The World as Clockface is an impressive Australian
historical fantasy, but so far it has remained ignored.
Maybe that’s because Van Rijswijk’s style owes more to
Garcia Marquez and Borges than to English-speaking
writers. Maybe it’s because her story is ethereal, quirky
and complex. Maybe it’s because Philomena van Rijswijk
doesn’t realise she has to press the flesh at conventions
to become well known. If you find this handsome
Penguin Australia paperback in secondhand stores, buy
it.
Favourite novels read for the first time in 2005
1 Life by Gwyneth Jones
(2004; Aqueduct Press; 370 pp.)
2 The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
(2004; Jonathan Cape; 301 pp.)...
3 Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
(1901; Penguin; 568 pp.)
4 Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: A Novel of Mohenjo-
Daro by Eileen Kernaghan
(2004; Flying Monkey; 254 pp.)
5 The World as a Clockface
by Philomena van Rijswijk
(2001; Penguin; 406 pp.)
6 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
(2005; Faber & Faber; 263 pp.)
7 Flicker by Theodore Roszak
(1991; No Exit; 688 pp.)
8 Replay by Ken Grimwood
(1986; Grafton; 366 pp.)
9 The Limits of Enchantment by Graham Joyce
(2005; Gollancz; 250 pp.)
10 Longleg by Glenda Adams
(1990; Angus & Robertson; 339 pp.)
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