When I reviewed Elizabeth Harrower's The watch tower the other day I wanted to fill it up with quotes from the book because her writing is so delicious. And that means, of course, that it is perfect for a Delicious Descriptions post. The one I've chosen occurs at the end of Part 2 (of three … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Elizabeth Harrower on Circular Quay
Delicious descriptions
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Willa Cather’s landscape
In my review earlier this week I mentioned that Willa Cather's description of pioneer life in My Ántonia could apply pretty closely to Australia, but I didn't say that her description of the landscape could too. Again, the details are different, but the sense is the same. The expansive blue skies and the preponderance of yellows … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Willa Cather’s landscape
Delicious descriptions from Down under: Julian Barnes on ageing and memory
This is the second Delicious Description I have written about ageing. It probably won't be the last because, being a woman of a certain age, I am starting to connect with authors who explore the impact of ageing. I loved Barnes' description of failing memory in his The sense of an ending (which I recently reviewed): … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down under: Julian Barnes on ageing and memory
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Chris Flynn (or Billy) on yoga
It's been a couple of months since my last Delicious descriptions - life has been particularly busy - but I can't resist stopping for a moment to share this one. It comes during one of my favourite set pieces in Chris Flynn's A tiger in Eden which I reviewed a couple of days ago. This … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Chris Flynn (or Billy) on yoga
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Jahnavi Barua on reading
In my recent review of Jahnavi Barua's Rebirth I quoted the following line: "No, I will not buy a book today. I will try and live in my life instead". I really wanted, though, to quote the entire preceding paragraph, but it didn't really suit the direction of my review. And so, instead, I'm posting … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Jahnavi Barua on reading
Delicious Descriptions from Down Under: Francesca Rendle-Short on writing
In my recent review of Francesca Rendle-Short's fiction-cum-memoir, Bite your tongue, I concluded on the suggestion that for Rendle-Short the act of writing, as well as of reading, "changes things". Today I thought I'd share two excerpts from her novel that confirm this, one from her fictional persona of Glory, and the other from her … Continue reading Delicious Descriptions from Down Under: Francesca Rendle-Short on writing
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Andrew O’Hagan’s Maf meets some bedbugs
I can't not share at least one humorous little treasure from Andrew O'Hagan's The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe, because I think my review focused a little too much on the serious. Some of the delights of the book, if you suspend your disbelief, can be found … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Andrew O’Hagan’s Maf meets some bedbugs
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Alice Pung and Haruki Murakami
Regular readers here may know that I like Haruki Murakami and so will understand that I was tickled when, out of the blue, Alice Pung alludes to Murakami in her book, Her father's daughter, that I reviewed earlier this week. It appears in her description of a prostitute who has come into her father's Retravison … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Alice Pung and Haruki Murakami
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Ada Cambridge on the “bare necessities”
In her novel Sisters, Ada Cambridge describes the plight of one sister who is suddenly left penniless (more or less) and has to move out of her home. The scene is set ... the character is packing to move, with the house and her life in disarray: Deb sat amid the ruins of her home. … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Ada Cambridge on the “bare necessities”
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Albert Camus on world peace
How's this for a bit of communication across cultures: an Australian biographer reporting a French writer commenting on the death of an American president. It comes from the book I'll be reviewing in the next couple of days, Hazel Rowley's Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage. In it Rowley quotes Albert Camus on the death of Franklin … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Albert Camus on world peace
Whispering Gums 