Carol Rumens
Last Updated on June 7, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 122
Sole Survivor is the third volume in Maurice Gee's New Zealand saga of the Plumb family. The rise and fall of Duggie Plumb, an ambitious politician, is charted in tones of limpid irony by his cousin, the journalist Raymond Sole, known more familiarly as Raymond or R. Sole. Duggie's wily...
(The entire section contains 122 words.)
See This Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this study guide. You'll also get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
Already a member? Log in here.
Sole Survivor is the third volume in Maurice Gee's New Zealand saga of the Plumb family. The rise and fall of Duggie Plumb, an ambitious politician, is charted in tones of limpid irony by his cousin, the journalist Raymond Sole, known more familiarly as Raymond or R. Sole. Duggie's wily ruthlessness may originate in childhood trauma (hysterical mother, philandering father), but the point is not laboured; Gee, notwithstanding the raw pun of the title, is a writer of great subtlety….
[Gee's] style is abrupt, nervy, vivid, and the book moves along swiftly, preferring the resonance of the verb to that of the adjective.
Carol Rumens, "Eros and Thanatos in Alex," in The Observer (reprinted by permission of The Observer Limited), October 23, 1983, p. 32.∗