Booker Prize Winner 2024

The winner of the 2024 Booker Prize for fiction was announced today, with British author Samantha Harvey receiving the £50,000 prize for the novel, Orbital. 

Orbital tells the story of six astronauts floating high above the Earth at a space station where they conduct experiments on an extended mission. As they orbit the Earth sixteen times a day, the astronauts consider the state of the planet and the fragility of human life.  Readers learn about each astronaut through their communications with their families and the personal effects they brought on their journey.  While they are so far from earth, they feel inextricably linked to and protective of their planet.

Samantha Harvey hails from Kent. She studied philosophy at the Universities of York and Sheffield.  Harvey has written five novels and  was previously longlisted for the Booker in 2009 for her debut novel The Wilderness.

Chair of the Judging panel, Edmund de Waal, said of Orbital:

'In an unforgettable year for fiction, a book about a wounded world. Sometimes you encounter a book and cannot work out how this miraculous event has happened. As judges we were determined to find a book that moved us, a book that had capaciousness and resonance, that we are compelled to share. We wanted everything. 

‘Orbital is our book. Samantha Harvey has written a novel propelled by the beauty of sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets. Everyone and no one is the subject, as six astronauts in the International Space Station circle the Earth observing the passages of weather across the fragility of borders and time zones. With her language of lyricism and acuity Harvey makes our world strange and new for us. 

‘All year we have celebrated fiction that inhabits ideas rather than declaiming on issues, not finding answers but changing the question of what we wanted to explore. Our unanimity about Orbital recognises its beauty and ambition. It reflects Harvey’s extraordinary intensity of attention to the precious and precarious world we share.’"

I must admit I was surprised by the choice of Harvey as winner.  I had expected the winner to be Percival Everett for James, but was secretly longing for Charlotte Wood to be acknowledged for Stone Yard Devotional.  But I have not read Orbital yet, so will have to move it up my to be read pile. 

If you missed it, here is the video of the announcement of Samantha Harvey as winner and her acceptance speech.

Summer Sojourn

In choosing this year's 'Novella in November', I selected a book I have long wanted to read: Claire Keegan's Foster (2010). This perfect gem of a story is only 88 pages long, but has the emotional depth of a much longer novel.

Foster begins on a Sunday after Mass. Instead of returning home, a man takes his daughter for a long drive through County Wexford. They arrive at Kinsella's farm, and are greeted by a man and his wife. This is the child's maternal family, but she does not know her Ma's people. Pa drives off, leaving his daughter at the farm without any belongings. The child has no idea when or if he may return to collect her. Over the course of the summer the girl, aged 8 or 9, is cared for by this couple and experiences a sense of belonging she does not know at home. We learn that the child is from a large family and that she was sent away to be cared for while her mother was in the final months of her latest pregnancy. We also learn that the Kinsellas long to give the child a home, and dread the day the girl has to be returned to her family.

Keegan tells the story from the child's perspective as she tries to understand what is happening around her.  The child is naive in many respects, but her time with the Kinsellas shows she is a keen observer. Keegan is masterful in her ability to use the quiet spaces to convey emotion, letting the void speak for itself. 

This is a beautiful story that can be read in an hour. Do yourself a favour - make a cup of tea and curl up with Foster. It is magnificent!

Foster was adapted into an Irish language feature film called The Quiet Girl (2022)

My review of Claire Keegan's wonderful novella Small Things Like These (2021) is also available on this blog. 

Medicine Woman

Despite my love of historical fiction, Lady Tan's Circle of Women (2023) by Lisa See, was not on my radar. Fortunately, it was recommended by a friend who loaned me a copy. As soon as I started reading, I became fully enthralled. 

It is the story of Tan Yunxian, born 1461 in the Ming Dynasty. Yunxian is sent at age eight to reside with her grandparents in the Mansion of Golden Light, when her mother dies after an infection in her bound feet. Her grandmother was a physician who taught Yunxian at her side, passing on treatments to support women.  Here she befriends Meiling Shi, the daughter of a midwife, the first and only friend she has. 

At age 15 she is married to Yang Maoren, the eldest son of wealthy silk merchants, and sent to live in the Garden of Fragrant Delights. Isolated from her family, and under the thumb of her husband's family, Yunxian's only role is to give birth to sons. Her mother-in-law, Lady Kuo, forbids her to practice medicine. Despite this, many women in the household know of Yunxian's skills and seek her wisdom.

During this time women were not permitted to practice medicine.  Doctor Wong would attend to his female patients by sitting behind a screen so he would not gaze upon them. Men did not understand the challenges women faced and were ill-equipped to support fertility issues, menopause, miscarriage, postnatal depression, and other concerns. Midwives, who were essential during childbirth, were viewed with distaste by the medical establishment and carried the burden of ensuring a safe delivery. 

Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a story about a lifelong female friendship, forged across class divides. But beyond Yunxian and Meiling, the circle includes daughters, sister, aunts and concubines. The social network was essential as the men were so often away. Life for women in this time was dangerous and strictly aligned to traditional gendered roles. While men could earn money, take exams and be appointed to positions of power, women existed for the pleasure or succession of men. 

The story follows Yunxian throughout her life, as she ages and becomes head of the household. Along the way there is plenty of intrigue as she travels to Beijing to the court of Empress Zhang, battles illnesses, and uncovers a dark secret. In later life she solidifies her legacy by publishing Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor, one of the earliest writings of a female doctor in China. It remains in print today. 

Author Lisa See weaves her extensive research into the novel. I was fascinated by how Yunxian would diagnose her patients, the inventive treatments she prescribed, and the way in which various terms were used ('child palace', 'heavenly flowers').  The descriptions of the courtyards, gowns, furnishing and scenery are vivid, transporting the reader to another time and place. Lisa See's website has a section where readers can step inside Lady Tan's world and learn more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this historical novel. Lisa See is probably best known for her novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005) but there are plenty of others including Peony in Love (2007), Shanghai Girls (2009), and The Island of Sea Women (2019) to name a few. I have no doubt that I will be exploring other novels by Lisa See in the future.

