While we generally prefer to go it alone, we did decide a few days ago, due to access challenges, to book onto an organised tour of Palm Valley. A good tour can work well and this one turned out to be one of the good ones – decent tour guide, uncrowded tour with congenial companions, … Continue reading Climate change, ferals and Central Australia
Some thoughts from Centralia
With daughter and dog minding the fort, Mr Gums and I headed out last weekend to Central Australia where we are spending ten or so days escaping the wintry south. It is an interesting place to visit, geologically, botanically and culturally; it is where we urban Aussies come across more indigenous people than we usually … Continue reading Some thoughts from Centralia
Imre Kertèsz, Fateless (or Fatelessness)
[WARNING: SPOILERS, of sorts] Let's get the first thing clear. I like holocaust literature - not because I enjoy the subject matter but because in it I find the most elemental, universal truths about humanity. Depending on the book, this literature contains various combinations of bravery and cowardice, cruelty and kindness, love and hate, self-sacrifice, … Continue reading Imre Kertèsz, Fateless (or Fatelessness)
Julian Barnes, The limner
I'm probably going to show my ignorance here as I'm no expert in short stories. I do however like them and have read a fair smattering over the years. Julian Barnes' The limner is interesting because it is historical, that is, unlike most short stories that I have read, it is set in the past … Continue reading Julian Barnes, The limner
George Orwell, Books v. Cigarettes
We all do it! That is, we say we haven't got the time to do something or we can't afford something when in fact we really could if we changed our priorities. This idea is the inspiration for George Orwell's essay titled "Books v. Cigarettes" (written in 1946). It all started when a newspaper editor told him … Continue reading George Orwell, Books v. Cigarettes
Vale Frank McCourt
I've only read one of Frank McCourt's books, his Pulitzer Prize winning memoir, Angela’s ashes. I loved it, but for some reason didn't really feel the need to read more, though I'm sure I would have enjoyed them if I had! Angela's ashes was such a visceral read. I've never read quite such a vivid description … Continue reading Vale Frank McCourt
More Jolley
A decade or so ago my local reading group, with trepidation from some, decided to try a poetry night. The idea was that we'd all bring a favourite poem or two to share. What would I bring? I have some favourite poets from my student days - poets like Gerard Manley Hopkins, T.S. Eliot and … Continue reading More Jolley
Elizabeth Jolley, My father’s moon
'No one,' she says, 'can write anything till they've had experience. Later on perhaps. You will write later on.' (Elizabeth Jolley, My father's moon, 1989) Although fiction demands imagination, it must be based on  some kind of genuine experience. (Elizabeth Jolley, "Only Connect", essay first published in Toads, 1992) My father's moon is the first … Continue reading Elizabeth Jolley, My father’s moon
More on blogging, images and copyright
Those of you who have read my very early posts will know that copyright on images is an important issue for me - it's why I often don't have a lot of images on my posts, much as I'd like to. I'm sure that it won't be long before the whole copyright situation is blown … Continue reading More on blogging, images and copyright
Disgrace-ful
Well, I finally got to see the film adaptation of J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace today. Before seeing it, I was a little surprised that it only had an (Australian) M rating. From my memory of the book I was rather expecting an MA rating. I was slightly disappointed in the film: it's not that I want to watch … Continue reading Disgrace-ful
