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Posts from the ‘Australian Authors’ Category

6
May

Victorian Premier’s Literary Award Drama 2011

  • Playwright: Patricia Cornelius  (1953)
  • Title: Do No Go Gentle (act 1, 11 scenes – act 2, 13 scenes)
  • Published: 2011
  • Trivia: Winner Victorian Premier’s Award Drama 2011

 

Who is Patricia Cornelius?

  1. Patricia Cornelius is one of Australia’s
  2. …most awarded and celebrated playwrights.
  3. It was difficult finding more about this woman!
  4. But here is a  quote from The Guardian
  5. that sums it up:
  6. “Cornelius writes plays that buck gentrified theatre trends.
  7. She is not fixated on romantic comedy or
  8. low-stakes middle-class angst about relationships
  9. …instead pursuing stories and characters needing a champion.
  10. She speaks out when few others would.

 

What is the play about?

  1. Cornelius uses an historical narrative Scott’s Polar Expedition (Act 1)
  2. and a group of Australian retirees in a nursing home (Act 2).
  3. Do Not Go Gentle is described by Cornelius as a survival story.
  4. Five explorers...watching the light fade as they realize ..the end in near.
  5. Five  80 year old elderly people
  6. …nearing the end of the journey that is their lives.

 

Metaphor:

  1. Cornelius uses the story of Scott’s expedition
  2. as a metaphor in act 1
  3. ….for living courageously in old age in act 2.
  4. The playwright interweaves parts of the poem
  5. …and Scott’s original diaries into the play.
  6. Rage , rage against the dying of the light
  7. ..is repeated by the character Evans (act 1).
  8. He represents the ‘wild man’ in Thomas’s poem.

 

Stage design:

Act 1

  1. Scott’s polar party: five men:
  2. Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Edgar Evans.
  3. Ice sheets of Antarctica with the actors bundled in
  4. …mittens, reindeer boots, fur hats
  5. …in sleeping bags.

Act 2

  1. Group of retirees in a nursing home
  2. ...some in their late 50’s others in their late 80’s.
  3. Labyrinth of crevasses and ice towers are
  4. represented by white curtains around sick beds
  5. …while some actors sit swaddled in sheets shivering in the cold
  6. …in sleeping bags  (beds in nursing home)
  7. Note: white drapes, resembling all at once bedclothes,
  8. …icy crevices, and the Terra Nova sails.
  9. Incredibly clever….P. Cornelius!

 

Who are the characters?    ….to keep track of who’s who!

  1. Act 1:
  2. Scott’s polar expedition party 1911-1912
  3. Five men , Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Edgar Evans.
  4. Scott (archetype hero) Scott was celebrated
  5. as a national hero, British ambition, courage and fortitude.
  6. Captain Oates (archetype victim) remains to this day
  7. the model of the secular martyr,
  8. ..sacrificing himself for the sake of his colleagues.
  9. Act 2:
  10. Characters:  multiple characters zigzag us through to the conclusion.
  11. (80’s ) Maria (dementia)
  12. (80’s ) Scott
  13. (80’s ) Wilson, Mary (married to Scot)…has her senior moments!
  14. (80’s ) Wilson Scot (married to Mary)
  15. (80’s ) Evans, Taffy
  16. (80’s ) Oates, Titus
  17. (50’s ) Bowers, Claudia (married to Alex) (dementia)
  18. (50’s ) Bowers, Alex,  (married to Claudia)
  19.  Creature ( = Peter howling like an animal…)
  20.  I didn’t understand this at all until…later  it is replaced by
  21. Peter (vision of shell-shocked Vietnam vet   (son to Oates)

 

Strong point:  juxtaposition

  1. Cornelius places these characters and their actions
  2.   in both acts side by side to
  3. ….develop comparisons and contrasts.
  4. Example:
  5. Scene act 1 scene 1
  6. ...members of polar party
  7. complain about the cold, can’t sleep,
  8. the place gives them the horrors
  9. while “leader of expedition Scott” gives them a pep talk.
  10. Compare with…
  11. Scene act 2 scene 2
  12. ...each retiree (in their 80’s and late 50’s)
  13. complains of their aches, pains,
  14. …operations, loss of blood, prostrate etc.
  15. while “leader of expedition  Scott” gives them a pep talk.

 

Theme:

  1. Characters are on a  journey.
  2. They play out the action in search of a quest.
  3. The restless nature of these older people reveal
  4. that they are trying to escape
  5. …the present or the inevitable. (death)
  6. The dedicated men of science in the expedition.
  7. They are trying do the impossible
  8. …be the first to reach the South Pole
  9. …and face perhaps failure …and death.

 

What did I learn by reading this play?

  1. Suspension of disbelief is en essential element in a play!
  2. I had just read a play filled with gritty realism The Drover’s Wife.
  3. When I read the stage directions to Do Not Go Gentle …I was confused.
  4. Maria in  elegant long white gown in bare feet standing on the ice
  5. …singing an aria from Verdi’s Nabucco  Va, Pensiero.
  6. What the fugg does this mean? …using my YA lingo :)
  7. But I  had to ignore the reality that was described in the stage directions
  8. and temporarily accept it as
  9. …theatrical reality in order to be entertained.
  10. Strong point:
  11. I was entertained and  AMAZED how  Patricia Cornelius
  12. incorporated these songs into her play
  13. …to emphasize the sufferings of
  14. Maria in her rapidly shrinking world of reality. (dementia)

 

Act 1  scene 1

  1. Maria  dresses in elegant full-length white gown standing
  2. …in her bare feet on the ice. (white tile floor of hospital)
  3. Va, Pensiero  (G. Verdi, from Nabucco)
  4. This is a great lament for a lost homeland.
  5. Maria  probably suffers from  dementia
  6. …yearns for lost memories.

