Australian Author - Mosman Readers2024-03-28T09:32:11Zhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/forum/categories/australian-author/listForCategory?feed=yes&xn_auth=noShallows / by Tim Wintontag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-07-10:2517344:Topic:556422017-07-10T16:45:13.349ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>It is hard to imagine any seaborne activity in Australia currently more unpopular than whaling. Aussies regularly disparage Japanese “research” harvesting of whales and would likely pour even more vitriol on Iceland were it geographically closer to the continent. However, Tim Winton has written a novel that reminds us that the hated harpooning was also a part of Australian life in the not too distant past. In <em>Shallows</em>, Winton creates a fictional whaling town on Australia’s west…</p>
<p>It is hard to imagine any seaborne activity in Australia currently more unpopular than whaling. Aussies regularly disparage Japanese “research” harvesting of whales and would likely pour even more vitriol on Iceland were it geographically closer to the continent. However, Tim Winton has written a novel that reminds us that the hated harpooning was also a part of Australian life in the not too distant past. In <em>Shallows</em>, Winton creates a fictional whaling town on Australia’s west coast which is home to a drought-ruined farmer, his free-spirited daughter, her estranged husband, and a pack of radical environmentalists who come to shut down the killing in the late 1970s. The mood of the book is dark, and lots of peripheral characters are carefully drawn yet seem to have little to do with the main story line. No matter. This is a good novel that rightfully earned Winton the Miles Franklin prize in 1984. I found the ending quite disturbing, and no, I will not spoil it for you here!</p> The Family Law / by Benjamin Lawtag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-04-02:2517344:Topic:543802017-04-02T16:44:37.505ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>I had the pleasure of hearing Benjamin Law speak at a librarian’s conference in Sydney last December. When he rose to give the opening speech, I really knew nothing about him or his work other than what was said when he was introduced. What followed was an engaging, funny, and touching address by the author about his life, his family, and most of all, his best-selling book, <em>The Family Law</em>. After hearing his story I hurried back to my hotel to tell my wife about this amazing…</p>
<p>I had the pleasure of hearing Benjamin Law speak at a librarian’s conference in Sydney last December. When he rose to give the opening speech, I really knew nothing about him or his work other than what was said when he was introduced. What followed was an engaging, funny, and touching address by the author about his life, his family, and most of all, his best-selling book, <em>The Family Law</em>. After hearing his story I hurried back to my hotel to tell my wife about this amazing speaker and the next day we went to a downtown bookstore in Sydney to get a copy of his reminiscence. She read it first, but I put it off until last month when I finally sat down to enjoy it. I am almost sorry I did not put it off longer, because I enjoyed it so much I did not want it to end. Law’s memories of his family and growing up in Queensland are not presented in a linear, biographical format, but rather in a series of thematic chapters that are hysterically funny and very moving. In a way, this book is almost a love letter to his parents and siblings, reaching back into his childhood to examine their relationship with an honesty that translates into real affection. Benjamin’s status as a gay man, an Asian man, and an Australian man are all so complimentary that the essays essentially define what it means to be each. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, just as much as I did hearing and meeting its author. Now I have an overwhelming desire to see the television series based on the book and regret that Australian television is so hard to access here in the states. I will get around to it eventually, I am sure.</p> Eyrie / by Tim Wintontag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-03-13:2517344:Topic:542822017-03-13T19:30:14.575ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>Tim Winton likes to write about broken people, which is another way of saying he just writes about people. We are all damaged by the events of our lives, more or less, and the ways we deal with that damage make for really good storytelling. In this novel, Tom Keely is a pill-popping, alcoholic former environmentalist who has withdrawn from the arena of public conflict in order to live in a fleabag high-rise apartment building. A chance encounter with a girl from his childhood, Gemma, and…</p>
<p>Tim Winton likes to write about broken people, which is another way of saying he just writes about people. We are all damaged by the events of our lives, more or less, and the ways we deal with that damage make for really good storytelling. In this novel, Tom Keely is a pill-popping, alcoholic former environmentalist who has withdrawn from the arena of public conflict in order to live in a fleabag high-rise apartment building. A chance encounter with a girl from his childhood, Gemma, and her grandson changes everything and actually gives Keely a sense of purpose again, something he so desperately needs. The chemistry between Tom and Gemma is complicated; she is a willful, uneducated woman who seems totally unsuited for our hero, but it is her grandson Kai that provides the real glue holding these two together. The result is a very well written book with real heart. I enjoyed this book so much more than <em>The Riders</em> and found the characters genuinely engaging. A few hours spent with Tim Winton are well worth your time.</p> The Miner's Right / by Rolf Boldrewoodtag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-02-24:2517344:Topic:544602017-02-24T17:51:00.024ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p><em>The Miner’s Right</em> takes its title from the sometimes hated license issued to those gold seekers in Australia who had to pony up a pound a month for the right to dig for the metal. Although that policy on the part of Victoria’s government resulted in a rebellion at Ballarat, this story takes place in the years following that tragedy and at the goldfields of New South Wales. The hero of the tale is Hereward Pole, an English-born adventurer who, after winning the love of a beautiful…</p>
<p><em>The Miner’s Right</em> takes its title from the sometimes hated license issued to those gold seekers in Australia who had to pony up a pound a month for the right to dig for the metal. Although that policy on the part of Victoria’s government resulted in a rebellion at Ballarat, this story takes place in the years following that tragedy and at the goldfields of New South Wales. The hero of the tale is Hereward Pole, an English-born adventurer who, after winning the love of a beautiful Kentish heiress, makes the decision to sail to Australia and make his fortune as a miner. What follows is a sweeping tale of adventure as Hereward meets a colorful set of companions and tries his luck at the fictional diggings at Yatala and Oxley. Told in the first person, Hereward manages to describe the actual mechanics and legal technicalities governing the gold regions with great historical accuracy, but he also wastes pages of ink mooning about his sweetheart back in England with sometimes mawkish sentimentality. This novel by Boldrewood is not quite up to his epic <em>Robbery Under Arms</em>, but it has its moments and is a real joy to read. I did NOT want to finish it, but the time constraints of inter-library loan made me complete the pleasure ahead of schedule. If you are interested in a rousing tale of frontier adventure told in language that would have made Dickens or Trollope proud, I cannot recommended this book enough. </p> Extinctions by Josephine Wilsontag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-02-13:2517344:Topic:545422017-02-13T03:57:50.735ZRead, Review & Winhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/moslib
