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The Cockatoos: Shorter Novels and Stories
These six novels and stories probe beneath the confused surface to expose the true nature of things. This book includes "A Woman's Hand", "The Full Belly", "The Night, the Prowler", "Five-Twenty", "Sicilian Vespers" and "The Cockatoos".
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Patrick White
86books350followers There is more than one author by this name on ŷ. For the Canadian Poet Laureate see "Patrick^^^^^White".
Patrick Victor Martindale White was an Australian author widely regarded as one of the major English-language novelists of the 20th century, and winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Born in England while his Australian parents were visiting family, White grew up in Sydney before studying at Cambridge. Publishing his first two novels to critical acclaim in the UK, White then enlisted to serve in World War II, where he met his lifelong partner, the Greek Manoly Lascaris. The pair returned to Australia after the war.
Home again, White published a total of twelve novels, two short story collections, eight plays, as well as a miscellany of non-fiction. His fiction freely employs shifting narrative vantages and the stream of consciousness technique. In 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Prize "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature."
From 1947 to 1964, White and Lascaris lived a retired life on the outer fringes of Sydney. However after their subsequent move to the inner suburb of Centennial Park, White experienced an increased passion for activism. He became known as an outspoken champion for the disadvantaged, for Indigenous rights, and for the teaching and promotion of art, in a culture he deemed often backward and conservative. In their personal life, White and Lascaris' home became a regular haunt for noted figures from all levels of society.
Although he achieved a great deal of critical applause, and was hailed as a national hero after his Nobel win, White retained a challenged relationship with the Australian public and ordinary readers. In his final decades the books sold well in paperback, but he retained a reputation as difficult, dense, and sometimes inscrutable.
Following White's death in 1990, his reputation was briefly buoyed by David Marr's well-received biography, although he disappeared off most university and school syllabuses, with his novels mostly out of print, by the end of the century. Interest in White's books was revived around 2012, the year of his centenary, with all now available again.
Sources: Wikipedia, David Marr's biography,
Patrick Victor Martindale White was an Australian author widely regarded as one of the major English-language novelists of the 20th century, and winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Born in England while his Australian parents were visiting family, White grew up in Sydney before studying at Cambridge. Publishing his first two novels to critical acclaim in the UK, White then enlisted to serve in World War II, where he met his lifelong partner, the Greek Manoly Lascaris. The pair returned to Australia after the war.
Home again, White published a total of twelve novels, two short story collections, eight plays, as well as a miscellany of non-fiction. His fiction freely employs shifting narrative vantages and the stream of consciousness technique. In 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Prize "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature."
From 1947 to 1964, White and Lascaris lived a retired life on the outer fringes of Sydney. However after their subsequent move to the inner suburb of Centennial Park, White experienced an increased passion for activism. He became known as an outspoken champion for the disadvantaged, for Indigenous rights, and for the teaching and promotion of art, in a culture he deemed often backward and conservative. In their personal life, White and Lascaris' home became a regular haunt for noted figures from all levels of society.
Although he achieved a great deal of critical applause, and was hailed as a national hero after his Nobel win, White retained a challenged relationship with the Australian public and ordinary readers. In his final decades the books sold well in paperback, but he retained a reputation as difficult, dense, and sometimes inscrutable.
Following White's death in 1990, his reputation was briefly buoyed by David Marr's well-received biography, although he disappeared off most university and school syllabuses, with his novels mostly out of print, by the end of the century. Interest in White's books was revived around 2012, the year of his centenary, with all now available again.
Sources: Wikipedia, David Marr's biography,
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 26, 2022
Among the psychological writers Patrick White was one of the best � incredibly deep and equally analytical.
And these six modernistic stories are six dusky literary jewels � many long novels can’t boast such psychological profundity as these advanced novellas do�
Two centrepieces: The Full Belly and The Night the Prowler are two emotional tours de force � I would even say that they are more psychopathological than just psychological�
In any human soul, there are some murky nooks and crannies and they are better to be left unvisited.