Solid Gold

Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and Detective Senior Constable Nell Buchanan are back for their fourth outing in Chris Hammer's The Valley (2024). Still based in Dubbo, the homicide investigation team are used to travelling across the Central West of New South Wales to manage complex cases. This time, they are sent further afield, down to the Southern Tablelands, when a body is discovered.

Told in alternating timelines, in the 1990s we meet a young police officer Simmons Burnside. Stationed in the Valley, caught up in a protest between environmentalists and loggers, Burnside also moonlights as security at the historic gold mine, which a local couple is trying to restart in an effort to revive the town. Back in the present, the body discovered is Burnside's son Wolf - an entrepreneur with plans to commercialise the Valley. Was he killed to stop his proposed development? For political reasons? For money?

Lucic is told by head office that they should not trust local law enforcement, so they proceed with caution. During the investigation Nell learns that her birth mother once lived in the Valley. This unforeseen connection to the case rattles Nell. Fortunately Lucic has her back, and the colleagues have a trust and confidence in each other that allows them to do their jobs exceptionally well.

Like all of Hammer's novels, the location plays a central role. The Valley is vividly portrayed - from its natural beauty, to its quirky inhabitants - and it feels very much like a real place. There are multiple issues at play in both the historic and contemporary timeframes in this well researched novel. 

I really enjoy the Lucic/Buchanan series and have grown fond of these characters. Hammer has a way of weaving various story threads together which build pace and page-turning excitement. Unlike his previous novels, in The Valley Hammer shifted his narrative in the 1990s to give us a first person account from Burnside's perspective. This was a great way of signalling the change in timeline to the reader and giving a fresh look on activities that would become important thirty years later. 

I hope Hammer continues the Lucic/Buchanan series as it is so enjoyable. While The Valley can be read as a standalone book, readers will get more out of it if they start at the beginning of the series.

My reviews of other Chris Hammer novels are available on this blog: 

• the Martin Scarsden Series - Scrublands (2018); Silver (2019); Trust (2020);
• the Lucic/Buchanan Series -   Treasure and Dirt (2021), The Tilt (2022) and The Seven (2023). 

For readers outside Australia, the Lucic/Buchanan novels are published under different titles - look for Opal Country (Treasure and Dirt), Dead Man's Creek (The Tilt) and Cover the Bones (The Seven) instead.

The Great Divide

There are only three weeks to go before election day in America. Like many political science nerds around the world, I have been avidly following the twists and turns of the campaign. The uninspiring Biden-Trump rematch was hard to watch. Were these two men the best a nation of 345 million people had to offer?  Generational change in both parties, at all levels of government, is needed to reinvigorate American politics and bring things back to a more moderate, less divisive centre.

In the latest Quarterly Essay, High Noon: Trump, Harris and America on the Brink (QE95, 2024), by Australian author, political adviser and historian Don Watson, readers are taken to America - to Los Angeles, Detroit, Kalamazoo, New York - to learn about the issues shaping this election. 

When Watson began writing this essay Biden was still on the ticket. He explores Biden's life in politics and the many achievements of his presidency. More Americans have health insurance, job growth and wages have risen, worker protections have improved. The economy is better, crime is declining and there has been serious action on climate change. Biden has reduced inequality. Watson pointed to many initiatives I did not know about and I reckon when non-partisan historians write of the Biden legacy he will be viewed with much admiration.

After the depressing Trump-Biden debate things had to change. Within a few short weeks, JD Vance was named as Trump's running mate, Biden was out, Harris was the Democratic nominee, and there had been an assassination attempt on Trump. 

Watson writes of the threat of a second Trump presidency, the way he has shifted the Republican party towards populism, xenophobia and isolationism. His family and acolytes are entrenched in the party, making Trumpism the test of loyalty and favour. Watson contrasts Trump's appearance at his hush money trial with his campaign rallies - ever the showman, relying on entertainment over substance. 

The swap from Biden to Harris brought with it a glimmer of hope that change was possible. Watson talks with everyday Americans about the polarisation of politics, misinformation and division. He explores how the media has a lot to answer for, racism and fear run deep, and how voters mistrust the electoral system. Whatever happens on election day, America is a tinderbox ready to ignite.

I greatly enjoyed Watson's exploration of American politics. He is an intelligent, unpretentious and persuasive author. This is a brilliant Quarterly Essay, well worth a read.

My review of Don Watson's previous Quarterly Essay, Enemy Within: American Politics in the Time of Trump (QE63), is also available on this blog.

Nobel Prize for Literature 2024

South Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature. The 53 year old author is best known for her International Booker Prize winning novel The Vegetarian (2016).

Born in Gwangju, South Korea, Han Kang is the daughter of author Han Seung-won and the sister of writer Han Dong Rim. She studied literature at Yonsei University before attending the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.

Her first published work was in 1993 when five poems were included in the winter issue of Munhak-gwa-sahoe (Literature and Society). The following year she won a literary contest in Seoul for her story Red Anchor. She is the author of a number of short story collections, novellas and eight novels.

Han Kang is the first South Korean author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and only the 18th woman.

Let's take a look at her novels which have been translated into English.

The Vegetarian (2015)

Originally published in 2007, it was translated by Deborah Smith and published in English in 2015. Set in modern day Seoul, The Vegetarian tells the story of a woman who decides to stop eating meat after having a nightmare which includes images of animal slaughter. Abstaining from meat causes a distance between herself and her family.  Composed in three parts, each has a different narrator exploring the woman's rebellion. 

Human Acts (2016)

Originally published in 2014 as A Boy is Coming, it was translated by Deborah Smith and published in English in 2016 as Human Acts. This novel is about the 1980 Gwangju massacre in which the military brutally suppressed an uprising killing an estimated 2300 people. The uprising was in response to the coup d'état which saw Chun Doo-hwan installed as dictator and martial law imposed. The novel follows victims and the bereaved as they try and make sense of the brutality.

