The Miles Franklin shortlist is out
The shortlist for Australia’s most prestigious literary prize The Miles Franklin Award was announced today. The nominees are as follows :
1. Breath by Tim Winton (Yeah !)
2. Wanting by Richard Flanagan
3. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (To be reviewed on the first Tuesday bookclub next month)
4. The Pages by Murray Bail
5. Ice by Louis Nowra
Looks like a good shortlist to me, Breath being the only one I have actually read, but I have The Slap on my shelf.
The 20 best travel books of all time?
In a recent romance with travel writing, I came across this list published in the Telegraph, they claim the 20 best travel books are as follows :
1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
2. As I walked out one Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
3. Naples ‘44 by Norman Lewis
4. Coasting by Johnathan Raban
5. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
6. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
7. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
8. The Beach by Alex Garland
9. The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
10. The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron
11. Venice by Jan Morris
12. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
13. The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
14. The God of Small Things by Arudhati Roy
15. A short walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
16. Arabian sands by Wilfred Thesiger
17. Fear and loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
18. Our man in Havana by Graham Green
19. The Journals by James Cook
20. Among the Russians by Colin Thubon
Now, I am not sure if we can all agree that these books actually fall under the category of travel narratives, but there seems to be some interesting books there to me. The only one I have actually read is the Bill Bryson, which I love. Bill can do no wrong in my eyes, especially after the excellent ”A short history of nearly everything”
I would love to hear from anyone who has read any of these or if you recommend other novels in the travel genre…
Note : I am reading “The Great Railway Bazaar” and will review that soon.
Also, I came across these excellant travel book review blogs :
Thehieroglyphicstreets Not really a review website, but great for finding books about a particular place..
The Zookeepers War by Steven Conte
"Animals in war memorial" photo courtesy of mpjashby (FlickR)
Well, finally I have completed my first reading assignment for the ANZ lit lovers group, admittedly a week later than I should have, but better late than never. The Zookeepers War is the first novel for Australian author Steven Conte and is the recipient of the inaugural Australian Prime Minister’s Award for Fiction (2008).
I really liked the premise of this book. The setting is Berlin 1943 and we witness the destruction of this city through the eyes of Vera Frey, an Australian woman whose German husband is the director of the Berlin zoo. It is an interesting perspective to consider, that of a non-German during these critical last days of the Third Reich. Conte has drawn on the memoirs of several woman who were in this very position, some of which may be worth seeking out.
However, I have to say that while the premise had immense promise the execution did not wow me. It is possible that in the hands of a more deft writer that this could have been a suburb novel. I find it hard to pinpoint exactly what I didn’t like about this book but for most of it I just did not connect with any of the characters, something was lacking in the unfolding of the story.
Reading through some reviews, I have to agree with some of the comments made by Stella Clarke in The Australian,
“Conte does not, however, manage to pump up any of his characters, psychologically speaking, to memorable stature…..Beyond its tangential setting in a menagerie, the appeal and success of this novel probably hinges on Conte’s vigorous evocation of wartime Berlin. His emotional explorations are often superficial and erratic, but his hammer and nail construction of Berlin in 1944 and his plausible evocation of his characters’ predicaments are lively.“
What I thought Conte did nail with this novel was the moral ambiguities of war. In particular I was reminded of that quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. Axel is a good example of this in his naivety of the surrounding political situation..as is the Russian major who turns a blind eye to atrocities committed by his troops. However, these issues are not easy to pronounce upon – what options did people like Axel really have at that time?, would we in the same situation behave any differently?. Does the atrocities carried out by German soldiers on Russian women and children somehow make the Russian majors position more understandable..?. These are just some of the many interesting moral dilemmas presented in this novel, making it an excellent choice for discussion in a book club. (Reminding me I now have a weeks worth of ANZ lit lover posts to catch up on!)
Rating : 3 / 5
Other Reviews : A novel approach
Next Up : The Child in Time by Ian McEwan, no not yet…maybe a Kerry Greenwood (oh I am so unfocused in my reading at present..)
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
Image courtesy of Hogne (FlickR)
Well, I have been very tardy about getting my first review for 2009 written. Somehow the crazy hot weather we have been having here in Melbourne has me wanting to listen to things rather than read and write.
The novel I have chosen to review for January is from an Australian author – Peter Temple. The Broken Shore, in addition to winning the 2007 Duncan Lawrie Dagger for crime fiction (the first Aussie to do so) also received a fairly glowing review on the First Tuesday bookclub.