And these six modernistic stories are six dusky literary jewels � many long novels can’t boast such psychological profundity as these advanced novellas do�
Over Maro’s bed hung the tremendous small icon of the Panayia. As a little boy he used to climb on the bed, to rub his nose against the Virgin’s brown Byzantine beak. Once when nobody was looking he scratched a flake of gold off the nimbus; it tasted disappointing, and made him cough. By the time his pimples came, She had grown sullen towards him, he too conscious of the acne of wormholes in the wooden cheeks of the Mother of God. Their relationship finally settled down, half formal, half ironical. (From visits to the museum he suspected his aunt’s icon was not a very good one.)
Till on a night of their present winter spattered with bullets smelling of damp cold of boiled weeds of blood his own love or hunger overflowed the eyes of his Panayia and he was drawn towards her like a drop of water to another into one crystal radiance.
Two centrepieces: The Full Belly and The Night the Prowler are two emotional tours de force � I would even say that they are more psychopathological than just psychological�
She had not been frighten the night the prowler, not really, not from the very beginning. Certainly the unexpectedness of it made her lie rigid; but she wasn’t afraid; she wouldn’t have been afraid if he had stuck the knife, as you read they do; but he didn’t.
In any human soul, there are some murky nooks and crannies and they are better to be left unvisited.
June 29, 2022
Can be read and re-read. And sometimes a person just has to pick it up and read about Cockatoos.
It is my ambition to read and reread everything by Patrick White. Naturally I can only read the beautiful editions with a cover image by Mel Odom.
However, mostly I just reread the short stories, because tackling the novels again would be a full time job. But what a good job it would be.
It is my ambition to read and reread everything by Patrick White. Naturally I can only read the beautiful editions with a cover image by Mel Odom.
However, mostly I just reread the short stories, because tackling the novels again would be a full time job. But what a good job it would be.
September 9, 2023
Какаду 5 �
На свалке 5 �
На свалке 5 �
July 28, 2019
Considering The Cockatoos, by the Australian Nobel Laureate Patrick White, I find it nearly impossible to arrive at an assessment--here are six long stories, written in a similar style which I can recognize as the work of a master craftsman, yet which also had nearly no affect on me. Each of these stories seem to be trying to illustrate the same bleak worldview by shaving the lives of its protagonists into incredibly fine cross-sections, then illuminating them one facet, one nuance at a time; the effect is dense, finely articulated, and designed for maximum exposure of the interior lives of these people. Yet what the author reveals with these portraits is a world of little joy, of loss and repressed longing, of suppressed rage, and of quiet, confused desperation.
It's also true that at times, the stories are so nuanced that I'm not sure if I caught all the details--for sure there is repressed sexuality in some, repressed memories of molestation in others, and few characters who have any idea (as it should be) as to why they do the things that they do. Often they seem compelled by forces within them, forces that were forged in the past and have emerged recently because of some new trauma, or even because of some small trigger that unleashes the pent-up emotions of a lifetime.
Whereas Patrick White is more than proficient at bringing these states about in his characters, the bleakness can be a bit unrelenting. These people all live in a state of consciousness that would be unbearable, I'd think, and though I'm sure there are people who manage to do so, the stories in The Cockatoos seem to imply that this is the natural way of things for most people. In this he shares somewhat a similarity with another Nobel Laureate, Alice Munro, whose stories, I think, also seem heavily weighted toward alienation and aloneness.
Perhaps it would have made a difference if I'd been able to put more space between reading each story; I pulled The Cockatoos down with eleven other single author collections, and read out of each, round-robin style. It may be that I needed even more time between stories; that may have diminished some of the bleakness I felt overall, and allowed me to appreciate each story without the weight of the preceding one bearing it down. In any case, it does not put me off reading more of Patrick White, as he is a master craftsman, there is no doubt. And it may be that at another time I'd be more receptive to the feelings he tried to evoke in this collection--but I hope not.
