Disappointingly, I ended up missing my bookgroup's discussion of the book I had encouraged us to read, Sundays in August by 2014 Nobel prize-winner Patrick Modiano. I have no-one else to blame but myself, since I did the schedule and should have remembered that I was going to be in Hobart for my brother's exhibition. … Continue reading Patrick Modiano, Sundays in August (#BookReview)
Review
Hal Porter, Francis Silver (#Review, #1962 Club)
Introducing my first review for the 1962 Year Club - Shirley Hazzard's "The picnic" - I said I had read two short stories and might post on the second one. I am doing so now but, stupidly, I left the book back in Canberra and here I am in Melbourne, so my post will be … Continue reading Hal Porter, Francis Silver (#Review, #1962 Club)
Shirley Hazzard, The picnic (#Review, #1962 Club)
As I have done for most "year" reading weeks*, I decided for 1962 to read a short story by an Australian author. I read two, in fact, and may post on the second one later. Today's story, though, is Shirley Hazzard's "The picnic" which I found in an anthology edited by Carmel Bird, The Penguin … Continue reading Shirley Hazzard, The picnic (#Review, #1962 Club)
Kevin Brophy, The lion in love (#BookReview)
This year has been, for me, the year of the short story, partly because short stories have fitted in with the sort of year I've had, but also because short stories - individually, in anthologies, and in collections - have been coming my way in great number. This is fine, because I love a good … Continue reading Kevin Brophy, The lion in love (#BookReview)
Susan Glaspell, A jury of her peers (#Review)
One of my retirement activities is to co-ordinate a little band of volunteer indexers at the National Film and Sound Archive. Not only do we do useful work for the Archive, but we get to socialise a little with our peers, meaning we talk about what we are watching, listening to, and reading. Recently, one … Continue reading Susan Glaspell, A jury of her peers (#Review)
Carmel Bird, Love letter to Lola (#BookReview)
In her prose piece, "Ocean of story" (my post), Christina Stead wrote that It is only when the short story is written to a rigid plan, or done as an imitation, that it dies. It dies when it is pinned down, but not elsewhere. It is the million drops of water that are the looking-glasses … Continue reading Carmel Bird, Love letter to Lola (#BookReview)
Mary TallMountain, Snatched away (#Review)
Mary TallMountain's "Snatched away" is the ninth story of fourteen in the anthology, Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers, that I've been working through this year. It, like the previous three, was published in the 1980s, in 1988 in this case. Mary TallMountain Anthology editor Bob Blaisdell provides minimal information about her. He … Continue reading Mary TallMountain, Snatched away (#Review)
Shelley Burr, Ripper (#BookReview)
When I started reading Ripper, Shelley Burr's follow-up novel to her bestselling award-winning debut novel Wake (my review), I thought about crime novels, about how they are often written in series and how I am not a big series fan. Ripper looked to me like a stand-alone novel - and it is, somewhat! I say … Continue reading Shelley Burr, Ripper (#BookReview)
Pat Barker, The women of Troy (#BookReview)
I shocked my reading group last week when I announced during our discussion of Pat Barker's novel, The women of Troy, that I was tiring of feminist re-imaginings of historical women. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the novel, and it is definitely not to say that I am not interested in … Continue reading Pat Barker, The women of Troy (#BookReview)
J.D. Vance, Hillbilly elegy (#BookReview)
I did something recently that I haven't done for a long time. I picked up a book from a remainder table. It was at the National Library bookshop, and I was waiting to meet a friend for lunch. The book was J.D. Vance's memoir Hillbilly elegy: A memoir of a family and culture in crisis, … Continue reading J.D. Vance, Hillbilly elegy (#BookReview)
