What I am reading
I’m a little slow about writing about this book.
I bought it about last October but kept it unread for a treat over the Christmas – New Year holidays. It has been a while since I bought a new novel to read just for pleasure. It’s something every writer should be doing regularly. Enough of my failings.
This is what I read: A Guide to the Birds of East Africa:a novel by Australian author Nicholas Drayson.
A first glance at the title and one could be forgiven for thinking it is only about birds. Well, it isn’t. Not entirely. At heart it is a romance, a mystery, an adventure and a rollicking good read. And you incidentally learn about the birds of East Africa as a bonus.
Mr. Malik is a quiet, reserved and thoroughly likable gentleman with a secret passion. Not even the members of his club know that he is totally in love with the leader of the Tuesday morning bird walk of the East African Ornithological Society, Rose Mbikwa. Rose’s politician husband had died in mysterious circumstance many years previously.
Mr. Malik has a problem; he desires to invite Rose to the annual Hunt Ball but flashy Harry Khan arrives in town in time to spoil his plans. Mr. Malik and Harry have a distant and not so happy past from their school days. When Harry indicates that he was going to invite Rose to the ball, mild Mr. Malik blurts out his feelings for her. So a club wager was set – whoever could see the most birds in a week would have the right to ask Rose to the ball.
The chase is on and the adventure begins. Intrigue, mystery, excitement (yes – birders do get excited) misunderstanding and a heinous crime all add spice to the chase.
A thoroughly good read.
Highly recommended.
Reference:
Drayson, N, 2008, A Guide to the Birds of east Africa: a novel. London, Viking.
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa: a novel
Review: “The Well” by Elizabeth Jolley
Novel: The Well by Australian Author Elizabeth Jolley
I came to this novel with eager anticipation. I had read some short biographical articles about the life and work of Elizabeth Jolley and seem to recall seeing her interviewed on television some years ago. I knew of her reputation as a writer and the long period of apprenticeship she served before being regularly published and acknowledged as a skilful writer. Getting recognition so late in life gives some of us writers renewed hope! I can only ever recall reading a few of her short stories before attempting this novel.
I read this novel in just a few sittings over three days. Despite the fog in my brain, the coughing, wheezing, sneezing and other nasty symptoms not worthy of mention here, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The exciting first chapter gives us the mystery on which the whole story unfolds. I found it an interesting technique to have this chapter first, followed by the background story leading up to that fatal moment when Katherine hits the man on the track with the ute. Including the accident in just the first few pages hooks the reader into reading on to discover what happened next. Mind you, it takes the entire novel to find out, but that is clever writing.
I found that the brooding mood of the first half of the novel totally compelling reading. It was like observing two lives thoroughly absorbed in one another. I could almost not imagine Hester and Katherine without each other. They each depend heavily on the other for support. Each of them would hardly exist without the other. Into this almost blissful, isolated and protected environment, Jolley introduces three wedges, each of which, in turn, destroys the almost symbiotic relationship between the two main characters.
The first is Hester’s friendship with Hilde when she was much younger. This overshadows her relationship with Katherine, always bringing comparisons between them. I had the impression that Hester couldn’t decide which she loved the most.
The second wedge occurs when Katherine receives a letter from her former school friend Joanna. This friendship brings a new threat to Hester who fears that it will come between her and Katherine. She fears the influence of Joanna on Katherine. She desperately clings to Katherine, all the time fearing that she will one day marry and leave Hester.
This threat is further accentuated by the man killed in the accident on the track. They bundle him into the well, but then Katherine imagines he is talking to her, promising to marry her when she gets him out of the well. This is the third wedge driven between them. Hester’s closeted and cosseted existence was threatened by his appearance. It matters not whether he was dead or alive; his appearance had stirred feelings within Katherine that threatened Hester.
In the latter half of the story both main characters slide into a desperate and dark world of confusion, change, threats and accusations. Jolley skilfully destroys the safe world of the first half of the story and each of the characters begins a downward spiral fed almost entirely by their imaginations.
Reference:
Jolley, Elizabeth, 2007, The Well. Penguin, Camberwell.
