NancyElin.blog

Nov

#AusReadingMonth2020 Fall On Me (novella)

Author: Nigel Featherstone
Title: Fall On Me ( pg 118)
Genre: novella
Published: 2011
List of Challenges 2020
Monthly plan
#AusReadingMonth2020 @Bronasbooks
Bingo card: TAS
#NovNov @746Books
@bookishbeck

Notes:

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

Conclusion:

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

NOTES:

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

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

Strong point: the book provides tension and suspense.

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

Left a mark to on me?

Effect:

Is defined by Poe
“as a narrative that can be read at
one sitting of from one-half hour to two hours,
…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:

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

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

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

Favorite moment: end of chapter 18

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

Favorite quote: chapter 19:

“Ah, the nakedness of a heart,
the nakedness of a breath,
the nakedness of a gift”

Australia: Launceston (…my research)

Love names of customers:

N. Featherstone told me via tweet:
“...I wrote the novella 11 years ago
…while spending a month in Launceston“.
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:

Wellman Street – This street is mentionend 19x
I can only find a Welman Street in Launceston
…perhaps Featherstone wants to keep this address purely fictional
…or was this a typo? (Nigel?)
Eureka Street – fictional
Charles, Frederick, Elizabeth, Margaret, William, Frankland Street(s) – all real streets
Balfour, Brisbane, Brougham, Wellington, York Street(s) – all real streets
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.

Nov

#Non-fiction Sophie McNeill

Conclusion:

The book felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page
….with a heavy dosis of pathos.
You feel the emotions of sadness or pity
which has come from telling the harrowing experiences people
caught up in the Middle East conflicts.
Pathos is used as a way to emotionally appeal to the listener or reader.
You may like this book…..but it did not resonate with me.
#WasteOfMyReadingTime

Nov

#First Touch of Winter…

The Netherlands is trying to manage the
covid virus with pragmatic leadership…and keeping a cool head.
The Dutch are smart people and realize we just have to get through the winter.
We closed ALL bars and restaurants since 15 October
…and we are bending the curve of the virus!
They will remain closed until at least 01 December.
We are desperately trying to create an environment
in which some Xmas celebration is possible.

UPDATE: 12.11.2020

The Netherlands and USA were similar
….of course the difference in population
…calculation has been made
USA is 19x more than NL.
On Nov 1 2020 the number of hospitalizations were the same (see calculation)
On Nov 8 ….after NL has had lockdown since 15 October (all bars/restaurants closed)
NL: hospitalizations decreased and are still decreasing.
USA: hospitalizations increased 20 % !!

Where it started: 30 Sept – 13 Oct

Where it is now: 28 Oct – 10 Nov

Great news….NO fireworks will be allowed on New Years Eve 31 Dec – 01Jan.
That is just a harrowing tradition here and the noise goes on until 0200 am sometimes.
People (…like me who enjoy quiet)….all cats and dogs are jubilant!
This is quite a bold decision to reduce the pressure on hospitals,
care givers, police, firemen…
…they have enough to do besides sweeping up all the chaos.

I lost all reading-focus during the Spring/Summer.
I took walks, took photos, listened to audio books and
wrote some Covid Journals on this book blog.
I just had to write about my feelings to process them.
Now, since September I have been able to get back to a reading schedule
thanks to some challenges
#AusReadingMonth2020, #NovNov and #NonfivNov.

NL: our R-number is now down to 0,91 (was 1,4)
we still have 20/25regio’s niveau ‘very bad’ and 5 niveau ‘bad.
Masks are worn in all public places (stores visits to medical centers etc),
luckily libraries are still open..that helps people remain sane.
We are feeling the tug toward a time of hibernation,
descending into darkness with Persephone. (FOTO)

Nov

#Non-fiction Fallen

Title: Fallen
Author: Lucie Morris-Marr
Genre: non-fiction
Published: 2019
#NonficNov
#AWW2020 @AustralianWomenWriters
Trivia: Walkley Award

Introduction:

Lucie Morris-Marr is an award-winning freelance investigative journalist
…who has covered the entire Pell case.
The long-anticipated decision of the jury…what did they decide?
Did Pell win the appeal?
Did the verdict trigger a storm of feelings
…among advocates and survivors?

