This will neither a book nor a film review be - since I've never read a Sherlock Holmes book, and I don't really feel inspired to review Guy Ritchie's new film, Sherlock Holmes. That's not to say I (in fact we) didn't enjoy the film, we did well enough. It's just that it didn't fully … Continue reading Sherlock Holmes (the movie)
Best unread books of the decade
One of my favourite internet bookgroup friends - the one who gave me the Jane Austen diary - has just posted, on a listserv we belong to, a link to The Guardian's list of books that got away over the last decade. Now, that's a new take on lists isn't it? They asked people like publishers, … Continue reading Best unread books of the decade
Andrew Croome, Document Z
Truth, according to the dictionary, can mean several things including: the state of being the case, fact or actuality; and a transcendent or spiritual reality. Truth in all its variety and slipperiness is, I think, the fundamental theme of Andrew Croome's Document Z which won the 2008 The Australian/Vogel Literary Award. This book, which chronicles the … Continue reading Andrew Croome, Document Z
Smoking chair?
...and now for something completely different. Recently I was offered, and gratefully accepted, two chairs which had belonged to my grandparents and which date back to around 1930. They no longer suited my aunt's needs, and my father, keen to see them stay in the family if they were wanted, offered them to me (with … Continue reading Smoking chair?
My second book for Christmas
Is this starting to sound like a carol you know? Anyhow, I did say in a comment on my first Christmas book post that I had received another book for Christmas, The best Australian poems 2009 (edited by Robert Adamson). DKS's comment about the value of this annual series to the cause of poetry made … Continue reading My second book for Christmas
My first book for Christmas
I know that Christmas is still over a week away but last night I received my first book of the season...and that, I think, is a litblog-worthy event! Actually, I tell a bit of a lie, because last week I was sent, by a very kind internet bookgroup friend who knows my likes, the British … Continue reading My first book for Christmas
A free range Christmas
Can you think of anything more free-ranging than a concert which includes the Inch Worm song and Blake's Tyger, Rudolph the Red-nose reindeer and a 13th century Benedictine Nun's lullaby, and much more besides? I certainly wouldn't have before we attended a concert on Friday titled A Free Range Christmas by the wonderful Song Company. The … Continue reading A free range Christmas
Little treasures (that’s novellas to you)
I realised a few years ago that quite a few (though by no means all) of my favourite works of fiction are novellas. I think it's because I admire succinctness, the ability to convey an idea, feeling, impression in very few words. (By contrast, I love Big Fat Books - which I may post on another … Continue reading Little treasures (that’s novellas to you)
What gives you joy?
I've just watched Andrew Denton interviewing Clive James on his Elders program. He asked James what gives him "joy", and James replied "the Arts". James said it didn't have to be anything particular, it could be Marvin Gaye singing "I heard it through the grapevine" or the Adagio from Beethoven's Ninth Sympathy or a painting … Continue reading What gives you joy?
Bright star, or a thing of beauty?
What can ail thee knight at arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing. I have always loved these opening lines of John Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci". The first two lines with their mystical, but also traditionally Romantic, melancholy, just roll off the tongue. You … Continue reading Bright star, or a thing of beauty?
Whispering Gums 