fable. The country seems to be run something like a combination of the old Texas cattle barons and the European feudal lords. He has created this large region of Australia, essentially the geographical centre part, away from the coast, and created what amounts almost to a new country called The Plains. He essentially takes an existing country – Australia – and reimagines its history or, at least, a history of a large part of it. This is another first-class novel by Murnane. Home » Australia » Gerald Murnane » The Plains Gerald Murnane: The Plains
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