Act 2 scene 1

  1. Maria in elegant dress (hospital gown) (suffers dementia)
  2. …her bare feet on the ice (white tile floor of hospital)
  3. Solveig’s Song  (E. Grieg, from Peer Gynt)
  4. Solveig sings of the  hope and the promise
  5. …that we will still be loved no matter
  6. …how dire circumstances may become.

Act 2 scene 12

  1. Maria  wandering alone on the ice  (white tile floor of hospital)
  2. …(suffers dementia)
  3. She sings:
  4. Teneste la Promessa (G. Verdi, from La Traviata)
  5. Violette sings ‘take care’, shakes her head  ‘too late’
  6. knowing she has a few more pages to sing
  7. …before she dies.

 

Conclusion:

  1. Reading a play is just like solving a puzzle.
  2. I start sorting out the title   Do Not Go Gentle.
  3. There must be something in the poem that will opo up im the play! Thomas’
  4. Before reading I listened to Thomas reading his poem…magnificent!
  5. Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night  (listen to the audio)
  6. Next I investigate the
  7. …characters, setting(s) and the structure (acts and scenes)
  8. Timeline between acts….giant leaps?
  9. …or close chronological timing?
  10. What is the point of view:
  11. one person or multiple narrators competing
  12. …with each other to tell the story.
  13. Then I skim through the play on Kindle and
  14. highlight just the stage directions.
  15. Entrances/exits …through door(s) or from a certain direction?
  16. What does the ‘off-stage’ area represent?
  17. After all that….I finally start reading!
  18. If you like puzzle….read a play!
  19. Patricia Cornelius  does NOT  disappoint!
  20. This is a heart-warming, thought-provoking, and
  21. …hilarious, with conflicting elements.
  22. The result in a very fine play…worthy of
  23. Victorian Premier’s Literary Award Drama 2011 !!
  24. #MustRead

 

Quickscan:  Historical narrative  Scott’s Expedition

  1. Scott’s polar party: five men , Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Edgar Evans.
  2. They have reached the South Pole only to discover they have been beaten to it.
  3. The Norwegian Roald Admundsen had got there three weeks earlier
  4. – on December 14, 1911.
  5. Instead of being first the British party found a little tent
  6. topped by a Norwegian flag.
  7. Scott planted a Union Jack and, as he records in his journal:
  8. “Well, we have turned back now on the goal of our ambition
  9. …and must face our 800 miles of solid dragging
  10. – and goodbye to most of the daydreams.
  11. ”Then they embarked on their final nightmare.

 

4
May

Aurealis Award Best YA Novel 2017 short list

 

Introduction:

  1. I have no idea what to expect from this book!
  2. I’m in the mood for strange.
  3. Jane Rawson  author of From the Wreck mentioned
  4. …this book on her reading list.
  5. Now, the title  is strange enough in itself.
  6. Psynode: ….not even a word!  But what is it?
  7. Psynode is  a secret facility operated by the megacorp Allnode.
  8. Leaving my comfort zone again!
  9.  But I have to keep discovering….because
  10. speculative fiction is creeping into the mainstream.

 

Setting:  

  1. Allnode Corp – head office
  2. Nodeplex – posh neighborhood
  3. Nodeville – industrial towers, housing, warehouses.
  4. Psynode – secret facility operated by the megacorp Allnode

 

Who is Mirii?

  1. Bruised-but-not broken girl who
  2. …has survived an industrial OrphanCorp. (OC)
  3. “..just one poor little chicky-face in a
  4. …Pacific-sized ocean of poor jerks…” (ch 2)
  5. Ch 4 reveals that Miriiyanan Mahoney is indigenous
  6. ….but no has felt no family traditions . (…was in OC)

 

What does Mirii do?

  1. “…I tattoo, stick and poke, though there’s not much biz
  2. coming my way with all the competition.
  3. I do some design stuff too, but
  4. I’m mostly down with tech repair.”  (tatt and repair) (Ch 1)

 

What is Mirii’s goal?

  1. She wants to find her friend Adeline Vu.
  2. Mirii found a note six month ago
  3. …and she feels Vu is in Psynode
  4. ….or as Mirii calls it Brainfuckers, Inc.
  5. Mirii applies for a job at Allnode Corp
  6. Trainee in Resource Location (distribution center)
  7. …to get closer to Vu.
  8. Mirii is ‘hell-bent on espionage and radness.”

 

Theme:  tradition and family are everything

  1. Tradition is important…
  2. Something there to hold on to,
  3. make you feel connected to the Earth,
  4. give you a past to feel part of.
  5. Mirii (ch 4):
  6. ” I just feel so …untethered.
  7. With no family sometimes I feel like
  8. I could just float up and
  9. off the world and no one would notice.” 

 

Tone:

  1. The book feels synthetic
  2. …crackling, electric and popping at the touch.
  3. YA fiction is a clever genre and fun to read.
  4. I was stunned when the
  5. …tone changed for just a few minutes.
  6. Chapter 4, scene 3….when I read
  7. ..the first moment of character reflection by Mirii.
  8. No hip-hop jingo…just pure emotion
  9. …of a struggling  young girl.
  10. I’ve developed my own strategy
  11. to  find the  narrative
  12. between all the urban chatter and tech slang.

 

Slang:

  1. Slang…it is just a part of the YA culture
  2. …but it did take awhile to get used to
  3. I had to keep the Urban Dictionary
  4. by my side while reading Psynode.

