Posts Tagged ‘Australian’
Puberty Blues – Gabrielle Carey & Kathy Lette
‘By day we were at school learning logarithms, but by night – in the back of cars, down behind the Ace-of-Spades Hotel and on Cronulla beach – we paid off our friendship rings.’
Puberty Blues is about top chicks and surfing spunks – and the kids who don’t make it – in a world where only the gang and the surf count.
Puberty Blues gives us the facts no one wants to face. It is a horrifying yet hilarious account of the way many young people live, and some of them die.
I didn’t read this book when it came out in 1979, I was reading mysteries, fantasy and science fiction back then and this doesn’t fit into any of those genres. It’s an interesting little book, the authors were fairly young at the time of writing, and the book is semi-autobiographical. It is a seminal work as it was the first novel written by teenagers about teenager behaviour.
This is not the teenage behaviour I got up to, not that I’m trying to distance myself from it in anyway. The behaviour is raw and it shows them trying to have sex at a very early age and sometimes succeeding, sometimes you can be too young and not physically ready for sex, that’s depicted in this book.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I didn’t like the content as it is so far removed from anything I ever did and from anything I could ever conceive of doing, but on the other hand it tells it like it was and probably still is in some circles. I love it and hate it for exactly the same reason, the behaviour depicted. It is a great book for documenting what actually happened and probably still does happen.
It’s available for sale here
Warnings. There is lots of sex, swearing and drugs as well as other inappropriate behaviour.
It’s Café Scheherazade!
Saturday night, almost five hours after the play finished and my eyes were still sore from crying. I started within moments of the actors coming onstage and stopped while they were handing out cake. It was an awesome play, totally hit the tenor of the book, with seriously good music by some fabulous players and so many phrases came directly from the book.
I was slightly on the back foot as I only started reading the book the previous weekend and had about 30 odd pages to go when we went into fortyfivedownstairs. Took it with me and read some of it on the train which made things rather disconcerting when the exact same words came back to me on the stage only a short time later.
Café Scheherazade by Arnold Zable is one of the best books. It is a retelling of the stories of some of the people who used to sit around talking and eating in Café Scheherazade in Acland Street, St Kilda until it closed in 2008. The characters are talking to a journalist who originally went into get some details for Café Scheherazade’s 35th anniversary and ended up hooked by the stories. They are challenging stories as they encompass existence in Siberia, Kobe, Vilna, Paris and Shanghai in the years surrounding and during World War II.
There are so many good things about this book I really don’t know where to start or finish so I’ll just include a paragraph and tell you why I think it’s so good.
This is a tale of many cities: each one consumed by the momentum of history. Each one recalled at a table in a cafe called Scheherazade, in a seaside suburb that sprawls upon the very ends of the earth, within a city that contains the traces of many cities.
This paragraph is a bridge between two stories. It finishes off the previous story without diminishing it, reminds us where we are, not just in the cafe, but on the seaside in a suburb in a fairly remote location. It doesn’t seem remote to the people who live there but it is remote from the places these people have come from, not just in distance but also in the food, the culture, so many other things including the weather. It then reminds us that this city has so many other cultures from so many other cities in the world and seems to lead us directly into another story. The writing is just perfect it’s succinct without leaving anything out. This paragraph is just an illustration of the whole book.
The play is exactly what I expected, it is just a reduction of the book and although it leaves out so much doesn’t lack anything. To get the mood of the play all the actors and the two musicians walk out slowly backwards in time with the Klezmer music. It was very evocative of the book and as soon as I saw them I instantly thought of how hard it would be to keep their arms up like that, but that reminded me of Yossel, one of the characters in the book, who was nearing ninety:
…age does not matter. Willpower can defeat it. I can still lift fifty kilos. I have already walked fifteen kilometres today…
That is when the tears started. Already they had evoked the book from within me and all they’d done was walk backwards on stage to the sound of the music.
Fortyfivedownstairs is a fairly small area. There were around 100 seats with only a couple empty and to get to the seats you had to walk on the stage, there was no delineation between the stage and the first row of seats. They had kept one seat aside in the front row, next to a table with a sign not to sit there and not to use the table, I managed to sit behind this seat. Martin, the journalist, sat there a couple of times and the light was focussed on him, it highlighted my lap with my copy of the book and my tissue.
Some scenes were rather fragmented with the actors giving a couple of words each in turn. I felt this highlighted the fragments of stories that have managed to be told and the fragments of families that have survived that era. They were very powerful.
I cannot tell you the best part of the book or the play as they were both so excellent all the way through. I could highlight the writing style, the characterisation, the stories themselves or so many other points but that would take up a whole book. I could highlight the acting, the music, the stage direction but again, that would take a whole book. Much better to just tell you to read the book and see the play. If you can’t do both then as they are both as good as the other you have a choice if you’re in Melbourne until the 11th of September when the play has it’s final performance, but elsewhere there is no choice but to read the book. I have one copy to sell, if I can think of a good competition before it sells I might offer it as a prize. If you miss out you can buy this book and others by Zable at his publishers, it seems to be unavailable everywhere else I’ve tried.
