This book investigates how people cope with the unspeakable. The character Eleanor is an authentic and lonely person who isolates on schedule. She slowly moves into the world of other people when a neighbour needs her help. “I was glad to help, glad to be moving away from Mummy-related conversation. There were various chores MrsContinue reading “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman”
Review Archives
The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) by Herman Hesse.
Set in the future around 25 AD this allegory is told from an historian’s perspective. It focuses on the 23rd Century and the main character is Joseph Knecht. Set in Castalia, the story is revealed through documents written by Knecht’s contemporaries. Further insight is gained through poems and short stories written by Knecht. Castalia isContinue reading “The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) by Herman Hesse.”
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
This is a coming of age story about an Italian middle-class girl called Giovanna. She lives in Naples and the story opens with her questioning the unconditional love her father has bestowed on her. She overhears her parents talking. Her father blames her failing grades on her transformed likeness to ostracized Aunt Vittoria. This propelsContinue reading “The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante”
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver.
Dellarobia Turnbow, is bored with her life as a farm wife. She sets out for a rendezvous with a younger man and is entranced by a hillside covered in orange monarch butterflies or King Billies. Although some consider this strange phenomenon a divine intervention, entomologist Ovid Byron determines it is due to climate change. KingsolverContinue reading “Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver.”
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean Dominique Bauby.
Bauby, experiences a stroke at the age of 43. He is in the prime of his life, on the editorial staff at Elle and has two small children. After waking 20 days later, he could only blink his left eyelid. Suffering what is called locked-in-syndrome he dictates this novel through blinking this eye. The beautyContinue reading “The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean Dominique Bauby.”
Women and Madness by Phyllis Chesler
Chesler is an emerita professor of psychology and women’s studies at City University of New York. This text was first published in 1972. What Chesler does is validate that most mental illness in women is due to conditioned behaviour. “The cumulative effect of being forced to lead a circumscribed life is toxic. The psychic tollContinue reading “Women and Madness by Phyllis Chesler”
My Brother Jack by George Johnston
Each read of this fifty-six-year-old classic reveals more nuances about the Australian identity. Set in post-war Melbourne suburbs, this seminal piece is a retelling by David Meredith of his life. His mother is a nurse who houses Gallipoli invalids including Meredith’s father. Suffering PTSD, he is a brutal alcoholic who displays unpredictability and weakness. TheContinue reading “My Brother Jack by George Johnston”
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Le Guin’s writing is beautiful, political and too immense for one genre. She intricately and quietly draws us through her compelling story about the twin worlds of Urras and Anarres. Anarres has split from Urras, is anarchist and the home of physicist, Shevek. He believes his studies on time, called the Principle of Simultaneity, canContinue reading “The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin”
Priest Daddy by Patricia Lockwood
Patricia Lockwood shares her memories of life growing up in the Midwest of America with her father who underwent “the deepest conversion on record”. His change from atheist to a catholic priest occurred after being locked in a submarine watching the exorcist while serving in the navy. The memoir tracks her return to her family’sContinue reading “Priest Daddy by Patricia Lockwood”
Circe by Madeline Miller
If you love Greek mythology Circe is for you. Madeline Miller creates a world based on the enchantress. Circe is the daughter of the sun god Helios and Oceanid nymph, Perse. Circe has long been an inspiration in literature. Homer and James Joyce wrote of her. She was a powerful sorceress who turned sailors intoContinue reading “Circe by Madeline Miller”
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
Papers transported to Melbourne inside a metal trunk are the basis of Carey’s story. Broken up into age brackets, it chronicles Ned’s life from his point of view. Events of his life show his humanity. After his father’s passing, Ned felt “there would never be a knot or a rabbit I skun or a horseContinue reading “True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey”
Stories: The Collected Short Fiction by Helen Garner
Monkey Grip, Helen Garner’s first novel, is raw. The portrayal of single mother Nora and heroin addict Javo’s life is now cemented as a classic. Written in 1977, it started her long career. She delves into authentic experiences of Australian life and disregards writing rules. She has mastery of the short story form. In 2017Continue reading “Stories: The Collected Short Fiction by Helen Garner”
The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Told through the eyes of 15-year-old Beth, living in rural Canada, this novel is an intense sensory experience set during World War Two. She befriends the local Indian kids and the rich spiritual and natural world they share enables her to survive the sexual abuse and increasing violence her PTSD suffering father imposes on her.Continue reading “The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz”
Kindred by Kate Legge
Gustav and Kate Weindorfer walked the Tasmanian bush in an historic yesterday where the sublime power and enchantment of the wilderness was untouched. Through the Naturalist’s Club, they found a sense of belonging and freedom from the confining strictures of civilised life. We first learn of the Tasmanian landscape when Kate’s love of botany isContinue reading “Kindred by Kate Legge”
The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier, Dan Sperber
This book contends with the question of what makes us human by taking us through the history of philosophical ponderings from Descartes to Martin Luther King, from Hermann von Helmholtz to Nietzsche. The authors step us through their theory regarding the purpose of reason and why it developed in humans. Examples demonstrate why we workContinue reading “The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier, Dan Sperber”
The Mint Lawn by Gillian Mears
Gillian Mears was born into a family of four girls and wrote about Grafton in her first novel. In this intensely sublime work of art ‘she writes like an angel’. Clementine has stayed in the small country town as her other ingenious and artistic sisters abandon her for the city, one by one. Her memoriesContinue reading “The Mint Lawn by Gillian Mears”
Middle Game by Seanan McGuire
This is a cross between Brave New World and mythology. The author’s lyrical prose slowly interlaces a malevolent drama with avarice. Power is apotheosized with children as causalities. The story begins as a slow burn that concludes in an explosion that provides hope and light. The main protagonist, James Reed, is a Frankenstein like creationContinue reading “Middle Game by Seanan McGuire”
The Solar War by A.G. Riddle
This is book two in the Long Winter Series. Our planet has been thrust into another ice age. Migration to the only habitable areas left has resulted in chaos, with people languishing in refugee camps with nowhere to call home. The dystopian view of the world mirrors earth. Technology and unity save humanity. Drones, AIContinue reading “The Solar War by A.G. Riddle”
The Whole Woman by Germaine Greer
This is a seminal book that will change your life. Germaine is able to eloquently describe things women experience in a way that makes you feel less alone and heard. Her research is undeniably impeccable, and her discussion is visionary. The media has lampooned Germaine. She very clearly describes the misogynistic and ageist way thatContinue reading “The Whole Woman by Germaine Greer”
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
This book allows you to reimagine pre-European Australia. Dark Emu is a factual explanation of pre-European Aboriginal agricultural practices.It puts to rest the simplification of the hunter-gatherer nomadic life of Aboriginal people and provides evidence of a complex land management system that sustained life for 40 000 years. The ignorance and arrogance of those whoContinue reading “Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe”