Written in 1993 by David Malouf, an Australian writer, Remembering Babylon is a novel that centers around an English boy, Gemmy Fairley, who is stranded on an island and raised by the island's natives. It was critically acclaimed, winning the inaugural IMPAC Award, and garnering Malouf international recognition.
Remembering Babylon is a book told through multiple perspectives, which Malouf utilizes to make the reader pay close attention to the cohesive narrative. It also covers the themes of isolation/community, culture, and relationships between people. Because Gemmy is an European boy raised by natives, he faces a great cultural disparity when he attempts to reconnect with white settlers of the island. Similarly, the settlers also face the fear of the unknown, aka their fear of the natives and their strange land.
David Malouf received the prestigious IMPAC Award, also known as the International Dublin Literary Award, with a prize of 100,000 euros, for writing Remembering Babylon. The book also won the Prix Baudelaire, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book in Region. Furthermore, Remembering Babylon was also nominated for the Man Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Award.