The White Book (2017)

Originally published in 2016 as White, it was translated by Deborah Smith and published in English in 2017 as The White Book. In this novel, the unnamed narrator is on writers residency in Warsaw.  She meditates on the colour white to make sense of her older sister's death. White is a recurring theme which she uses to explore grief.

Greek Lessons (2023)

Originally published in 2011 as Greek Time, it was translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won and published in English in 2023. A Greek language teacher is slowly losing his sight. He is drawn to a young woman in his class who tries to speak but has no voice. The two have both experienced tragedy which incapacitates them.

We Do Not Part (2025)

Originally published in 2021 as Don't Say Goodbye, this forthcoming novel was translated into English by Emily Yae Won and Paige Aniyah Morris. It is scheduled to be published in February 2025. We Do Not Part tells the story of a woman who travels to a friend's house in the countryside to care for her friend's pet bird while she is in hospital. While pet sitting, the woman discovers letters from the Jeju massacre in 1948. 

One expects that Kang's previous novellas and short stories will be translated and she will gain a wider audience on the strength of the Nobel acclaim. Her win is a reminder how valuable it is to read works in translation and the importance of supporting small imprint publishers. 

Seda Vacante

On a recent work trip I scrolled my e-reader for unread books, I opened several and read the first paragraph to see what would grip me and match my travelling mood. When I came across Robert Harris' Conclave (2016), I could not stop at the first paragraph; I was immediately enthralled and rapidly read this book in a few short sittings.

Conclave starts with the death of the Pope, who passed that evening from a heart attack. Late at night, a handful of Cardinals gather round the deceased Pope's bedside to pray and immediately the machinations begin as to who will replace him. Cardinal Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, is tasked with facilitating the conclave in which Cardinals from around the world gather to determine who will be the next Pope. The elderly men are sequestered in the Vatican, the windows of their rooms boarded up to prevent external influences. The men will remain isolated together during the papal interregnum, until they can agree on who will serve as the global head of the Catholic Church.

Unable to connect with God, Lomeli is greatly troubled by the disconnect he is experiencing with his faith. Lomeli wants Cardinal Bellini, Secretary of State, to take the papacy as he shares the former Pope's desire for reform. Bellini humbly claims to let God's will determine the outcome and refuses to actively seek the role. Unlike Bellini, Canadian Cardinal Tremblay, the Camerlengo, is overtly vying for the top job and lobbying Cardinals from the developing world to rally behind him. The top ranked African Cardinal Adeyemi, formerly Archbishop of Lagos, is also in the running and could become the first black Pope. Amidst all these front runners, factions have formed.  The Italians want it the Pope to be from Italy, like Cardinal Tedesco, who reflect traditional, conservative values. They fear the papacy will go to someone in Asia or South America where Catholicism is on the rise.

Each day the Cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel and vote as per their ritual. The world's media and the faithful masses gather outside awaiting a plume of white smoke emerging from the chimney to signal a new Pope. But the Cardinals cannot decide and each ballot ends with black smoke instead. Meanwhile Lomeli is conflicted as to whether he should reveal what he learns about the skeletons in various Cardinals' closets as it may impact conclave.

This could have been a fairly pedestrian depiction of what happens behind closed doors. But Harris has added so many intriguing subplots - political manoeuvring, modern issues facing a tradition-bound church, a surprise candidate -  that the reader cannot help but be gripped. As the votes tighten and candidates fall off the ballot, the action quickens. 

I had not expected to enjoy this book quite so much. Having visited the Vatican, I reminisced about my travels to Rome when reading about the Sistine Chapel and the various places I had seen. I learned a lot about the Catholic Church and the papacy from this novel, which is surprisingly filled with rich detail from Harris' meticulous research. The author also subtly infuses his novel with deep questions about faith, power and the role of women in the church and society. Overall, a greatly enjoyable read. 

A film version of Conclave premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2024 and will have wider release in late 2024.  The film stars Ralph Fiennes as the troubled Lomeli (renamed Lawrence in the film), Stanley Tucci as Bellini, John Lithgow as Tremblay and Isabella Rosellini as Sister Agnes. The film was directed by Edward Berger, best known for his 2022 remake of All Quiet on the Western Front.  I look forward to seeing this film when it is available in Australia. The trailer is below.

Joie de Vivre

Sarah Firth's debut graphic novel Eventually Everything Connects (2023) is a beautiful, articulate, meditation on life. Subtitled 'Eight Essays on Uncertainty' Firth writes about the environment, diversity, and the joys of the little things in life, in interconnected visual essays.

The first essay, 'Joie de Vivre' is about the repetitions of life, our daily routine and finding the joy in simplicity. Can we find meaning in the seemingly meaningless?. In 'Like a moth to a flame' Firth ponders our obsession with our phones and the need to disconnect. In other essays she writes about sexual dreams and taboos, life cycles, the environment, mental health. 

These are deeply thoughtful, personal essays in which Firth grapples with the complexities and contradictions of life. Despite the deep subject matter, Firth's humour and creative illustrations make the essays relatable and compelling. 

I found this book fascinating on many levels. Had Firth written on these topics in prose they would have been interesting enough. But she has elevated the reader's connection to her and the subject material through her illustrations. She positions herself in many of the illustrations - at various stages in her life - and shares her vulnerability and anxieties. 

After reading each essay I went back and spent time reviewing some of the intricate drawings and really appreciate them. Whether a panel of illustrations on what diverse people were doing at that moment in time, or a whole page devoted to self-reflection, Firth's drawings provide another layer of meaning. 