Conclusion:

I read Cardinal published by Louise Milligan in 2017.
Ms Milligan peeled back the layers of George Pell’s life to reveal in detail:
G. Pell’s youth
the building of the case against…the cardinal from historical documents
the cover-up by the Catholic Church concerning alleged child abuse by G. Pell.
It was an impressive book and won
..The Walkley Book of the Year 2017.

Why is Ms Lucie Morris-Maar’s book different?

Ms Morris-Marr continues the narrative where Cardinal ended
…the inside story of the Pell trial.
The “Cathedral Trial” started nearly 14 months after the cardinal
was first charged for multiple allegations of child sexual abuse.
A choirboy may have been a small, powerless adolescent soprano
but his voice will resonate for years to come.

Last thoughts:

Strong point:
Ms Morris-Marr revealed her personal struggle (mentally and physically)
while writing this book.
Ms Milligan on the other hand… remained outside the narrative of Cardinal.
Weak point: it is difficult to make a trial procedure exciting
…only Helen Garner can do that!
Personally, I enjoyed Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell
more than I did Fallen.
Ms Miligan’s book made my whole body go cold….
Ms Morris-Marr’s book is seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary
…a trial procedure: questioning witnesses, jury deliberation, mistrial and retrial.
Weak point: Fallen – Ms Morris-Marr connects the dots of research.
…but does not give me much emotion about the trial.
Strong point: Cardinal – Ms Milligan creates with the help of
research, observation, description and reflection
an intense book…full blast… drama.!
So, I don’t think Fallen will win The Walkley Award 2020
….my advice read Cardinal ….the winner of The Walkley 2017!

UPDATE: 10.11.2020

Today an unprecedented report
about Cardinal McCarrick of the United States
who was defrocked of his red hat and
…dismissed from the clerical state for
sexual abuse and harassment was released
in 2017 by Pope Francis I.
Why so important?
For the first time the Vatican is willing to confront
the MISTAKE made by a pope and now saint, John Paul II
in appointing Theodore McCarrick as Archbishop of Washington DC in
2000…and a cardinal the following year.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Timeline:

29 June 2017 – Victoria Police announced they were charging Pell with a series of sexual assault offences with several counts and several victims.
1 May 2018 – Pell was committed to stand trial on several historical sexual offence charges.
August 2018 – The Cathedral Trial …for the allegations of misconduct in St Patrick’s Cathedral.
13 March 2019 – sentencing Pell to serve 6 years in jail Pell was also registered as a sex offender.
21 August 2019 – the Court of Appeal issued its ruling, which upheld the conviction.
January 2020 – special leave to appeal Pell’s conviction should be overturned.
7 April 2020 – the High Court unanimously granted leave to appeal, quashing Pell’s convictions.
14 April 2020 – it was reported that Pell was under a secret investigation by Victorian police regarding a separate allegation of child sexual abuse committed in Ballarat in the 1970s.
October 2020 – allegations that €700,000 had been transferred from Vatican accounts to a witness against Pell. (Pay-Off??).
“Vatican categorically [denied]” interference in the trial of Pell.
Hmmm, I wonder….

Nov

#AusReadingMonth2020 Bella Li

Title: Argosy
Author: Bella Li
Genre: prose poems, collages, images
Published: 2017
Bingo card: VIC
#AusReadingMonth2020 @bronasbooks
#AWW2020 @AustralianWomenWriters
Trivia: The book models itself from Max Ernst’s collage novels
— Une semaine de bonté: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage
— La femme 100 têtes
Trivia: Winner Victorian Premier’s Literary Award 2018
Trivia: Winner Kenneth Slessor Prize 2018 (New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award)

Conclusion:

I had high hopes for this book
…but after reading it I am convinced
I have a lot to learn about poetry.
The book contains 14 small chapters:
7 chapters = collage images; 7 chapters = text.
Collage/images:
Ms Li used historical illustrations made by French explorers.
and added some of her own imaginative visuals including
…position seashells, butterflies, and animals atop
18th and 19th C explorer sketches from La Pèrouse.
Ms Li places her prose poem sequences
in between the image sections
…that play with quiet and fantastical visual scenes

Text: prose poetry , ‘vers libre’ imitating the style Rimbaud uses.
It is ESSENTIAL TO KNOW... the back round information Li uses as
as basis for part 1 of the book: “La Pérouse, une semane de disparitions”
Chapters Les Rêves (7 stanzas) and Les Incendies (7 stanzas).

