* Copy courtesy of Transit Lounge *Set in contemporary Melbourne,
The Buried Life is about three characters who form a connection. Adrian Moore is a university scholar who studies death, Laura is a highly successful town planner and Kezi is a young artist still coming to terms with being shunned by her family for rejecting their religion.
Written by Australian author Andrea Goldsmith, each of the three characters were well fleshed out and really came alive on the page.
We're introduced to 43 year old Adrian on the first page as he reflects on the fact that his university colleagues call him Doctor Death.
"Adrian believed no malice was intended; it was a term of familiarity, like any nickname. And it was accurate: death was his subject. He studied it, he wrote books about it, he lectured on it. As a result of his endeavours, death had yielded up a good many of its stings and mysteries." Page 3
Wow, what an opening paragraph, I was instantly hooked! Adrian's work was fascinating and my sole reason for reading this book. Thankfully this formed a great deal of the content and I enjoyed references to classic works and graveyard poetry in particular. However Adrian is mourning (sorry, couldn't help it) the demise of a 10 year relationship a year ago and starts to reflect on his career in an attempt to find a new angle in his field of study.
As a town planner, Laura was an interesting character however the author focuses almost entirely on her relationship with her controlling husband, not her career. Laura slowly - sometimes too slowly for my liking - begins to see her marriage in a new light although I quickly recognised her charming, lying husband Tony as a narcissist.
Adrian and Laura share a mutual love of cheese and Adrian is a close friend - almost a parental figure - to Kezi, a young artist who makes hand-made paper. These three characters are brought together in this literary novel with themes of death, parental estrangement, the depths of friendship and connection dominating the pages.
I really enjoyed the familiar setting on the streets of Melbourne:
"Melbourne, a sprawling metropolis of more than five million inhabitants, boasts a unique peculiarity: people accidentally run into friends and acquaintances, or they meet strangers with whom there is just one or two degrees of separation. Sydney is not like this, nor Saint Petersburg, nor Barcelona, all cities of a similar size to Melbourne. ....Melbourne is still a village; but a reason for ridicule by Sydneysiders is a source of delight for Melburnians." Page 119
I particularly enjoyed the mention of the Readings Bookshop on Lygon Street where I plan on taking my friend from Queensland later this month and who actually recommended this book!
If you enjoy literary fiction about romantic relationships, platonic friendships and familial ties this is for you. If you enjoy music by Mahler, cheese or writings about death this is for you.
I'll leave you with an example of the writing style and Adrian's thoughts on cheese, admitting he shows no restraint:
"Soft cheese, hard cheese, blue mould, white mould, washed rind, cloth-bound, salty cheese, smoky cheese, cow's milk, ewe's milk, cooked cheese, raw cheese: Adrian was captive to them all. Only ricotta and cheese made from goat's milk failed to delight; the former lacked flavour and was the texture of vomit, the latter tasted of charcoal and perspiration." Page 75
The Buried Life by Andrea Goldsmith isn't my usual reading fare but earned an additional star for inspiring me to listen to music by Mahler and check out the hand-made paper scene here in Melbourne.
