A Fulcrum of Infinities
2016 Griffith Review 54/Earthly Delights/The Novella Project IV
He has felt too ill to eat and wonders again if his illness is itself a symptom of something bigger. Something signified by this waiting. The breathing limbo beyond a spent life not yet ended.
Wishing to die in the land of his ancestors, terminally-ill Saul travels deep into the Australian outback. There on a remote desert farm he encounters unexpected hostility from an old alcoholic farmer, Bob, who suspects Saul's arrival is the prelude to an Aboriginal land claim. After being ordered off the farm, Saul torches his vehicle and camps under a solitary gum tree a few hundred metres from the homestead. A strange standoff lasting several days ensues as Saul prepares himself for death. After hoping the harsh desert conditions would force his adversary away, Bob gradually softens towards Saul, partly with the aid of a third character, his dog, Jake, an equally cantankerous curmudgeon. Infused with gravity and humour, A Fulcrum of Infinities is a moving account of the final days of a man caught between cultures, and seeking to rest his soul in long-lost land.
'... this novella is haunting and well written. Lang's skills as a writer are particularly evident in his creation of a strong sense of place and in his development of the two characters and their dialogue.' Annette Marfording, Rochford Street Review, 2016
He has felt too ill to eat and wonders again if his illness is itself a symptom of something bigger. Something signified by this waiting. The breathing limbo beyond a spent life not yet ended.
Wishing to die in the land of his ancestors, terminally-ill Saul travels deep into the Australian outback. There on a remote desert farm he encounters unexpected hostility from an old alcoholic farmer, Bob, who suspects Saul's arrival is the prelude to an Aboriginal land claim. After being ordered off the farm, Saul torches his vehicle and camps under a solitary gum tree a few hundred metres from the homestead. A strange standoff lasting several days ensues as Saul prepares himself for death. After hoping the harsh desert conditions would force his adversary away, Bob gradually softens towards Saul, partly with the aid of a third character, his dog, Jake, an equally cantankerous curmudgeon. Infused with gravity and humour, A Fulcrum of Infinities is a moving account of the final days of a man caught between cultures, and seeking to rest his soul in long-lost land.
'... this novella is haunting and well written. Lang's skills as a writer are particularly evident in his creation of a strong sense of place and in his development of the two characters and their dialogue.' Annette Marfording, Rochford Street Review, 2016
