Barbara Baynton - Australia's First Great Female Author

Courtesy of: Mel U from The Reading Life

Bush Studies Barbara Baynton (1902, 80 pages)


Barbara Baynton (1857 to 1929) has a very good claim to be called the first canon or near canon status female author from Australia. She went from the child of Irish bounty immigrants (their passage was paid for by a future employer already in Australia) to the wife of a man who declined the throne of Albania. The Australian Dictionary of Biography has a fascinating article on her life. She was born in Scone, in New South Wales. She was clearly a brilliant individual. Her life would make a great book and movie.

I recently read and posted on two early Australian writers, Henry Lawson and Andrew (Banjo) Peterson. Both of these writers were known as "Bush Authors" in that their fiction and poetry centered on life in the vast areas of Australia away from the coastal cities. Within Australia this area was called the "The Bush". It is often referred to as "The Outback" also. To digress a bit, one can almost say the Australia short story got its start when the journal, The Bulletin, began in 1886 to solicit its readers (it was circulated all over Australia) to submit stories about "real life" in Australia. The Bulletin began to be famous for publishing stories about life in the Bush, The Outback. A class of writers known as "Bush Writers" arose to fulfill the demand for these stories. The Bush Man occupies the same place in Australian culture as the cowboy does in American.

Barbara Baynton felt the stories of most of the nearly all male writers romanticized life in the bush and told nothing of the real life of women. Baynton began to contribute stories to The Bulletin that showed in real detail the often horrifying and terribly harsh life of women in the outback. She submitted a collection of six of her stories to various Australian publishers but they all said the stories were over the head of the Australian public at the time. They ended up being published in London as Bush Stories.

"The Vessel", her best known and highest regarded story, centers on a woman living with an abusive husband (men come off quite badly in these stories) in a very isolated part of the bush. Baynton lets us see right away how life is for the bush wife in a vivid scene where a cow charges the wife and she is ridiculed by her husband and given a stick to beat the cow with. In her mind the wife compares the husband unfavorably to the cow. In the early stages of her marriage she had told her husband of her fear of travelers in the outback coming to their house for food and drink while he was gone. (It was the tradition in the outback that one helped travelers). He told her not to worry she was so unattractive no one would molest her. One day a swagman (slang for a rootless traveler in the bush country seeking day labor-they were often seen as dangerous, ex convicts and such) stops by the house when she is home alone with her baby. The encounter between the wife and the swagman is conveyed to us in very terrifying fashion. I could for sure feel the fear of the woman and her sense that she was powerless to do anything and that really no one would really care what happened to her. Baynton also lets us see a man who passed by on his horse but did not stop in spite of her screams. In someways the indifference of this man who comes from a more advantaged class is as shocking as the rape of the woman by the Swagman. It is all the sadder as we know when the husband returns he will know doubt beat her and claimed she enticed the swagman to molest her. "The Vessel" should be included in any list of 100 best short stories. It is almost hard to look into the world it depicts. There is nothing romantic in her version of the outback.

"The Dreamer" is a very gothic in feel story about a woman coming home from the city to visit her mother. The tone is almost horror story and is very visual. It does rely on a twist ending but I did not see it coming. The ending is left vague and we are not 100 percent sure what happened. It does a great job of describing what it must have felt like to walk through the outback at night.

"The Squeaker's Mate" is a beautiful hard breaking story that portrays the life of a wife of a logger in a logging camp. Squeaker is the nickname of her husband. She is as good at the work of the logging camp as any man if not better. Her husband lives from her work but feels a loss of masculine pride because his wife is seen as a better worker than he (or most all the men) so he tries to regain his pride by mentally and physically abusing her. Then one tragic day she is terribly injured when a tree falls on her. The doctor tells her she will never walk again. The doctor tells the husband but advises him not to take all hope from his wife and to be gentle and kind to her. When the wife asks him what the doctor said about her condition he basically says "Oh I am going out for a beer and you will never walk again so try to find someway to make yourself useful or I will put you out". It got worse from there. I will not giveaway the ending as I hope some will read this story. (I think her work maybe required reading in Australian literature classes.)

There are three other stories in the collection that I hope to read soon. Baynton should for sure be read by anyone with a serious interest in the development of Australian Literature (most probably already have). I enjoyed all three of these stories a lot. There is some slang and dialect in the stories but not enough to be annoying to me. I claim no expertise but there seems no competition in calling her Australia's best female short story writer.

