Now here's the thing ... I don't make a practice of reading mysteries. I really don't care about who dunnit. When Mr Gums and I watch television crime shows, I rarely concentrate enough to work out the plot intricacies, but I do watch the characters. I'm always interested in the detectives and their relationships. I … Continue reading Eleanor Catton, The luminaries (Review)
Month: January 2014
Vale Pete Seeger
If music is powerful, and words are powerful, what power can words set to music have? Pete Seeger knew, but I don't need to tell anyone that do I? What a legacy he has left us from his 94 years on this earth! I'm an Australian of course, but Seeger, who first came to me … Continue reading Vale Pete Seeger
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australia’s difficult novels
A week or so ago I wrote a post about reading difficult novels. As I researched that post, I came across many lists of difficult novels, including the one I included at the end of the post. The interesting thing is that none of the lists I saw included any Australian novels, and yet they … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australia’s difficult novels
Jane Austen on reading novels
Jane Austen's defence of the novel in Northanger Abbey is famous. Not only does the hero, Henry Tilney, tell the heroine Catherine, that: The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid ... but Austen, in an authorial comment early in the book, says ... … Continue reading Jane Austen on reading novels
Harriet Ann Jacobs, The lover (Review)
It's a while since I read a story from the Library of America's (LOA) Story of the Week program, but when I saw Harriet Ann Jacobs' story "The lover" appear in its list of Top 10 stories from 2013 I felt it was time to rectify my tardiness - particularly with the movie, 12 Years a … Continue reading Harriet Ann Jacobs, The lover (Review)
Forgiveness or Revenge, Love or Hatred?
This rather personal post departs somewhat from my usual fare - and replaces my usual Monday Musings, for a reason that will become obvious at the end. Last week I saw the film The Railway Man. For those of you who haven't seen or heard of it, it is about Eric Lomax, a British soldier … Continue reading Forgiveness or Revenge, Love or Hatred?
Reading difficult literature
I seem to have been reading a lot in recent weeks about reading, the end of reviewing, the future (or not) of the book, and so on. All interesting, though many revisiting familiar territory. One, though, particularly caught my eye. It was a post in Book Riot, by magazine editor/blogger/reviewer Greg Zimmerman, and was titled … Continue reading Reading difficult literature
Margaret Rose Stringer, And then like my dreams (Review)
I was, I have to admit, predisposed to like Margaret Rose Stringer's memoir, And then like my dreams, before I opened the cover. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed, but not, as it turned out, for the reason I expected. Here's why. Margaret Rose Stringer once worked as a continuity girl in the Australian film industry and … Continue reading Margaret Rose Stringer, And then like my dreams (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Here come the men!
Women really have dominated the literary awards season in Australia over the last two years. In 2012, the majority of the awards were won by Anna Funder with All that I am and Gillian Mears with Foal's bread. Last year it was mostly Michelle de Kretser with Questions of travel and Carrie Tiffany with Mateship … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Here come the men!
Beryl Fletcher, Juno and Hannah (Review)
I've been pretty remiss in my blog regarding New Zealand literature. I have read and enjoyed several New Zealand novelists, such as Keri Hulme, Janet Frame and Fiona Kidman, but the only New Zealand writer I've reviewed here to date has been Lloyd Jones. And so I was both intrigued and pleased when Spinifex Press … Continue reading Beryl Fletcher, Juno and Hannah (Review)
Whispering Gums 