I first heard about this book at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2022 when Nakkiah Lui introduced her as part of a panel of new talent. Firth read an excerpt and shared her website with illustrations for Joie de Vivre. Firth said at the time that she was glad Lui's new publishing house Joan had picked up the book as other publishers had rejected it as it could not be easily categorised. I had totally forgotten to look out for this book and was only reminded of it in August this year when it was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, prompting me to order a copy. 

I am so glad to have read Eventually Everything Connects. For anyone wanting to have a look at Firth's work before committing to the whole book, her website has extracts from this book. 

Graphic novels are not for everyone, but I really appreciate this genre. My reviews of other graphic novels can be found on this blog, including: Mandy Ord's When One Person Dies the Whole World is Over (2020), Jim Broadbent's Dull Margaret (2018), Nick Drasno's Sabrina (2018) and Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (2000).

The Walking Dead

I usually follow librarian Nancy Pearl's 'Rule of 50' when it comes to reading books. This rule says if you are 50 years old or under, you need to read 50 pages before deciding whether to continue or give up on a book. If you are over fifty, subtract your age from 100 and use that number. I am fine with deciding not to finish a book, and have often put aside books that I couldn't get into, did not like, or felt life was too short to waste on time on. 

I offer this preamble because there were a number of times during reading Colson Whitehead's Zone One (2011) where I almost gave up, and probably should have. I did not enjoy this book and kept waiting for it to get better. About 60 pages in, I looked at some readers' reviews who promised it would improve (they lied!), so I persisted.

Set in New York City over three days, Zone One is a literary zombie novel. A few years ago a global pandemic caused the rapid end of the modern world. Humans infected with the plague turned into living dead 'skels'. Some, who didn't fully become carnivorous zombies, are 'stragglers' caught in a loop, tethered to their old life. The survivors of 'Last Night', the origin of the plague, have been trying to rebuild the world. In Buffalo NY a government has begun to form and work has begun on reclaiming lost territory. The army was sent into Manhattan and established Zone One in the Southern end. Barriers have been built along Canal Street and skels have been cleared in the Zone, in the hopes of eventually repopulating the city. 

Here we meet protagonist Mark Spitz and his colleagues Kaitlyn and Gary. They are a team of sweepers whose job it is to go floor by floor in the skyscrapers and make sure no skels or stragglers have been left behind. They know what to look for -  barricaded offices, dark stairwells - and if they find any living dead they dispatch them and place them in body bags to be incinerated. 

Mark is an average guy. He is nothing special. Over three days Mark's memory goes back and forth in time as he reflects on his Last Night experience, his life before and his existence since. We learn bits and pieces about Kaitlyn and Gary as they all try and survive.

I had high-hopes for this novel. I admire Colson Whitehead and was interested in reading this when I heard him speak about his work at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2023. I like the way Whitehead experiments with genre. He is a thoughtful, intelligent writer, with a gift for cinematic descriptions. 

In Zone One, Whitehead has included some intriguing elements. The 'American Phoenix' campaign with its anthem and merch, designed to instil a sense of comradeship and American can-do spirit in the survivors. The frozen stragglers which provide the sweepers with a morbid guessing game of how they ended up there. The Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder (PASD) which plagues the survivors and accounts for their insomnia, addiction, and depression.   

Despite this, the novel did not gel for me. Zone One is strangely paced, and I found is so slow and boring, with a lot of description that goes nowhere. Like a dud episode of The Walking Dead, I found myself wanting to fast forward and get to the action. I only wish I had followed Nancy Pearl's advice.

My reviews of Whitehead's The Nickel Boys (2019) and Harlem Shuffle (2021) are available on this blog.

Booker Prize Shortlist 2024

The Shortlist was announced last night for the 2024 Booker Prize. The thirteen titles on the Longlist have been whittled down to six:

• Percival Everett - James (America)
• Samantha Harvey - Orbital (UK)
• Rachel Kushner - Creation Lake (America)
• Anne Michaels - Held (Canada)
• Yale van der Wouden - The Safekeep (Netherlands)
• Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional (Australia)

 

Chair of the judging panel, Edmund de Waal, said of the shortlist:

“I am enormously proud of this shortlist of six books that have lived with us. We have spent months sifting, challenging, questioning – stopped in our tracks by the power of the contemporary fiction that we have been privileged to read. And here are the books that we need you to read. Great novels can change the reader. They face up to truths and face you in their turn. If that sounds excessive it reflects the urgency that animates these novels. Here is storytelling in which people confront the world in all its instability and complexity. The fault lines of our times are here. Borders and time zones and generations are crossed and explored, conflicts of identity, race and sexuality are brought into renewed focus through memorable voices. The people who come alive here are damaged in ways that we come to know and respect, and we come to care passionately about their histories and relationships."

I am delighted with this shortlist. First, last year the shortlist was dominated by guys named Paul. Here, we have five women on the list. Most of the authors are established, with van der Wouden the only debut novelist. I am also thrilled that Charlotte Wood is on the shortlist. Her books deserve a wide readership and I hope this boosts her profile internationally. 

Thus far I have only read Wood's Stone Yard Devotional and Everett's James - both brilliant. My sincere hope is that Everett wins this year's prize. James is a triumph. 

The Winner of the Booker Prize, and recipient of £50,000, will be revealed on 12 November 2024. Happy reading!

Prime Minister's Literary Award Winners 2024

The winners of the 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards were announced this week. These awards have a significant prize pool ($600K) and serve to recognise 'established and emerging Australia writers, illustrators, poets and historians'. 

The winners are:

• FICTION - Andre Dao - Anam
• NON-FICTION - Daniel Browning - Close to the Subject: Selected Works
• AUSTRALIAN HISTORY - Ryan Cropp - Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country
• CHILDREN'S LITERATURE - Violet Wadrill (and co-creators) -  Tamarra: A Story of Termites on Gurindji Country
• YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE - Will Kostakis - We Could Be Something
• POETRY - Amy Crutchfield - The Cyprian

 

See the Creative Australia website for more information. You can also watch the winner's announcement on YouTube below.