Bush Stories can be read online at the web page of the library of The University of Sydney.

"The Vessel" is a very good short story. You can read it in just a few minutes.

The short stories of Steele Rudd

Courtesy of: Mel U from The Reading Life

Steele Rudd (1868 to 1935) was the pen name for a very famous writer of Australian Bush Tales, Arthur Davis.

Davis was born in the outback region of Queensland Australia to a Welsh father and an Irish mother.   He left school at age 11 and worked at various jobs on outback stations and farms.   At age 18 he got a job in the local  sheriff's office and about this time he sent in a short story to The Bulletin about some of his father's experiences working and making a life for a family of eight in the harsh bush country, the outback.   The editor of The Bulletin encouraged him to write more stories and Steele Rudd became a very popular author of simple, good natured stories about life in the outback in late 19th century Australia.   The stories poke gentle fun at the country ways people in the region but they do not show them as buffoons or fools.   The people in the three stories I enjoyed reading were super resourceful, very strong in their bodies and minds and subject to the loneliness  that other Bush Authors like Henry Lawson and Barbara Baynton have shown us in their stories.   There is some slang and use of dialect in the stories but I could follow the conversations and I enjoyed learning some new slang.


"Starting the Selection" 7 pages, 1898

"Starting the Selection" is about the first few months that  the father, referred to as "Dad" spent on the farm by himself preparing the land to be farmed for the first time.  I could not but admire the tremendous hard work that this would have taken.     Everybody suffered tremendously from the isolation.

"Our First Harvest" (eight page, 1898) 

 

"Öur First Hand" gave us a poignant look at the financial difficulties faced by early farmers.   Dad and his five sons worked very hard to bring in the first harvest and get it into the local store for sell.   They were elated when the store owner told them the harvest would yield 12  pounds.  I could feel the shared heart ache of Mom and Dad when the store owner told them he was going to deduct nine pounds to pay their account with him.   Rudd does not say but we get the feeling there might be some shady bookkeeping involved.   Mom and Dad just give each other strength and go on.

"The Night We Watched for Wallabies"

In  my limited research on Rudd I did not find any stories consistently listed as his best work so I was on my own as to where to start in his work.    After completing these two stories I found one entitled, "The Night We Watched for Wallabies" and I thought OK sounds like fun and it was.   Dad tells his sons they all have to spend the night outside the house to stand guard for roving bands of Wallabies (small kangaroos) which can have devastating effects on crops like wheat and corn.   Rudd's style is straight forward while showing a keen eye for details.

There is a surprise ending that does sort of poke fun at the people in the story a bit (though not in a mean way) so I will not reveal more of  the plot.  

These stories are easy to read, straight  forward  works that the people they are written about could enjoy.   They let me see what family life was like in the Queensland Out Back in the 1890s.    You had to be tough, self reliant, and a good sense of humor was a big help also I think.   

Older Australians may recall the very long running radio program (1932 to 1952) Dave and Dad which was inspired by the stories of Rudd.   In the program the dignified intelligent people in his stories were reduced to slack jawed outback yokels.   Rudd was always very offended by this and himself had the greatest respect for the people of the outback, especially   the women.   

I liked these stories.    Maybe the are not  great art and I admit they were in part historical curiosity reads for me but I am glad I was motivated to take the time to learn about Steele Rudd.   All of these stories can be read online at Free Reading in Australia (a great resource).   My basic source of information on Rudd is the Australian National Biographical Dictionary.    

Old Tales of A Young Country by Marcus Clarke - Australian Convict Stories

Courtesy of: Mel U from The Reading Life

Old Tales of a Young Country by Marcus Clarke (a collection of stories about transported convicts to Australia) 1871, 125 pages

One of the great things about book blogging is that it can open up for us totally new to us areas of reading.

Until recently I admit I never knew there was a large group of wonderful short stories, poems, and some novels by a group of Australian Writers ( 1870 to 1925 or so) know as Bush Writers who told real life stories of the experiences of those living in the vast sparsely settled areas in the huge interior of Australia.   Now I am  fascinated by this new world of reading.

So far I have read stories by three of them, Henry Lawson and Banjo Clarke and Barbara Baynton.   I will here be posting on a fourth, Marcus Clarke.    As I mentioned in my post on Barbara Baynton, when a nationwide  weekly publication, The Bulletin, in 1886 asked its readers to submit stories about life in the Bush or the Outback a big amount of material came to be published.    Before then the main source for publication for Australian writers was the Australian Monthly.   In addition to stories about the life in the outback there was a lot of interest in stories about the lives of convicts transported from the United Kingdom to Australia.  

