Translated by Carol Brown Janeway, Phoenix, 1997, 9780753804704 (Aus, US) The Reader was experienced traveling by train through Europe, and recalled when faced with the ‘Topography of Terror’ monument in Berlin (the site of the SS headquarters), and Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam. It is a coming of age story simply told. Michael becomes involved with … Continue reading The Reader by Bernhard Schlink – an 'Off the Shelf' book review with travel commentary
Reviews + Analyses
Books, poetry, journals and the occassional film…
Eating Lolly by Corrie Hosking
First published in the Summer 2007/2008 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2008 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ Fourth Estate, 9780732285999, February 2008 (Aus, US/Kindle) Mumma is sent away to an island to have her illegitimate daughter. She emotionally smothers her new baby and curbs her own anxieties with the comfort … Continue reading Eating Lolly by Corrie Hosking
Literature Aspiring Writers Should Read – Part 2
Faces in the Water – Janet Frame (1961) Skills acquired by reading: ~ The way to create an external world and circumstances that symbolise or reflect an internal one. ~ The way to express loneliness, emptiness, and deprivation in subtle, tugging ways. ~ The way to write about large-scale oppression and unfairness in society by … Continue reading Literature Aspiring Writers Should Read – Part 2
Reflection, Pleasure and Inevitability – a film review of Evening and Venus
Evening (directed by Lajos Koltia, screenplay by Susan Minot and Michael Cunningham) and Venus (directed by Roger Michell, screenplay by Hanif Kureishi) were released on DVD in Australia in January 2008. When you are in your final years, is there any point in regret? You have made choices in regards to love, lifestyle and … Continue reading Reflection, Pleasure and Inevitability – a film review of Evening and Venus
The Spell Book of Listen Taylor – Jaclyn Moriarty
Macmillan, September 2007, 9780330423489 (Young Adult) (Review first published in Viewpoint, vol. 15, no. 4, Summer 2007) The Zing family have a secret. Every Friday night they meet in the garden shed to discuss it. Listen Taylor’s Dad has just moved in with Marbie Zing. Listen wonders if it might be the secret of happy … Continue reading The Spell Book of Listen Taylor – Jaclyn Moriarty
The Outsider by Albert Camus – An 'I’ve Always Wanted to Read That' Review
(first published 1942) Penguin Classics, 9780141182506 (Aus, US) Mr. Meursault lives out his life fulfilling ‘natural’ physical and emotional urges. He is in a comfortable position at work and feels no need to advance himself. He has a girlfriend who he may marry, but is honestly not sure whether he loves her. He has buried … Continue reading The Outsider by Albert Camus – An 'I’ve Always Wanted to Read That' Review
The Room by Ray Melnik
2007, 9781589615427 There are people who can write, and there are ‘writers’. Ray Melnik uses his imagination to spin a yarn around issues and interests he is passionate about. The Room is definitely readable, and interesting, but the word ‘quaint’ comes to mind. The narrative revolves around Harry, a decent man from an abusive background. … Continue reading The Room by Ray Melnik
Rohypnol by Andrew Hutchinson
9781741668223, Random House Vintage, 2007 (Aus, Kindle) Rohypnol is about bad people. They follow the rules of the ‘new punk’, meaning that they can take what they want, when they want it. They are young, male, rich, and live by the motto - ‘f**k people’. The group’s main activity is spiking the drinks of women … Continue reading Rohypnol by Andrew Hutchinson
Paint It Black by Janet Fitch
Virago, 2007 (Aus, US) If your lover ended their life, would you feel you had ever really known them? Josie Tyrell is an artist’s model and student-film actress in punk '80s LA. She escaped her white trash upbringing for a life of parties, drugs, music and intriguing people. She met Michael, who gave up a … Continue reading Paint It Black by Janet Fitch
The Children by Charlotte Wood
9781741753356, Allen & Unwin, 2007 The perfect book for me is one that is about the extraordinariness of everyday life - the things that human beings acknowledge, and the things they deny; the amazement, comfort and simultaneous hurt in personal relationships; the wealth beneath the surface, but also the necessity of surfaces. Charlotte Wood looks … Continue reading The Children by Charlotte Wood
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