Who Loves Longer?

I love Australian author Richard Flanagan. His Booker Prize winning The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2013) is one of my all-time favourite novels. I have had the good fortune to see him speak at various festivals and events. I have read most of his work and have tremendous admiration for his advocacy. 

A few weeks ago I finished his latest book, the strangely enticing Question 7 (2023). Ever since I have been mulling it over, trying to figure out what I would say about it. This is a book that does not fit neatly into any genre - its is a memoir, a history, autofiction, and more. There were parts that I loved, parts that sent me down search engine rabbit-holes, and parts that I struggled to make sense of. This is a book that requires meditation and mulling, consuming in short bursts and savouring over time. 

The title Question 7 is from a Chekov story in which a mathematical problem about trains departing at certain times ends with the unanswerable question 'who loves longer, a man or a woman?'. Flanagan writes that this question 'is about how the world from which we presume to derive meaning and purpose is not the true world.' (p24). Question 7 is Flanagan's quest for meaning.

It begins in 2012 at the Ohama Camp in Japan where Flanagan's father was interned during World War II, forced to work in the coal mine as a slave labourer. There is no memorial and the local museum has no mention of the slave labourers, as if they never existed. Flanagan wonders 

'why we keep returning to beginnings-why we seek the single thread we might pull to unravel the tapestry we call our life in the hope that behind it we will find the truth of why. 

But there is no true. There is only why. 

And when we look closer we see that behind that why is just another tapestry. And behind it another, and another, until we arrive at oblivion.' (p3)

In his quest for why, Flanagan reflects on his childhood in rural Tasmania and the impact of colonisation on the island. He tells of how his grandmother's family were taunted for being descendants of convicts. Growing up, Flanagan's family did not speak of his father's time as a prisoner of war, forced to work on the notorious Burma Death Railway. His father was then interred at the Ohama camp and would have certainly died there if the atom bomb had not been dropped on Hiroshima, leading to the surrender of the Japanese and release of prisoners of war. 

Flanagan's search for meaning weaves in and out in Question 7 in a series of ifs. If the bomb was not dropped, he would not exist as his father would have died in Japan. He reflects on his own near-death experience when he was trapped in a kayak on a remote Tasmanian river. If he had not had this experience he may not have written his first novel, Death of a River Guide (1994) which set him on his career path. 

Beyond this personal story, the whys take us deeper. Question 7 also presents us with the affair HG Wells had with Rebecca West which led Wells to write The World Set Free (1914) which influenced physicist Leo Szilard to patent neutron chain reactions which influenced the Manhattan Project which led to Hiroshima, without which Flanagan would not exist.  

This is a fascinating intellectual, emotional and curious book, written in bite-sized segments, stream-of-consciousness style. It is a mosaic, in which each irregular piece comes together to reveal a beautiful whole. For me, the irregular pieces were better than the whole - or to use Flanagan's analogy, I guess I preferred the threads to the whole tapestry. I am glad I read Question 7. It is a reminder of Flanagan's incredible talent as a writer. 

To Have and Have Not

It's Short Book September! I scrolled my massive to-be-read pile for books of under 250 pages and found exactly what I needed. 

Dorothy B Hughes' In a Lonely Place (1947) is a perfect noir crime thriller. Dixon (Dix) Steele has returned to the States from WWII where he served in the Air Force. Originally hailing from the East coast, a Princeton grad, Dix has come out to Los Angeles. He is living in a flat belonging to Mel Terriss, who has allegedly taken an extended trip to Rio, and so Dix has access to Mel's car, wardrobe and accounts. A great deal for a guy with champagne tastes and little money. We quickly learn that Dix is a grifter - telling tall tales and scamming his uncle for funds. 

From the outset we know Dix is a dangerous man. The opening chapter describes how he follows a woman at night from the bus stop to her home. He is decidedly creepy, with an undercurrent of misogyny and self-loathing.

We then learn that LA is gripped by tales of a strangler - a lone man who stalks young women - leaving a body each month for the homicide squad to investigate. Dix's old war buddy Brub Nicolai is now a cop on the trail of the killer, so Dix keeps him close to stay up to date on the case.

Dix meets a dame, Laurel, who lives in Terriss' building. Dix falls for her hard and is thrown because she is an independent woman, not some damsel in distress. Can Dix put his past behind him and be happy with her? Or is he forever caught in a lonely place, having to live with his actions?

In the second half the novel's pace quickens when paranoia sets it as the net tightens around Dix. He wonders if he is being followed, he questions whether he has made a mistake and left a clue behind, he is suspicious of everyone around him. He becomes more erratic in his decisions and desperate in his actions. 

Dorothy B Hughes may not be as well known as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett or Patricia Highsmith but she should be. She has crafted an incredible character study - getting deep into the mind of a killer - but does so in a way where the violence of his crimes is alluded to but not shown. We don't have to read about the grizzly details, but we can well imagine them. I also love the language she uses in this novel and some choice words and phrases like 'megrims' which I plan to incorporate in my lexicon. I am keen to seek out some of her other novels.

Of course my impression of Dix was that he looked and sounded like Humphrey Bogart, who plays him in the film. I had not seen the film prior to reading, but a still from the film graces the cover of my Penguin Modern Classics edition so I had him in my mind and could not form an independent view. 

Today, a few days after finishing the book, I watched the film version of In a Lonely Place (1950) directed by Nicolas Ray. The movie is so different from the book. In the film, Dix is a well-known screenwriter with a fiery temper, quick to throw a punch. He is questioned regarding the murder of a hatcheck girl, and his inner darkness causes those around him to be suspicious. Bogart is fantastic and Gloria Grahame is brilliant as Laurel, but the other characters are not fully explored. The film is pretty good on its own, but it is a pale imitation of the book. 