I have done a bit of research on convict tales and it seems one of the best known writers in this area is Marcus Clarke (1846 to 1881).

Clarke was himself an immigrant from England.    Clarke was born into a very affluent family but in his early teens the family fell onto financial ruin (my basic source of information on Clarke is The Australian Online Biographical Dictionary, a great resource).   Clarke was considered a totally spoiled boy with little grasp of how he might make his way in the adult world.   His family decided he should immigrate to Australia (or they wanted to get rid of him!) so at sixteen he left England for New South Wales.to live with one of his uncles who was well established already.   Clarke tried with bad results several careers ranging from bank clerk to managing an outback station owned by his uncle.   Clarke had always considered himself a writer (by coincidence he went to school with Gerland Manly Hopkins) and he began to contribute short pieces to magazines and newspapers.    His work was well regarded and Clarke then used some money he had received in an inheritance to buy a well known publication, The Australian Monthly.  All of his future publications, including his collection of stories about live in the first Australian Penal colony in Botany Bay, Old Tales of a Young Country, would from then on come out in his publication.  

Old Tales of A Young Country is a collection of 15 stories about life in the penal colony.   Most of the stories are written as short based in reality tales of particular persons in the colony.   The majority  of the stories center on convicts but he also writers about the British officials.   The diction and grammar of  the stories are perfect newspaper journalistic prose.    The stories in the collection I read were all very well written, easy to follow and did let us see  the convicts as real people of whom one might sincerely say "There but for the grace of God go I".

The lead story, "The Settlement of Sydney" details who was on the three ships that were the first to arrive and what supplies and animals the ships carried   We get a clear sense of the business like way the colony was intended to be run.   Punishments for the smallest offenses were very harsh.    Many of the convicts had been transported for very petty crimes.   As Clarke tells us, some convicts really thrived in the new country and others did not last a month.

The second story in the collection, "George Barrington, Pickpocket and Historian" is about a gentlemen  bandit from England.   Clarke's stories are written as if they are true stories but they are really stories based on facts but enhanced by Clarke's imagination.    After a series of crimes, all relayed in a very colorful way and all crimes against the decadent rich, Barrington is sentenced to seven years transportation at hard labor.   While at sea on the way to Australia, the convicts seize the ship with the idea of going to America.   Barrington talks his fellow convicts out of this idea and into surrendering the ship back to the officers.   The authorities are so impressed by this that on arrival Barrington is made supervisor of convicts.   He marries, raises a family, goes on to a life of comfort in his new home and ends up according to the story writing the first history of the Sydney Penal Colony.

These stories very much  the stories of a newspaper man, clear, direct, no fancy artistic flourishes, no references to Roman poets.   They are told with a passion for  the truth and an empathy for the dispossessed.  There is no condemning of the convicts or patronizing of their experience.      I endorse them to anyone wanting to read some good short stories and learn something about life in Australia in the 18th century

Old Tales of a Young Country can be read online at the web page of the library of the University of Sydney.

I also want to suggest that anyone interested in learning more about the transportation of convicts to Australia read the totally great book by Robert Hughes, Fatal Shore.

I am quite intrigued by  this new to me genre of writing , which seems to be called "Bush Stories" (convict tales are a sub-category).   In the near future I will be reading short stories by Louis Becke, Steele Rudd, and Price Warung.   The web page of the University of Sydney Library has their stories online.  I also owe in part my discovery of these wonderful authors to my overcoming a life time aversion to the short story.     To some extent these writers are of interest to us as a window into the past.   I am willing to say the stories of Barbara Baynton are the best of the four writers I have read so far.   I think if you like Flannery O' Conner you will like Baynton also.   As to my thoughts on Clarke, I enjoyed reading his stories and will read all of them in this collection in time, I hope.   You can read one online for free in just a few minutes and to me it seems worth your time.  Even you like it them  at least you have experienced one more author writing in what may be a new to you genre of literature, The Australian Bush and Convict Story.

An Iron Rose by Peter Temple (Australian crime fiction)

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners

When I heard that Peter Temple was the first Australian crime writer to win the Miles Franklin Literary Award I jumped at the chance to read one of his novels.