It's also true that at times, the stories are so nuanced that I'm not sure if I caught all the details--for sure there is repressed sexuality in some, repressed memories of molestation in others, and few characters who have any idea (as it should be) as to why they do the things that they do. Often they seem compelled by forces within them, forces that were forged in the past and have emerged recently because of some new trauma, or even because of some small trigger that unleashes the pent-up emotions of a lifetime.
Whereas Patrick White is more than proficient at bringing these states about in his characters, the bleakness can be a bit unrelenting. These people all live in a state of consciousness that would be unbearable, I'd think, and though I'm sure there are people who manage to do so, the stories in The Cockatoos seem to imply that this is the natural way of things for most people. In this he shares somewhat a similarity with another Nobel Laureate, Alice Munro, whose stories, I think, also seem heavily weighted toward alienation and aloneness.
Perhaps it would have made a difference if I'd been able to put more space between reading each story; I pulled The Cockatoos down with eleven other single author collections, and read out of each, round-robin style. It may be that I needed even more time between stories; that may have diminished some of the bleakness I felt overall, and allowed me to appreciate each story without the weight of the preceding one bearing it down. In any case, it does not put me off reading more of Patrick White, as he is a master craftsman, there is no doubt. And it may be that at another time I'd be more receptive to the feelings he tried to evoke in this collection--but I hope not.
November 13, 2017
diamonds in the dust
Patrick White, a writer whom I’ve long admired, wrote several outstanding novels and some great short stories. The six stories here display the same suppressed aggression, the same anger at the dullness and futility of life. The superficial calm and shallowness of Australian suburban life can be ripped open to reveal transcendent moments in the most unlikely places. The sharks wait under the surface. Is there really such a thing as “shallow life�? I think White would have said 'no' because the pebble thrown into the placid pond can ultimately cause a tidal wave. Each of these stories deals with aging or aged people, but aged people who don't know what to do with the rest of their lives. In a couple stories, they travel without much aim, in one they must deal with a seriously-unbalanced daughter. They avoid trying to decide what to do with aging bodies, with unsatisfied desires. I cannot say I love White’s writing---he has some weird fascination with ugly or grotesque details, with unpleasant characters who always disappoint—but no doubt he was a master at his craft. There are few epiphanies, few happy results and very often the story just kind of trickles to an end: a woman with little to do tries to play matchmaker and dooms two people--or does she? Wild cockatoos in a Sydney suburban garden connect several people whose relationships have been hostile or at least mired in estrangement. Hunger in wartime Greece, an uneasy relationship between an American couple and a diffident Australian couple touring Sicily, and the strange late-life love of an unsophisticated widow living by a busy Sydney road. Each story is marked by unusual behavior by characters who seem driven by unseen forces, not much “in charge� of their own impulses or actions. All the stories will leave a strong impression and bear a lot of thinking about; they are certainly complex, but in a way, you feel glad to finish them. You never wish to know more about the characters. I can only say that these six stories remind me of jewels thrown into an unpleasant muck. They can be fished out and admired, but something unpleasant will always remain.
