Mural is a strange book: a narrative in the second person, related by a psychopath, asking the person to whom he addresses his story (a psychiatrist, Dr Reynolds) to help him understand his own mind, and why he might have acted as he had. We, the readers – in the place of Dr Reynolds – are never told what the narrator, D, has done, but we can assume, from what he discusses within the narrative, that it was savagely bloodthirsty.
The narrative begins with D describing the life of Harry Ellis – an Englishman sent to the colonies in the 19th century who later wrote of his own fetishes. The inference is that D’s own peculiarities aren’t singular. The mural of the title refers to a modernist artwork behind the alter of a Methodist church D attended in his youth. D wonders whether a stifling, church-led upbringing was the catalyst for the later violence unleashed by both himself and his friend, PW. The narrative veers into a biography of M Napier Waller, the mural’s artist. D returns from this tangent late in the novel, with a suitably psychotic denouement. The reader, however, may wonder why the artist and not the effect of the art was the focus.
That we never know what D has done is both the strength and the weakness of this novel. There is an ambiguity surrounding the protagonist/narrator compelling the reader to turn the page. There is also, however, the reader’s sense that, despite wanting the reader (Dr Reynolds) to help D understand himself, this same narrator has withheld too much of his backstory.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In 2019 Stephen was awarded a PhD in creative writing from Monash University. The doctorate’s major component was a prototype of The Hands of Pianists.
In other lives he covered a war for Agence-France Presse, reported on Iraq and covered a New Caledonian insurrection for The Age, wrote leading articles for The Age and the Herald Sun, was a salaried feature writer on The Age for several years, and, as a freelancer, was renowned for decades as Australia’s toughest restaurant critic.
For many years, he presented his own training programs on the power of courtesy. He’s also presented many hundreds of hours of teaching and training to undergraduates and graduates.
He edits and rewrites the newsletters of GAAP Consulting – he’s the forensic accountancy’s communications consultant. In 2019 he co-edited Verge, Monash University Publishing’s annual anthology of short writing.
Lastly, he loves conducting the choir of words on a page, whether they’re yours or his.
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