Coming Home

Over a decade ago, I read and adored Colm Toibin's Brooklyn (2009). The story of a young woman, Eilis Lacey, who leaves her home in County Wexford, Ireland to travel to America is a delightful novel. In Brooklyn she meets an Italian-American plumber, Tony, and Eilis has to decide if she will stay with him or return home to her family. She makes a short trip home and is wooed by Jim, so now has to decide whether to settle down in Ireland, or go back to Tony in America. In 2015 a wonderful film was made of Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan in the lead role.

When I heard that Toibin was releasing a sequel, I preordered Long Island (2024) and read it over a weekend. Set in 1976, Eilis has been married to Tony for twenty years and has two teenage children. She is deeply entrenched in the tight-knit Fiorello family, who live together in neighbouring houses.  In the opening chapter Eilis' contentment is disrupted when a man comes to the door announcing his wife is pregnant with Tony's child and that he intends to leave the child with her when it is born. Eilis is stunned by the news of her husband's infidelity and is determined not to raise this child, while Tony's family see the unborn child as one of theirs, pressuring Eilis to change her mind. With the family closing ranks, Eilis needs time and space to consider her options, so she journeys home to Enniscorthy for her mother's eightieth birthday.

In Ireland the novel switches perspective to focus on Eilis and two other key characters. Eilis' childhood best friend Nancy stayed behind in their hometown, married and had children. Now widowed, Nancy runs a chip shop and has grown close with Jim, Eilis' old flame. When Eilis returns home she disrupts the rhythm of this sleepy town, and causes Jim and Nancy to behave in ways they would not have without her return. It is clear that Jim has never gotten over his love for Eilis, presenting Eilis with the potential of the life she could have chosen all those years ago.  Eilis also has to deal with her mother, who has been distant and seems to resent her daughter's choices.

What I loved about this sequel is how it captured these characters in their forties, older and wiser, with more complexities to consider when making decisions. Eilis is no longer the passive girl she once was - she now has a steely determination. Eilis is also a stranger in her home town - seen as having been Americanised - while she is also not wholly part of her new country. Having emigrated myself, I understand that feeling of being in between two hometowns, not wholly belonging. I also appreciated how Toibin kicked off this novel with the conundrum, front loading the crisis, unlike the slow burn of the previous book and he leaves plenty of room for things unsaid. 

Do you need to read Brooklyn to enjoy Long Island? No. I loaned both to a friend and she read the novels in reverse order and loved them. So you can read Long Island as a standalone book, but I think you will get more out of it if you read Brooklyn first. My review of Brooklyn can also be found on this blog.

It was great to be back in Toibin's Ireland, and Long Island reminded me of what a talented writer he is. I have other books of his on my shelf, which I will move higher up on my to-be-read pile.

The Human Stain

Can you love art, but dislike the artist? In the past few years so many artists have fallen from grace, been exposed for their ill deeds, or expressed contemptible views. For fans of their work, it can be difficult to know what to do when something they love is tainted by the actions of the person who created it.

Take, for example, JK Rowling. I love Harry Potter and the Cormoran Strike series, but I am deeply troubled by her hateful views against the transgendered community. For someone who created a world in which misfits found safe haven, I cannot reconcile this with her anti-trans campaign. So, can I still enjoy her books or by reading them am I condoning the author's views? As writer Claire Dederer poses in Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (2023), 'How do we seperate the maker from the made?'.

Dederer's roll call of problematic artists includes Roman Polanski, Bill Crosby, Woody Allen, Pablo Picasso, Sid Vicious, Norman Mailer, Miles Davis, Johnny Depp, Caravaggio, Ernest Hemingway, Michael Jackson, Phil Spector, and more. To this you can add Will Smith, Kevin Spacey and on and on. These artists have been convicted of crimes, accused of heinous acts, are misogynists or racists, or are garden variety creepers. Are some of the artists geniuses precisely because of their ill behaviour? Perhaps. 

In her book Dederer shows how she is trying to experiment with different ways of looking at art. As a cultural critic, she cannot view art in the same way as her male colleagues. In one chapter she looks at Woody Allen's acclaimed film Manhattan in which Allen's character dates a high school student. For Dederer this is problematic, made more so by Allen's later real-life actions of leaving his partner for his teenage step-daughter and allegations of abuse by his adopted daughter. Dederer's male colleagues say she should ignore this, and just appreciate the film as a work of art. But can she? Should we?

Dederer also looks at Virginia Woolf, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Willa Cather - authors who made anti-semitic or racist comments in their work - and Doris Lessing who abandoned her children to have a career. I found the chapter on female monsters fascinating, as it always boils down to women failing as mothers when putting their art above their family - which many male artists do but is not viewed as irregular.

What I liked about Dederer's book is that she is working out loud. She is grappling with the concerns of consuming art with or without a moral lens. She asks whether some artists can be given a pass, or whether the failings of artists should be seen in the context of their time. She also points out that in modern times we know more about the artists behind the work than in previous generations where their work can be enjoyed in isolation. I also liked that Dederer didn't solve the problem. She is against cancel culture. She calls for consumers of art to be wise and to challenge their own assumptions. Dederer challenges her reader to think and be open to wallowing in the messiness. Whether you agree with Dederer or not, this is a thought-provoking book. 

Love and Loss on the Western Front

Sometimes a novel will grab its reader and not let them go. Alice Winn's In Memoriam (2023) gripped me tightly and I could not stop reading. When I was away from the novel I kept thinking about the characters and wondering how they were faring. And now that I am done, I am saddened that I will never get to read it again for the first time.

Two teenage boys attend an elite English boarding school, Preshute. It is 1914 and their school newsletter, The Preshutian, publishes lists of their colleagues and alumni who have been killed or injured in war. On the streets young women hand out white feathers to men of fighting age to shame them in to enlisting. Prefect Sidney Ellwood is obsessed with poetry, Tennyson in particular. His best friend Henry Gaunt is a scholar of Ancient Greek. The two are in love with one another, but cannot admit their feelings even to themselves. Despite his youth, Gaunt enlists in the Royal Kennet Fusiliers and is off to France. It does not take long for Ellwood to join him. Here at the front they are able to act on their feelings, even if they cannot express themselves in words, knowing that what happens here cannot continue when they return home. The sense that any day can be their last makes their love more urgent. 