I don't normally read crime fiction, but I really enjoyed this. It was a tightly constructed, tense read; a first person narrative from Mac Faraday's perspective. Mac Faraday who has retired from city life and is working as a blacksmith in a rural area. He is living the quiet life; spending time with friends, drinking at the pub and playing with an appalling football team. His world is turned upside down when his best friend Ned is found hanging one night and he becomes the carer for Ned's grandson. Instincts from his old life kick in when he comes across press clippings of a young girl's gruesome murder in 1980's, near a facility for wayward young girls. When he begins to investigate this further he becomes mixed up in a dangerous and confusing web of criminal activity. As people from his past start coming back to haunt him he finds that his life is in grave danger.

The style of Temple's writing is hard boiled, a style epitomised by authors such as Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler. The writing is short, sharp and gritty.

The great thing about An Iron Rose is that this books adds a very Australian flavour to this style of writing. Temple provides us with an insight into the Australian language and lifestyle that is very authentic (which is not surprising from an Australian author, albeit one originally from South Africa).

Temple successfully paints the picture of a country town where a lot of the inhabitants know each other well and take their civic responsibility seriously. People share beers at the pub and have a laugh together at the footy. Some people might accuse Temple of stereotyping the Australian lifestyle, but I do think that this is very typical for a lot of people. I especially liked the way that Temple dealt with Ned's Aboriginality. It was mentioned in passing and then not mentioned again. Ned's background wasn't important in that sense, he was accepted as part of his community not because of his Aboriginality and not despite of it. It just wasn't a big deal. Acknowledging his Aboriginality without making anything of it within the story gave the book a more contemporary feel.

An Iron Rose is a wonderful mix of crime, noir and literary fiction and I can absolutely see how a book by Temple has won Australia's premier literary award. It is a very dark book; there is a sense of evil lurking under the surface that sends shivers up your spine.

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners

I had mixed feelings about reviewing this book, and in fact I probably wouldn't have reviewed it at all if it hadn't been for the fact that I read it for a book club and the book club discussion inspired me to review it. The Transit of Venus is by Australian author Shirley Hazzard, and having heard a lot about her book that was nominated for the Lost Booker prize I was looking forward to reading it, even if it didn't live up to my expectations in some respects.

This is a difficult book to review because of my mixed feelings - there was something about it that I loved, and something about it that I hated. I'm torn in half as they say.

I loved the writing. This is true literary fiction. I might even go so far as to say that I have never read such talented writing before in my life. In this sense, I would argue that this isn't a book for book lovers, it is a book for people who truly appreciate the value and power of language. Without meaning to sound like a book snob (which I admit that I can inadvertently be one at times), if you are someone who just reads the paranormal/chick lit/romance thing, then I doubt this will be for you. This book is for people who love literary fiction at its best, and for people that value language over story.I think I am somewhere in between.

I was amazed by the language, constantly. I was thoroughly challenged by it too, which was a great change. I kept having to re-read paragraphs to make sure that I understood what Hazzard was saying. It is the kind of writing where sentences are left half complete, and the reader is left to conclude what we like. Hazzard uses the language to construct the story with such detail, that it is sometimes hard to understand the actual story. I totally missed the ending, and didn't discover what had happened until I went to the book club. In fact, most people at the book club hadn't realised what had happened at the end. The language is so beautifully complex that you really have to read and think to understand the story. It was truly beautiful.

The downfall was that the story was boring. Or at least I thought so. I was just so uninterested in these people's lives. I think the language in a way contributed to this, or at least aggravated it. Don't get me wrong. I loved and appreciated the language for what it was. But it just meant that there was this additional barrier to getting to the story that I wasn't particularly interested in anyway. I was so focused on the words, that the story became lost to me.

I am absolutely not saying that I disliked the language. Objectively I appreciated it for what it is, some of the most beautiful prose I am ever likely to read. But the challenge that the language posed limited my enjoyment of the story and made it harder to engage with the book. I am probably starting to repeat myself, but I want to make it clear what I mean when I say that I loved and hated this book.

The book club discussion was simultaneously interesting and frustrating. What was interesting was that a discussion of the book ultimately became a discussion about literature, language and the appreciation of good prose. We discussed how unusual it is in contemporary literature to read anything like the quality of writing that Hazzard has produced in this book, and how there is limited good literary fiction available in modern times (although I have to say that Atwood is an exception to this in my mind). I agreed with everyone that books these days are more likely to spoon feed you the story, and the reader doesn't need to do any of the work, which is half the point of reading (in my mind anyway).

