The Boys Who Stole the Funeral | |
Author: | Les Murray |
Country: | Australia |
Language: | English |
Genre: | Verse novel |
Publisher: | Angus and Robertson |
Release Date: | 1980 |
Media Type: | |
Pages: | 71 pp. |
Isbn: | 0207141053 |
Preceded By: | Ethnic Radio |
Followed By: | Equanimities |
Awards: | Grace Leven Prize for Poetry winner 1980 |
The Boys Who Stole the Funeral (1980) is a verse novel by Australian writer Les Murray. It was originally published by Angus and Robertson in Australia in 1980.[1]
The novel consists of a sequence of 140 sonnets, many of which had been previously published in newspapers, literary journals and poetry anthologies.[2]
The novel tells the story of how two young men steal the body of an old friend from a city undertaker in order to give their friend the rural burial he so desired.
After its initial publication in Australia by Angus and Robertson in 1980,[3] the novel was reprinted by Angus and Robertson in 1982 and then published as follows:
A sound recording of the novel was created in 1985 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[5]
The Judges' Report for the National Book Council Award noted: "Here we have an original and daring work — a novel sequence in poetry — poetry indeed and not verse, and poetry which seeks to articulate a mythology about rural Australia. The lines are chiselled with care, the book sculptured with grace; narrative and dialogue fuse into a poetic whole, the poetic sensibility informs all: the darting phrase, the naked insight."[6]