Description
On theoutskirts of Sydney, a boys’ boarding school prides itself on the horses itkeeps. David, a gifted working class student, receives a scholarship to attend.At the same time Gregory, a new master, is appointed. Both soon learn, fromtheir different perspectives, that what is said bears little relation to whatis done. The school isolates itself from the outside world and over the courseof several months of rain, the atmosphere inside the school becomesincreasingly lawless and violent. School buildings slip away in floods.Underlying differences between various parties in the school turn into openconflicts, and the school community begins breaking up. These tensions arefocussed in the conflict between two masters, Val and Mr C. These two men loatheone another, and both recruit boys in the war of ideas they are waging. TheHorses seems unique in Australian literature, exploring with great subtletythe complex way in which class can perpetuate itself through the education ofits children. Reminiscent of J. G. Ballard’s High Rise, set in anapartment complex designed to isolate its residents from the outside world, andPatrick White’s writing in its satirical impulse leavened by compassion for theindividual, Lane’s new novel is never anything less than startlingly fresh andoriginal.
