Random House Vintage, 9781740510325, November 2007, $32.95 (TPB) (UK pb). First published in the October 2007 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2007 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ Wilfred Lampe has experienced a whole century in the Snowy River town of Dalgety. He’s a part of the landscape, its consistencies and … Continue reading The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon
Reviews + Analyses
Books, poetry, journals and the occassional film…
Patriot Act by James Phelan
9780733620980, Hachette Australia, 2007 (link). Lachlan Fox is an investigative journalist for GSR (Global Syndicate of Reporters). He’s an ex-Aussie Navy operative now in New York City. He is attempting to uncover just who may be trying to access the powerful information database ‘Echelon’, and to what purpose. The information could enable any smaller power … Continue reading Patriot Act by James Phelan
Ash – Alison Croggon, and Stories of Bird – Lucy Holt – Poetry Review
My latest review published in Cordite Poetry Review - Of the two chapbooks under review, Lucy Holt’s exquisitely crafted poetry in Stories of Bird pecks at single moments, both from an intimate as well as a bird’s-eye view. Her use of symbolism is focused and sensory. Hers are deep and personal poems, with some empathetic … Continue reading Ash – Alison Croggon, and Stories of Bird – Lucy Holt – Poetry Review
Anais Nin's Delta of Venus – Feminine Identity Through Pleasure – A Mini Analysis
Anais Nin’s stories in Delta of Venus (Aus/US) were intended for a specific male client but it is possible to detect a feminine presence in the writing. Lynette Felber (1995) suggests that Nin called herself a feminine writer but nonetheless, wanted to grasp the male reader in her projects with Henry Miller and her erotic … Continue reading Anais Nin's Delta of Venus – Feminine Identity Through Pleasure – A Mini Analysis
What's Science Ever Done For Us? by Paul Halpern
9780470114605, Wiley, 2007. (Aus ebook, US, pb/Kindle) The Simpsons is written by intelligent individuals who generally come from educated backgrounds. This is evident in the subversive satirical elements of the show, but as Paul Halpern points out in What’s Science Ever Done For Us?, it also means they know a lot about ‘physics, robots, life … Continue reading What's Science Ever Done For Us? by Paul Halpern
Humbert's Journey of Self – a mini analysis of Lolita
Humbert Humbert deceptively narrates a journey of self in Lolita (Nabokov 2006) attempting to justify actions that the reader may find morally problematic. He is both aware of the societally placed reader, whom he often refers to as judge or juror (eg. on the very first page) and he weaves a seductive lyrical web to entice … Continue reading Humbert's Journey of Self – a mini analysis of Lolita
Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon by PD Smith
August 2007, Penguin, 9780713998153. (Aus, US/Kindle) At the beginning of the 20th Century, nuclear weapons were the stuff of science-fiction. Writers like HG Wells imagined a future where the incredible power of the atom could be unleashed to great destruction, and thus create no need for warfare. He, and other writers, artists and visionary scientists, … Continue reading Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon by PD Smith
The Asking Game – Rose Michael
9780975022863, Transit Lounge, 2007 (Amazon) It is near-future Australia. Eve is hired on a new job, taking the code name ‘Alice’. Alice suffers from dreams that feel more like memories, yet are disconnected from her own experience. The job itself is deeply connected with Alice’s questions of self. All that she has pushed to the … Continue reading The Asking Game – Rose Michael
Factory Girl vs. The Notorious Betty Page – Film Review
Factory Girl (dir. George Hickenlooper) and The Notorious Betty Page (dir. Mary Harron) were released on DVD in Australia in August, 2007. Factory Girl and The Notorious Betty Page both depict women whose circumstances lead them to positions of difference. TNBP is a slightly superior film in that Betty is likeable and believable in the … Continue reading Factory Girl vs. The Notorious Betty Page – Film Review
Dead Birds – Trevor Shearston
9780733320903, ABC Books, September 2007First published in the August 2007 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2007 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ A New Guinean tribesman is killed by a spirit with lightning (a white man with a gun). His head is preserved in a jar and it’s from this point … Continue reading Dead Birds – Trevor Shearston
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