130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Come visit us this weekend!πŸš€ Auckland Bookstore β€’ Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

The Vivisector

4.06 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 1,140 ratings, 126 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Vivisector by Patrick White delves into the tumultuous life of Hurtle Duffield, a gifted painter driven by his insatiable passion for art. As he navigates relationships and societal expectations, the novel explores themes of obsession, creativity, and the sacrifices one makes in pursuit of artistic genius. It's a profound exploration of the intersections between art and life.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
Elsewhere:
$2600
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this compelling novel if you're drawn to complex character studies and intricate depictions of the creative process. It offers a deep dive into the life of an ambitious artist, exploring themes of obsession, ambition, and the human condition with rich, vivid prose.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From the Australian Nobel Laureate.

This Patrick White masterpiece, now in a Vintage Classics edition.

The Vivisector follows Hurtle Duffield, a painter incapable of loving anything except what he paints. The men and women who court him during his long life are, above all, the victims of his art. He is the vivisector, dissecting their weaknesses with cruel precisionβ€”his sister's deformity, a grocer's moonlight indiscretion, and the passionate illusions of his mistress, Hero Pavloussi.

It is only when Hurtle meets an egocentric adolescent, whom he sees as his spiritual child, that he experiences a deeper, more treacherous emotion. This tour de force of sexual and psychological menace sheds brutally honest light on the creative experience.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Vivisector by Patrick White delves into the complex world of a talented artist, exploring themes of sacrifice and obsession. Reviews often highlight White's intricate character development and philosophical depth, though some readers find the narrative's density challenging. The novel is praised for its exploration of the human condition and the sacrifices artists make for their craft.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780143791010

Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 19 March 2018

Country: Australia

Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 42.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 195.0mm

Weight: 409g

Pages: 608

About the Author

Patrick White was born in England in 1912 and taken to Australia, where his father owned a sheep farm, when he was six months old. He was educated in England at Cheltenham college and King's College, Cambridge. He settled in London, where he wrote several unpublished novels, then served in the RAF during the war. He returned to Australia after the war. He became the most considerable figure in modern Australian literature, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973. The great poet of Australian landscape, he turned its vast empty spaces into great mythic landscapes of the soul. His position as a man of letters was controversial, provoked by his acerbic, unpredictable public statements and his belief that it is eccentric individuals who offer the only hope of salvation. He died in September 1990.