 

Words:  I need the Urban Dictionary!

  1. Awesome is used just 2 x.
  2. …that surprises me b/c it is used constantly in conversations.
  3. Cool is used only  5 x….again surprising.
  4. So what are the words Ward uses to replace awesome and cool?
  5. Now the word is  RAD !  “That’s so rad!”
  6. Never too late to teach an old dog new tricks!
  7. The book is filled with slang…for example
  8. Bru = Bro  ( “How’s it going, bro?”)
  9. Rad babes and brus.
  10. …I’m into tatt and repair (tattooing and tech repair)
  11. …and all that awful shiz  – nice way of saying shit
  12. …do not fugg this up – nice way of saying   fuck up
  13. …start my heavy mish into enemy territory. = mission
  14. I’m almost a hundy richer  ( =  100 procent)
  15. Hellvoid? = not in Urban dictionary…but I get the gist.
  16. I gotta jam.  = leave in haste
  17. No wuz, cuz = No worries, mate!
  18. Cheyeah, of course = obviously, you idiot!
  19. Note:  I thought Cheyeah was a new character!  Dùh!  :)
  20. Mirii asks stranger who is there to help her: ” How do you know me?”
  21. Response: “This is, like, under. Gadi.”
  22. Gadi = person who goes out of his way to help others.
  23. Sleep’s not coming even though it is stupid o’ clock.
  24. I fold my features into a caj look. = casual
  25. What a character description:
  26. “Lacey has this soft, practical vibe to her
  27. …keen but floaty.” (= someone who is slightly strange)
  28. You don’t read that in Jane Austen!

 

Conclusion:

  1. A sharp-edged semi-futuristic story  about Mirii  Mahoney
  2. …and her quest to rescue a her friend Adeline Vu
  3. …from the clutches of the sinister Allnode Corp.
  4. Mirii can’t do it alone
  5. …and meets some ‘true bros’ who help her!
  6. I am utterly impressed by Psynode by Marlee Jane Ward.
  7. I started the book expecting nothing in the form of
  8. a narrative that would capture my attention.
  9. How wrong I was! 

 

Structure:

  1. Marlee Jane Ward has written a well plotted book with a
  2. clever set-up…
  3. an inciting event that set the story in motion (kidnapping)
  4. ….and in one fluid motion the reader is
  5. …presented the first plot point in chapter 4. (end act 1)
  6. Tension is building and in chapter 5 is the second plot point. (end act 2)
  7. Mirii is ready to face the truth, feels empowered
  8. …and has achieved a victory. She has found
  9. an important person who agrees  to help her!

 

  1. I won’t comment more on the last 2 chapters (act 3 and resolution)
  2. ….you must read it yourself.
  3. If you are a 60+  (like me….)
  4. …who has never read a YA book
  5. .…this is one you can try!
  6. Just remember…
  7. …put the Webster’s Dictionary back on the bookshelf and
  8. …fire up the online Urban Dictionary.
  9. You will need it!

Last thoughts: 

  1. Good structure, 7 chapters, 7 days of the week.
  2. Engaging hook  (ch 1)
  3. Keep the writing tight and on focus (snappy urban lingo)
  4. The ending? …. satisfied this reader!
  5. #Bravo  Marlee Jane Ward

 

Just have a look at this cast of characters….all created by Marlee Jane Ward!

Characters:

Mrs Gupta – Una and Ildi (Pierce twins)- Xue Xiang (girl in dorm) – Elton – Mrs Poluski (landlady) – Zoya Safranek (manager HR Allnode)  – Mirii Mahoney (MC) – Missy Burkus – the man – old woman – Allnode recruiter Brandis – = Ms Wong ( another boardinghouse landlord..small woman) – Jools (girl in dorm) – Adeline Vu – ‘the old bag’ ( bag lady on street) – NewForce Guard – biker  on slick Kawasaki

Cam – Sticks (old friends from OrphanCorp…Verity House) – Elton (recruiter)  Adeline  Vu  (good friend of Mirii who is mentioned throughout the story) – portly old babe with grey hair – Vikkie the Wrangler (Allnode Resource center trainer) – guy lean and wiry (worker at Allnode) – Ngg (lost job at Allnode) – Mifsud (lost job at Allnode)  – Mrs P’s – Ms Wong’s – chicky across the way (in dorm) a giant of a girl with folded ears.

Rowe Hamilton-Singh (Dr. Singh’s daughter)  – newbie (worker at Allnode) – grizzled old dude pro (worker at Allnode)

Dr. Singh (Rowe’s father)– bug girl (sells locust skewers in marketstall)  – Tane the  tattoo’er (works nights as secruity guard Allnode) – Lacey (60+’er) (…member anti-cap group, anti capitalism in underground hideout) – Delilah (Lacey’s computer)

Dude from intake  at Allnode — Big dude with nose broken 10 x (guard at Allnode)  – new female unit manager  (nameless but ends up in girlfight with Mirii) – warehouse fuzz (Rentacop at Allnode)  – Tat..member anti-cap group (aka mohawk babe  or Ginger Buzzcut)

Yellow-hair nurse  at Allnode (no name) –  Steveo  (victim of Psynode) – Babe in a labcoat (no name) – Dude with ultra-blond dreadies.

 

3
May

Victorian Premier’s Award Drama 2017

Leah Purcell:  youngest of seven children born to an Aboriginal mother and caucasian father in the small Queensland town of Murgon (pop. 2000). Her work includes TV series and films. She has also had a formidable impact on the stage as actress, director and playwright. She has appeared in more than 20 productions.