Warning: Here comes the rant.

What I found frustrating was that the discussion became a rather ageist discussion about the failings of the education system and the failing of younger people to understand and appreciate good literature like Hazzard's. I should day that my book club is mainly made up of white women in their late 50's to 60's. Then there me and my friend, both in our mid-20's. A lot of this discussion arose from my comment that although I loved the language, I found it a barrier to the story. Most of the women seemed to think that this was simply because young people didn't get the the 'proper' education that they did, and therefore can't understand or appreciate quality prose. By 'proper' education, they seemed to mean that we weren't taught Latin or grammar.

This is true, I can't deny it (I wasn't taught Latin or grammar at school), but I very strongly disagree with their assertions. I did understand and appreciate the language, as would many other people of my age. What they didn't take into account was that everyone has different taste, and priorities in their reading. I love language, but I also love story, and I need a good story to keep me interested, and The Transit of Venus didn't give that to me.

That isn't to say that someone who reads as frequently as I do, but is in their 60's and has therefore been reading a lot longer than I have, might find the language easier to understand; they have had more reading practice than me. But I absolutely will not accept that younger generations are poorer readers because of their education. I did not like to see younger readers underestimated. You must allow for different reading tastes and abilities within all generations, as well as between them.

In summary, as much as I loved the language and am convinced that I may have read the best prose that I will ever read in my life, this book didn't rate too highly with me simply because I couldn't engage with the story. I did love though, that a discussion of this book became a discussion of the love of literature. There aren't many books out there that could do that.

Author: Bryce Courtenay

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners 

Bryce Courtenay is possibly one of Australia's most popular Australian authors. I think the first Bryce Courtenay book I ever read was The Power of One (which I read in high school), and there is no doubting it - it is absolutely amazing. I think that I can honestly say that is the only book that I have never been able to re-read. I have re-read every book on my bookshelf at the very least once (except for my newer books obviously). I have tried to re-read The Power of One and just haven't been able to because it is so powerful and emotional that I have never felt up to tackling it again. 

I quickly moved on to the sequel, Tandia, and from there just started reading the rest of his books. I remember at one stage when I was still in high school, I went to a book signing at the local shopping centre with Bryce Courtenay. I remember feeling quite star struck, and he said to me "Don't take shit from anybody". It has had a lasting impression on me.

I own many of his books:

• The Power of One
• Tandia
• Jessica
• Tommo and Hawk
• Solomon's Song
• White Thorn
• The Potato Factory
• The Persimmon Tree
  

I have also read April Fools Day, which is a special book Courtenay wrote about his son's battle with hemophilia and later AIDS as a result of a blood transfusion. It moved me to tears on several occasions.

What I like about his books are that the stories he writes are totally epic. You are completely drawn into the story until you can't get out. 

I do have to be up front though and say that over the years my enthusiasm for his works have waned almost completely. I would not buy a book of his again. In fact, the last few books of his that have come into my possession were because they were gifts. My problem is this - he releases at Christmas time each year almost without fail. 

Whilst when I first started reading his books it felt as though he was writing for the love of writing, now it feels as though he is writing for the love of money. Perhaps I am just being a bit too cynical - but what perfect timing - releasing a book each Christmas like clockwork which he knows will sell well because of his popularity. It is this element of Bryce Courtenay that has completely turned me off him.

Having said, I would encourage people to read some of his works, particularly The Power of One and April Fools Day. Both of these remain special works despite my opinion of the author.

Bryce Courtenay has lead an amazing life, including being banned from his native country of South Africa for starting a school for Africans. His life is worth worth reading about. You can read about him here at his website.

Author: Richard Flanagan

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners

I was introduced to Richard Flanagan in a rather unusual way. A lovely woman at work lent me a book to read; The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. This is a seriously unusual book and one of my favourites of all time. What does this have to do with Richard Flanagan you ask?

Well, in The Raw Shark Texts, the characters make reference to 'Gould's Book of Fish'. I didn't realise until after I had finished The Raw Shark Texts that Gould's Book of Fish is in fact a real book written by Australian author Richard Flanagan. A friend of mine had read the book and recommended it to me. I loved The Raw Shark Texts and knew that Flanagan was an Australian (from Tasmania) and so I decided to give Gould's Book of Fish a read.