I am always up for a good crime novel and it is nice for one to be set in my home town of Melbourne, although technically most of the action occurs in the fictional coastal town of Port Munro.
This is not your typical genre crime novel, Temples’ style is gritty realism, the writing is sparse but often brilliant. He paints a landscape of what I like to think of as Aussie small town noir.
” But the year had turned, May had come, the ice-water rain, the winds that scoured skin, and just the hardcore left – the unemployed, underemployed, unemployable, the drunk and doped, the old-age pensioners, people on all kinds of welfare, the halt, the lame. Now he saw the town as you saw a place after fire, all softness gone: the outcrops of rock, the dark gullies, the fireproof rubbish of brown beer bottles and car skeletons.”
Temple gives the reader very little in the way of back story for his main character – Joe Cashin. We are sort of plunged into his life, gradually coming to realize that he is a cop in recovery from a traumatic event, the nature of which we discover much later in the book. Likewise, there are other minor characters like the swaggie known as Dave Rebb whose full story is only hinted at. This does make the novel intriguing but also very frustrating at least initially. I found it extremely difficult to emotionally engage with the book for quite a while. It seemed to me a very “male” book, there is little in the way of emotion, the dialogue is very short, sharp and dry…
“Rebb was smoking a hand-rolled, flat, as much paper as tobacco. He was shaven, hair damp. The dogs were all wag and twist, they liked Rebb, but then they like most people. ‘ Put stuff in the wash machine,’ Rebb said, cigarette in the corner of his mouth, a big hand for each dog. ‘That okay?’ ‘Any time,’ said Cashin. ‘Up early?’ ‘No.’ ‘I’ll make some breakfast when I’ve showered.’ ‘Good food,’ said Rebb. He didn’t look at Cashin, he was intent on the dogs. He said the same thing the night before. ‘Scrambled eggs’ said Cashin. ‘You make it for one, might as well make it for ten’.
The crime as presented at the start of the novel did not really grip me however in the final one third of the novel it fairly rips along. It felt like the first 2/3 of the novel was all about setting mood and establishing Joe as the archetypical weathered cop. Then Temple seems to realize he better amp up the tension and the novel takes a surprisingly dark turn in the final 1/3, somewhat too rapidly and implausibly to my way of thinking.
Upon mulling this novel over, it seems to be a case of me really admiring the craftmanship of the writer but for whatever reason remaining at arms length from total immersion in the world presented to me. It could be a case of good novel, wrong timing but I think to be fair I would need to read another Temple novel before making a judgement.
Any diehard Temple fans out there care to comment ?
Next up : The Zookeepers War by Steven Conte (my first read with the ANZ lit lovers group!)
Welcome 2009!
Image courtesy of Peter of Wellington(FlickR)
Well, I am extremely surprised and gratified to see I still have some readers left after taking an extended break from book blogging. It is a new year and with it, my excitement for reading and reviewing has returned!. This year I am going to take the pressure off myself by not signing up for any reading challenges (or committing to reading the booker shortlist!)…as much fun as lists are, I think I need to read as “the whim” takes me. I also need to make a dent in a growing pile of books.
My only commitments so far this year are, firstly, a local face-to-face bookgroup that I joined last year and even more recently my membership in the ANZLitLovers online reading group - this group has a lovely schedule of books lined up, of which I am particularly looking forward to “The Slap” by Chris Tsiolkas and “Someone Knows my Name” by Lawrence Hill but really they all look good! I just hope I can keep up, sometimes I struggle to get through 2-3 books a month, but we will see how it goes…(am I the worlds slowest reading book blogger?)
I think 2008 was a reasonable reading year for me, if not a stellar one in terms of the number of books read. The true highlight has been starting this blog and getting to interact with all those wonderful book bloggers out there.
Thinking back over the books read this year, these ones stand out :
1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy : One of the first books I read with my F2F book group and I was convinced I was going to hate it…..I could not tear myself away, probably my top read for 2008. I need to read more McCarthy…
2. The Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker : A nomination for the Booker of Bookers got me started on reading this WWI trilogy..it is tough going in parts but I found it very powerful.
3. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway : Keeping with a WWI theme, this was my first foray into Hemingway and I was stunned by it..I think it grew in my esteem the more I reflected upon it. Another author to explore more fully later.
