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Posts from the ‘novellas #NovNov’ Category

14
Nov

#AusReadingMonth2020 Fall On Me (novella)

 

Notes:

  1. I had so much fun reading this book!
  2. I even contacted the author via Twitter!
  3. He told me he wrote the story
  4. …during a month’s stay in Launceston Tasmania.
  5. I decided to investigate this town, its streets and iconic buildings!
  6. NOTE:  book is perfectly paired  with author’s  REM  playlist!!
  7. NOTE: …there are more songs, so read the book and keep Spotify handy!
  8. Radio Free Europe…is a favorite of mine in chapter 6!
  9. As Anna says (housemate): “it’s good to allow a bit of nostalgia into your
  10. …life every now and again….”

 

Conclusion:

  1. Fall on Me is short enough to be read in one sitting.
  2. What’s not to love? 
  3. A novella is still a novel and this one has
  4. complexity with relationships (Katelyn, Fergal)
  5. …and the all the subplots (Anna, surviving in Lonnie = Launceston, Tasmania)
  6. A novel if too long looses focus
  7. …but Nigel Featherstone uses compression and intensity
  8. …to keep this reader glued to every page!
  9. When I started this book about a  tense father-son relationship
  10.  I expected Lou to go into a rage
  11. ….similar to that of the father character in the film “Billy Elliot”.
  12. But, no …Lou shows the reader how hard parenting is.
  13. He tries with compassion “to feel with” or “to suffer with” his son.
  14. #MustRead

 

NOTES:

  1. Main characters: Lou Bard (bar owner), his son Luke, Anna (housemate)
  2. Setting: Tasmania, Launceston (Lonnie)
  3. Timeline:  1 week
  4. Conflict:
  5. Father (Lou): needs to protect his son from danger,
  6. VS
  7. Son (Luke):  need to be his own person, coming of age
  8. Theme:   social norms, father/son relationship, coming of age
  9. Title:  reference to REM “Fall On Me”, Lou’s favorite song!

 

  1. 1st plot point: Lou enters the main conflict
  2. …he is confronted  with Luke’s art installation.
  3. 2nd plot point: Lou feels empowered after
  4. …after Luke’s  important decision about his art show.
  5. ….Lou feels everything seems to be going his way.
  6. 3rd plot point: Lou …feels he must be absolutely honest
  7. …with himself about himself after café incident.
  8. HINGE point: Lou must choose between
  9. …his wants (lies) and son’s needs (truth)
  10. Lou: ” I’ll never, ever let you down.”
  11. Climax: Opening night of Luke’s art installation!
  12. Resolution: How has Lou changed?
  13. Listening in silence can be the best means of communication.
  14. CH 1-2-3…Lou tells his son: “
  15. Character change?  “…Let me show you how brave I can be.”
  16. …will Lou have to prove this later in the story?
  17. Ending:…feels like the sound of a bell ringing.
  18. #Bravo !!!   Nigel!

 

Strong point:  the book provides tension and suspense.

  1. Featherstone uses flashbacks to fill in the blanks and
  2. …reveal some important truth about a character’s past.
  3. Ch 4: the love of Lou’s life Katelyn Somers
  4. Ch 5: Lou is a single father caring for a one month old son
  5. Ch 6: Lou’s friendship with Fergal and his love of the band REM
  6. Ch 14: Grief is a thing with feathers….

 

Left a mark to on me?

Effect:

  1. Is defined by Poe
  2. “as a narrative that can be read at
  3. one sitting of from one-half hour to two hours,
  4. …and that is limited to ‘a certain unique or single effect

 

Favorite moment: chapter 5

Trigger – Housemate Anna tells Lou that Luke is trying to tell him something:

  1. “It’s a puzzle, Lou, for you to work out.”
  2.  Anna:  “…if talking doesn’t work, let the silence work for you.“

 

Favorite moment:  chapter 6  …the duties of a parent….

  1. Father realizes he wants to protect his son from danger….but
  2. “children must fly….whatever happens the boy must take to the skies.”

 

Favorite moment: end of chapter 18

  1. This reader is holding her breath…waiting for release
  2. …at the end in a kind of catharsis! 
  3. Classic Aristotle!
  4. Luke:  “...there are things he needed to do, but he didn’t elaborate.“

 

Favorite quote: chapter 19:

  1. “Ah, the nakedness of a heart,
  2. the nakedness of a breath,
  3. the nakedness of a gift”

 

 

Australia:  Launceston  (…my research)

Love names of customers:
  1. N. Featherstone told me via tweet:
  2. “...I wrote the novella 11 years ago
  3. …while spending a month in Launceston“.
  4. I decided to have a look at Launceston via Google!
Ravi Bahrani   – (from Aravind’s Punjabi Hut)
Sam and Dean lawyers  – from around the corner who may or not be a couple!
Eric – owner shop “Not Quite Antique, Not Quite Trash“
Big Woz  –  (…Warren Holbrook)
Girls from Tasmanian Aboriginal Lands Council –  (real council in Launceston)
Craig – manages Bob Jane T-Mart – real place!
Bob Jane T-Marts is Australia’s most trusted name for tyres, wheels and car batteries.
Lisa – Celtic Barbery  – real place !!  Celtic Barber, Launceston Tasmania
Streets:
  1. Wellman Street –   This street is mentionend 19x
  2. I can only find a Welman Street in Launceston
  3. …perhaps Featherstone wants to keep this address purely fictional
  4. …or was this a typo?  (Nigel?)
  5. Eureka Street – fictional
  6. Charles, Frederick, Elizabeth, Margaret, William, Frankland Street(s) – all real streets
  7. Balfour, Brisbane, Brougham, Wellington, York Street(s) – all real streets
  8. Gleadow Street is in Ivermay Tasmania, town next to Launceston

Ch 2:  “Celtic Barbery”

 

Ch 2: “I think I’ll have a Boag’s, says Luke”

Boag’s Brewery established in 1883 in Launceston Tasmania!

Ch 3:   Cataract Gorge   Kings Bridge

  • Ch 8: Lou: “No”, not there”  .…the Bridge is inside him, wedged there like a bullet.

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