The LA Times revisits Patrick White’s brilliant Voss:

“Voss” is a historical novel, set in the 19th century, and its eponymous hero is based on a doomed German explorer who vanished into Australia’s dead heart, the brutal and ancient desert that occupies much of the continent, then roamed only by aboriginal tribesmen. Voss’ fatal flaw, and, oddly, his immense appeal as a character, is his pigheaded megalomania. Asked if he has studied the map of where he intends to go, Voss replies: “The map? I will first make it.”

Voss is a staggering work of imagination and Patrick White thoroughly deserves a new audience. White’s Riders in the Chariot waits patiently on my bookshelf. Soon, I promise.