Book Launch: The Wish Giver
1 Comment »18th October, 2008; Category: Authors, Books, Fiction, Picture Books, Reviews, Writers, Writing for Children, Young Readers
Yesterday I had the wonderful privilege of attending a book launch. Rosanne Hawke, one of my lecturers in my Master of Arts Creative Writing Course, is a writer of children’s books. This new book is her 15th book to be published, and her third picture book.
The Wish Giver
Written by Rosanne Hawke and her daughter Lenore Penner.
Illustrated by Michelle Mackintosh.
Published by Windy Hollow Books.
The Wish Giver is a delightful book for young children. The Wish Giver lives on “the biggest and brightest star.” His job is to make children’s wishes come true. Unfortunately he falls off the star and lands in Layla’s garden.
Layla has a problem. She has no friends and no-one will play with her at school. She wished she had some friends to play with. She helps the Wish Giver return to his star, and he in turn helps her to find some new friends to play with.
One of the privileges we had being in Rosanne’s class was getting a view of the printer’s proofs many weeks before publication. The book was launched by well known South Australian author Phil Cummings. One of the interesting aspects of this book was that Rosanne’s daughter Lenore was also credited as the joint author. The original story of the Wish Giver was written by Lenore as a high school assignment. It was this story that initially got Rosanne into writing. It was also very much a family event, with Rosanne’s grandchildren also present.
After leaving the launch my wife told me she had been taking notes on how to run a book launch. Rosanne, when signing our copy of the book, added: “It’ll be your turn next.”
Now it’s up to me to get some of my manuscripts off to publishers.
Good writing.
.
What I am reading: ‘Hiam’ by Eva Sallis
‘Hiam’, a novel by South Australian writer Eva Sallis, is an unusual novel.
My immediate reaction is that it is more lyrical than prosaic. The poetic devices used by Sallis dominate the narrative. Many passage could be quoted to back up this opinion. The story telling elements near the end of the novel are pure poetry, particularly the gazelle story.
I was in awe as I read the many beautiful passages in the writing. Sentences like this one are most memorable: The Aunties are all creeping on tiptoe around their hearts. Other images are simply haunting. The road was the protagonist’s straitjacket, the car her prison, or her skull; herself the thread of life.
Initially I felt great anticipation as I read of the place names in the early pages. They were all recognisable places here in South Australia giving me an instant identification with the story. Not too far on, however, the novelist took me as the reader into a strange and very unfamiliar world. The psychotic world of a very confused and hurting main character is very disturbing. I couldn’t put my finger on the cause of this disturbance in my reaction until late in the novel when the main character Hiam plainly states that her husband had killed himself. All the evidence was there from the beginning, of course – I had merely not fully understood.
Hiam’s sense of isolation in Australia is clearly drawn by the author throughout the novel. This was her first encounter with rural and inland Australia. Everything seemed strange to her and she encounters many things which are alien to her from her cultural understandings. There are some constant elements in Hiam’s journey of discovery. Thoughts, memories and dreams of her husband, her daughter and her religion help her through her desolation.
Reference:
- Hiam by Eva Sallis, published by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1998. It was the winner of the Australian/Vogel Literary Award.
Play review: Attempts on her life
No Comments »1st September, 2008; Category: Reviews
Several weeks ago my wife and I did something we hadn’t done in a long time; we went to see a play. This was at the encouragement of our daughter who gets concession tickets to various play productions through her work as an English teacher.
The play we saw was called Attempts on her Life by the British playwright Martin Crimp. Our immediate reaction was that we had forgotten how immediate and in your face live theatre can be. The theatre was The Space in the Adelaide Festival Centre. This theatre is relatively intimate, seating several hundred at most. The actors are only a few metres away which adds to the dramatic effect.
There were six very talented actors, each involved in a range of roles. I can’t tell you their names as I didn’t buy a programme guide.(I sneaked a look at my daughter’s programme.) Each of the actors gave very professional and compelling portrayals of their characters.
The most interesting aspect of the play was that the main character does not make an appearance throughout the play. All the other characters talk about their relationship with the main character. In all there are 17 vignettes of the main characters life as seen through the eyes of her friends and family.
The language of the early sections was beautifully lyrical and musical. Other sections were crude, coarse and shocking. Overall it was like looking through the eyes of someone else at the life of a totally dysfunctional person.
It was a fascinating experience.
I think we might be hooked on live theatre.