On March 10, 1788, the French explorer
Jean-François de Galaup de La Pérouse departed (wikipedia info)
the penal colony of Sydney, having spent six weeks stocking up on supplies.
Now it was time to resume his exploration of the Pacific.
He sailed north out of the harbour, bound for
New Caledonia and the Solomons, due to return home the following year.
He was never seen again.

Ms Li’s objective: Part 1

Use prose poetry to compose a vision of the explorer’s demise.
Voice to La Pérouse’s thoughts and observations.
Describe what he felt/seen shipwrecked on Vanikoro, an atoll of the Solomon Islands

My experience:

I read part 1 with NO knowledge of Ms Li’s narrative objective.
My note in the book: “I can’t make heads of tails of this!”
After I did discover what I was missing
...the poems made more sense.
So I hope this helps you if you want to read Argosy.

Ms Li’s objective: Part 2 (title: The Hundred Headless Woman)

…female character sketches:
Isodora: A Western: (ref – dancer Isadora Duncan and ref – Cormac McCarthy
io sono l’amore: (ref: film maker Luca Guadagnino)
The Novelist Elena Ferrante (ref: to Ischia, place used in EF’s novels)
The Memory Machine Elena Obieta (ref: SF writer Ricardo Piglia and his fictional character Elena Obieta)
The poem 아가씨 (ref: film The Handmaiden, 2016)…little story of Tamako

My experience:

Without some back round information
…I was lost while reading part 2.
Ms Li DID PROVIDE NOTES on page 168…
I should have read them BEFORE reading the book!!
I was lost during the first reading of this book
….but it was my own fault!
After re-reading the entire book
I now realize why Ms Bella Li
has been awarded many literary awards
.…she pushes the boundaries of poetry!
This book requires a deep engagement with the text
…in order to make meaning from it.
#GoodRead for poetry buffs….

Nov

“We the people of the United States..”

The sun will melt a sea of racism that seemed hard frozen.

Some men become what they were born for,

Joe Biden will finally bring the people

together in the UNITED STATES of America.

I could not be prouder!

#NeedCoffee

Nov

#AusReadingMonth2020 Pearly Gates

Author: Owen Marshall
Title: Pearly Gates
Published: 2019
Score: A
Bingo card: FREE SPACE (New Zealand)
List of Challenges 2020
Monthly reading plan
#AusReadingMonth2020

Conclusion:

This was a delightful novel!
Pearly Gates is an unforgettable character:
…a great warm welcoming smile, full of confidence
….like the man who keeps friends
…because he uses the right deodorant.
But soon Pearly feels a weight he cannot endure.
He carries it like an egg or a rock.
“…hating the weight, fearing the knock” ( quote: Penelope Layland)
No spoilers about the plot...that is how I read the book
…and I just could not put it down.
So curious how Pearly was going to solve this
…existential crisis!
#MustRead

Nov

#Non-fiction Hazelwood

Morwell, Australia

Author: Tom Doig
Title: Hazelwood
Published: 2019
List of Challenges 2020
Monthly reading plan
#NonFicNov
Trivia: Longlist Walkely Award 2020
Cross reading: QLD 2019 Book of the year
Adani: Following Its Dirty Footprint by Lindsay Simpson

Introduction:

Coalmine in Aussie town was on fire for almost
three weeks after an arsonist lit bushfire that spread.
Firefighters were concerned about landslides
due to the amount of water being poured into pit.
Morwell was engulfed in smoke and authorities
…said say fire could take months to extinguish.
14,000 residents were exposed to health risks from smoke inhalation.
Was there a chance to consider
…a class action against the mine’s owners??

