In the postscript to her novel A break in the chain, Tangea Tansley quotes Doris Lessing's statement that 'fiction is better at "the truth" than a factual record'. This gets to the nub of my challenge with this book, which is a fictionalised account of three generations of the author's family, particularly her great grandparents … Continue reading Tangea Tansley, A break in the chain: The early Kozminskys
Australian writers
Alexis Wright, Carpentaria
Alexis Wright's Carpentaria won the Miles Franklin Award in 2007 and I read it back around then but it's a book that keeps coming back to me so I thought it was time I shared why. This won't be my usual review, but rather random comments on the ideas that float around my head. First though, you … Continue reading Alexis Wright, Carpentaria
Monday musings on Australian literature: Five fascinating fictional fathers
This week's Monday musings has a personal, sentimental, genesis. Last Friday, my 91-year-old father underwent his third major abdominal surgery in 6 years. It's a big ask for an older body but he's hanging in there. My parents, not surprisingly I suppose, were instrumental in my becoming a reader. My mother introduced me to Jane … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Five fascinating fictional fathers
Kim Scott, That deadman dance
(Image courtesy Picador Australia) About a third of the way into Kim Scott's novel That deadman dance is this: We thought making friends was the best thing, and never knew that when we took your flour and sugar and tea and blankets that we'd lose everything of ours. We learned your words and songs and stories, and never … Continue reading Kim Scott, That deadman dance
MJ Hyland, Carry me down
If you like writers who unsettle, then MJ Hyland is a writer for you. Carry me down is my second Hyland. I read, loved and reviewed a later book of hers, This is how, nearly a year ago, and said then that I'd like to read more. I finally have, and am not disappointed. Carry … Continue reading MJ Hyland, Carry me down
Helen Garner, Postcards from Surfers
Helen Garner is a fiercely honest writer - and a prolific one too. She has written novels, short stories, essays and non-fiction books. All are generally well-acclaimed, though not always without controversy (as I mentioned in my recent Monday musings). Certainly, I haven't always agreed with her ... but I do admire her honesty and … Continue reading Helen Garner, Postcards from Surfers
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Alan Gould on the Monaro (and thereabouts)
Monaro country after the 2003 fires While I love reading to escape to other places and times, other cultures and ways of being, I also enjoy reading about the familiar, about places I know and experiences I've had. Alan Gould, whose The lakewoman I reviewed recently, is a local writer. The lakewoman, in fact, is … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Alan Gould on the Monaro (and thereabouts)
Talking with Alan Gould
Conrad, 1904, a favourite writer for Gould (Photo: George Charles Beresford, Presumed Public Domain, via Wikipedia) I didn't say in my recent review of Alan Gould's The lakewoman that Gould attended my reading group's discussion of his book. I had so much to say - so many thoughts - about the book, that I thought … Continue reading Talking with Alan Gould
Elizabeth Jolley, Diary of a weekend farmer
I took 2 valium and went to bed early (Monday 12th October, 1970) Elizabeth Jolley's Diary of a weekend farmer is one quirky memoir (if you can call it that). And yet it is, really, exactly what you might expect from a writer who rarely wrote the expected! It is a slim volume - illustrated … Continue reading Elizabeth Jolley, Diary of a weekend farmer
Alan Gould, The lakewoman: A romance
I'm a little embarrassed to say that until The lakewoman was shortlisted in the 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, I only knew of Alan Gould as a poet. Turns out, though, that he has written several novels, of which this one is his most recent. It is, ostensibly, a war novel, in that much of it is set … Continue reading Alan Gould, The lakewoman: A romance
