Apparently many of the attendees at the various Voss Journey events this weekend confess to having read "parts of Voss". I am intrigued by this because as an 18 year old in my last year of high school, nearly 40 years ago, I absolutely fell in love with Voss. Indeed, it set me off on … Continue reading The Voss Journey
Author: Whispering Gums
Favourite writers: 1, Jane Austen
This will (may?) be an occasional series of posts on my favourite writers. I will do them in no particular order of importance, with one exception, this first one. Jane Austen is the writer who turned my newly adolescent self from being a reader to a Reader. She is the one novelist whom I regularly … Continue reading Favourite writers: 1, Jane Austen
Christos Tsiolkas, The slap (Review)
You could easily give yourself away when reviewing Christos Tsiolkas’ latest novel, The slap. For example, do you align yourself with the uncompromising, emotional earth mother Rosie or the rational, cool and collected but somewhat more willing to compromise Aisha? Do you rail against the liberal use of expletives, the relaxed attitude to recreational drug … Continue reading Christos Tsiolkas, The slap (Review)
Joan London, The good parents (Spoilers, sort of)
I was looking forward to reading Joan London's most recent novel, The good parents, because I loved her Gilgamesh, not only for its engrossing story but also for its evocation of place and period and its spare writing. The plot of The good parents is a simple one. Maya, Jacob and Toni's 18 year-old daughter, disappears just before … Continue reading Joan London, The good parents (Spoilers, sort of)
Boori (Monty) Pryor, Maybe tomorrow
Boori Pryor I wonder why I didn't read this book when it was published about 10 years ago? In the 1960s, when I was in my teens, I read poems like Kath Walker's (later Oodgeroo Noonuccal) We are going; in the 1970s when I was at university it was more academic works such as the … Continue reading Boori (Monty) Pryor, Maybe tomorrow
Eve Langley, The pea-pickers
It is hard to classify Langley's most famous novel, The pea-pickers, which was first published in 1942. In some ways it fits into the coming-of-age genre but it is different from the more usual offerings in that genre, if only because there is no real sense at the end that the protagonist has come of age! It … Continue reading Eve Langley, The pea-pickers
Book blogs and book covers
Clearly it would be in publishers' interests to allow the free uploading of book covers by book bloggers, and clearly most book bloggers do upload book covers. But, having worked for many years in a profession (librarian/archivist) where copyright has been an everyday concern, I have been seeking some clarity on this issue. While I … Continue reading Book blogs and book covers
My name
Snow Gum, Dead Horse Gap walk, Kosciuszko National Park This is my first individual blog, and I've decided to name it taking words from my old high school song. I have never forgotten it - perhaps because it seems so atypical in its "floweriness". Here it is: Minerva, by our southern seas,Her sacred groves replantedWith … Continue reading My name
Whispering Gums 