Patrick White, a writer whom I’ve long admired, wrote several outstanding novels and some great short stories. The six stories here display the same suppressed aggression, the same anger at the dullness and futility of life. The superficial calm and shallowness of Australian suburban life can be ripped open to reveal transcendent moments in the most unlikely places. The sharks wait under the surface. Is there really such a thing as “shallow life�? I think White would have said 'no' because the pebble thrown into the placid pond can ultimately cause a tidal wave. Each of these stories deals with aging or aged people, but aged people who don't know what to do with the rest of their lives. In a couple stories, they travel without much aim, in one they must deal with a seriously-unbalanced daughter. They avoid trying to decide what to do with aging bodies, with unsatisfied desires. I cannot say I love White’s writing---he has some weird fascination with ugly or grotesque details, with unpleasant characters who always disappoint—but no doubt he was a master at his craft. There are few epiphanies, few happy results and very often the story just kind of trickles to an end: a woman with little to do tries to play matchmaker and dooms two people--or does she? Wild cockatoos in a Sydney suburban garden connect several people whose relationships have been hostile or at least mired in estrangement. Hunger in wartime Greece, an uneasy relationship between an American couple and a diffident Australian couple touring Sicily, and the strange late-life love of an unsophisticated widow living by a busy Sydney road. Each story is marked by unusual behavior by characters who seem driven by unseen forces, not much “in charge� of their own impulses or actions. All the stories will leave a strong impression and bear a lot of thinking about; they are certainly complex, but in a way, you feel glad to finish them. You never wish to know more about the characters. I can only say that these six stories remind me of jewels thrown into an unpleasant muck. They can be fished out and admired, but something unpleasant will always remain.
February 6, 2018
Sometimes short stories can provide a distillation of an author's themes and ideas. This is such a collection. Each story shines like a crystal: the themes so clear, so devastating. Here is the human condition explored thoroughly and with the eye of the master story-teller, but without the complexity of some of the the novels, so those ideas shine through.
Each story is an examination of one of White's favourite themes: the desperate mediocrity of the Australian suburban middle class in the 1950s and '60s. In some ways many of the characters are repellant, but are also hauntingly familiar, and White neither dismisses nor valorises them, but shows a real sympathy for their condition, without romanticising or justifying the behaviours.
If you are new to Patrick White and want a look, these stories would be an ideal and accessible introduction.
Each story is an examination of one of White's favourite themes: the desperate mediocrity of the Australian suburban middle class in the 1950s and '60s. In some ways many of the characters are repellant, but are also hauntingly familiar, and White neither dismisses nor valorises them, but shows a real sympathy for their condition, without romanticising or justifying the behaviours.
If you are new to Patrick White and want a look, these stories would be an ideal and accessible introduction.
May 25, 2016
One of the few writers ever to accomplish perfection both in novels and in short stories. Brilliant.
September 19, 2023
+рассказ На свалке
May 5, 2022
An interesting, character based collection of six novellas / short stories. The stories are not pleasant but the characters are well developed and each story has good plot momentum.
I particularly liked ‘The Cockatoos�, ‘The Night Prowler� and ‘Five-Twenty�.
‘The Cockatoos� is about a middle aged couple who have not spoken to each other for seven years, since the wife’s budgie died. They write notes to one another. Their relationship changes when some cockatoos regularly stay in their front yard.
‘The Night Prowler� begins with Felicity Bannister, a young engaged woman, being raped in her bedroom. The event completely changes Felicity’s life.
‘Five - Twenty� is about an old Australian couples high point in life being one particular car in the traffic passing their place at 5:20pm. Things change when the driver of the car stops to use their telephone.
Patrick White fans should find this a satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1974.
I particularly liked ‘The Cockatoos�, ‘The Night Prowler� and ‘Five-Twenty�.
‘The Cockatoos� is about a middle aged couple who have not spoken to each other for seven years, since the wife’s budgie died. They write notes to one another. Their relationship changes when some cockatoos regularly stay in their front yard.
‘The Night Prowler� begins with Felicity Bannister, a young engaged woman, being raped in her bedroom. The event completely changes Felicity’s life.
‘Five - Twenty� is about an old Australian couples high point in life being one particular car in the traffic passing their place at 5:20pm. Things change when the driver of the car stops to use their telephone.
Patrick White fans should find this a satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1974.
November 7, 2017
"I can only say, Felicity, you've done something wicked and perverse. Why, I wonder, do you want to destroy us?"
Looking her mother in the face it was impossible to prevent herself shouting back, "Why-WHY? If I knew the answers! But I don't! I'm not the record you'd like to play!"