So, I ask myself…why have I never heard of her?

It was time to discover some of the best that Australian literary world has to offer:  Henry Lawson’s story – The Drover’s Wife  adapted for the stage by playwright Leah Purcell

If I could get the opportunity to see Leah Purcell preform on stage I’d book tickets immediately! If you live in Australia…you are so lucky to have this talent on your doorstep!

 

Introduction:

  1. The Drover’s Wife is confronted by a threat in her yard, but now it’s a man.
  2. He’s bleeding, he’s got secrets, and he’s black.
  3. She knows there’s a fugitive wanted for killing whites,
  4. ….and the district is thick with troopers.
  5. But something’s holding the Drover’s Wife back from turning this fella in.

 

Setting:

  1. A two room shanty, in the dense scrub land of
  2. ….Alpine country of the Snowy Mountains.
  3. A chopping block sits in the middle of the stage.
  4. An axe buried deep in it.
  5. Timeline:  3 days

 

Theme: survival

  1. The woman (Drover’s wife) is trapped
  2. …in a world of male dominance.
  3. The man (Yadaka) is trapped
  4. ….in a world of racism.
  5. They both do what they have to do to survive.

 

  1. Scene 2: Drover’s wife:
  2. “Cross me and I’ll kill ya.
  3. I’ll shoot ya where ya stand and bury ya where ya fall.”
  4. Scene 7: Drover’s wife:
  5. “But fight for my life, my children’s, I will.
  6. Make no excuses for.”

 

  1. Scene 6: Yadaka
  2. “My only true charge, missus is ‘Existin’ whilst black’.
  3. But fight for  my life, I will, and make no excuses for it.“

What is the emotional power in the play?

  1. The emotional power in the play
  2. is the anticipation of the fate of  Yadaka.
  3. The shifts in the conditions of Yadaka and Molly Johnson
  4. at the shabby cabin….guide the direction of the dialogue.
  5. Another important emotional issue is the growing
  6. friendship between Yadaka and the Drover’s wife 
  7. …be it coded and sometimes implied in gestures not words.

 

Backround:

  1. Leah Purcell took some qualities she admired
  2. in her Aboriginal family members and
  3. infused them into Lawson’s orginal cast.
  4. Purcell  brought more characters on the stage and
  5. deepend the dramatic impact of the story.

 

Characters:

  1. The Drover’s Wife – full of fight and life – 40
  2. The main character is a women whose qualities in this play were inspired by the
  3. …people Leah Purcel has personally known:
  4. …generous, assertive, resilient women
  5. …who hold the world on their shoulders.
  6. Molly Johnson, the drover’s wife is a woman who is
  7. proud, works hard, plays hard and never gives up who she is.

  1. Yadaka (black) – 38
  2. Danny  (Drover’s wife’s son) – 14
  3. Thomas McNealy (swagman) – 60
  4. Douglas Merchant (peddler) – 35-40
  5. Spencer Leslie (trooper) – 35
  6. Robert Parsen (stockman) – 45
  7. John Mcpharlen (stockman) – 25

 

 Strong point:

  1. The dialogue is thick and fast.
  2. It  emerges from the character’s reaction to prior events.
  3. Yadaka’s  backstory, Drover’s wife… her marriage and children
  4. and the direct interaction between these
  5. …characters in the nine  scenes.

 

Strong point:

  1. Strong point: Henry Lawson provided a look at
  2. …bush life that appealed to his audience in the 19th C.
  3. Leah Purcell provides a look at bush life….that should
  4. …appeal to all in the 21st C.
  5. People who are now  seeking a change from the
  6. …stereotypes of  the colonial past
  7. …that were the basis of Australian life.

 

Stage design:

  1. Provides the atmosphere and environment
  2. …of a particular scene or piece of action.
  3. The Drover’s Wife  stage is minimalist:
  4. There is a piece of dead tree,
  5. chopping block with axe wedged deep into it
  6. …and a curtain.
  7. Stage decor reinforces the action and
  8. gives the action depth
  9. …and a realistic context.
  10. Props: rifle, axe, prisoner’s iron collar, small coffin
  11. …boots, set of clean clothes, wood-heap, tribal spear.

 

Conclusion:

  1. How does it feel to be a problem? (blacks)
  2. Yet being a problem is a strange experience
  3. …for one who has never been anything else.
  4. Leah Purcell is determined to change this situation.
  5. Classic Australian story adapted for the 21st C.
  6. …Leah Purcell has turned the plot upside down by re-imaging
  7. Henry Lawson’s classic story ‘The Drover’s Wife”.
  8. The black man is  not the menacing element
  9. … ironically it is the white man!
  10. Leah Purcell shows a  strong connection
  11. to her aboriginal culture and community.
  12. She has surprised the theatrical world with is  powerful play!
  13. I imagine a conversation between Henry Lawson and Leah Purcell.
  14. Lawson has just read The Drover’s Wife to Purcell.
  15. Her response:
  16. “Great story filled with action, grit and passion...
  17. but I think I will ‘reimagine’ your story
  18. just once….my way!”
  19. There is an unexpected….twist in the plot.
  20. #Bravo Leah Purcell!