Conclusion:

This was a riveting read about a
unprecedented environmental disaster
…that affected nearby town of Morwell Australia
with asbestos ash and smoked.
Tom Doig captures the human cost via
the stories of people who suffered through it.
The author gathered information
from 2014-2019 with in-depth interviews and
…follow-up fact checking.
The operators of the coal mine, Hazelwood Pacific Pty Ltd
were found guilty in …November 2019 of polluting
….the atmosphere so as to make it harmful to health.
The book was a page turner
.…and made me think of the many pollution
disasters the have taken place in the world.
…that we never read about.
#MustRead

Nov

#Poetry Nganajungu Yagu

Title: Nganajungu Yagu
Author: Charmaine Papertalk Green
Genre: poems, letters
Bingo card: WA
#AusReadingMonth2020 @Bronasbooks
#AWW2020 @AustralianWomenWriters
Trivia: Winner 2020 The Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal
Trivia: Winner 2020 Victorian Premier’s Awards
Trivia: Shortlist 2020 Queensland Literary Awards

Conclusion:

This book took me to a place that felt so safe.
It took me back to my mother….
…and how it felt leaving her at 20 years old to start my life
…in a new country.
Ms Green also left her family, her mother to attend boarding school.
It brought back the feeling guilt
…which I still carry not being with her in her last years.
It reminded me that my mother knew I had to lead my own life
…and pushed me to a new future
…and I am grateful she did.

We kept in contact through letters (pre-internet/email).
…and one or two international phone calls ( 1970s = expensive!!)
I feel so lucky to have those letters.
…just as Charmaine Papertalk Green explains
in her book Nganajungu Yagu ( My Mother)
…how she cherishes her letters
…and save them in her RJS (suitcase).

Ms Papertalk Green reached out to me
…and we shared the same thoughts.
I hold a letter with my mothers handwriting and think…
She wrote these words, sentences
and sealed it always with the words
…Love and kisses, Mother.

My mother gave me the courage to persevere
through the first 10 years in a new country
…with a new language to learn.
I endured and sat on the tip of each day
… watching the hours tick over the west
…and come up in the east
…and eventually the homesickness did subside.

Sadly my mother has passed away….
…but I still hold her letters and talk to her.
I feel just like Charmine Papertalk Green
…so close yet so far away.
#MustRead
Score: A+++++++

Nov

#NonFicNov 2020 Week 1

Week 1: (Nov 2 to Nov 06)

Hosted by: Leann of Shelf Aware (add linky here)
Hashtag: #NonficNov

Hosts:

Leann of Shelf Aware
Julz of JulzReads
Rennie of What’s Nonfiction
Katie @ Doing Dewey

My TOP 10 non-fiction 2020:

Unmaking of the Presidency – S. Hennessey, B. Wittes
A Very Stable Genius – C. Leonnig, P. Rucker
Donald Trump v. The United States – M. Schmidt
Tears We Cannot Stop – M. Dyson
The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
White Too Long – Robert P. Jones
The Fire This Time – editor Jesmyn Ward (essays)
Just Us – C. Rankine
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson
Heavy – Kiese Laymon

My daily reading companion….Mork.

What was your favorite nonfiction read(s) of the year?
My favorite book is not always the book I recommend to other readers.
My choice is based on how it made me feel not what did I learn from it.
I ask myself: was it …intellectually adventurous? emotionally wise?
This year I will choose a female writer and a male writer.
Each has their own perspective to share with the reader.
Female:
Just Us – C. Rankine
Male:
Heavy – Kiese Laymon

Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?
This year my reading was a result of the
…sorry state of politics and race relations in USA.
This Election 2020 year….and Americans are voting for the soul of the nation.
Another topic was #Covid19 pandemic.
The misinformation and lack of national plan to combat the virus is THE
…most egregious political decision USA history (IMO).
It has divided the country, politicized the mere wearing f of a mask
…and was the cause of many preventable deaths.
Perhaps a visual will help explain the seriousness of #COVID19.

Trump keeps telling his rallies….“We’re rounding the curve…”

For once I agree with him…but I call it Dead Man’s Curve.