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Exiled to a remote part of Asia Minor where he knows no one, does not understand the culture, and does not speak the language, the Roman poet Ovid, after failing to become an integral part of his new community, makes contact with a wild child who has been living with wolves, the only being more isolated than he. As the unlikely pair begins to communicate, the author's themes of identity, value, and truth take shape and lead to an inevitable conclusion. It is a tribute to the awesome ability of this author to create new worlds that the reader is ultimately able to identify with Ovid and to share the feelings of the wolf child. Mary Whipple
His only premise is that Ovid was exiled from ancient Rome; to a bleak, desolate place beyond the limes. Beyond the limits not only of Roman rule, but also of his beloved Latin language. The once much-lauded poet and 'man-about-Rome' is therefore forced, in Malouf's tale, to come to terms not only with nature in its raw and wild state, but also to confront the 'reality' of the world rather than its mere reflection in words.
Ovid is dismayed by the barbarity of the people he has been sent to lodge with. Not only do they not speak Latin, but their minds are full of dark imaginings, of a world inhabited by demons and spirits. Ovid, of course, is far too 'civilised' to believe in gods; after all, has he not created these himself in his poetry? He thus finds solace in his encounter with a wild boy who has never known human society at all, let alone language. This 'Child' represents Ovid's romantic notion of the purity of man when he was still at one with nature, and inspires him with wonder: '... does not knowing make him free?'.
Ovid decides to teach him to speak, and is comforted by the results: '... in learning the sounds made by men he is making himself a man'. But our genteel Roman aesthete then gradually finds that it is he who must do the learning. He is forced to recognise the barriers to a deeper understanding we create by naming things, leading him to a greater awareness: 'As if, having no language of my own now, I had begun to listen for another meaning'.
Malouf is certainly not the first author to imagine a meeting between civilised man and 'wild' man, but this is essentially a pretext for him to make some profound observations on man's place in the world. That he manages to do so simply and clearly is undoubtedly the mark of a great writer.
First published in 1978, this extraordinary book deserves to be a household name. I came across 'An Imaginary Life' quite by chance, but will now certainly read all of David Malouf's books - and may very well delve into Ovid, too. What more could a writer ask?
In his work, "An Imaginary Life", the Author takes you to an Ovid in exile. His emperor has sent him away to a place he knows nothing of, amongst a people as different from he, as perhaps can be imagined, and without the ability to communicate at all. Time facilitates the learning of language, and the differences that first are so extreme between Ovid and his fellow inhabitants do moderate if they do not disappear.
The catalyst for much of the effort to learn is a "creature" that also is present among Ovid and his neighbors. This is what I believe to be the "shape transformde" in Mr. Malouf's tale. Many are changed when the story is complete, perhaps most importantly Ovid. Mr. Malouf makes many points about nature, the definition of what it is to be human, and human relations. However for me this was not the most fascinating event while reading.
The author places Ovid in the midst of a situation where everything is unknown to him. Perhaps the most dramatic unknown is a young child that lives among the Deer that he is said to have grown up amongst. When Ovid becomes aware of the child, he desires to capture the boy. His experiences with his plan, his preconceptions, and the very different views of those he hunts the Child with, are fascinating, and wonderfully original. Some may argue that since this work flows as a result of the writings of one of History's great poets the work by definition cannot be unique, only derivative. And such a point is well taken.
But to label this work derivative is to do the author an injustice. He has taken a man who has greatly influenced literature, and in a manner of speaking dropped Ovid into an environment where Ovid is no longer the creator, nor the narrator, he is the subject. He is the subject not only of his ideas and preconceptions; he is subject to them as well. Mr. Malouf places Ovid in an environment and amongst players that contain what Ovid so often wrote of. In this book he being subjected to the experience, not creating it, and Mr. Malouf pays tribute to the man by the quality of what he has created.
Again, the more of Ovid you bring with you, the deeper you will be able to involve yourself in the author's purpose. I was forced to go back and refresh my memory, and because I did, I do not believe I experienced all the author intended. If you read this after Ovid's own work, I believe the experience will be even better.
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