The novella has ambivalence built into its DNA. It’s neither one thing nor the other and tends to make you think even as it lures you down blind alleys and serves up irresolute endings. (The Daily Beast) Readers of this blog know that I am partial to short novels, particularly novellas. I always feel a … Continue reading The long and short of it, novelistically speaking
Novellas
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”
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
Helen Garner, Cosmo cosmolino
When I returned to seriously reading Australian writers back in the 1980s, there were four women writers who caught my attention, and I have loved them ever since. They were Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007), Thea Astley (1925-2004), Olga Masters (1919-1986) and Helen Garner (b. 1942). Garner, the youngest by a couple of decades, is the only … Continue reading Helen Garner, Cosmo cosmolino
Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad
This is the second time I have read Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad. Much as I enjoyed it the first time around, I probably wouldn't have read it again if it hadn't been scheduled for one of my online bookgroups. However, given that scheduling and the fact that I had recently listened to Simon Armitage's dramatisation … Continue reading Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad
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
Helen Garner, The children’s Bach
I've said a few times now that I rarely reread books, and then go on to write about something I've re-read. I must look like a liar, but the fact is that if I've liked a book so much that I've reread it it's likely to find its way here. The funny thing is, though, … Continue reading Helen Garner, The children’s Bach
Sawako Ariyoshi, The doctor’s wife
The doctor's wife is the third Ariyoshi novel that I've read. The other two - The River Ki and The twilight years - I read well over a decade ago. According to Wikipedia The doctor's wife is considered her best novel. All, though, are fascinating reads providing an insight into a culture which is so different … Continue reading Sawako Ariyoshi, The doctor’s wife
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)
Jim Crace, Being dead
The old "so many books, so little time" mantra means that I very rarely read a book more than once (other than my Jane Austens of course), but I have read Jim Crace's Being dead twice. I love this book. I know some find the subject matter unappealing but I find it not only fascinating … Continue reading Jim Crace, Being dead
Whispering Gums 