Book cover (Courtesy: Allen& Unwin) Ruth Reichl and Kate Jennings were both born in 1948, the former in the USA and the latter in Australia. Both had problematic relationships with their mothers and have written about those relationships, Reichl in memoirs and Jennings in her autobiographical novel, Snake. In her first memoir, Tender at the … Continue reading Ruth Reichl, Not becoming my mother
Anna Krien, Into the woods
How can so many people all be looking at the same thing and see it so differently? The man moseying around in front of me looks at a 300-year old tree and sees a nursing home, while an activist twenty minutes down the road sees a block of flats for furry and feathered creatures. Vive … Continue reading Anna Krien, Into the woods
Monday musings on Australian literature: Elizabeth von Arnim
This week's Monday musings is a bit cheeky since Elizabeth von Arnim (or Mary Annette Beauchamp, her birth-name) was born in Sydney in 1866 but her parents left Australia in 1871 for Switzerland and then England. Von Arnim spent the rest of her life abroad. So, why am I writing about her? She didn't grow up … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Elizabeth von Arnim
Kate Chopin, Désireé’s baby
I read Kate Chopin's short story "Désireé's baby" (1893) back in March when Kirsty mentioned it in her comment on my last Chopin post, but I didn't blog it then. However, when it appeared a couple of weeks ago as a Library of America selection, I felt its time had come. But, what to say? … Continue reading Kate Chopin, Désireé’s baby
On endings – in novels, that is
Australian writer, Amanda Lohrey, was interviewed on this morning's Bookshow about her new book, a collection of short stories titled Reading Madame Bovary, which Lisa at ANZLitLovers has well reviewed. I'm not going to talk about the interview here in any detail, but I did think she had something interesting to say about endings, particularly given the … Continue reading On endings – in novels, that is
Monday musings on Australian literature: The gum tree in the Australian imagination
In the next week (I hope), I'll be reviewing Anna Krien's Into the forest, her investigation into the longstanding conflict over logging native forests in our southernmost state, Tasmania. In the meantime, though, as I've been reading the book, I've been thinking again of the role eucalypts play in Australian life and culture - and, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The gum tree in the Australian imagination
Books into films
'Do you mind what they did to your book?' 'Well, they can't do anything to my book. They can't alter a single comma ... ' I came across the above in an article about P. D. James' in the September issue of goodreading magazine. The discussion relates to her non-crime novel The children of men which was adapted into … Continue reading Books into films
John Banville, The infinities
This is what Benny loves, what all the gods love, to eavesdrop on the secret lives of others. Hmm ... this is also, I think, what readers love! Readers after all are, surely, the ultimate voyeurs. And yet the god Hermes, who narrates John Banville's The infinities, also admits to the gods interfering in people's lives, which is, in … Continue reading John Banville, The infinities
Lionel Shriver, So much for that
Having had my own rather traumatic experience of the American healthcare system back in the 1980s I was rather keen to read Lionel Shriver's latest offering, So much for that. And, I wasn't disappointed - or, let me rephrase that, I found it an interesting and engaging page-turner though not a top-ten-of-the-year one. First a … Continue reading Lionel Shriver, So much for that
Monday musings on Australian literature: In praise of the “taker-outers”
Today's Monday musings post is not solely about Australian literature but it was inspired by an Australian writer, Kate Jennings, about whom I've written a few times in the last month or so. In 2002 she wrote an essay titled "Bone and sinew", for our now defunct Bulletin magazine, in which she praises short novels … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: In praise of the “taker-outers”
Whispering Gums 