I had another post partly drafted for today but, due to the events of last week in Japan, I've decided to postpone that idea for another time. Australia (and we are not the only country in this) has a close relationship with Japan - much of it positive, some of it negative (this latter to do … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Japan and Australia
David Foster Wallace, All that
I have not yet read anything by David Foster Wallace and so when I came across his short story*, "All that", in The New Yorker, I jumped at the chance of an introduction. It has a first person narrator, who is looking back on his childhood and recalling, in particular, his fascination with magic and … Continue reading David Foster Wallace, All that
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Nam Le on a storm
Australia is not all surf, sand and sea, as much as the tourist industry likes to have it so. We actually do have "weather", as many quaintly call anything that is not fine, sunny and calm. It is, in fact, autumn here now ... after a rather unusual summer (in most parts of the country). … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Nam Le on a storm
Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
They all nodded, not knowing what the hell curry* was but getting gist of the story all the same. Marie Munkara leads us a merry dance with Every secret thing, her first book, which won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer. What exactly is this "thing" she presents … Continue reading Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
Monday musings on Australian literature: SPUNC has spunk
Yes, come here for your wit. I bet I'm the first one to have thought of that line! SPUNC*, in case you haven't heard of them and you probably haven't, is the Small Press Network (in Australia). The acronym actually stands for Small Press Underground Networking Community. It was formed in Melbourne in 2006 and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: SPUNC has spunk
Albert Camus, The plague (orig. La peste)
All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. (Tarrou) and ... to state quite simply what we learn in a time of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men … Continue reading Albert Camus, The plague (orig. La peste)
Writer-Artist Shaun Tan wins an Oscar
Shaun Tan, whose Eric (an excerpt from Tales from Outer Suburbia) I reviewed here a few months ago, won the Oscar this week for Best Animated Short Film. (Tan shared the prize with British producer, Andrew Ruhemann). This is the third time, I believe, an Australian film has won this category, the previous ones being … Continue reading Writer-Artist Shaun Tan wins an Oscar
Monday musings on Australian literature: Two Australian icons
Donald Horne (1920-2005) and Geoffrey Blainey (b. 1930) are Australian icons, not only for their body of work - which is significant - but for phrases they coined which have become part of our national consciousness. Not all Australians today will know who coined them, but most will have heard the phrases themselves. The lucky … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Two Australian icons
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Albert Camus on the sun
As I'm an Australian litblogger, I intend my Delicious Descriptions from Down Under to be primarily of Down Under. However, as we in the southern hemisphere come to the end of summer, as my first two Delicious Descriptions were on the sun and, as I am re-reading Albert Camus' The plague, I can't resist sharing a … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Albert Camus on the sun
Abraham Verghese, Cutting for stone
I saw a man under the spell of his own tale, a snake charmer whose serpent has become his turban. I'm not sure how I want to use the above quote, which comes late in the book, but I just liked it and so decided to start this post with it. Bear with me! Discounting … Continue reading Abraham Verghese, Cutting for stone
Whispering Gums 