(I should perhaps say at this point that the two books are unrelated to each other. Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan is very different to the 'Gould's Book of Fish' referred to in The Raw Shark Texts).

Anyway, I found Gould's Book of Fish am amazing book. It was so well written, so real and so complex. It had a twist at the end like no other twist that I have ever read; one that leaves you questioning the reality of everything that you have just read. Is it real? I raved about this book for a long time and couldn't then help but read many of his others. I have read and own the following books by Flanagan:

• Gould's Book of Fish
• The Sound of One Hand Clapping
• The Unknown Terrorist, and
• Wanting.

He has other well known books, not least of which is Death of a River Guide, which I have not read yet but fully intend to whenever I get the chance.

Flanagan has won so many awards for his literature over the years and in my view (for what it's worth) deservedly. I can't put his books down. They are so vivid and well written, I think Flanagan has a very individual style of writing. The characters and the scenery draw you into the story to the point where you almost can't get yourself out again. The stories are often so bleak, particularly The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and yet there is always hope under the surface. Flanagan doesn't shy away from displaying the darker side of human existence.

If I were to be honest, I would have to say that The Unknown Terrorist would have to be an exception to my love of Flanagan's works (at least the one's that I have read). I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this one. It is very different to his other novels and I felt like it had solely been written to convey a political message.

Having said that, what I love about Flanagan as an author is his passion. I have seen Flanagan give talks on several occasions, I think I may have seen two or three times at the Sydney Writers Festival 2009, and I also saw him give reviews when I was a studio audience member at the ABC's First Tuesday Book Club studio filming. I think it was at the Writers Festival that someone mentioned the criticism he received for The Unknown Terrorist, and he accepted that he received criticism for it, but said that it was something that he had to write for himself. Despite my personal reaction to the book, I admire him for that.

He has also been very actively critical of the issue of territorial copyright, an issue that has been prominent in the Australian media of late. I really admire Flanagan's stance on the issue and I found his closing address, entitled "Losing Our Voice" at the Sydney Writers Festival 2009 very inspiring.

You can read his closing address here if you are interested.

I highly recommend this speech to all book lovers - whether you know much about the issue of territorial copyright or not, his passion for the written work is contagious.

So, that is Richard Flanagan, one of the best Australian authors there is, in my humble opinion, for what its worth. I hope that this introduces more people to Flanagan's books.

Lilian's Story by Kate Grenville

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners

Lilian's Story is based a true Sydney character named Bea Miles, a homeless woman famous particularly in the 1950's and 1960's for causing havoc and giving Shakespeare recitations around Central Station in Sydney. You can read more about her at the Australian Dictionary of Biography (Online Edition).

Having read The Secret River by Kate Grenville earlier this year (read my review here) and being a little disappointed I was a little apprehensive when I commenced Lilian's Story. Fortunately, I soon discovered that Lilian's Story is very different to The Secret River, in a good way.

Like The Secret River, Lilian's Story is written as a linear passage through time, however I think the depth of character Grenville establishes in Lilian's Story is far superior.  It is written in first person narrative, which helps the reader gain an insight into Lilian's mind and thought processes.

The book has no plot per se, but rather it is an examination of Lilian's life experiences, from her birth through to her depth. Lilian was born in the year of Federation, raised by parents with traditional values and suffered from abuse perpetrated against her by her father. Her life follows no path, just as Lilian wouldn't have liked it to. Instead, she moved to the beat of her own drum, experiencing university, spending time in a mental institution and eventually living a happy and satisfying life as a homeless person in Sydney. It is really a very detailed examination of one person's daily realities, giving the reader a fascinating perspective not just on Lilian's personal history, but on Australia's post-Victorian history as well.

I have to admit to feeling somewhat uncomfortable reading about the early parts of her life, particularly her primary school years. I recognised my own awkwardness in her behaviour, and felt that I could identify with how she reacted to the bullying that she suffered from. She didn't shrink from the attention, instead she sought the other children's approval more and more desperately, by stealing things and making up stories. I really felt for Lilian reading about her formative years, I felt what she felt when she didn't receive the approval that she was so desperately seeking.

It was then interesting to see this unusual child turn into the young woman that she does. It was painful for me to see her grow into adulthood; struggling through university, negotiating male/female romantic relationships and surviving the horrific crime perpetrated against her by her own father.

