I haven't reviewed a Library of America offering for a while and so have decided it's time I dipped again into its offerings. Willa Cather's essay/journalistic piece "When I knew Stephen Crane", which they published last month, appealed to me because of a couple of synchronicities. One is that Lisa of ANZLitLovers reviewed Crane's The red … Continue reading Willa Cather, When I knew Stephen Crane
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Arnold Zable on survival and stories
Arnold Zable is not, I believe, very well-known even in Australia, but I think he is a beautiful writer. He has a lovely way with words but, more importantly I think, his writing is warm and generous. I've read two of his novels - Cafe Scheherazade and Sea of many returns - and enjoyed them both. Zable was born in 1947 in New … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Arnold Zable on survival and stories
Monday musings on Australian literature: Japanese poetry in Australia
Papa Gums loves to give me clippings of obituaries that he knows will interest me. Last week, from his hospital bed, he gave me one for an Australian poet I'd never heard of, Janice Bostock. She was, according to the obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald, "one of Australia's leading writers of Japanese poetic forms", … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Japanese poetry in Australia
Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
Would you believe the issue of fact and fiction is consciously raised in yet another novel I've read? In his preface to The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole suggests that it's possible the story - which he tells us that he "found" and translated - is based on fact. And he concludes that: If a … Continue reading Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
Whither dictionaries?
I'm always a bit suspicious of writers who nay-say some new development. You know, like television will be the death of cinema, the book is dead, and so on. The latest I've read is in an article from the Independent that appeared in our local newspaper. The article*, "Death of the dictionary" by John Walsh, … Continue reading Whither dictionaries?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Late bloomers
I guess every country has them, the writers who aren't recognised until their middle age. Australia certainly does, and many of them seem to be women. I'm not sure whether this apparent gender imbalance is a fact or simply reflects my biased interest in the lives of women writers. I wouldn't be surprised if it … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Late bloomers
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Thea Astley on aging
Regular readers of this blog will now that I'm a big fan of Thea Astley. One of her last novels (novella, actually) was Coda, a biting story about elderly widow Kathleen who is losing her memory but struggling, with little help from her self-centred children, to maintain some independence and, more, dignity. The book is full of wonderful … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Thea Astley on aging
Leslie Cannold, The book of Rachael
For someone who doesn't seek out historical fiction, I seem to have read a lot of it lately. Leslie Cannold's The book of Rachael is the third historical novel I've read in succession - and it's the third with an author's afterword/postscript, which suggests to me some uncertainty in the writers about historical fiction. Tansley quoted Doris Lessing's statement … Continue reading Leslie Cannold, The book of Rachael
Monday musings on Australian literature: Bookseller turns publisher
Bookseller-as-publisher (and vice versa) is not an original idea but, in our digital environment with its plethora of production and distribution technologies, this combination clearly offers new possibilities - one that the Australian bookchain, Dymocks, has announced it is going to try. Its aim? To "support Australians with stories to tell" ... and, of course, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Bookseller turns publisher
Marion Halligan on fact, fiction and character
More on playing with that line between fact and fiction... One of my favourite writers - though I have nowhere near read all her works - is Marion Halligan, who also happens to be local to my town. Halligan has been shortlisted for and/or won several signifcant Australian literary awards but I'd be surprised if many readers overseas … Continue reading Marion Halligan on fact, fiction and character
Whispering Gums 