Patrick White originally published this collection of short stories in 1966. A few, at almost 100 pages, border on novella status. His talents as a writer are clearly evident. He is a master at crafting dialogue, and several of the short stories are comprised almost entirely of conversations. So why two stars? His writing isn't easy to wade through. These stories are dense and full of angst. White slowly dissects the psychological underpinnings of his characters. It would be hard, if not impossible, to find a happy well-adjusted person in any of these stories. None of us are perfect. We all have flaws, secrets, and a past we've dealt with (or are still dealing with). These stories are so austere though. There is very little in the way of saving grace, or even a hint of a silver lining to the clouds.
That's not to say I'm sorry I read this collection though, or felt my time wasted. It just wasn't exactly my cup of tea--but what a boring world it would be if I always read the same type of book! Many other reviewers gave this offering a much higher rating, so perhaps give White a try if you are a fan of character studies. Given a rating of 2 stars or average.
"Spurred out of the convulsive stupor in which she found herself lying, she might have blamed her own will for her survival if she could have respected it enough."
"Why was he born an unbeliever? He wished he could have at any rate half believed-not in God: that would be unnecessarily pretentious--but in the end of the world, for instance."
Looking her mother in the face it was impossible to prevent herself shouting back, "Why-WHY? If I knew the answers! But I don't! I'm not the record you'd like to play!"
Patrick White originally published this collection of short stories in 1966. A few, at almost 100 pages, border on novella status. His talents as a writer are clearly evident. He is a master at crafting dialogue, and several of the short stories are comprised almost entirely of conversations. So why two stars? His writing isn't easy to wade through. These stories are dense and full of angst. White slowly dissects the psychological underpinnings of his characters. It would be hard, if not impossible, to find a happy well-adjusted person in any of these stories. None of us are perfect. We all have flaws, secrets, and a past we've dealt with (or are still dealing with). These stories are so austere though. There is very little in the way of saving grace, or even a hint of a silver lining to the clouds.
That's not to say I'm sorry I read this collection though, or felt my time wasted. It just wasn't exactly my cup of tea--but what a boring world it would be if I always read the same type of book! Many other reviewers gave this offering a much higher rating, so perhaps give White a try if you are a fan of character studies. Given a rating of 2 stars or average.
"Spurred out of the convulsive stupor in which she found herself lying, she might have blamed her own will for her survival if she could have respected it enough."
"Why was he born an unbeliever? He wished he could have at any rate half believed-not in God: that would be unnecessarily pretentious--but in the end of the world, for instance."
January 7, 2020
Quite amazing stories of mostly older heterosexual couples in a 1950s world of repression, reputation and boredom yet whose longstanding intimate lives are demonstrated with calm and almost tranquility. The Night Prowler is a devastating story of a young woman’s rage against her superficial world, who turns the tables to herself become a prowler and defender of the vulnerable in the night. All of them
though devastating in their fine detail of emotions and relationships.
though devastating in their fine detail of emotions and relationships.
November 10, 2024
These shorter works by White are strange, very dense but really interesting. Every time I finished one of these six stories, they stayed in my mind, the more I thought about them the more I got out of them and liked them more.
March 7, 2025
The two stand out stories for me were The Cockatoos itself and The Night The Prowler - The Night The Prowler is really staggering . I don’t usually read short stories but I felt like these were really interesting examples of the purpose and structure of short stories as a form. I’m now thinking to go back and look at Raymond Carver’s again .
October 29, 2021
I put off The Cockatoos until I'd read almost all the White I wanted to read, on the assumption that his thing wouldn't work in shorter bursts. I was wrong. His thing works in all bursts. If only there wasn't quite so much sub-Lawrentian* 'if only we could all make out all the time' stuff going on. White is usually good enough to avoid the worst excesses of eros-worship, though.
*: Lawrence is already pretty low.
*: Lawrence is already pretty low.
