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#australianlit
review
danx
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Pickpick

Somehow despite living in Australia for over a decade I was not familiar with this book. I was recently on a short trip and managed to finish the book I‘d brought along on the first night, so ducked to an op shop and found this. What a fantastic find. Interesting from a colonial history, and near history (written in 1968) perspective. Important, gripping, bloody.

danx An aboriginal man who was brought up by a Methodist minister to have white aspirations finally breaks, and the result is bloody, yet less bloody than all that is done to his people. An exploration of severed culture and insurmountable barriers and othering and the devastating results this can have. 3mo
9 likes1 comment
review
Jeg
The Watch Tower: Text Classics | Elizabeth Harrower
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Pickpick

Read an article in a weekend paper about her. Never heard of her before. Requested books from library and got two. This one was a bit of a tough read. Dysfunctional relationships. Excellent writing. First published in 1966. Long out of print until Text reprinted all her work in 2012 . Still being printed . An Australian author who should be remembered and read.

LapReader There are lots of Sydney Writer‘s Festival podcasts about her I‘m sure you‘d enjoy. 4mo
16 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Anna40
Highway Thirteen: Stories | Fiona McFarlane
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Pickpick

Paul Biga,an Australian taxi driver who picks up young women and men,then kills them is at the center of each story without ever being the main character.Yet the characters in each story are somehow affected by the murders.There‘s Eva,principal of the school Biga attended&his former neighbor,Simon whose sister is one of his victims or Grace who fought back&got away.

Anna40 I loved the first stories,the last,except Chaperone,didn‘t draw me in as much. I hated the podcast story, this seems to be a trend, writing a story in form of podcast / radio episode transcript. I don‘t like it and don‘t think it works. The writing is outstanding. 4mo
squirrelbrain Great review! I have this on my TBR shelf. 4mo
Anna40 @squirrelbrain thanks!!! I really liked the first 3 or 4 stories and Chaperone. The writing as I said is great in all of them. Enjoy!! I placed a hold for her debut novel at the library and it‘s ready for me to pick up. Looking forward to that 4mo
25 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
Tamra
Praiseworthy | Alexis Wright
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Pickpick

This monument to Aboriginal sovereignty is going to take hot minute to digest. Wright did an excellent job making time amorphous & porous, such that the characters live simultaneously in the past, present, and even the future. (Homage to oldest extant culture.)There are a multitude of ways to interpret all of the themes, symbolism, etc. such that my head is spinning. 😵‍💫

Tamra Note, because the writing is akin to the oral story telling tradition & is often dreamscape like, the repetition can get tedious. 6mo
CarolynM Interesting cover. It can be really hard to get our white, western, linear minds around Aboriginal story telling but it‘s worth the effort. I need to bump this one up my TBR🙂 6mo
Tamra @CarolynM settle in and let her take you on the journey. 😊 It sounds like the same colonization tactics and consequences here in the Americas with respect to Indigenous peoples. 6mo
46 likes3 comments
blurb
DHill
Springtime: A Ghost Story | Michelle De Kretser
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Not bad for a Monday.

#springtime

dabbe 🤩 6mo
47 likes1 comment
blurb
Teresereading
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Geraldton - childhood home of Randolph Stow. I was surprised there was so little acknowledgement of his work. But we did find the modern day version of the merry-go-round in the sea.
#bookloversday #AustralianWriters
#writershomes #merrygoroundinthesea

18 likes1 stack add
blurb
shawnmooney
Praiseworthy | Alexis Wright
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https://youtu.be/2dFM8gunt-4

Introduction
Mystery guest
Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright
Queen James: A New History About the Life and Loves of Britain‘s First King, James Stuart by Gareth Russell

LeahBergen 🥰🥰🥰 7mo
21 likes1 comment
blurb
Tamra
Praiseworthy | Alexis Wright
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My new chunkster adventure! With the dreamscape & magical realism elements, the wine is a necessary reading aid. 😅

Leftcoastzen Kitty so pretty!😻 7mo
LeahBergen I love Kitty‘s parted “bangs”! 7mo
Liz_M I almost bought that today -- it was on a bookseller rec shelves and I like most of the other books on it. I look forward to your thoughts! 7mo
See All 6 Comments
Mimi28 😻😻🫶🏽🩷😊 7mo
Ruthiella 😻😻😻 7mo
Cathythoughts Look forward to your thought too. Yes, the wine can be a great reading aid ❤️ 🍸 7mo
57 likes6 comments
blurb
lil1inblue
The Jaguar | Sarah Holland-Batt
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TheSpineView 🤩🤩🤩 7mo
lil1inblue @TheSpineView 🩷❤️🧡 7mo
dabbe 💙💚💙 7mo
lil1inblue @dabbe 🧡💛💚 7mo
22 likes4 comments
blurb
LeahBergen
The Getting of Wisdom | Henry Richardson
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My current read, and one I‘ve been meaning to get to for years, is this 1910 Australian classic about a country girl who is sent to a Melbourne boarding school.

Have any of my Australian friends on Litsy read it? 😀

Liz_M I'm not Australian, but I read this years ago. 7mo
Ruthiella Gosh, why haven‘t I read this? I‘ve probably always mixed it up with 7mo
CarolynM I haven‘t read it, but I have seen the film😉 7mo
See All 12 Comments
LeahBergen @Liz_M Did you remember liking it? I‘m only a few chapters in but so far, so good! 7mo
LeahBergen @Ruthiella I think I may have confused it with that title, too 😆 7mo
LeahBergen @CarolynM Haha! I only noticed that there was a film when I was looking at the different covers here on Litsy! Is it a popular Australian novel? Like Anne of Green Gables here in Canada? 7mo
Teresereading Yes - Year 11 English Lit 7mo
CarolynM It‘s thought of as a “literary” novel so I‘d guess most people who‘ve read it would have read it at school, like @Teresereading 🙂 I think Seven Little Australians would be closer to the Anne equivalent, in spite of the ending😭 7mo
LeahBergen @Teresereading Oh! That‘s interesting! 7mo
LeahBergen @CarolynM I have Seven Little Australians waiting on my shelf! 7mo
CarolynM Oops! I thought you‘d read it. Sorry for the spoiler🫢😬 7mo
LeahBergen @CarolynM Oh, no worries. I‘d already heard it has a sad ending! 😆 7mo
62 likes2 stack adds12 comments