 

1
May

Cardinal Pell

 

Review:

  1. The winner of the 2017 Walkley Book Award is Louise Milligan.
  2. This her explosive book about…. “Cardinal: The rise and fall of George Pell”.
  3. Louise Milligan’s book examines Australia’s
  4. …most senior Catholic through the lens of the child abuse saga
  5. …which has dogged the Catholic Church.
  6. She tells how George Pell rose from Ballarat boy to Oxford.
  7. He rose through the ranks to become the Vatican’s indispensable “treasurer”.
  8. Louise Milligan  is an excellent investigative journalist
  9. …who has followed the story doggedly
  10. She pieced together the story with sensitivity and care
  11. ….from thousands of pages of historical documents
  12. ….and interviews with hundreds of people.
  13. The book has had an enormous impact.
  14. Last thoughts:
  15. I discovered this book by accident:
  16. …winner of the Walkley Book of the Year Award 2017
  17. The investigation is ongoing….
  18. …Cardinal Pell will appear in court on 05 March 2018.
  19. This book is groundbreaking
  20. ….and nerve wracking for the Vatican.
  21. It is impossible to add anything else to this review.
  22. My mind is exhausted and I am stunned and speechless 
  23. …about  the cover-ups concerning  George Pell and child abuse by the
  24. …Catholic Church.
  25. #MustRead

 

 

 

 

30
Apr

Aurealis Award 2017 Best Horror Novel

 

 

Introduction:

  1. Soon is the story of the death of a haunted town.
  2. It centers on three main characters.
  3. These neighbors are the survivors who deify the haunting.
  4. Milly – unable to leave memory of her dead husband.
  5. Li – refuses to leave the farm she worked so hard to build up.
  6. Pete – has nowhere else to go, divorced and estranged from his daughter.
  7. I’m not revealing anything else about the narrative or its subplots.
  8. You must discover this yourself.

 

Strong point:  very likeable character Milly Pryor (graceful) retired schoolteacher. She has a  no-nonsense manner mixed with amused cynicism. Her clothes have limpness, her eyes radiate arthritic pain and she keeps a hip flask of brandy close by.

 

Strong point: I enjoyed the dogs in the story! Lois Murphy must own a dog(s) because she gave some great descriptions of these rascals …and life long companions. Gina, Pete’s dog, is an important character in the book!

 

Strong point: Murphy keeps the tension palpable. The characters are under constant pressure to return to their safe homes before sunset. In the darkness the deadly ghouls appear.

 

Strong point:  There is a lot of foreshadowing in the book…you just have to find it! In 6 of the 7 chapters there are dream scenes read them carefully. But the most cryptic clue lies tucked in chapter 3!

 

Weak point:  So where’s all the horror ?

The descriptions of the ghoulish chimera  in the mist weren’t that scary!   This book  did not leave me white-knuckled…scared out of my wits. There were a lot of snaking, uncurling, lassoing and winding tendrils. There was a convoy grey vehicles in town with anonymous dark-suited men who left no footprints. The mist spoke in whispered hissing, sinister crooning, mesmerising chants and muted shrieks of laughter.  There was a lot of  scratching and tapping on the windows while  terrible faces leered in  the house.  Now that is nothing that makes me recoil in fear.

 

Conclusion:

  • Leaving my comfort zone is not easy.
  • But I had no trouble reading this horror novel.
  • It is a well written story (60%)
  • and Murphy has interjected the narrative with
  • unsettling paranormal elements. (40%)
  • This is good news if you just want to dabble in this genre
  • …taking fear in small doses, one chapter at a time.
  • The law cannot cope with the supernatural.
  • Ghosts are often rooted in past events
  • …and they demand vengeance.
  • Sometimes…
  • bad things happen to good people,
  • circumstances are beyond our control,
  • somebody or something wants to take over.
  • #C’estLaVie
26
Apr

Rubik

 

Finished: 26.04.2018
Genre: 15 short stories
Rating: B
Review:

I read these stories in the train to Amsterdam.
I kept dozing off….but was not sure if
it was the writing or the fact that my alarm clock
got me out of bed at 04:30 AM.

I think it was the latter.

Weak point: The reader who is not digital savvy will
wonder what is Elisabeth Tan talking about?
“She Alt-Tabs to Indesign.
She toggles between serif and sans-serif body copy.
“Arch PDF’s the page …and sends it to Chris…”

Weak point: ironically many short stories are too, too long!

Strong point: These stories are filled with millennial’s
mischief and creativity. It is a sign of the times.
These stories offer the reader a new perspective in creative writing. The collection of interconnected narratives  mimics the shifting planes of a Rubik’s Cube. Characters appear and disappear. Clever….

Conclusion:
“Like when someone you know dies and several years
pass and technology advances.
It creates a new normal.”
Story: The Page Has Been Left Blank Intentionally
Are these stories an example of the new normal?

But I must in all fairness admit...The cover is a great visual that reflects the twisting/turning of events and characters in the stories.
It is quite an achievement to stay in control of the narrative and cast of characters (in different forms) as is done by Elisabeth Tan.

Last Thoughts:
This collection of short stories may appeal to others
but  personally I still prefer something more in a narrative.
Raymond Carver, William Trevor, Shirley Jackson give the reader a text
full of edges and silences, haunted by things not said,
not even to be guessed at.
#ReadTheBook by the new generation
…and decide for yourself.

