I know the sad truth. About everything. (Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones) In past posts, I've talked of enjoying coming-of-age novels (aka bildungsroman) and so today I thought I'd share 5 (cos 5 seems like a manageable number for a list like this - and gives you an opportunity to contribute your own!) Australian novels in … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The Australian bildungsroman
Coming of age novels
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
Madeleine St John, The women in black
One thing mystified me as I started reading Madeleine St John's The women in black and that is why she would write a book in 1993 about 1950s? It seemed an odd choice. And then, as I read further, it started to become clear. The time period represents one of those cultural watersheds that nations … Continue reading Madeleine St John, The women in black
Jane Austen, Sense and sensibility (Vol. 1)
This year is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's first (published) novel, Sense and sensibility. To celebrate this, my local Jane Austen group plans to discuss the novel over the next three months, volume by volume. We tried this last year with Mansfield Park and valued the opportunity it presented to delve … Continue reading Jane Austen, Sense and sensibility (Vol. 1)
Barbara Hanrahan, The scent of eucalyptus
Writer-artist Barbara Hanrahan was born half a generation before I was and in the city of Adelaide not a country town in Queensland, but the childhood she depicts in her first novel, The scent of eucalyptus, could almost have been mine. Almost, but not quite, as I was brought up in a standard nuclear family … Continue reading Barbara Hanrahan, The scent of eucalyptus
Joanna Biggar, That Paris year (Guest post)
When I received That Paris year via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program, I got the sudden attack of the guilts! How was I to review this book alongside all the other books I wanted to read? And then the thought struck me! My daughter, Hannah (aka Wayfaring Chocolate), is a reader, was an exchange student … Continue reading Joanna Biggar, That Paris year (Guest post)
Toni Jordan, Fall girl
It's just as well I'm not one of those readers who likes to draw conclusions about writers' lives from their writing, because if I were I'd be seriously concerned about Toni Jordan. You see, her latest novel, Fall girl, is about a con-artist, a very experienced one in fact. And Jordan writes so convincingly you'd … Continue reading Toni Jordan, Fall girl
Kate Jennings, Snake
In her "fragmented autobiography", Trouble, Kate Jennings used excerpts from her first novel, Snake, to convey her childhood experience of growing up on a farm in the Riverina region of New South Wales. She had, she wrote, an "unhappy mother, diffident father". Snake is the story of such a mother and father. While the novel … Continue reading Kate Jennings, Snake
Arnold Jansen op de Haar, King of Tuzla
Translated works always represent a challenge. There is something slightly disconcerting about knowing that you are not reading the actual words of the author, but someone else's interpretation of them. There's been some discussion of this around the blogs and in the media this year, partly because of the publication of Why translation matters by award winning … Continue reading Arnold Jansen op de Haar, King of Tuzla
Jeanette Winterson, Oranges are not the only fruit
As I was reading Jeanette Winterson's novella Oranges are not the only fruit, the question, rightly or wrongly, that was uppermost in my mind was "What is it with the oranges?" Is there something about oranges that I don't know? Something specific that they symbolise? I racked (wracked) my brain for something in my literary … Continue reading Jeanette Winterson, Oranges are not the only fruit
Whispering Gums 