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866503363?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866503363?profile=original" width="209"></img></a> I didn't initially like the lead characters in the retirement home, but the glimpse into their lives helped me empathize with their predicaments. I enjoyed the interweaving of the stories and appreciated the author's delicacy in keeping the story lively and not a typical…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866503363?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="209" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866503363?profile=original"/></a>I didn't initially like the lead characters in the retirement home, but the glimpse into their lives helped me empathize with their predicaments. I enjoyed the interweaving of the stories and appreciated the author's delicacy in keeping the story lively and not a typical romance.</p> Pat Bernard Author Talk 14th Febtag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-02-01:2517344:Topic:538512017-02-01T01:00:56.220ZKaren Redlichhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KarenRedlich
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866509350?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866509350?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full" height="683" width="683"/></a>OOnline Bookings via</p>
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<p>They say Rolf Boldrewood’s other novels do not compare favorably with his Robbery <em>Under Arms</em>, and if this book is an example I can totally agree. The plot is almost entirely absent in this story of a struggling sheep station owner, Harold Stamford, and his flawless family. Stamford appears in the opening pages as a man on the brink of financial collapse as a drought threatens to kill his flocks and the bank forecloses on his mortgage. We are introduced to his wife and adult…</p>
<p>They say Rolf Boldrewood’s other novels do not compare favorably with his Robbery <em>Under Arms</em>, and if this book is an example I can totally agree. The plot is almost entirely absent in this story of a struggling sheep station owner, Harold Stamford, and his flawless family. Stamford appears in the opening pages as a man on the brink of financial collapse as a drought threatens to kill his flocks and the bank forecloses on his mortgage. We are introduced to his wife and adult children, all of whom are unbelievably virtuous and good in the face of adversity, and we follow him to Sydney to confer with his bank. The story turns here once Stamford is refused an extension on his loan. First, he finds another banker willing to carry him for a few seasons, then he hears the rain has begun to fall at his station, and finally he receives a letter informing him he has inherited a fortune. Concerned this sudden wealth will spoil his family, Stanford decides to keep it a secret, and that is all there is to this novel.<br/><br/>Somehow the language Boldrewood uses in this syrupy fable never rises to the level he used in <em>Robbery Under Arms</em>. The dialogue is unbelievable, the description sparse, and the narrative plodding. I borrowed this book through inter-library loan from the Cleveland, Ohio, public library, and the volume was so brittle the pages literally began to crumble as I read it. I could tell from the circulation stamp I was the first to borrow this book since 1947, and judging from its condition and content, I am reasonably sure I will be the last.</p> Outback / by Thomas Keneallytag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2016-07-18:2517344:Topic:516652016-07-18T14:59:11.525ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>This is a dated study, but a good one. In 1985 Thomas Keneally traveled around Australia’s vast Northern Territory to compose an essay more about the people than the landscape they live in. This is not to say he ignored the scenery, but rather he studied the effects of that scenery on both Aboriginal and Euro-Australian residents. The result is a very entertaining coffee-table book that is jammed with some beautiful photography. I especially appreciated his descriptions of Darwin and…</p>
<p>This is a dated study, but a good one. In 1985 Thomas Keneally traveled around Australia’s vast Northern Territory to compose an essay more about the people than the landscape they live in. This is not to say he ignored the scenery, but rather he studied the effects of that scenery on both Aboriginal and Euro-Australian residents. The result is a very entertaining coffee-table book that is jammed with some beautiful photography. I especially appreciated his descriptions of Darwin and Alice Springs, two cities I would very much like to visit in the future. At the time he wrote, Keneally stressed the emphemeral nature of Darwin, and how the town was blown away in two natural catastrophes that have left an infrastructure he could only see as temporary. I also appreciated his description of Uluru, which was written prior to the construction of the resort facility I visited in 2008. Overall an entertaining book that deserves an update.</p> Lost Voices by Christopher Kochtag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2016-01-18:2517344:Topic:503422016-01-18T01:59:23.324ZRead, Review & Winhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/moslib
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866498929?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="150" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866498929?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866498929?profile=original" target="_self"></a>Great story - beautifully told. Fascinating early Tasmanian history too!</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866498929?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="150" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866498929?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866498929?profile=original" target="_self"></a>Great story - beautifully told. Fascinating early Tasmanian history too!</p> And the Band Played on : How music lifted the Anzac spirit in the battlefields of the First World War by Robert Holdentag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2014-07-15:2517344:Topic:449462014-07-15T06:54:36.114ZRead, Review & Winhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/moslib
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<p>A thoroughly researched and detailed account of the 'different sounds of war'. General Monash claimed that the entertainments were of incalcuable value to the troops; as necessary as dry socks and duckboards. Bands, shows, sing-a-longs and all manner of entertainment helped to dispel the daily horrors of…</p>
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<p>A thoroughly researched and detailed account of the 'different sounds of war'. General Monash claimed that the entertainments were of incalcuable value to the troops; as necessary as dry socks and duckboards. Bands, shows, sing-a-longs and all manner of entertainment helped to dispel the daily horrors of war.</p>