 

17
Apr

Girl Reporter

 

Finished: 12.04.2018
Genre: Adult fiction (YA); Science Fiction
Rating: A+
Review:

  1. I just loved this novella
  2. ….perfect for commute in the train.
  3. I had to smile…
  4. while I looked around at all the millennials in the coupé.
  5. Tansy Roberts just nailed it with the ‘new vocabulary‘ for the
  6. networked, connected, vlogging, livestreaming, vid, twitter feed generation.
  7. Friday Valentina (#SuperheroSpill reporter) made me laugh:
  8. “There’s something beautiful about the perfect hashtag.
  9. Truly, the hashtag is the epic poem of the 21st C.”
  10. Have  some fun and enjoy Tina (mother), Friday Valentina
  11. Solar, Astra, The Dark and many more characters.
  12. This book is full of snark and satire!
  13. Strong point:  snappy dialogue
  14. Tansy Roberts’ dialogue:
  15. develops the plot
  16. reveals characters’ motivation,
  17. creates an cyberspace experience for reader
  18. makes an average story extraordinary.
  19. #MustRead
  20. #MustLaugh

 

 

17
Apr

The Trauma Cleaner

 

Finished: 17.04.2018
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: A+++
Review:

 

Who is Sandra/Peter?
She is a transgender, a survivor of a dysfunctional childhood, a husband, wife,
father, svelte star of many brothels and a savvy businesswoman.

 

What did I learn from Sandra?
Keep you life uncluttered…keep only what makes you happy.
Sandra: “I’ve made an executive decision.
This is shit”… and we are tossing it out!

  1. I just was so inspired by the strength Sandra showed
  2. ..when life threw her a curve ball.
  3. She helps her clients throw the junk out of their lives.
  4. She comforts them and always
  5. ...feels warm (character), like a car engine that’s been driving for hours.

 

Who was my favorite client?
Marilyn
A 70-ish “iron-tongued warrior in silken finery and bold beads.
Marilyn puttering around the house filled with junk and debris that almost sweeps the ceiling… with the aid of a gliding walker while balancing a gin and tonic on it in the early-morning light. Marilyn is a Christmas junkie… 2 artificial trees, Christmas-themed rugs, strings of lights an lots of Santas.
Hoarding does not discriminate on the basis of income or intelligence.

 

Strong point: Sarah Krasnostein can write! I am so impressed and happy I discovered this new writer.If this is a first book…I hope to read may more by Sarah!
Strong point: The book moved me to tears.
…and I mean that in a good way.
The narratives of the hoarders are as messy as their houses.
But Sandra has managed to maintain harmony in
her home and life as a means of survival.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Sandra’s personal life is a rollercoaster ride of emotion.
  2. Hold on to your hat!
  3. But the chapters alternated with her work as trauma cleaner
  4. …..showing a compassion that just took my breath away.
  5. Sandra runs a tight ship when it comes to her business
  6. …but takes time to sit on the side of the bed with
  7. …’Marilyn’ in her lavender bathrobe.
  8. She assure her client that nothing is
  9. …tossed out with out her permission.
  10. Nothing goes in the dishwasher.
  11. Her workers will hand wash every utensil in the kitchen.
  12. Marilyn sighs a deep breath of relief.

#MustRead !

 

Sandra

 

11
Apr

From the Wreck Aurealis Award 2018 Best SF Novel

  • Author: J. Rawson
  • Title: From the Wreck
  • Published: 2017
  • Trivia: Winner Aurealis Award  2018  Best SF-novel
  • Trivia: Aurealis Award recognises the achievements of
  • Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers.

 

Why is From the Wreck considered science fiction?

  1. SF is not always about space ships, aliens, monsters,
  2. ..robots or giant man-eating insects.
  3. The first requirement for SF is that it should be possible!
  4. Realistic fiction is what  could have happened,
  5. …fantasy is about events that could not have happened
  6. …SF is about events that have not happened, or have not happened yet!

 

  1. This book is based upon the shipwreck of the SS Admella in 1859.
  2. But what has Jane Rawson done in her story to
  3. …bring this narrative into the science fiction category
  4. …and not historical fiction?
  5. I’m determined to find out.

Narrator:

  1. Third-person, non-participant narrator
  2. There are six chapters narrated by the ‘being from another dimension”

Structure:

  1. The Wreck –  2 chapters
  2. Life on Land – 4 chapters
  3. Henry – 9 chapters
  4. Cured –   4 chapters
  5. Some Journeys – 12 chapters

Setting:

  1. Rosewater  (small town above Adelaide)
  2. Portland (George works in Seaman’s Home in this town)
  3. Adelaide (George travels to this city to meet some characters)

 

Introduction:

  1. From the Wreck  tells the remarkable story of George Hills.
  2. He survived the sinking of the SS Admella off the South Australian coast in 1859.
  1. George “..rolled into the waves…but they would not have him…”
  2. the waves …”instruments of the Lord“
  3. People trying to help save George….he calls them
  4. “monstrous humans declaring death is near”
  5. “What do they know?
  6. George thinks
  7. “Death was not for him.
  8. He lived now in another  world.”
  9.  “Why had the waves not taken him? Why was he here?“
  1. He is haunted by his memories and the
  2. …disappearance of a fellow survivor.
  3. She is a  woman from another dimension
  4. ...and George must find her.
  5. She can…
  6. lure him
  7. destroy him
  8. return scraps of his health and sanity
  9. tell him what he had done was only a dream.

 

What was the hook that drew me into the book?

  1. Rawson begins her book with the description of the
  2. ship wreck by three different points of view.
  3. Rawson writes an amazing ‘cryptic’ second chapter
  4. …and I was hooked.
  5.  In chapter two Rawson switches constantly among
  6. four personal pronouns: WE  — I — THEY —   IT.
  7. If you read this chapter too quickly your eyes will glaze over.
  8. I read  line-for- line making a note as to what/who the
  9. …pronoun was referring.  It changes!
  10. This was the only chapter I had to read in this way
  11. …the rest was easy going.
  12. But it is important to understand who is talking in ch 2!
  13. Believe me..after you finish the book
  14. …you should re-read chapter 2.
  15. The pieces of the puzzle will now fall into place!