June 25, 2015
een interessante studie van een aantal higher-middle class-personen, die halfweg hun leven plots in de knoop liggen met hun, door de samenleving bepaalde, identiteit. Vaak ook met een tijdelijk verlangen om hun huwelijk, vastgeroest als het is, achter zich te laten, maar uiteindelijk daar toch terug in verzanden, of er aan ontsnappen zonder dat dit redding brengt voor hun psyche.
March 27, 2012
Was good, not great. The last story, 'The Cockatoos' was brilliant however. If you are not keen on short stories, but like Patrick White, then give this story a go.
April 1, 2015
Just not for me--I did not like his way of writing!! I carried on reading it hoping that the next story was going to be better!!
December 24, 2016
Intriguing, engaging, visceral, stylish, evocative. I rarely read short story anthologies but this one held my interest. A look at the world, post WW2, through the eyes of a master writer.
June 18, 2023
Such a balance in these stories of funny because so strange & sad because so strange, both strangnesses recognizably human, fragile & mysterious. Most mortifying, the humanness here. White illuminates emotional nuances, everyday & lifelong. The small revelations of middling lives settled for � half-spoken & half-lived. Comfortable, except for the secret discomfort of unfathomable, unfulfilled desires lying right under the skin. Perplexed by ourselves & why we act as we do or don’t act as we want to.
Breathtaking writing here. As in beautiful. As in unsettling. These stories might seem cruel to some. Maybe they are. Cruel like daylight can be cruel. Or love. Bleak, yes, in some ways (a particular concentration of it aimed at matrimony). But not merciless. Empathy is throughout, though at a distance. White is uncovering, not consoling. He doesn’t leave us totally out in the cold, his writing is far too insightful for that. But a sense of desolation lingers.
Breathtaking writing here. As in beautiful. As in unsettling. These stories might seem cruel to some. Maybe they are. Cruel like daylight can be cruel. Or love. Bleak, yes, in some ways (a particular concentration of it aimed at matrimony). But not merciless. Empathy is throughout, though at a distance. White is uncovering, not consoling. He doesn’t leave us totally out in the cold, his writing is far too insightful for that. But a sense of desolation lingers.
April 8, 2023
[Review is for 'Five-Twenty']
A weird short story about a woman and her dead-weight of a husband who suffers a permanent injury from the waist down. I thought the author made very apt observations about the marriage dynamics where he (and even she herself) conditions her to believe that the whole purpose of her existence is to cater to his needs. It was an interesting perspective to read about how narcissists choose their victims. Was really rooting for her when she was able to regain some of that confidence, but the ending confused the hell out of me, so will have to give this another read soon.
A weird short story about a woman and her dead-weight of a husband who suffers a permanent injury from the waist down. I thought the author made very apt observations about the marriage dynamics where he (and even she herself) conditions her to believe that the whole purpose of her existence is to cater to his needs. It was an interesting perspective to read about how narcissists choose their victims. Was really rooting for her when she was able to regain some of that confidence, but the ending confused the hell out of me, so will have to give this another read soon.
October 26, 2023
A collection of strange short stories, mostly fairly bleak in subject filled with repressed and sad characters. I confess at times I wasn’t even certain I was still following the story. Somehow though in spite of this I am engaged and captivated by Patrick Whites style of writing. He can be cruel or poetic, but always a keen observer of human behaviour and a wicked critic of social conventions.
September 1, 2021
This is a story pregnant with meaning. The use of Tim’s character as a voyeur, the commentary of boring Suburban Australia and the irony was enjoyable to read. The marital issues droned on a bit longer than needed. Figgis, you absolute ass.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2021
An interesting read but these stories don't really go anywhere, they seem to ramble on with no real plot and the characters are quite unrealistic.
June 13, 2023
Good, a bit tedious at times, but good. Absolutely loved the last titular storey The Cockatoos. Recommend to short and shorter storey lovers.
September 20, 2023
*Only read Patrick White's short story 'The Cockatoos'*
I enjoyed it, but it honestly went on for too long and was confusing to follow.
I enjoyed it, but it honestly went on for too long and was confusing to follow.
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