I hope to finish the book in the next day or so, I’d like to move onto something a little easier on the emotions.
Circle of Flight – John Marsden
First came the Tomorrow series, followed by The Ellie Chronicles. This book is the third volume in The Ellie Chronicles. I managed to pick up Incurable and Circle of Flight at the same time and thought I’d picked up the earlier book of the two, unfortunately I managed to get it wrong and so I’ve been reading them out of order.
The Tomorrow Series is a very well written series of books set in Australia about an invasion. It’s not WWIII, but it’s bad enough as an unspecified country invades us and tries to take over the country. A group of teenagers fight back. The Ellie Chronicles take over when peace is negotiated. It’s an interesting peace and not everyone agrees with it. Ellie has adopted a boy and appears to be a target for the invaders.
This book has all the same qualities as Tomorrow When the War Began. Great writing, believable characters and lots of tension. In this book, Gavin, Ellie’s adopted brother, is kidnapped and she has to get him back. She has to go over the border and mix with the invaders in order to rescue him. This is not as easy as James Bond makes it out to be and when they are eventually rescued the bruises are obvious.
This is another recommended read. Actually, I’d recommend any of John Marsden’s books. At this point I’m making assumptions that all of his books are as good as these two series, that may be a poor assumption and I’ll read some of his other books in due course and let you know.
Squid Ink and Brumbies
Squid Ink - The Silver Brumby
It’s interesting watching Squid Ink show off his knowledge. Today is no exception, he’s done a good job but you can tell he’s never met a brumby.
The series of book about Brumbies written by Elyne Mitchell are one of those series of books which showcase Australia, they are iconic. If there was a top 100 list of Australian books then they should be on that list, probably as one entry to ensure they don’t take up too much room. They are wonderful books about Brumbies (wild horses) in the Australian outback and told from the Brumbies point of view.
Squid Ink – The Ragwitch
Squid Ink - The Ragwitch
Squid Ink is reading Australian authors at the moment and the first in this series is The Ragwitch by Garth Nix. It’s young adult horror/fantasy. It is told from two different points of view, Julia and her brother Paul. They both end up in another world fighting The Ragwitch.
Borderlands Issue Ten
This is the book that caused so much consternation when I used it for Teaser Tuesday. It’s an anthology of Australian fantasy, science fiction and horror. This is the final issue and if it’s anything to go by the rest of them must have been absolutely fantastic.
It is a selection of top notch short stories interspersed with excellent essays. Some of the stories I had to take a break and do something else in order to stretch them out a bit. They were written so nicely and had such great ideas in them that I wanted them to last longer and the only way to do that was to stop part way through.
I’ve just pinched the following from the Borderlands website:
* “Shadows of Our Gods” by Cat Sparks
* “Red Earth” by Helen Lowe
* “In the Boo” by Stephen Studach
* “The Parent Licensing Commission” by Donetta Ditton
* “A Thousand Natural Shocks” by Simon Brown
* “As We Know It” by Lyn Battersby
* “The Man Who Murdered Love” by Shane Dix
Non-fiction:
* “Bad Film Diaries – Sometimes the Brand Burns: Tim Burton and the Planet of the Apes” by Grant Watson
* “Three Views of Mount Solaris” by Chris Lawson
Illustrations by Minouk Duin, Fiona Roberts and Sarah Xu
Cover by Sarah Xu
Red Earth by Helen Lowe was one that I had to stop in the middle. It’s post apocalyptic and is about a lady who wanders Australia giving out books, teaching people to read and write and telling stories. It is one of those awesome stories that just sucks you in and then keeps you there forever and it’s only three pages.
Bad Film Diaries by Grant Watson was an interesting essay on the power of the “Brand” and how film studios use it to make money. He talked about The Planet of the Apes and it’s remake and how the “Brand” helped it to make money.
I’m not going to say anything more about the rest of the stories and essays. You can buy most of the back issues from the Borderlands website, they’re only $AUD10 a copy, and worth much more than that.
Aurealis Issue #44
I must admit to not having read any Aurealis before this, most remiss of me and I’m so glad I remedied that and took this one on holiday. It’s a super-duper anthology which I much enjoyed. This particular issue has stories by:
Simon Petrie
Jason Fisher
Kirstyn McDermott
K J Taylor
Christopher Snape
Christopher Green
Adam Ford
All of these stories were top quality. There were a couple that stood out and screamed “write a sequel, write lots of sequels” as the worlds were just so good and while the characters might not have been likeable I certainly wanted to know more of them. Jason Fisher and KJ Taylor, I’m talking about you. I’m not saying the other stories weren’t as good, but they stand on their own and don’t seem to need anything else around them, they are complete by themselves. But Fisher and Taylor have written stories that not only stand on their own two feet but would also go well in an anthology of stories about their particular worlds.
gunning for a tinkerman by Jason Fisher is a wonderful little post-apocalyptic story where tinkermen have run the gamut of being wanted for their skills to being a dying breed who are both wanted and reviled in the same breath. I would like to know more about this world and more about the people in the world. It’d just be extra cool to have a story from someone else’s point of view so we can see how the tinkermen and their roles have changed.