Although her behaviour as a young woman is unusual to everyone for it's seeming rejection of typical norms and values, it still becomes more obvious that her unusual behaviour might be the result of an underlying problem. I know the publisher's description describes her as a "true eccentric", I suspect that more realistically she is suffering from a mental illness. Despite spending some time in a mental institution, she receives no diagnosis and no treatment, which I think is a comment on the historical attitude toward mental illness that existed at the time.

It was intriguing to see her navigate and survive her own adversity as an adult. Despite the set backs; the homelessness, the inadequacy of the legal system in dealing with a person like Lilian, she is happy with her life. She is content. She has what she believes is important. A home (albeit not one that you and I might consider a home), her one true love (although chaste) and an exciting city at her fingertips.

For me one of the most poignant moment was the moment when she celebrated her birthday on her own, wandering the streets of Sydney in the party dress that she had purchased for the occasion. It was perhaps one of the most sad moments for me. She seemed so happy, and yet there was this sense that underneath she was suffering.

Although I don't want to go into this sort of discussion to deeply, the themes of independence and sexuality were prominent in this story.

What struck me the most, however, was the idea of history in Lilian's Story. In a way, Lilian's life becomes a metaphor for the changes that Australia is experiencing. Lilian's personal history reflects Australia's history. Her rejection of social norms and customs could be thought to reflect the increasing separation Australia feels from England. Lilian's own very unique ideas of her own sexuality and her position as a woman in society could also be seen to reflect the growth of feminism in Australian society, particularly throughout the 60's. In this way I think that her year of being birth being the year of federation is integral to the story.

In the end, despite her unusual life, behaviour and idea's, Lilian is able to reflect positively on her life, and that is something that is inspiring.

Book Details: Paperback, 280 pages, published by Allen and Unwin, published in 1996

All the goss from the Sydney Writers Festival

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners

I spent this weekend at The Sydney Writers Festival.

The company

It was a wonderful weekend, full of friends, books and authors. On Saturday I had the opportunity to catch up with a very lovely person that I used to work with which was fun. On Sunday I got to share the afternoon with another good friend who had never been to the festival before. It was nice to introduce someone to the festival for the first time.

The events

I saw some wonderful events. On Saturday morning I went to My Brilliant Debut, a panel of 3 Australian authors who had recently published their first novel. I have read one of the author's book, The Legacy, written by Kirsten Tranter. I wasn't a fan of the book, and I have heard her talk again, but it was particularly interesting to hear from the other two authors, Steven Amsterdam and Patrick Allington. Later, I saw John Ralston Saul (a Canadian novelist and essayist) being interviewed by Ramona Koval which was fascinating. Apparently in his books he had predicted the Global Financial Crisis of last year. He had some really fascinating ideas about economics and globalism. Incredibly thought provoking.

In the afternoon I actually purchased tickets to see Rick Gekoski (one of the leading booksellers in the world) be interviewed by Geordie Williamson. I have to say, Rick Gekoski is absolutely hilarious. And so fascinating. It was very inspiring. I wish I was a book seller.

I finished off my Saturday by attending Tiddas Talk Writing and see 3 famous Australian Aboriginal authors discuss their books and the question: what makes contemporary Indigenous women's fiction so special? I loved listening to them discuss this issue, it became clearer to me what does make it so special. This year my aim is to read more Australian fiction. Next year, it is going to be to read more indigenous fiction. I was particularly interested by Maria Munkara, of Rembarranga descent. She had an interesting story she alluded to; being a member of the Stolen Generation.

And that was just Saturday!!

On Sunday, I started by going to a discussion between some new young Australian authors, all of whom were under 35. It was inspiring to see such successful authors my own age (or thereabouts). For a long time I have been wanting to read a book called Document Z and I was surprised to find that the author of this book was on the panel, and was only 27 years old. He won the Vogel Award with Document Z and it amazing to see the achievements of people so young.

Later in the afternoon I went to a discussion about the works of Chilean author Roberto Bolano. My family-in-law are from Chile, so I had some personal interest, however I have always wanted to read By Night in Chile, so it was also a wonderful opportunity to hear more about the author before I started the book. It only made me more determined the read the books. He is such an interesting person and his novels sound so absolutely challenging in a wonderfully new way, I can't wait to get stuck into his works.

