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anusha_reads 's review for:
Theory & Practice
by Michelle de Kretser
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
BOOK #3 THEORY AND PRACTICE BY MICHELLE DE KRETSER, LONGLISTED FOR STELLA PRIZE 2025
Michelle de Kretser is an acclaimed Australian novelist, born in Sri Lanka and relocated to Australia in 1972 at the age of 14. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Her novel The Lost Dog was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2008, and her 2017 work, The Life to Come, was shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to read this book—thank you, Stella Prize, for the digital copy.
Theory & Practice is a novel that demands deep contemplation. It begins with an excerpt from a novel-in-progress, only for the narrator to declare that the story has stalled.
The narrator, a young Sri Lankan-Australian woman, is immersed in her master’s research thesis on Virginia Woolf. Her academic journey is interwoven with personal relationships, particularly her involvement with Kit, who is in a ‘deconstructed’ relationship with another woman, Olivia. While the complexity of this love triangle is intriguing, I found the sections on her research into Virginia Woolf even more compelling.
The novel blurs the lines between memoir, fiction, and essay. Although it delves into the narrator’s personal life, it also explores literary theories and philosophical musings on political figures and artists. One of the novel’s central themes is encapsulated in the line:
“THEORY AND PRACTICE REMAINED DISTINCT ACTIVITIES THAT OCCUPIED SEPARATE ROOMS IN MY MIND.”
Throughout the book, we are reminded of the tension between theory and practice. The narrator has a poster of Virginia Woolf in her room and affectionately refers to her as “Woolf Mom,” drawing comparisons between Woolf and her own mother while reflecting on the imperfections of motherhood. As readers, we gain insight into her thought process—sometimes conflicted, sometimes chaotic. Her studies require her to engage with weighty literary works, further enriching the novel’s intellectual depth.
I particularly loved the sections exploring Virginia Woolf’s work, where the narrator presents thoughtful, rational interpretations of various theories.
Writing a review for this book is challenging because it resists categorization—it is introspective, layered, and thought-provoking. Michelle de Kretser has crafted a novel that is as intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging.
Michelle de Kretser is an acclaimed Australian novelist, born in Sri Lanka and relocated to Australia in 1972 at the age of 14. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Her novel The Lost Dog was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2008, and her 2017 work, The Life to Come, was shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to read this book—thank you, Stella Prize, for the digital copy.
Theory & Practice is a novel that demands deep contemplation. It begins with an excerpt from a novel-in-progress, only for the narrator to declare that the story has stalled.
The narrator, a young Sri Lankan-Australian woman, is immersed in her master’s research thesis on Virginia Woolf. Her academic journey is interwoven with personal relationships, particularly her involvement with Kit, who is in a ‘deconstructed’ relationship with another woman, Olivia. While the complexity of this love triangle is intriguing, I found the sections on her research into Virginia Woolf even more compelling.
The novel blurs the lines between memoir, fiction, and essay. Although it delves into the narrator’s personal life, it also explores literary theories and philosophical musings on political figures and artists. One of the novel’s central themes is encapsulated in the line:
“THEORY AND PRACTICE REMAINED DISTINCT ACTIVITIES THAT OCCUPIED SEPARATE ROOMS IN MY MIND.”
Throughout the book, we are reminded of the tension between theory and practice. The narrator has a poster of Virginia Woolf in her room and affectionately refers to her as “Woolf Mom,” drawing comparisons between Woolf and her own mother while reflecting on the imperfections of motherhood. As readers, we gain insight into her thought process—sometimes conflicted, sometimes chaotic. Her studies require her to engage with weighty literary works, further enriching the novel’s intellectual depth.
I particularly loved the sections exploring Virginia Woolf’s work, where the narrator presents thoughtful, rational interpretations of various theories.
Writing a review for this book is challenging because it resists categorization—it is introspective, layered, and thought-provoking. Michelle de Kretser has crafted a novel that is as intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging.