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#AusReadingMonth2022 Voss

Author:   Patrick White   (1912 – 1990)
Title:   Voss  
Published: 1957
Trivia: In 1973 White accepted the Nobel Prize
for an epic and psychological narrative art…
which has introduced a new continent into literature.

ANALYSIS:

1. Explain the title. In what way is it suitable to the story? The name of the main character: Johan Ulrich Voss

2. What is the predominant element in the story?  Character: We see how Voss and Laura  will change in the book.

3. Who is the single main character about?  Johan Voss:  Laura is also seen as a main character.

4. How does the author handle characterization?

White lets the other characters describe Voss….
Le Mesurier: ‘greedy looking pig, German swine (ch 2)
Topp (represents White’s mentor Roy de Maitre):
“great men are exempt from trivial duties… […]
if the German was not great, Topp would have liked him to be” (ch 2)
Brother Muller: “Mr Voss, you have a contempt for God
…because He is not in your own image.” (ch 2)
Narrator: ‘Voss and Laura, they shared some guilty secret of personality.
Only, nobody noticed.”  (makes the reader very curious….) (ch 3)
Mrs. Sanderson – Voss is troubled in some way “…needs to be saved” (ch 6)
The expedition reveals the characters of the the men involved.
A group of people whose characters and
…relationships are fixed are placed in new circumstances
The men are forced to adjust.
Some thrive and survive (Judd) …others are destroyed and  never return.
The way the characters either grow and change or
….deepen reveal elements of themselves.
Team: Harry Robarts, Mr. Turner, Frank Le Mesurier,
…Ralph Angus, Judd, Mr Palfreyman and Voss.

5. What sort of conflict confronts the leading character or characters?

• External – Voss has contempt for God. He even feels he is better than God.
• Internal – Voss must be humbled. He must learn he is not God…only then will he be nearest to becoming so.

6.  How is the conflict resolved?
There must be a sacrifice so that sins can be forgiven, redemption.
Laura knows either she or Voss must die.
She is prepared to do it when she becomes ill (ch 13).
She will lose her daughter and Voss forever.
Through the ‘mystical telepathy’ that Voss and Laura share…she knows he has been killed.
She regains her strength….and lives, but Voss is always with her.

7. Who tells the story?  3rd person narrator

8. What is the general theme of the story?
Self-discovery — suffering — mystical experience — redemption
“..country develops ‘out of the suffering of the humble.”
“…true knowledge only comes ‘of death by torture in the country of the mind.”

9. Where does the primary action take place?
Sydney
journey to Newcastle by ship
Rhine Towers  (Mr. Sanderson’s home; represents the romantic Germany)
…into the desert country….into hell.

10. What is the timeline? The book begins when Laura is 20 and  ends when she is 45 yrs. ( 25 yrs)

11. How does the story get started,  initial incident?
Johann Ulrich Voss, a German immigrant, calls on Edmund Bonner,
…the major financial backer of the expedition.
Voss meets Bonner’s niece Laura Trevelyen.
The development of their ensuing relationship  parallels the fate of the expedition.

12. Briefly describe the rising action:
Laura and Voss meet in a garden.
There they experience a ‘mystical’ moment  when their souls bonded.
Laura sees Voss’s pride as a dangerous thing.
She will pray for him even is she has to teach herself to pray.
” Then he was touching her, his hand was upon her shoulderblades,
…and they realized they had returned into their bodies.” (ch 4)

13. What is the high point, or climax, of the story?
Voss sees himself as a god-like figure.
White uses many words in the narrative to emphasize this:
eminence, sovereign, superior “he stares imperiously over the heads of men” (ch 6)
Irony: the aboriginals  see him NOT as a god but as an alien (foreigner)
….that must be destroyed.

14. Discuss the falling action or close of the story.
Chapter 16 is the best section.
Laura is now a schoolmistress and her adopted daughter Mercy still with her.
Judd, a member of expedition presumed lost, has appeared.
Colonel Hebden, who is determined to find the
…remains of the expedition wants to talk with Laura.
She is reluctant…but finally reveals new insights.

15. Does this story create any special mood?
The mood is mystical with all the extensive religious symbolism.
Voss is compared repeatedly to God, Christ and the Devil.
Like Christ Voss  goes into the desert.

16. Is this story realistic or true to life?
It is based upon the life of the 19th C Prussian explorer / naturalist Ludwig Leichhardt.
He disappeared while on an expedition into the Australian outback 1848.

17. What is the structure of the book? Ch 1-4        introduction to characters with back round information Ch 5 – 11:   expedition with alternating chapters taking the reader back to Laura on Sydney Ch 12 – 13: parallel each other – last days of Voss in desert – sudden sickness of Laura in Sydney Ch 14-16:   25 years after the  Voss’s expedition

18. Did you identify with any of the characters?
Laura: in chapter 1 she looks inward.
She was absorbed in the depths of her own predicament.
In chapter 6 she is a humble, kind woman who loves outcasts:
the ‘strange man’ (Voss) and the adopted daughter (Mercy) (ch 9)
…for whom she cared for after the child’s mother had  died.
She now looks outward …to others.
She will not be brushed to the sidelines
because others think her plain, ugly a little freakish in her black dresses.
” No, I will not go. I am here. I will stay. Thus she made her covenant”. (ch 16)
…her divine promise establishing God’s relationship to humanity.

19. Can you find any examples of figurative language? (ch 8)
White can go overboard with the ‘poetic style’...example:
Valley = bride;  sun = bridegroom;  joined in = liquid gold of complete union
White can be so so original…example:
– pelicans, making off on wings of creaking basket-work
– creases in his black trousers appeared to have been sculpted for eternity
White can be a word virtuoso…example:
“Blank faces (members team) like so many paper kites
…dangling a vertebral tail, could prevent him (Voss) soaring
towards the apotheosis (god-like state) for which he was reserved.”

20. Does this story contain any of the following elements?

Foreshadowing:

Voss hopes to be absorbed by the land ( conversation at the Sanderson’s home)
This is a terrible foreshadowing.
…but the reader has no idea what it relates to.
The ‘ah-ha’ moment will come at the end of the story. (ch 2)

Symbols:
Mirror  =  reflects the true self
Laura gazes in the mirror to see her deformities
Voss gazes in the mirror to see his importance (god-like figure,) (ch 4)
Desert = represents Voss
Laura describes Voss  ‘vast and ugly’; ‘with rocks of prejudice’; a person ‘isolated’
She is fascinated by him: “You are my desert.” (ch 4)

Biblical allusion:
Voss asks Judd to kill a lamb for the Christmas celebration in the camp
Foreshadowing: sacrifice of a lamb in the OT was a symbol to
…the complete and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
(Hebrews 9:22) “…without shedding of blood there will be no forgiveness (redemption).
This is symbolic because Voss, who sees himself as a Christ-figure,
will at the end submit to the aboriginals, be humbled and also sacrificed.
His blood will be absorbed by the earth.
He will be finally redeemed. (ch 8)

Names of characters: (…clever…)
Mr Plumpton  – was thin, scrawny and always hungry
Mrs. Child –  was…’the midwife’
Mr. Palfreyman – member of expedition, name reminds one of medieval quests

Simile:
Brendan Boyle… was like the big, rude, red potatoes, the shapely ones,
but hard with the fine red dust coating them” (ch 8)

Metaphor:  (…strange…)
Voss’s expedition is compared to
“like being worm…butting my head at whatsoever darkness of the earth” (ch 2)

Irony:
The farther Voss and Laura are separated from each other physically ( Sydney – the desert)
…the closer they become spiritually.
“…(I) include my love, since distance has united us thus closely.” (ch 8)

21. Does the story contain a single effect or impression for the reader?
The book left me with one effect….exhaustion.
Patrick White is very poetic, verbose (descriptions) and
….allusions representing complex ideas and emotions.
At times it was hard to keep up with…his genius.
In chapters 10-13 White mingles Voss’s thoughts
….about Laura with the narrative without warning.
Voss sees her with him ….there in the desert.
This was at times very confusing.

22: What were the sentences that impressed you the most?   Laura: quotations (ch 4)
Laura’s  realization that she is beset by dark helplessness
…that might become obsessions:
” If I am lost, than who can be saved…”
Laura told Voss what she thought about him:
” Everyone is offended by the truth and you will not be an exception”. (ouch!)

Voss:  quotation (ch 8)
” Life starts fresh with every new journey…even into the dust.”
After I finished the book I realized the foreshadowing implied
Voss’s blood will be absorbed  by the dust (execution).
The beginning of his new journey will start….his redemption.

Conclusion:
I could not put this book down.
It cast a spell
…but not always in the good way.

The chapters paralleling the relationship between Laura and Voss
with the fate of the  expedition were very good.
The descriptions of secondary characters,
The Bonners, Belle,  maid Rose, The Pringles was Dickensian.
We read details of houses, interiors, ball gowns, parties and picnics.
White paints a picture of jollity and conviviality
..that are a stark contrast to the chapters describing the expedition.
These sections were at times gruesome.
I read a summary of the book before reading.
I was afraid Patrick White would otherwise overwhelm me.
He is an author that can be intimidating.
Pre-warned about the eventual fate of Voss,
…I was able to identify many moments of ‘foreshadowing’.

Last thoughts:
Warning: Ch 10 ends with Voss finally reading Frank Le Mesurier’s  secret journal.
The journal contains poems.
Remember all these strange poems  =  the voice of Patrick White!
Beyond strange…
I am impressed by Patrick White’s  writing.
He deservedly received the Nobel Prize 1973.
  Patrick White: (1912 – 1990)

#NonFicNov Week 5 New to My TBR

New nonfiction  to My TBR

Week 5: (November 28-Dec 2) – New to My TBR: It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book! Pro tip: Start this draft post at the beginning of the month and add to it as your TBR multiplies. (Jaymi @ The OC Bookgirl)

1.  @ SheSeeksNonfiction  – Christian Nationalism
2. Conservative teachings of Christian Nationalism
3. …have influenced every part of American culture.
4. As Rebekah says in her blogpost:
5. “…Christian Nationalism is literally threatening our democracy and
6. …using religion as an excuse to strip everyone of their rights.”
7. #MustRead
8. Jesus and John Wayne
9. American Crusade

1. @WhisperingGums
2. I keep reading post from #NonFicNov and find so many good books!
3. I gravitate mostly to Australian nonfiction …and will add
4. Mark McKenna’s Returning to Uluru to my November 2023 Ausreading list and to
5. Week 5 post #NonFicNov “New to My TBR, thanks Sue!

1. @ The Intrepid Arkansawyer
2. I’ve read a few of Ms Garner’s books.
3. Her writing is clean and crisp…..nothing is slick or shallow.
4. Looking forward to reading this Yellow Notebook.
5. Another book Jinjer read was a book by Simone Beauvoir (novella, memoir)
6. A Very Easy Death  – Une mort très douce
7. “…When someone you love dies you pay for the sin of
8. outliving her with a thousand piercing regrets.”
9. I must put this book on my French reading list.

1. @Book’d Out
2. I am always curious what goes on with our bodies…at night!
3. The Nocturnal Brain – this sounds fascinating!
4. Thank you Shellyrae for bring this book to my attention

1. @ What’s nonfiction?
2. You can’t open a newspaper (digital) and you are confronted
3. …with Russia and Putin.
4. Rennie, @what’snonfiction assures me that The Return of the Russian Levithan will
5. provide some context and concisely summarize what’s going on and how we got there!

1. @ Bronasbooks
2. I never heard of Gillian Mears….but Brona has convinced me to take a chance!
3. This is the story  of Gillian Mears….Leaping Into Waterfalls
4. …the dazzling Australian author who wrote, loved and lived passionately
5. …until her death at 51 from multiple sclerosis in 2016.

1. @ DoingDewey
2. When searching for a few more books for 2023
3. I found three that I need to read asap.
4. The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood
5. on DoingDewey’s non-fiction list.
6. Katie is careful giving books 5 stars….
7. …but she did for this one!
8. The opioid crisis….has me in its grip. 
9. Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic 

1. Another book I found on Doing Dewey is The Law of Colour.
2. A look at the deep historical roots in USA…
3. the active role of the US government in promoting residential segregation.
4. #MustRead.…and educate yourself about what is happing in real time!

#AusReadingMonth2022 Brenda Niall (…last minute!)

by Brenda Niall (no photo)

Genre: non-fiction
Rating: D
Review: Friends and Rivals (ISBN:9781922268594)

Quick Scan:

O-29%: Ethel Turner….not very interesting….kept falling asleep.
30-47%: Barbara Baynton…insights into a now forgotten writer.
48-70%: H.H. Richardson…this was the best section…there was more depth in the writing.
71-91%: Nettie Palmer…complete unknown writer for me before reading this book.

Good news:  I read this book because I KNOW Brenda Niall is a great writer…

Bad news:

1. …but this time I felt she “phoned in” the  manuscript.
2. There was no “buzz” in her writing and it is just my opinion
3. ...the writing showed low enthusiasm or effort.
4. Much of what I learned about these women writers I could have found on
5. Wikipedia and other websites on the internet.

Personal:

1. The book was informative…just textbook dull.
2.  I’ve read H.H.Richardson’s The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney and
3. …it was a great book…worth your reading time!
4. After reading about  Ms Turner, Baynton and Palmer I feel no urge to
5. explore their writings.
6. There are so many other Australian women to read!

#AusReadingMonth2022 Wrap-Up

Carins, Australia – #AusReadingMonth2022 Wrap-Up

Results 2022:

1. Well, I did my best
2. …but could not complete the bingo card.
3. #AUSReadingMonth2022
4. @bronasbooks “This Reading Life”  blogpost
5. Better luck next year!
6. I feels like all the Australian writers live in NSW, QLD or VIC!
7. Perhaps in 2023 I’ll  look for books that are in locations in
8. ACT, (Canberra)  – NT, (Northern Territory,  WA (Western Australia)
9. Thank you for hosting Brona!

1. Best book:  Tony Birch’s short story collection Dark as Last Night…it s a gem!
2. Book snooze fest: Indelible City…just was not my “cup of tea.”
3. Book eye-openers: The Red Zone and The Lucky Laundry
4. Book Australian hero: Lowitja...she was a remarkable woman! 
5. Book Climate/Earth: The Carbon Club and Soil…must keep reading about science in 2023!
6. Book Indigenous rights: Telling Tennant’s Story …spek on the globe, Tennant Creek
7. ….but so important to learn about.

My Reading list:

1. Dark as Last Night (Tony Birch) (VIC)  – REVIEW
2. The Red Zone – Peter Hartcher – New South Wales (NSW) – REVIEW
3. Lowitja  – (change of plans…) – selecting author from (VIC) –  REVIEW
4. The Carbon Club – Marian Wilkinson – Queensland (QLD)  – REVIEW
5. The Lucky Laundry – Nathan Lynch – Western Australia (WA) – REVIEW
6. Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong  Louisa Lim – FREE SPACE –REVIEW
7. Soil – M. Evans – (TAS) A love letter to Mother Earth. – REVIEW
8. Telling Tennant’s Story: – D. Ashenden  (NT) – REVIEW
9. Friends & Rivals – Brenda Niall – REVIEW  (VIC)
10. (SA)  – (ACT)- Home to the nation’s capital, Canberra.

1. I read two of the finalists for Walkley Award 2022.
2. …and I have added the others to my TBR 2023.
3. These are some of the best non-fiction books from Australia 2022
4. …need reading suggestions?
5. Winner of award:  Currowan by Bronwyn Adcock

1. I read three of the finalists for Walkley Award 2021.
2. I will add these extra books to my TBR 2023 with one exception:
3. Toxic …about the Tasmanian Salmon Industry. 
4. I hear from others this was a difficult book to read
5. …do not like cruelty of animals.
6. Winner of award:  The Winter Road by K. Holden

1. I read the WINNER Australian Political Book of the Year 2022
2. Telling Tennant’s Story by D. Ashenden.
3. Here is the longlist…some good books for 2023 non-fiction!

