&sq=&lang=&file=File:AlanGarner_Strandloper.jpg) Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Alan Garner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | The Harvill Press |
Publication date | May 1996 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 199 pp (hardback edition) & 208 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | 1-86046-160-3 (hardback edition) & ISBN 1-86046-161-1 (paperback edition) |
| OCLC | 35113032 |
| 823/.914 21 | |
| LC Class | PR6057.A66 S77 1996 |
Strandloper is a novel by English writer Alan Garner, published in 1996. It is loosely based on the story of a Cheshire labourer, William Buckley. The historical figures of Edward Stanley and John Batman also appear as characters. An English epileptic is transported to Australia, where he escapes and becomes the holy man of the Beingalite people. Many years later he returns to England, and walks his home landscapes like an Aboriginal. Reaching the village church, he smears his body with clay and performs a spirit dance.
Critics found the book private, idiosyncratic, and difficult; Jenny Turner admired its Buntingesque construction but disliked its biblical tone. The Tolkien scholar Jason Fisher likened it to a baptism of folklore that demanded work from the reader, but found that worth the effort.