At Ypres, Loos and Somme, the battle rages. The boys are separated and become shadows of themselves through the trauma they endured. All the soldiers and officers experience such loss, injured physically and mentally, forever scarred. 

At its heart, this is a queer love story. The novel presents a realistic portrait of forbidden romance at a time when homosexuality was illegal. There is such tenderness and beauty in the way this relationship is portrayed. Beyond this is a heartbreaking tale of war, when so many young lives were lost. Winn does not shy away from the brutalities of battle - the barbed wire, the gas, the trench warfare. She also showcases the way social class was observed at the front, where merit did not determine rank. Despite the darkness, there is much humour and lightness. The interactions between all the men, and the harebrained schemes of POWs attempting escape, provide a counter balance to the war. 

What makes the novel so good is Alice Winn's writing. She has a beautiful, thoughtful way of crafting sentences and pacing the story. Her ability to create realistic characters who are transformed by war shows a maturity that makes one forget that this is her debut novel.

In Memoriam is so good. It is like a perfectly written combination of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, Timothy Findley's The Wars, and Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong.  This is definitely a contender for my favourite book of the year. 

Prime Minister's Literary Award 2024 Shortlist

The Prime Minister's Literary Awards Shortlist for 2024 has been announced. These awards have a significant prize pool ($600K) and serve to recognise 'established and emerging Australia writers, illustrators, poets and historians'. 

Here are the 2024 shortlisted titles in the categories I have most interest in.

Fiction

• Andre Dao - Anam
• Kate Grenville - Restless Dolly Maunder
• Melissa Lucashenko - Edenglassie
• Catherine McNamara - The Carnal Fugues
• Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional

I have read and adored the novels by Grenville and Wood. I started the Lucashenko when it was longlisted for the Stella Prize, but got waylaid and will need to return to it. Dao was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.  I had not heard of McNamara but her nominated collection of short stories sounds quite interesting. 

Non-Fiction

• 
  Daniel Browning - Close to the Subject: Selected Works
• Sarah Firth - Eventually Everything Connects
• Maggie McKellar - Graft: Motherhood, Failure and a Year on the Land
• Alex Miller - A Kind of Confession
• Harry Saddler - A Clear Flowing Yarra

I have read none of these shortlisted titles. Maggie McKeller was longlisted for the Stella Prize so I have heard of her book. I am familiar with Alex Miller's fiction so I am intrigued by his look at his writing life. Bundjalung and Kullilli journalist Browning's essays sound interesting as well. Nature writer Saddler's exploration of the Yarra River is not my cup of tea. I have just purchased Sara Firth's illustrated essays. I heard Firth speak at the 2022 Sydney Writers Festival, when she was pulling this collection together and it is one of the first books published by Nakkiah Lui's publishing house Joan. 

Australian History

• 
  Ryan Cropp - Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country
• Rose Ellis - Bee Miles
• Kate Fullagar - Benelong and Phillip: A History Unravelled
• David Marr - Killing for Country: A Family Story
• Alecia Simmonds - Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law

I love David Marr and I am interested in his book about his own family's history as part of Australia's frontier wars. My mother has just finished it and thought it was exceptional. I am interested in Alecia Simmonds book about how jilted lovers could seek legal redress and have just ordered a copy. The other book that is of interest is Rose Ellis' look at Bee Miles, a bohemian character who did not conform to societal expectations. 

The PM Literary awards also cover Children's Literature, Young Adult Literature and Poetry. For information on these categories and on all the nominated titles, see the Creative Australia website. The winners will be announced on 12 September 2024.

Booker Prize Longlist 2024

This week the Longlist was announced for the 2024 Booker Prize. After being disappointed by the Booker  in the past few years, the 2024 Longlist is really exciting.  I have already read and loved two of the titles and there are many more on my wish list. A few days ago I released my predictions of who might make the list and I managed to correctly guess (Huzzah!) four of the titles - marked with an asterix.

So let's take a quick look at the nominees:

Colin Barrett - Wild Houses   (Ireland)
This debut novel by Irish author Colin Barrett is set in Country Mayo, in a town called Ballina. Gabe and Stretch are small-time crooks who abduct Doll English in an effort to retrieve a drug debt. Doll's girlfriend Nicky just wants to find Doll and escape this town. The judges write: 'Wild Houses is a propulsive, darkly comic and superlatively written account of frustration and misadventure in a small Irish town.' While this is Barrett's first novel, he is an acclaimed short story writer, best known for his collection Homesickness (2022).

Rita Bullwinkel - Headshot (USA)
Eight teenage girls compete in a boxing championship in Nevada. In a rundown warehouse they face off against one another, each with their own reasons for getting in the ring. The judges describe Headshot as 'A gripping and gutsy depiction of a young women’s boxing tournament in Nevada. In a compelling series of interconnected snapshots, Bullwinkel weaves a tapestry around several diverse, steely characters, each with their own unique back stories, motivations and perspectives.' Bullwinkel is the author of the short story collection Belly Up (2022). Headshot is her first novel.

Percival Everett - James *  (USA)
If James was not on the Longlist, I would have given up on the Booker forever. I loved this novel and it is my favourite to win every available prize. James is a satirical retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man who travels along the Mississippi River with the young rascal Huck. The judges describe this as 'a captivating response to Mark Twain's classic that is a bold exploration of a dark chapter in history and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit'. Everett was previously shortlisted for the Booker in 2022 for his brilliant novel The Trees.