1. I selected SOIL by M. Evans because I needed a book by a Tasmanian writer!
2. Soil = A love letter to Mother Earth.

#AusReadingMonth2022 Louisa Lim

by Louisa Lim

Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: Indelible City (ISBN: 9781922458513)

Bad news: This is NOT essential reading on the subject of Hong Kong and the protests of 2019. I was looking for more hard-nosed reporting not affected by feelings and Ms Lim had decided to include too much of herself and not enough of the Hong Kong news about the 2019 seismic shift in the city.

Personal: I’ve been fooled again. I assumed that a book about Hong Kong would center around account of protests in Hong Kong during 2019 along with very thorough analysis on actions and reactions between people. 70% of the book is around Ms Lim’s reminiscences of memories and a quick scan of history as view through an atlas with very old maps. The theme connecting all of this is Ms Lim’s writing about a quirky “King of Kowloon” (old man writing calligraphy graffiti around the city). Only 30% (last section) refers to the uprising that set the city on fire.
No, this is not my kind of book…too “touchy-feely” about Hong Kong. But if that is what you are looking for…be my guest!

• PS: If you want to read an EXCELLENT book about Hong Kong and the protests
• I would recommend Antony Dapiran’s  (Australian lawyer, writer based in  Hong Kong)
• City on Fire (2020) – REVIEW

#AusReadingMonth2022 The Carbon Club

by Marian Wilkinson (no photo)

Genre: non-fiction
Rating: B
Review: The Carbon Club (ISBN: 9781760875996)

Bad news: I missed any signs of “hard-hitting investigative reporting,” The book felt like I was reading a series of articles from the newspaper…cut and dry facts. 85% Australian party politics…15% analysis climate change.

Bad news: Very detailed account of many climate sceptics in government. Perhaps this is more interesting for readers in Australia who know all these AUS politicians ….but not for me. This tactic to quash any “cap and trade” for CO2 emissions by Carbon Club members happened in many countries….especially in USA.

Good News: You have to read 18 chapters to finally get to the good news! Ms Wilkinson exposes the collusion of business and politics.
Australian politicians have been fighting climate wars fuelled by the Carbon Club (Coal, LNG production, Rio Tinto mines, brown coal-fuelled thermal power stations like Hazelwood)). But…the Carbon Club is breaking up as the climate crisis becomes more urgent!

Good news: Ms Wilkinson takes us back to the Kyoto Climate Agreement (1997-2000).
NOW, I know why GW Bush was “chosen” as president by Supreme Court beating the climate conscious Al Gore: Exxon and other fossil fuel giants wanted NO green deals of environment restrictions. NOW we are paying the price of that foolish decision!

Good news: I learned that AUS and USA work in similar ways.
Conservatives are funded by Koch Brothers in US and in AUS they are funded by the Cormack Foundation.
Tony Abbott = Australia’s Trump

Personal: While reading this book it is again abundantly clear politicians (Australia) think they can brush climate science aside to satisfy Carbon Club members…but that doesn’t make it go away!

No matter what the subject of a book is ….I ALWAYS learn something! This time I learned that the Minerals Council of Australia is one of the top 10 foreign trade organizaitons who claim that adding CO2 to the atmosphere would be good for the planet. WT*?
8 groups are in the USA (…and they ALL want Trump re-elected!!), one in Canada and one in Japan.

Personal: I am amazed as to what lengths climate sceptics (Carbon Club) will go to to convince the world they are right! Tony Abbot gave a “sacrificing goats” speech in London 2017. “…we are sacrificing our industries and our way of living to the climate gods. It’s the spirit of the inquisition.” (Pg 258). This is utter nonsense! I thought Australians were sensible …..but after reading this book about Australia’s foot dragging in addressing climate change…I am not so sure anymore. Are corporate profits (coal) worth months of intense bushfires, heat waves, floods, major bleaching of the coral reefs and drought? Fortunately the world..the younger generation is waking up and will decide climate policy in the future ….not the implacable business and mining CEO’s (Clive Palmer) and media moguls (Rupert Murdoch)

#AusReadingMonth2022 Soil

by Matthew Evans (no photo)

Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: Soil (ISBN: 9781911668190)

Good news: So many fun facts that I’ve never read anywhere else. “There can be 10 billion living things in 1 teaspoon of healthy soil.”! Now I’m learning that soil is a living organism. (…not just dirt under your shoes)…and soil’s important role.