 

Theme:  abandonment, loneliness, and guilt.

  1. The George  suffers from all these feelings
  2. …which Rawson has translated into a story.

 

Tone: Gothic

  1. Part 1:
  2. whitened swollen ghosts had dragged themselves across the deck
  3. ghosts who wanted nothing more now but to be left alone
  4. looked at the ghosts about him…they were gone —
  5. He is  a creature of the devil.
  6. Ocean-fed devils
  8. Part 3:
  9. “You’ve seen these ghosts“
  10. …headless monsters walking the streets after dark wringing out
  11. …the bodies of cats and rats to drink their blood..”
  12. It is a sprawling birthmark.
  13. …was throbbing, rippling, pulsing. “Another brain in my brain…”
  14. …seethes and stretches, the edges crawling across his back..”
  16. Part 4:
  17. “What do you know about haunting? he asked.
  18. Or spells. Potions. Do you know anything about
  19. …spells to stop a haunting?’

 

Strong point: inner dialogue

  1. Internal narrative is the life’s blood of any story.
  2. Readers don’t just want to see what’s happening to your character.
  3. they want to know what he thinks.
  4. For example: George has thoughts that he
  5. …would LIKE to tell his brother-in-law
  6. ....but cannot.

 

Strong point: tension

  1. Suspense drives the narrative.
  2. Good example is in ch1  part 2.
  3. Tension is building.
  4. Rawson  is withholding information.
  5. She keeps the reader
  6. …waiting and waiting for a shocking revelation.
  7. The character is keeping his secret from his family.
  8. The reader will soon know the secret as well.
  9. Tension:
  10. Why does Henry…George’s son of 5 yr
  11. …use words like niche and reprobate?
  12. Uncle William is amazed  by small Henry.
  13. Does it mean he is ‘different’?  (big words for little kid!!)

 

Strong point:  pace

  1. I never really took notice of ‘pace’
  2. …until I started reading books more carefully.
  3. A writer uses her craft to equally balance action, drama, and plot elements
  4. …and I just miss it completely!
  5. Rawson mixes slow and quick pace chapters  part 3 “Henry” .
  6. Quick: Dialogue:  question – answer b/t characters (George – Alice Jarvis)
  7. Slow – reflections – inner dialogue, dream sequence – Henry dreams of ocean.
  8. Quick: wife about to give birth…George is rushing around get the doctor!
  9. Slow: introduction of new characters with long descriptions, back round
  10. Quick: …heart throbbing revelation for Henry!

 

Conclusion:

  1. Question?
  2. Alien being  has its own philosophy… but what is it?
  3. Why is  alien being implanting itself into  humans?
  4. Why does it insist on adapting to new shapes and forms?
  5. What has happened to push George or the edge?
  6. He is  so committed to finding the truth
  7. …that he’s willing to physically die for it.
  8. These  questions and more, you will have to answer
  9. yourself  after reading this
  10.  Aurealis Award 2018 …winning SF  novel!
  11. #MustRead…..amazing!

 

Last thoughts:

  1. As a reader who  is not drawn to the science fiction genre
  2. …this book delighted, surprised and inspired me
  3. …to read more of Jane Rawson.
  4. I must give science fiction a chance!
  5. This book is original, so well-written
  6. ….clean, sharp and spooky.
  7. I’ll never look at my cat in the same way….!

7
Apr

Jo Chandler: Feeling the Heat

 

Who is Jo Chandler?

  1. Chandler is a freelance journalist and author.
  2. She won the Walkely Award 2017 Freelancer of the Year. 
  3. I discovered Jo Chandler  in  The Best Australian Essays 2016

 

Introduction:

  1. In a attempt to understand what is happening to our planet,
  2. Chandler travels to climate science frontiers
  3. Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef, the Wimmera and
  4. North Queensland’s tropical rainforests.
  5. Jo Chandler puts together some of the
  6. …pieces in the climate puzzle
  7. …meets many passionate and eccentric characters
  8. …discovers what makes them tick, and
  9. …learns a thing or two about herself.

 

What is Chandler’s goal in this book?

  1. The purpose of the book is to tell the authentic,
  2. raw story of science at the real-world climate frontiers.
  3. Narrator:  Chandler  is of a non-scientist and journalist
  4. ….a questioning observer.
  5. Chandler presents scientist’s evidence as clear as
  6. possible and then takes a step back as all scientists do.
  7. “Our leaders must define the path which will get
  8. …us to where we need to go.” (pg 228, epilogue)

 

What did Chandler find personally?

  1. Chandler uses the metaphor
  2. …the difference between bearing and heading.
  3. Explorers note physical markers to register
  4. …their drift and shift against satellites.
  5. Heading is not always the
  6. …direction you are moving towards.
  7. Heading is the direction you are pointing.
  8. If we fail to define the
  9. …coordinates of our objective (…in life)
  10. …drift out of  course due to crosswinds
  11. …we plough blindly forward
  12. …without heed for perils along the way.
  13. It is important  to find your bearing.
  14. …your position with reference to a known (land)mark.
  15. “”..it feels like a revelation. A strategy to better find my way
  16. …when I return to earth.” (pg  40, ch 3)

 

Storm Front

  • Jo Chandler’s  departure from Hobart to Casey Antarctica:

Flight of the Albaross –  Arriving at Casey Base:

  1. 5 hr flight from Hobart
  2. 70 km (4 hrs rough riding from Wilkins Airport)
  3. 4000 km south of Perth
  4. Flight attendant Airbus landing at  Wilkens Inter Airport:
  5. ” Welcome to Antarctica…it’s not bad out there today
  6. ..mild mid-summer -6 C.”