The final event of the Festival for me, involved sitting outside a theatre venue on some big black cozy cushions listening to an event called An Australian Authors, which was essential 3 famous Australian authors (Thomas Keneally, Michael Cathcart and Jack Marx) discussing different stories of Australia. A fitting way to end the festival.


The crowd

I really enjoy just spending time in rooms full of people who love books. It's great seeing the authors wondering around the Festival, as well as other people in the literary industry (I saw Jason Steger coming out of one the shows). It was great to wander around the crowds and soak up the atmosphere. The only problem was that for a lot of the time, I was soaking. The weather really wasn't great, with lots of rain. The only thing I couldn't help but notice was the volume of white people. Almost everyone was white. And mostly middle aged. It was scary to see my future. And scary because of the lack of diversity. 

In summary

So much fun. Something I hope to do every year from now on. The Festival actually lasts for just over a week, and one year I hope to take that full week off work and go to lots of events lover Sydney, especially some of the events in the Blue Mountains. 


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Did anyone else from Sydney attend the Festival? I would love to know which events you went to and what you thought of the Festival?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Courtesy of: Becky from Page Turners

This absolutely unique piece of historical fiction moved me more than any book has done for a very long time, perhaps even since I read The Time Travellers Wife. This is a book for book lovers. The Book Thief is written by an Australian author, and it is is debut adult novel, after a career of writing children's fiction.

The protagonist of the novel is Liesel Meminger, a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. It begins with the death of her brother, and her mother then leaving her in the care of the Huberman's, who become her new family. There is Mama, a fierce disciplinarian, and Papa a caring and warm man who dedicates hours to teaching Liesel to read. With the help of her Papa, she begins to read The Gravediggers Handbook, a book she finds following the burial of her brother.

What is particularly unique about this story of Nazi Germany, is that it is narrated by Death. Death doesn't introduce himself in those terms, but it becomes clear who is telling us the story of The Book Thief.

The style is expressive in a lyrical way, and is still very modern. Not only do we see the story unfold from Liesel's perspective, but we also have asides from Death, sometimes written as if they were on a gravestone. In effect, it is Death re-telling the story of Liesel, The Book Thief, and so we are provided many glimpses of the future of the story. This in no way deters the reader from reading on, it is one of those books where it is the journey to the conclusion that is the real joy of the book.  Death himself acknowledges:

"Of course, I'm being rude. I'm spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance, because I don't have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machination that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest and astound me".

Zusak skilfully creates Liesel's experience through Death's storytelling with the use of imagery. This is because Death gives a very sensory account of the world, describing events, places and people with phrases such as"the smell of friendship", "scent of Hitler's gaze" and "For me, the sky was the colour of Jews". We are left with strong and clear images burned into our minds as we watch Liesel's story unfold.

As we give in to the sensory reality of Death's narrative, we see Liesel experience the normal angst of childhood; struggling through school, going on adventures with her best friend Rudy Steiner and helping her Mama raise funds by collecting laundry from neighbours. It is in this last role that she is truly able to give in to her love of books, and she eventually begins stealing them from the mayors house, after she makes friends with the mayor's wife. It is this act, and the further acts of book thievery that lead Death to give her the name of  'The Book Thief''.

There is a darker side to her life though. She lives in a town a short distance from Dachau, and witnesses Jews being marched through her city. We witness her and Rudy's involvement in the Hitler Youth Movement, and cringe at the insidious way in which Nazism infects their daily lives. Nazism has a more significant impact upon her life when her family begins to shelter a Jew, Max Vandenberg.

This book is undoubtedly about the experience of human misery in WWII, and Zusak does a brilliant job of describing the realities and intricacies of the lives of German people during Hitler's reign. We see acts of cruelty and acts of kindness and love.

And yet, The Book Thief is also about the power of language. It is books that allow Liesel to recover after her brothers death and her mothers abandonment. Books and language bring her closer to her Papa and become integral to her relationship with Max Vandenberg and to a lesser degree the Mayor's wife. It is though books and storytelling that she brings comfort to those that she shares the bomb shelters with, and it is books that play an important role in those transgressions against the Nazi state that she and others are willing to commit. Significantly, it is because of books that Death is able to tell us Liesel's story at all.

This is a book that had tears rolling down my face on three different occasions. It is a powerful but sad story about human suffering and the importance of language in the modern world. If you are a book lover, and a lover of language, then I not only recommend this book to you, I ask you to read it.

Book Details: Paperback, 584 pages, published by Pan MacMillan Australia, published in 2008, English