The Dreamtime: Australian Aboriginal Myths in Paintingsby Ainslie Roberts, Charles P. Mountford
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 0851790259
Publication Date: March 1, 1970
Pages: 79
Genre: Fiction, Mythology
Publisher: Rigby
I wanted a collection of Dreamtime myths from the moment I arrived in Australia, but it took me almost 10 years to find it and when I did, it was from a Canadian bookseller.
I picked it up today and read it all in about 90 minutes. The introduction, written in the mid-60’s, tries to be respectful, and succeeds for the most part, but the style was at times hard to swallow: it sounded like one of those wildlife tv shows from the 70’s.
The stories themselves, and the paintings that pair with them, are mostly well told, though I noticed areas of geography are referred to by their colonial names. The art is wonderful, sometimes haunting and sometimes disturbing, but always beautifully executed.