Buried Treasure

  1. Fact: Antarctica holds 70% of the fresh water on the planet.
  2. Irony: Antarctica is the driest place on earth.
  3. Personal: Chandler experiences Antarctica
  4. …as more than an scientific platform.
  5. She felt moments of connection with nature
  6. …which ache so powerfully
  7. …it is like the instant of finding love.
  8. Antarctica  divines or future….and archives our past.
  9. Reasearch: Ice samples pulled from Law Dome
  10. contain bubbles of the atmosphere
  11. ….dating back 90.000 years!
  12. Expert:  scroll down to see beautiful
  13. …video (3 min) of Antarctica with
  14. … Dr. Tas van Ommen

 

Revisiting Gondwana

  1. Chandler now moves to the Wet Tropics of Australia.
  2. …the subtropical Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area
  3. Despite its small size these tropics host the highest biodiversity in the country.
  4. The forest throbs with life.
  5. Just take the time to LISTEN to the sounds of the rainforest….so relaxing!
  6. I listened…while reading!

  1. Some of the wettest areas on Earth where forests are so
  2. …often shrouded in cloud they truly are “cloud forests”.
  3. Clouds condense on leaves and drip to saturate soils below
  4. But the rainforests are deeply vulnerable
  5. …to human induced climate-change.
  6. Cyclones are a part of the north
  7. …they have always come…and they always will.
  8. But what happens when warmer oceans
  9. …feed the frequency and fury of the storms?
  10. Will the rainforest have the opportunity to recover between blasts?
  11. Cyclone Yasi  30.01.2011  CAT 5 ..most furious storm to visit east coast
  12. …of Australia in a century!
  13. Personal: Chandler feels unsettled in this place with a high ‘ick’ factor.
  14. It takes some days to come to terms with
  15. …the tight grasp of this menacing environment.

The Sleeping Giant:

  1. Climatic change is everywhere in the news.
  2. If you want to get the most out of this book
  3. …I would suggest while you are  reading
  4. …to google for images that will help you see what chandler is discussing.
  5. The Sleeping Giant refers to the East Antarctica ice sheets.
  6. They are now relatively stable.
  7. But Chandler explains that the character of the ice is changing.
  8. (warm current sweeping under the ice sheet)
  9. Without this image for instance …I would not have
  10. ..understood what Chandler meant.
  11. Antarctica is difficult to imagine!
  12. Personal: Chandler feels in Antarctica “..very isolated, very small,
  13. …very lucky and a little afraid.” (pg 112, ch 6)

 

Strong point:

  1. Explanations are clear and in accessible language.
  2. It is not academic book  but very strongly supported
  3. citing numerous articles in science magazines and research papers.
  4. The main topics that are being investigated in Antarcitca are:
  5. Ice sheets – ice melt – atmosphere (ozone hole) – ice cores (drilled to study the past)

 

Strong point:

  1. This is the first book I ever read about climatic change.
  2. Chandler’s perspective as a non-scientist observer
  3. …made me feel at ease.
  4. I was learning….as she was.
  5. Chandler helped me  with her journalistic style ‘here are the facts’  and
  6. …clever analogies (bathtub = hidden underbelly of the  Totten Glacier, ch 6).

 

Strong point: 

  1. You can read  all the chapters one after another
  2. …but I found I was
  3. drowning in information overload.
  4. You can also read the book as a series of essays
  5. …put the book down and let the information settle.

 

Strong point:

  1. Chandler’s book made me more aware of the consequences
  2. of climate change that I experience myself: 
  3. frequent storms,  diluvian cloudbursts and sweltering heatwaves.

 

Weak point: no illustrations!

 

Conclusion:

  1. This book is a great read emphasizing that
  2. …the clock is ticking and issues like
  3. …ice melt and sea-level rise are urgent.
  4. If there is even the smallish risk
  5. …of a very big adverse outcome
  6. ..due to sea rise and ice-melt (Antarctica and Greenland)
  7. it would be wise to do something about it.
  8. “Once the thaw starts the risk is that the
  9. …tipping point is tripped...” (pg 122, ch 6)
  10. But as we know action is blocked by
  11. Big Oil and Big Coal.
  12. I think one of the things I or any other citizen of the world
  13. …can do is #VoteThemOut
  14. Vote  out the politicians
  15. …and leaders of countries who are on the
  16. ..fossil fuel industries…payroll!

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Chandler’s mission:
  2. Explore and explain the dynamics of
  3. …the forces at work in a changing world.
  4. Personally..
  5. …I was most fascinated by the Antarctica.
  6. Jo Chandler’s  storytelling is
  7. ….personal (ch 6-7 and especially the epiloge)
  8. … mixed with scientific: for example…
  9. man-made ocean acidification ch 8
  10. Great Barrier Reef and Heron Island  ch 9-10-11-12
  11. Penguins Antarctic Adélies, elephant seals 
  12. …and mosses, the most advanced plants
  13. …on continental Antarctica! ch 13

  1. It is an amazing feat to
  2. …digest all this scientific information
  3. …clarify all the jargon for the  readers
  4. …who just dabble in science, like me.
  5. One thing I DID LEARN...
  6. What caused the biting cold Polar Vortex
  7. …24 February – 01 March 2018 that brought
  8. ..The Netherlands  back to ice skating on the canals?
  9. There is more heat coming off the relatively ice-free Arctic  waters
  10. …increasing air pressure and
  11. …pushing the polar cold air south …in my direction!
  12. #MustRead

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