Personal: There is much to learn in this book about nutrition. The emphasizes the importance of microbes in the soil..how they work with plants. Not every reader will be charmed by this book…ther is a lot of ‘farming details‘ that are hard to take in. M. Evans knows a lot about soil….and I think this book is best suited to a reader who is very interested in organic farming! I did skim some ‘arcane farming jargon” but am convinced that when possible I should by ORGANIC fruit and veggies. Don’t underestimate the impact of pesticides on your health! Most people don’t see soil as vital….well, Matthew Evans explains we must treat it with high-esteem b/c it feeds and nourishes us.

#AusReadingMonth2022 Telling Tennant’s Story

Bill Stanner,  Australian  Anthropologist (1930s)…Looks like somebody out of central casting! 

by Dean Ashenden (no photo)

Genre: non-fiction  (354 pg)
Rating: B++
Review: Telling Tennant’s Story (ISBN: 9781760641757)

Good news: This impressive  phrase is the core message of the book: “...a silence that reigned largely unchallenged from the late 19th C to the 1960s.” (pg 57). There was no room for Aborigines in the physical world (NT, Tennant Creek)..that had been theirs. This book attempts to reveal through the eyes of the narrator (D. Ashenden) the muffled silence he experienced in his childhood home of Tennant Creek. He delves into the need for a new perspective. Australia needed an anthropologist’s sensitivity...and that man was Bill Stanner (1905-1981) who dared confront Australian bureaucracy.

Good news: While reading this book I looked up a photo of Bill Stanner (1930s)…my goodness, he was so handsome! Looked like somebody out of central casting! But all kidding aside…Mr Stanner had been a tireless critic of the treatment of Aboriginal people since the 1930s, and of the policy of assimilation that dominated in Australian in the 1940s. He advocated for the proper recognition of Aboriginal identity, culture, and land rights.

Personal: There is a lot to unpack in this book….especially for someone who does NOT live in Australia! If you are interested in the Great Australian Silence (Australian govenment vs the rights for Indigenous people) …this is a good place to start. Don’t be discouraged if your eyes glaze over (…as mine did) while reading the chapters about the courts in landmark cases for Aboriginal land rights…just absorb what you can and push on to the last part of the book. Mr. Ashenden gives a summary about what still has gone wrong in Tennant Creek.

#NovNov22 Penric’s Demon

I just LOVED this book cover

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Finish date:  November 2022
Genre: novella (129 pg)
Rating: D
Review: Penric’s Demon (ISBN: 978-1596067691)

Quick scan:  I am REALLY scraping the proverbial barrel when I dip into fantasy books (Terry Pratchett is the exception). World of the Five Gods is a fantasy series by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018. Again…books/series dripping with book awards and I still don’t get excited about fantasy. So, to end the #NovNov22 challenge I offer you this “dishwater” gray novella. See you next year with hopefully some better choices!

Good news: Simple story so far…easy to
absorb. Ms Bujold is starting the “world-building” stage. I want to read this series as a personal challenge. I’m not a fan of fantasy but Ms Bujold should be the writer to convince me her books are worth reading…I hope. Update: She has not convinced me. This will the first and last book I read by Ms Bujold.

Bad news: Penric’s Demon was nominated for Hugo Award in 2016. I’ve read 55% of the book and don’t really feel the “prize quality” writing. Ms Bujold my surprise me in the next half of the book! No surprises…sorry to say.

Personal: This is a fitting start of the series World of the Five Gods .
The story of a demon taking up residence in the mind of a young lord about to be married. Penric and Desdemona (demon) have the weirdest, best friendship relationship. There was a small conflict scene at the end of the book but if you want fast paced excitement, then this novella probably isn’t for you. It is more of the start of a long political intrigue that will develop in the series  of four novels and ten novellas. Is her writing pure gold? No.