Samantha Harvey - Orbital  * (UK)
Six astronauts float high above the Earth at a space station where they conduct experiments on an extended mission. As they orbit the Earth, Harvey shares information about each astronaut showcasing their different pasts and their common present. The judges write 'Orbital offers us a love letter to our planet as well as a deeply moving acknowledgement of the individual and collective value of every human life.' Harvey was previously longlisted for the Booker in 2009 for The Wilderness.

Rachel Kushner - Creation Lake   (USA)
Undercover agent Sadie Smith is sent to infiltrate a commune of eco-activists in France. She meets the communes charismatic leader Bruno Lacombe. The judges write 'what’s so electrifying about this novel is the way it knits contemporary politics and power with a deep counter-history of human civilisation. We found the prose thrilling, the ideas exciting, the book as a whole a profound and irresistible page-turner.’ Kushner's novel The Mars Room was shortlisted or the Booker in 2018.

Hisham Matar - My Friends *  (UK/Libya)
Two Libyan teens meet at university in Edinburgh. They travel to London to participate in an anti-Qaddafi demonstration outside the Libyan embassy where both are wounded. The novel follows the relationship of the friends into adulthood, forever changed by what happened in London and their homeland. The judges write 'My Friends is both a complex and unsentimental meditation on what friendship means and a searingly moving exploration of how exile impacts those who are forced to live in this state of loss. It is a book that we loved for its spareness of language and its deeply affecting storytelling.’ Matar was previously shortlisted for the Booker in 2006 for In the Country of Men. I have heard such great things about this novel, I really want to read it.

Claire Messud - This Strange Eventful History  * (UK)
In June 1940 Paris falls to the Germans. In Salonica, naval attache Gaston Cassar has sent his wife and children to Algeria to be safe. Instead of being welcomed home, the family find themselves unwanted by relatives. Over the next seventy years, Messud follows generations of Cassar's family as they scatter across the globe. The judges write 'epic in its scale, while intimately rooted in each character’s internal landscape, the novel reminds us how literature can be expansive and timeless.'  Messud was previously longlisted for the Booker in 2006 for The Emperor's Children.

Anne Michaels - Held   (Canada)
Spanning four generations, Held travels back and forth from a French battlefield in 1917 to 1930 in Yorkshire, and on through the ages. The judges write that Michaels is 'writing about war, trauma, science, faith and above all love and human connection; her canvas is a century of busy history, but she connects the fragments of her story through theme and image rather than character and chronology, intense moments surrounded by great gaps of space and time.' Michael is a Canadian poet and novelist who is best known for her 2020 novel Fugitive Pieces. 

Tommy Orange - Wandering Stars   (USA)
In this follow up to his acclaimed debut There There, Tommy Orange follows the descendants of the1864 Sand Creek massacre. Spanning centuries of Native American experience, Orange shows the intergenerational trauma of colonisation, addiction and loss. The judges write 'through well-crafted prose and deftly drawn perspectives, Tommy Orange paints a vivid portrait of the Native American experience – both the pain of displacement and the resilience of those who continue ancestral traditions.' 

Sarah Perry - Enlightenment   (UK)
In a small Baptist community in Aldleigh, Essex, Thomas Hart is a fifty-something bachelor who writes a column for the local paper and yearns to see the world. Teenage Grace Macaulay is also restless, but tethered to the church. The two form an unlikely friendship. The judges write 'the novel takes its main characters – a middle-aged novelist and reporter for a local paper and the 17-year-old daughter of the local pastor – and weaves a novel of great ambition. This is a book of deep pleasures, full of passion for the life of ideas, richly and satisfyingly written.' Perry is best known for her novels Melmoth, The Essex Serpent and After Me Comes the Flood.

Richard Powers - Playground   (USA)
On the French Polynesian island of Makatea, a group plan to send floating, autonomous cities into the open sea. The ocean is the last place we have yet to colonise. The judges write 'this is a characterful, capacious and engaging novel, distilling subjects as diverse as oceanography, climate change, the legacies of colonialism and the arc of a lifelong friendship into an exhilaratingly entangled narrative in which Powers’ unparalleled gifts for revealing the magic and mystery of the natural world are on full display.' Powers is no stranger to the Booker Prize. He was longlisted in 2014 for Orfeo, and shortlisted twice - in 2018 for The Overstory and 2021 for Bewilderment.

 

Yale van der Wouden - The Safekeep (Netherlands)
Fifteen years after the end of World War II, the Netherlands is quiet and has been reconstructed. In a rural Dutch province, Isabel lives a peaceful life in her late mother's country home. When her brother Louis and his girlfriend Eva show up for an extended stay, Isabel's life is disrupted.  The judges said that they 'loved this debut novel for its remarkable inhabitation of obsession. It navigates an emotional landscape of loss and return in an unforgettable way.' Dutch author van der Wouden is a lecturer in literature and creative writing. 

Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional   (Australia)
I squealed with joy to learn Wood was longlisted for Stone Yard Devotional - a captivating novel by one of my favourite writers. The judges said 'a woman settles into a monastery in rural Australia and discovers that no shelter is impermeable. This novel thrilled and chilled the judges.' I loved this novel about a woman searching for solitude and is unnerved by three disruptive incursions. It has been many years since an Australian author made the Longlist. I had hoped Wood would have been recognised for her amazing novel The Natural Way of Things (2015), but I am I so pleased she has been longlisted and more people will be introduced to this gifted writer.

The Booker Prize Longlist is often a mixed bag of novels, but what I love about the Longlist is that it introduces me to many authors and books I do not know. Last year's Longlist didn't thrill me, but I am delighted by the 2024 list. Debut authors and Booker favourites mingle. This is also the first year in many where I have read some of the titles before the Longlist is announced. 

Of all the titles, the ones I am interested in are those by Kushner, Matar, Messud, van der Wouden, and Harvey. If I could vote for a winner though, I would choose Everett's James!

The Shortlist will be announced on shortlist on 16 September 2024 and the winner on 12 November 2024. Better get reading!