Cover for The man from Snowy River and other verses (Courtesy: Sydney University Press) Is there an Australian out there who doesn't like Banjo Paterson? Who can't sing "Waltzing Matilda", or quote a line or two from "The Man from Snowy River" or "Clancy of the Overflow"? While some of the 12 titles chosen for … Continue reading A.B. Paterson, The Man from Snowy River and other verses
Author: Whispering Gums
Favourite Australian novel
Matt over at A Novel Approach has brought to my attention the Australian Book Review's poll to find our FAN, that is our Favourite Australian Novel. Not, they say, Australia's favourite novel (which would end up with books like Lord of the Rings on the list), nor our favourite Australian book (which could very well … Continue reading Favourite Australian novel
Tessa Hadley, Friendly fire
"Friendly fire", a short story by the English writer Tessa Hadley, is a simple story of two middle-aged women cleaners in an industrial warehouse, Pam who owns the cleaning business and her friend Shelley who is helping her out for the day. The story focuses on Shelley and nothing much really happens - it's more … Continue reading Tessa Hadley, Friendly fire
Murray Bail, The pages
It's not surprising that someone who calls herself Whispering Gums loved Murray Bail's previous novel, Eucalyptus, and so it was with some enthusiasm that I picked up his latest novel, The pages, a few days ago. My edition, unlike the one imaged here, is the hard cover one and, funnily enough, it looks like the … Continue reading Murray Bail, The pages
Flight of the Mind: Day 1, Summary
Today I went to the National Library of Australia's Flight of the Mind conference - and, well, my mind took flight! The conference title comes from Virginia Woolf: The old problem: how to keep the flight of the mind, yet be exact. All the difference between the sketch and the finished work. Today's program focused … Continue reading Flight of the Mind: Day 1, Summary
George Orwell, Bookshop memories
I do like to read a bit of Orwell every now and then - and for that reason, though I have other books of his to read in my TBR pile, I recently bought his essay collection, Books v. cigarettes, in Penguin's delightful Great Ideas series. I blogged about the first essay a couple of months ago. … Continue reading George Orwell, Bookshop memories
Snow gums
Give me a home among the gum trees (from song by W. Johnson and B. Brown) Every Australian should have a gum in their yard somewhere! Pretty well every home I've lived in, and I've lived in a few, has had one in the yard or in the street just outside. My current home, in … Continue reading Snow gums
Favourite writers: 3, Thea Astley
I love its densely woven grammar, its ingrained humour, its uncompromising politics, and its undimmed outrage at human folly, stupidity and greed (Kerryn Goldsworthy on Thea Astley's writing) and Great story, great characters ... Stylistically, however, this book is like a very handsome, strong and fit woman with too much makeup on ... This kind … Continue reading Favourite writers: 3, Thea Astley
The gritty viewing gets grittier…
A few months ago I wrote a post called A day of gritty viewing. Since then I've blogged about more gritty Australian films: Disgrace, Beautiful Kate, and Balibo. And these aren't the only gritty films to have been produced in Australia this year. The latest to hit the cinemas, though, is Blessed (directed by Ana … Continue reading The gritty viewing gets grittier…
Price Warung, Tales of the early days
Okay, I admit it, I have convict ancestors (plural even!). Consequently, I was particularly interested to read Price Warung's 1894 collection of short stories, Tales of the early days, when I discovered it was part of the Australian Classics Library recently published by the Sydney University Press. My convicts include John Warby who, with another labourer, … Continue reading Price Warung, Tales of the early days
Whispering Gums 