Also by Patrick White

View all
  • The Tree Of Man
    At the turn of the century, Stan Parker takes a wife and makes a home as a small farmer in the wilderness of Australia. Amy bears his children and time brings him a procession of ordinary eventsβ€”achievements, disappointments, sorrows, and dreams. Steeped in Australian myths and folklore, Patrick White, in only his fourth novel, burrows his way through Australian culture....
    Paperback
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Solid Mandala
    Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. In The Solid Mandala, Patrick White draws a telling and touching portrait of twin brothers. Waldo is the competent man of reason; he sees himself as the superior intellect. Arthur, accepted as a half-wit, is the innocent, God's fool, loving and outgoing in a blundering way. As they compete with and care for...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Happy Valley: Text Classics
    Happy Valley, Patrick White's magnificent debut novel, was first published in 1939. Long out of print, it is now part of the Text Classics series. Based on White's own experiences in the early 1930s as a jackaroo at Bolaro, near Adaminaby in south-eastern New South Wales, Happy Valley paints a portrait of a community in a desolate landscape. It is...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Memoirs of Many in One
    The last Patrick White novel published in his lifetime, Memoirs of Many in One presents the eccentric, often fantastical recollections of the ageing actor, Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray. These are β€˜edited’ by the writer Patrick White, her friend and executor, who is often the target of her scorn. Witty and affecting, Memoirs reveals another side of White’s fiction even as...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Voss
    The novel that put Australian literature on the map is now in a Vintage Classic edition. Set in nineteenth-century Australia, Voss is the story of the secret passion between an explorer and a naΓ―ve young woman. Although they have met only a few times, Voss and Laura are joined by overwhelming, obsessive feelings for each other. Voss sets out to...
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Twyborn Affair
    One of the great magicians of fiction ... White's scope is vast and his invention endless. Angus Wilson, OBSERVER Eddie Twyborn is bisexual and beautiful, the son of a Judge and a drunken mother. With his androgynous hero - Eudoxia/Eddie/Eadith Twyborn - and through his search for identity, for self-affirmation and love in its many forms, Patrick White takes us...
    Paperback
    $5000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Riders in the Chariot
    A bold, visionary story of four intertwining lives from the Nobel prizewinning novelist WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DAVID MALOUF Through the crumbling ruins of the once splendid Xanadu, Miss Hare wanders, half-mad. In the wilderness, she stumbles upon an Aborigine artist and a Jewish refugee. They place themselves in the care of a local washerwoman. In a world of pervasive...
    Paperback
    $3400
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Developing Research Questions
    This no fuss, compact guide steers social science students of all levels through the complex process of conducting a research project. It explains how to break down initial ideas and broad topics into manageable questions and gives detailed guidance on how to refine these as the project progresses. With a wide range of international examples and reflective exercises, it is...
    Paperback
    $7195
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Living and the Dead
    To hesitate on the edge of life or to plunge in and risk changeβ€”this is the dilemma explored in The Living and the Dead. Patrick White's second novel is set in thirties London and portrays the complex ebb and flow of relationships within the Standish family. Mrs Standish, ageing but still beautiful, is drawn into secret liaisons, while her daughter...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Fringe Of Leaves
    From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Set in Australia in the 1840s, A Fringe of Leaves combines dramatic action with a finely distilled moral vision. Returning home to England from Van Diemen's land, the Bristol Maid is shipwrecked on the Queensland coast, and Mrs Roxburgh is taken prisoner by a tribe of Australian Aboriginals, along with the...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Cockatoos
    These six short novels and stories achieve the majesty and power of the best of Patrick White's great novels. They probe beneath the surface of events – a sexual lapse, the unaccustomed climate of a foreign country, interruptions in a cherished routine, a death, a toothache – to expose a deeper, truer reality. The Cockatoos offers readers captivating insights into...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Eye of the Storm
    This mesmerizing, ambitious, lyrical masterpiece is perhaps Nobel Prize-winner Patrick White's best novel. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE The Eye of the Storm tells the story of Elizabeth Hunter, an ex-socialite in her eighties, who has a mystical experience during a summer storm in Sydney. This transformative event alters all her relationships, and her existence becomes charged with a meaning...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE β€” Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE β€” Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE β€” Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS β€” Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale β€” Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Threshing Day
    The next book in the blockbuster Empyrean series, Threshing DayΒ contains thirteen stories starring your favorite characters and their dragons. The deluxe first edition includes sixteen beautiful original full-color illustrations by artist Joe Requeza.Β  Β  Rebecca Yarros is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing and In the...
    Hardback
    $6999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Pre-order
    Chain Reaction
    Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! β€˜She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    Pre-order
    Out 20 Oct 2026
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses Paperback Box Set (5 books)
    All five of the Court of Thorns and Roses paperbacks packaged together in a gorgeous box set. "Passionate, violent, sexy and daring." β€”USA TODAY on A Court of Thorns and Roses Feyre is a huntress. The skin of a wolf would bring enough gold to feed her sisters for a month. But the life of a magical creature comes at...
    Set
    $9999
    Elsewhere:
    $12495
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Threshing Day
    New Release
    Threshing Day
    The next book in the blockbuster Empyrean series, Threshing Day, contains thirteen stories starring your favourite characters and their dragons. The deluxe first edition includes sixteen beautiful original full-colour illustrations by artist Joe Requeza and silver-gilded edges. *while stock lasts. Discover the beloved world of the record-breaking, multi-million-copy bestselling series where power always demands a price, secrets darken every hallway,...
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $5500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Mist and Fury
    A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas continues Feyre Archeron's epic journey in the world of the High Fae. Having survived the brutal trials under the Mountain, Feyre returns to the Spring Court. Though she now possesses the immortal powers of the High Fae, the traumatic experiences have left scars on her human heart. Haunted by the...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses
    The first instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON and TikTok sensation, from multi-million selling and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan – Time Harry Potter magic, Taylor Swift sass, Fifty Shades-level athleticism – The Sunday Times With bits of Buffy, Game of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Wings and Ruin
    The third instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. In A Court of Wings and Ruin, the gripping third book of the ACOTAR series, Feyre Archeron faces the ultimate battle for her world. Having returned to the Spring Court, she is determined to gather...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Frost and Starlight
    In A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas, readers are invited to revisit the enchanting world of Prythian in a heartwarming and introspective narrative. Set against the backdrop of the Winter Solstice, Feyre Archeron and her mate Rhysand return to centre stage as they strive to restore the Night Court after the devastating conflicts of A Court...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Silver Flames - Night Court Edition
    Limited Edition
    A Court of Silver Flames - Night Court Edition
    The magic and beauty of the Night Court is captured in these LIMITED EDITIONS of the Court of Thorns and Roses series! This Night Court Edition features the Night Court symbol on a striking black and silver foiled cover and includes black sprayed edges. The latest instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!