This is a very clever read, though it is hard not think that Catherine McKinnon was heavily influenced by David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas in terms of strThis is a very clever read, though it is hard not think that Catherine McKinnon was heavily influenced by David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas in terms of structure with historical and Sci Fi fiction mixed in the pyramid style telling that made Cloud Atlas the great read that it was and still is.
Storyland is not in the same league as Cloud Atlas, but that should not detract from what is a very good book. All stories take place in the Illawarra district of NSW, and all are vaguely connected along the way. All are told in the first person.
The historical story covers the voyage of The Tom Thumb with Mathew Flinders, George Bass and Will Martin, an event that took place and is documented. We have a murder from 1900 and domestic violence as seen by a 10-year-old girl in 1998. The middle Sci Fi element takes us into two futures and takes in a dystopian nightmare of societal collapse in 2033 and that collapse brought back via memory retrieval in 2717.
I listened to an audiobook presentation via my premium Spotify account while out walking. It was a good enough read to have me lose track of time and distance once or twice. No mean feat. This is either a something for everyone style read or if only interested in a specific genre may not be one's style. It is recommended as such. ...more
Limberlost, Robbie Arnott's 3rd novel, moves away from the fantasy elements that made his first two novels such wonderful reads. This one is a life stLimberlost, Robbie Arnott's 3rd novel, moves away from the fantasy elements that made his first two novels such wonderful reads. This one is a life story of Ned as a youngster during the 2nd world war through to an older age dealing with his apple farm and married life in Tasmania and all of life’s other issues. So simple a story that has been told before, but such is the ability of the author to take us deep into the mind of Ned that we hang onto the descriptive words written.
Yes it might be a well-worn tale of many that have lived a similar life, but be that as it may it is very well told and shows that Robbie Arnott is a very gifted writer. He could have written a book that was of saccharine sentimentally, but he told of good a life lived with charm.
Recommended to all that read Tasmanian literature....more
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down I listened via Audio book and my first comment would be that Casey Withoos, the first-person narrator for protagonistBodies of Light by Jennifer Down I listened via Audio book and my first comment would be that Casey Withoos, the first-person narrator for protagonist Maggie’s story, was superb to my ears. She was able to tell the story in a kind of world-weary manner that suited the tragic challenges that could have become a chore to narrate. No histrionics, just a telling of the tragedy of a life that goes wrong from the very beginning.
The short story is that Maggie gets a facebook message from someone, who she may or may not trust, about who she once may have been. This leads to a long tale of Maggie telling of her life story from a young memory of her dad going to jail through to middle age opioids addiction. Set across Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Maggie's life is a story of her attempts to lift herself from her foster care/institutionalising childhood and lead a normal life. This reader felt there was a constant theme of hiding from a past and disappearing into one’s own mind as a form of protection. It made a difficult read/listen for this mid-sixties male who has led a life of comfort and care.
And that brings me to a point that seems to occur in my mind about that life of comfort and care that I have lead. Born into a loving and hardworking family, not particularly scholastic I have been able to work a long life in an industry I enjoyed, own a home and get comfortably superannuated to the point that retirement beckons, life’s been good to me so far. What’s that to do with this book?
After finishing this, I was curious as to whom the story was based on and read interviews with Jennifer Down. Her parents were welfare workers; tales of woe were commonplace discussion. She had also read up the subjects, such as child abuse when it was investigated by various levels of governments. I suppose that the book is a mash-up of some peo0ples lives. Jennifer stated in one interview I read, that readers had made contact with her to say that it reflected something true from their own experiances. What is true is that abuse of children is hardly new, just read Victorian literature, just read deeper into the media than the headlines, Jennifer Down cited Don Dale Detention Centre in one interview as an example. One can search plenty more instances in any part of the world.
And that leads me to my feeling that my generation in Australia, white male and well off in the vast majority of cases, just has no idea or sometimes have even give thought to subjects such as this. If indicative of people I know the headlines are enough, why read more? And a book such as this? It is hardly derring do, and why read it when the cost of an Olympic stadium is the headline of the day? As thought-provoking as this story is, it will make no difference.
My only criticism of this read is it may be a bit too long. Other than that it is a fine winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Award, awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases" and recommended as such to my generation who in my opinion have no idea how good they have it....more
Robbie Arnott’s 2nd Novel is, as his first, a Tasmanian Goth fantasy that had me listening to the audio at every opportunity.
Australia, though unnameRobbie Arnott’s 2nd Novel is, as his first, a Tasmanian Goth fantasy that had me listening to the audio at every opportunity.
Australia, though unnamed, has suffered a military coup and during these troubled times a band of soldiers is sent by the authorities on a mission to capture the mythical Rain Heron for what can be only to see if they can control the weather. The telling of the story forces us, as a species, to face our own inhumanity to each other and to the ecology of the world around us. One’s imagination has to confront all the flaws that each of the characters has, as nature exposes us as just another doomed species. When we respect nature, it assists us. Times are plentiful on the farm and in the sea until……..? As a species, can we be blind until coerced by forces out of our control not to be?
I said of Robbie Arnott’s very good debut that it was recommended to all us that know and enjoy Tassie Literature. Nothing changes with this thought-provoking and parable like second....more
Author Robbie Arnott has received a fair bit of positivity on a few Australian Lit Blogs that I subscribe to. A week back my Spotify account recommendAuthor Robbie Arnott has received a fair bit of positivity on a few Australian Lit Blogs that I subscribe to. A week back my Spotify account recommended this one as an audiobook, so I thought why not considering those nice online reviews.
To say I have enjoyed this audio would be an understatement. Anyone that has read my scribbles over time would know I have never shied away from my admiration of Tasmanian literature. I am not going to shy away from this one, it joins all that grabs me and spits me out about the island's writing. Flames is Goth fantasy that from a curious start had me listening to the excellent telling of this terrific plot at every opportunity. My audio listening is for my walks or in the car, but I just sat in the comfy chair with the JBL’s stuck on the head, I was that engrossed.
A family is enjoined with flame as part of their very existence. How so? That would be giving it away as to the tale told but let’s just say that this is a curse on the physical life and psychology of the family involved, the father, the mother and their two children. Son Levi wants to have a coffin made for his sister Charlotte, for reasons that become obvious as time goes on. Charlotte wants none of this and escapes to the safety of an anonymous life in the south of the island. And from this wild beginning we meet an irate coffin maker, a very strange wombat farmer, an alcoholic private detective and a few more wild characters along the way. Add to that an animal god and what a yarn delivered.
This is a very good debut and is recommended to all us that know and enjoy Tassie Lit....more
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