Oyster

OYSTER is a literary tale about the fictional town of Outer Maroo in the bush outback of Queensland, Australia. The 87 residents of Outer Maroo don't want "foreigners," a term that applies to anyone not already in Outer Maroo, because they have something to hide: the ghastly happenings thirteen months ago at Oyster Reef, a religious commune. There are no oysters on Oyster Reef. Oyster is the name the cult leader gave to his self. There are opals there, though. Oyster Reef is not a reef. It is way out in the outback beyond the end of the rail line, off the map. To get there, you'll need a four-wheel drive, extra petrol tanks, spare vehicle parts and a driver who knows the bush country. Foreigners can't buy round trip tickets, however. The story begins when two foreigners, one from Melbourne and another from Boston, arrive in Outer Maroo, at high noon on Monday, looking for their young loved ones who were mesmerized by Oyster. From there, the author cleverly interweaves story and back-story, gradually untangles her characters and ultimately unravels Outer Maroo itself, all in a week's time. OYSTER is the best work of literary fiction I can recall reading, and is more engaging than most of the genre and commercial fiction I've read. The prose crackles, the characters are vivid, the pace is precise and there are tasteful flavors of suspense, mystery, sci-fi and spice. Janet Turner Hospital was born and raised on the steamy coast of Queensland. She knows the terrain, and the lingo too. Oops, there's a little problem there. Even if you're a reader adept at sliding over unknown words and pressing on, you still might feel you missed the lay of the land. I catalogued 46 words peculiar to Australia, New Zealand or Great Britain. Does your Ute have a roo bar or a bull bar? Did you ever go noodling through mullock or potch? You would know that a Jackamara woman would be tough, wise and ironic if you've read Mudrooroo, an aboriginal novelist. Did you ever eat barbequed jumbuck, charred goanna strips, fried emu eggs, or fire-toasted damper? That's all tucker. At least you should know about bora rings and corroborees that those Wankumara do (a.k.a. Wanggumara, Murii) and bore-water too. There are fine threads about mirages and powerlessness in OYSTER, but the tightrope is cult religion, which stretches from the likes of Jonestown and Waco to Oyster Reef. Janet Turner Hospital writes succinctly. Religion, like sex, can be horrific or sublime.

Near the end of the last century in a small Australian opal mining town named Outer Maroo, so obscure that it is not found on any map, Oyster, a mysterious religious cult figure, mesmerizes almost everyone in the community. (Only Susannah Rover, the teacher, and Charles Given of the Living Word Church and a few others were not drawn to him.) Obsessed with the idea that something of cosmic proportions will happen in 2000, many of the inhabitants of this little town at first buy into the sayings of this stranger, dressed all in white and with "limpid blue opalescent" eyes. He is a most persuasive speaker: for example, "I will make you a fisher of opal. . .if you follow me." Later two strangers arrive in the village, looking for a son and daughter, who have mysteriously disappeared and who (they believe) were under the spell of Oyster. While Ms. Hospital's gifts as a storyteller are magnificent, it's hard to know if she was influenced by say Jim Jones and Jonestown in 1978 when 913 of his followers apparently committed suicide or David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in 1993 when 80 or more people perished. There are certainly parallels to be drawn as Ms. Hospital's subject obviously is timely. We had Heaven's Gate in 1997 when Applewhite and over 30 of his followers committed mass suicides. A cult figure in Georgia was recently convicted of sex crimes against children, and other religious crazy groups-- I personally know of one in Florida-- pop up like dandelions in the spring. This book says so much about religious extremists, sexual depravity in the name of God, mob psychology, and the nature of evil-- and hope too but only in lower case letters. Ms. Hospital, however, is somewhere way past Joseph Conrad and Nathaniel Hawthorne, just to name two writers obsesssed with the darkness of the human heart. The author tells a wonderful tale and is as good as any writer I can think of at building suspense and dropping clues along the way as the story builds to a devastating climax. Although her prose is dense and chock-full of Australian words and phrases, she is not a difficult read. She does beautiful and totally accurate things with words, making a verb out "trampoline", for example. Mercy Given, with a transparent name, describes saints in the DICTIONARY OF GREAT PAINTINGS OF THE WESTERN WORLD as "the people with golden saucers stuck to their heads." When one character smiles, his smile does not reach his eyes. Someone writing for the OBSERVER noted that Ms. Hospital is "one of the best female novelists writing in English." I disagree. She is one of the best novelists writing in English.

In reading an earlier work of Turner's, The Last Magician, I was only impressed with the skill of Turner's prose. The story and characters were hardly interesting. However, with this work, Turner established herself in my mind as a powerful writer. This is a story I found inviting on several layers. One, it's a story of how religion is often abused. Oyster is the self styled prophet who's taken root in Outer Marou. Two, it's a mystery. What happened to the children whom two individual parents come looking? Why does no mail leave Outer Marou nor the phone system work? Why can no one leave and what happens if they try? Three, it's a story of individualism vs the community.Beyond that, I found the characters appealing (though not all morally upstanding): Mercy, the young girl we see age during her lower teens who begins to think for herself ("She's addicted to tangents."); Miss Rover, the teacher who has a large influence on Mercy with her love of knowledge and encouragement, not to mention standing up to bibliolators; Oyster himself, the mad, intelligent prophet of Outer Marou; Old Silence, or Jess, the retired surveyor who keeps her thoughts to herself. And there are many others.A story of cultish influence, fear, freethought, and faith. Turner has crafted an eery atmosphere set within an obscure Australian town for the reader to enjoy.

To the bleak setting and fast pace reminiscent of Louis L'Amour, Turner Hospital adds the philosophical depth and urgency of Joseph Conrad. Her deft use of time warps and her creation of a sympathetic main character add drama, suspense, and excitement to what might otherwise be a dark and heavy reading experience. Unique in setting, theme, and plot, this is a compelling novel, sure to captivate and hold the interest of even the most sophisticated reader.

Hospital has penned a fascinating yarn. In the wake of Heaven's Gate and the Branch Davidians, this novel is an interesting tale of the conflict between religious and secular socities. Hospital does a wonderful job in presenting life in the Australian outback. I actually felt thirsty reading this book. If you are at all interested in a thriller with a religious twist you should check out Oyster.