Remembering Stow. "To The Islands" and "Tourmaline" by Randolph Stow. [review]

Abstract

The republication of these two books is admirable. "To the Islands" reads strongly still. It is novella length in this current, slightly pared-down edition, something the author himself directed. Similar positive qualities are also evident in "Tourmaline", a more confronting novel. The bleak and symbolically poetic opening chapter was in some ways Stow's most obvious heritage from "Voss". "Tourmaline" makes its initial tributes to the Master, but it maintains a tricky balance between Stow's own quizzical version of a Steele Rudd family and a personal exploration of Taoism.