a group led by Judd eventually dividing after the death of the unifying agent, Mr Palfreyman. The intellect and pretensions to godliness of Mr Voss are compared unfavourably with the simplicity and earthliness of the pardoned convict Judd. Mr Judd, it is implied, has accepted the blankness of the desert of the mind, and in doing so, become more 'godlike'. The spirituality of Australia's indigenous people also infuses the sections of the book set in the desert. The book was listed among the top 100 greatest novels written in English by Guardian journalist Robert McCrum. Film, TV, theatrical or other adaptations Voss has also been adapted into an opera of the same name written by Richard Meale with the libretto by David Malouf. The world premiere was at the 1986 Adelaide Festival of Arts conducted by Stuart Challender. David Lumsdaine's 'Aria for Edward John Eyre' also draws inspiration from Voss, in relating Eyre's journey across Australia's Great Australian Bight (that is, along the southern coast from what is now the Eyre Peninsula to King George's Sound, the site of modern Albany), as documented in his journals, but doing so in a psychologised form similar to the relationship White depicts between Voss and Laura Trevelyan. White wanted Voss to be produced as a film and Sydney musical promoter Harry M. Miller bought the rights. Ken Russell and then Joseph Losey were White's choice for director. Losey and scriptwriter David Mercer arrived in Sydney in 1977 but after a few days in the desert scouting locations the director was hospitalised with viral pneumonia. Miller wanted to cast Donald Sutherland as Voss and Mia Farrow as Laura Trevelyan but White disagreed saying that Farrow was too soft and of Sutherland, "That flabby wet mouth is entirely wrong. Voss was dry and ascetic – he had a thin mouth like a piece of fence-wire. I do think a whole characterisation can go astray on a single physical feature like that." Maximilian Schell was cast to play the explorer and the script was finalised but Miller was unable to raise sufficient capital for production and the film was never made. The Voss Journey (2009) The Voss Journey was a four-day event which included seminars, concerts, films, and exhibitions inspired by the novel, hosted by the National Film and Sound Archive in collaboration with Canberra International Music Festival and many other institutions. It included presentations by