The Death of Skandar Taranisaii by KJ Taylor is such a lovely story, actually, it’s not really a lovely story but the writing is lovely. It’s the story of slaves sent out to fight until they die and how they still manage to have some dignity. It is also the story of a father caring for his son and trying to do the best for him despite his circumstances. I’d love to have more than a glimpse into this world, it just wasn’t enough for me.
We All Fall Down by Kirstyn McDermott is a love story or a ghost story. I can’t quite make up my mind. I’ve never read lesbian fiction before and to have this as my first foray into this genre was a delight. The writing is very neat with everything fitting in just so, and the love the two ladies shared was so obvious. I know I’ve said I’m not interested in romance, but this was different and if you’re into romance you might not like it. There was love, but not really any romance.
I’ve just given you a teaser of some of the stories, they are all well worth reading and thanks to the fabulous team at Aurealis I have one copy of this issue to give away. You need to tweet the following and answer the question to be in the running, if you’re on Facebook only you’ll need to share it on your wall as well as answering the question. Competition starts now and I’ll draw the winner on Monday lunchtime. Sorry to excited overseas readers but this competition is for Australians only.
Aurealis #44 comp. Answer Q & RT to enter. Which author on http://bit.ly/gERb1J is also for sale on www.suzs-space.com Oz only.
Tomorrow, When the War Began – John Marsden
John Marsden was a secondary school teacher before he started writing books and it shows with his writing. He has a knack for getting insider a teenager’s head and explaining how they’re feeling using their language. Let me tell you a bit about this book.
Seven teenagers go away to a place they call Hell for a camping holiday before going back to school. They have a great time and eventually come back to find war has started and everyone’s been herded into the showground. This is when they find they have to grow up and decide to take action against the enemy. They’re a mix of townsfolk and farmers and are friends from school. The action is located in a district somewhere in Australia, near to a port and some stunning scenery.
This is a very intense book, it starts off as a normal teenage book with normal teen relationships . There are some hints fairly early on as to what is likely to happen but I didn’t see them the first time I read it. The first time I was concentrating on the raw emotion that comes with this book and not any peripheral information that might actually be useful. There’s seven books in the series and I guess I’m going to have to make sure to read them all again, in order this time, to get the full impact.
I managed to miss the movie they made based on this book when it came out in the cinemas so I was fairly quick to borrow it when it came into the video shops. I watched it yesterday and was just amazed at how like the book it is. Like every movie made from a book, it’s incredibly hard to translate things exactly from book to movie so some things have been changed but they’re very much within the feel of the book. The actors they’ve chosen look almost exactly like they’ve been described in the book, except for Ellie, who I imagined as being more rugged and less slender but they’ve got Robyn down pat, the actor looks just young and innocent enough to pull off some of the scenes she’ll need to do should they make some of the later books into movies.
If you haven’t read this series or seen the movie, I can’t stress enough how much you need to read and view them. They are very much current Australia with current issues. The movie has been updated in that the heroes have mobile phones and use Skype, but it hasn’t been updated by much as the book was only written in 1993. There is no gender inequality, with both Ellie and Homer seeming to take charge, in fact, it’s Ellie who loses her cool first and tells one of the guys off for falling asleep at his post and Homer calms her down. It’s at this point that there’s some swearing and for the first time I wasn’t shocked or upset by the words as they just felt the perfect words for Ellie to use, she was upset and needed to get her message across in the most concise way, so she swore. I can understand that and have done the same thing on occasion, but never with her conciseness.
There is death and mayhem in both the book and the movie. One of the young girls is shot and her boyfriend, who’s fallen in love with her, takes her into the hospital to ensure she has a chance of surviving, knowing that the moment he’s seen he’ll be taken into custody and put with everyone else. This is what he does and they both manage to use the same cover story so as not to let the invaders know there are other teenagers out there.
In the book the invaders are not given a race, we are lead to believe they are from some country, possibly Asian. This is made slightly clearer in the movie as we actually see their faces a little. I’m not good at figuring out where different people are from but I’m sure someone else could do that very easily from the little we saw. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, I’d hate for it to ruin relationships between the two countries.
I have some books by John Marsden for sale on the website, but only the third book in this series. I’d list this copy of Tomorrow, When the War Began but it’s more than a little dogeared and creased and is only fit for the rubbish bin.