4. Breath by Tim Winton : Probably my favorite aussie read this year, although The Lost Dog did have its moments, but I must admit there is a lot of great Australian fiction out there I have not yet had a chance to read.
5. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan : My favorite author, so he has to get a look in, not my favorite book by him but still a gem of a novel and as a bonus, so small!.
Well, it feels good to wrap up 2008 and launch afresh into a new reading year - hopefully one in which I will post more regularly !
First Book of 2009 to be reviewed : The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Time for some exposure to Hemingway. I initially choose this particular book because it had received such a good review on the first Tuesday book club...although host Jennifer Bryne did have some reservations which I now understand. Additionally, this book is on both of my “challenge” reading lists (the 1% well-read challenge and the Book awards reading challenge).
I had heard that Hemingway had a very pared down, emotionally detached writing style..and I do admit to struggling with this at first. Also, the author comes across as quite chauvinistic, which I decided reflects the times in which the novel is set. Once you have adapted yourself to these stylistic quirks -it settles into a truly powerful novel and one I intend to revisit at a later date in order to appreciate the nuances.
The book is set in Italy and Switzerland during WWI. Henry is an American Lieutenant in the Italian Ambulance corps, he is wounded and nursed by Englishwoman Catherine. They begin an intense relationship. We witness Henry’s growing disenfranchisement with the war and his increasing love for Catherine. You know it is not going to end well.
It is possible that some readers will find this novel kind of flat because the prose is at times abrupt but I found it to be more powerful because of all the things that were left unsaid or dismissed in a single sentence.
However, there is some very awkward sounding dialogue between Catherine and Henry, consider this, soon after they first meet…
“She laughed. It was the first time I had ever heard her laugh. I watched her face. ‘You are sweet’ she said. ‘No, I’m not’. ‘Yes. You are a dear. I’d be glad to kiss you if you don’t mind.’ I looked in her eyes and put my arm around her as I had before and kissed her”……
“Oh, darling,’ she said. ‘You will be good to me, won’t you?’ What the hell I thought. I stroked her hair and patted her shoulder. She was crying.”
At times these exchanges seemed very false but as I got more into the swing of the novel I decided that this emotional detachment was actually very poignant and ultimately extremely sad.
A Farewell to Arms is better discussed when everyone has read the book because it has one of the most heartbreaking endings I have ever read. In fact the whole last quarter of the novel is riveting.
I am not sure how A Farewell to Arms stacks up against Hemingway’s other works but I will be seeking out more of his novels in the future.
Any Hemingway fans care to comment?.
Rating : 4.5 / 5
Sept Update : New reviews are imminent….
I am beginning to think I may be losing readers with my rather sporadic book reviews. I have been trying to keep up a regular book review per week post, but somehow my attention span is rather short at the moment and I have dabbled in some of my other passions. So to the readers I have left – apologies!.
My mood may have been influenced by a less than spectacular encounter with Salman Rushdie’s Midnights Children. I always feel a sense of failure when I am not enjoying a book and guilt if I can’t finish it..I need to understand why this book won the Booker of Bookers…should I persevere ?
On the up side, despite some initial misgivings I did greatly enjoy my first experience with Hemingway - A Farewell To Arms. (A full review is to follow).
Breath by Tim Winton
Photo by Bos(s)(FlickR)
Breath (2008) is the 9th novel by Australian author Tim Winton. I have previously read and thoroughly enjoyed both Dirt Music (2001) and Cloudstreet (1994).
This story, as with many of Winton’s novels is set in a small, coastal, Western Australian town, in this case a mill town called Sawyer. The main character is Bruce Pike, Pikelet, we meet him as an adult reminiscing on his adolescence. Pikelet and his risk-taking friend Looney, develop an addiction to surfing under the guidance of enigmatic surfing guru, Sando. Part of the thrill of the book was the escalating risks these boys take in their zeal for adrenalin and an overwhelming desire not to be ordinary. They graduate from surfing harmless waves at The Point to taking on Old Smokey, a bombora ( indigenous Australian term for waves breaking over a submerged reef) and the extremely dangerous Nautilus. I was glued to the pages waiting for the time their luck would run out.
“I don’t know why I paddled out there on my own. I was hurt and angry. And I suppose I felt there was a point to prove. I knew Old Smokey had been surfed solo before. But not by a fifteen-year-old. At this distance it seems like an act of desperation – or worse- a lunge towards oblivion. Even now I can barely believe I did it.”
