"Writing a war story" is quite different to the Edith Whartons I've read to date, and it was clear from the opening sentence - "Miss Ivy Spang of Cornwall-on-Hudson had published a little volume of verse before the war". It was the comic tone that did it. All the previous works of hers I've read, several novels and … Continue reading Edith Wharton, Writing a war story (Review)
Satire
William Makepeace Thackeray, The luck of Barry Lyndon (#Review)
By the time I reached about the 30% mark (on my Kindle) of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel, The luck of Barry Lyndon, I was reminded of a monologue by English comedian Cyril Fletcher which my father had on an old gramophone record. It's about a "lunatic" (this was in less linguistically-sensitive times) who decided to write a … Continue reading William Makepeace Thackeray, The luck of Barry Lyndon (#Review)
Washington Irving, The adventure of the German student (Review)
Washington Irving (1783-1859) is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The legend of Sleepy Hollow", but in fact he was a prolific writer and, according to Wikipedia, is often credited as being America's first "man of letters". I was fascinated to read in Wikipedia that, as well as being a writer, he … Continue reading Washington Irving, The adventure of the German student (Review)
Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)
Aldo Benjamin, the anti-hero of Quicksand, accuses wannabe-writer-friend Liam of having "such little imagination". You could not, however, accuse the novel's author, Steve Toltz, of this. Quicksand reads a bit like a 19th century satirical novel transplanted into the 21st century. It is big in size (though not as big as his first, A fraction of the whole), broad in subject … Continue reading Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)
Paul McDermott, Fragments of the hole (Review)
"Paul McDermott DAAS" by Canley. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. If you're an Australian, you are sure to know who Paul McDermott is. If you are not Australian, you may not, and this book in fact would not enlighten you, because nowhere on the book is it made clear that "this" Paul McDermott … Continue reading Paul McDermott, Fragments of the hole (Review)
Hanif Kureishi, The buddha of suburbia (Review)
The first thing to say about Hanif Kureishi's 1990 Whitbread award-winning novel The buddha of suburbia is that it's pretty funny. It's a comic satire - over-the-top at times, confronting at others. It has its dark moments, but it's also brash, irreverent and ultimately warm-hearted towards its tangled band of not always admirable but mostly very human characters. I've come late … Continue reading Hanif Kureishi, The buddha of suburbia (Review)
Peter Carey, Amnesia (Review)
Somewhere sometime ago I read that serious reviewers should read the book they are reviewing at least twice. I think this is good advice, but I admit that with so many books I want to read I rarely follow it. Peter Carey's latest novel Amnesia is one that well warrants rereading. It assaults you with ideas and action that aren't easily … Continue reading Peter Carey, Amnesia (Review)
Julian Davies, Crow mellow (Review)
Julian Davies, author of Crow mellow and publisher at Finlay Lloyd, has written six novels, some of them short-listed for significant literary awards, but, embarrassingly, I only became properly aware of him through his inclusion in the two Canberra centenary volumes that I reviewed in 2013, The invisible thread and Meanjin's The Canberra Issue. It's the … Continue reading Julian Davies, Crow mellow (Review)
Djuna Barnes, Come into the roof garden, Maud (Review)
Okay, I'll admit it, I've never heard of Djuna Barnes (1892-1982). However, I was intrigued when I saw her pop up in the Library of America's (LOA) Story of the Week program last month, and so decided to investigate. I discovered that, while I didn't know her, many did, such as, oh, ee cummings, TS Eliot, … Continue reading Djuna Barnes, Come into the roof garden, Maud (Review)
Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
They all nodded, not knowing what the hell curry* was but getting gist of the story all the same. Marie Munkara leads us a merry dance with Every secret thing, her first book, which won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer. What exactly is this "thing" she presents … Continue reading Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
Whispering Gums 