At times it reads as a literary ”Boys Own Adventure” but there are dark undertones in the novel particularly towards the end. We are left to ponder the effects of Pikelet’s adolescence on the rest of his life.
Tim Winton captures something essentially Australian in his writing, life in a small town, what it is to be a loner, the innocence and folly of youth but what I loved most in this novel was the depiction of the ocean, the different moods of it, the risks, the beauty. It really made me want to surf !
“There was never any doubt about the primary thrill of surfing, the huge body-rush we got flying down the line with the wind in our ears. We didn’t know what endorphins were but we quickly understood how narcotic the feeling was, and how addictive it became; from day one I was stoned from just watching. We talked about skill and courage and luck – we shared all that, and in time we surfed to fool with death – but for me there was still the outlaw feeling of doing something graceful, as if dancing on water was the best and bravest thing a man could do.”
My only slight disappointment was the ending seemed to come too quickly. I was so engaged with all the characters in this book that I felt a little let down by how quickly each was relegated to their fate and the enigmatic way in which we were left to piece together Pikelets life story. ..it was all wrapped a little too suddenly.
Nevertheless, a beautifully written book and well deserving of a second read.
4 / 5 stars
Links to other Breath reviews :
2008 Booker shortlist announced
1. Aravind Adiga The White Tiger (Atlantic)
2. Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)
3. Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies (John Murray)
4. Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)
5. Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)
6. Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)
Well, this shortlist was always going to be tough to pick. I have read only 2 on the list but I am happy to see that The Secret Scripture made it, not so thrilled to see The White Tiger, I would have preferred The Lost Dog. Of the remainder, Sea of Poppies and The Clothes on Their Backs are the only other two I would consider reading. Who the winner may be is anyone’s guess.
Thoughts?
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Well, obviously Henning Mankell did not work out too well for me, Faceless Killers was abandoned with 1/4 read. What started out as a very promising thriller, quickly had me reduced to counting down the pages remaining. The writing style just seemed so stilted, I am not sure if it was the translation – but I decided it was not the kind of crime fiction I was in the mood for. Another unfinished book hits the floor.
Obviously, what was needed was some light and fluffy reading, escapism, and for me that came in the form of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher mystery, the first in the series being Cocaine Blues.
What first attracted me to these books was the covers, 1920s Art Deco styling, Phryne in some fantastic Erte inspired outfits… hard to resist really.
Phryne Fisher is a fantastic character, up there with Poirot as one of my favorites in all crime fiction. Born into abject poverty in Melbourne, Phryne’s family unexpectedly inherits a fortune and moves to England. Phryne is established as an independent women of limitless means, she becomes an adventurer, constantly looking for interesting diversions. She learns to Tango with a gigolo in Paris, can fly an Avro in a storm, is taught street fighting by apache masters and likes to drive fast cars. However, Phryne is restless, so she takes a job in Melbourne investigating a potential poisoning. This assignment soon leads Phryne deep into the underbelly of 1920s Melbourne society.
What I love most about this book is the descriptions of what Phryne wears, including this description of a dress that was “perfectly decent but utterly erotic”..
“It was deep claret, edged with dark mink; evidently a design by Erte, with few seams, the weight of the garment depending entirely from the shoulder. The deep decollete was artfully cocealed with strings of jet beads, which served the function of preventing the dress from sliding off the wearer’s shoulders, but leaving a gratifying impression that this was, indeed, what it might at any moment do.”
I was in 1920s heaven with these descriptions of elegant outfits, not to mention the wonderful food Phryne dines on, delicate asparagus soup, pheasant, salade russe, and copious amounts of tea. The historic details are very well researched and I am learning a lot about Melbourne in this era.
I should mention that there are many other excellent characters in this book, I suspect these will become recurring and more fully fleshed out in coming novels. My favourites including Bert and Cec, two “rough diamonds” who help Phryne with her investigations and Dorothy Bryant, Phrynes disapproving personal secretary/maid.
All the ingredients are here for an excellent series of novels. The tone is very light, something in the vain of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, which makes for an exceptionally fast read. For me reading this was like putting on a cozy pair of slippers, pure delicious escapism. But best of all, there are 16 novels in the series that I can look forward to slipping into.
Anyone else a Phryne Fisher fan?
Rating : 4 / 5
