Stedman, M L "The Light Between Oceans"

Stedman, M L "The Light Between Oceans" - 2012

I must say, I expected more from this novel. But I don't want to spoil it for anyone who still wants to read this. I really would welcome comments from those who have.

Spoiler:

As you can see from the book description, a couple who cannot have a child "finds" one and decides to keep it. Even when they know where it belongs, they don't tell the truth. An interesting topic. Is it correct to keep a baby if you think it might have been abandoned? Is it correct to keep it even if you know it isn't? I would say no in both cases. Someone who is not able to have children but would love to have them, might think different but I think about the mother whose baby is stolen. Yes, stolen. I would have killed anyone who would have done that to me.

An interesting subject but the writing has not enticed me to read anything else by this author. It was a little to "chick-litty" for me.

From the back cover:

"Tom Sherbourne, released from the horrors of the First World War, is now a lighthouse keeper, cocooned on a remote island with his young wife Izzy, who is content in everything but her failure to have a child.

One April morning, a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man - and a crying baby. Safe from the real world, Tom and Izzy break the rules and follow their hearts.

It is a decision with devastating consequences."

Shute, Nevil "On the Beach"

Shute, Nevil "On the Beach" - 1959

"It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us."

I like dystopian novels. They tell us about what could happen if we don't stop what we're doing. Everyone should read at least one of them. This one isn't such a long story (fewer than 300 pages) and thererfore something for everyone.

And yes, the quote I mentioned at the beginning is true. The world will exist, no matter whether the earth is still there or there are people on it. So, no worries. Nobody can destroy the WORLD. We can, however, destroy everything we loved and wish for our children to still be there when they and their kids and grandkids die.

This story makes us aware that we are all in the same boat, that we cannot get away from the evil others planned. The book is from 1959. Nevil Shute was a clairvoyant.

The book was much loved by the book club, especially the different views on the subject based on age and geographical location. It was all new information to many and much appreciated.

From the back cover:

"After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare."

Apparently, the phrase "on the beach" is a Royal Navy term that indicates retirement from service.

Brooks, Geraldine "People of the Book"

Brooks, Geraldine "People of the Book" - 2008

This is going to be one of my favourite books this year. Such a wonderful story about a book and its history. I have once read a similar story, well, not a similar story, just a book that tries to follow a piece of art, a painting from today into past until it was created. That was by Susan Vreeland and it was called "Girl in Hyacinth Blue". I loved that one and this was just as interesting.

The main "character" is the Sarajevo Haggada, a Jewish religious book that really exists (see here on Wikipedia or here on The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina website) The word "haggada" is Hebrew for telling, story or account, the book "Haggadah" is a text that describes the order of the Passover Seder.

There are books, even ancient ones, where you know exactly where they come from and who made them. This is not one. The author has put down some ideas and made a wonderful story about it that travels around the whole world. From the Australian conservationist who tries to find some clues that sound just like a crime story we travel back from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Italy, Austria, Spain and to the shores of Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, parts of Algeria and Libya). In between, we visit the Untied States and the United Kingdom where the protagonist does not only find out more about the book but also about her family.

I absolutely loved the whole story, how we get to know the different kinds of people who contributed first to the creation of the book and then to the saving of it. Some of the ideas might even be true. Well, we can always dream.

Remarks from the book club:
I partly felt the book was really interesting and wanted to know more about the old stories from history.
The parts about WWII always feel a little too close for comfort anyway.
The author's experience as a journalist shone through the story. But the present day frame-story felt slightly "puff-piece" kind of full with story gaps.
Overall still give it 4/5 or maybe even 4,5/5.

We read this in our international online book club in October 2023.

From the back cover:

"During World War II a Bosnian Muslim risks his life to save the book from the Nazis; it gets caught up in the intrigues of hedonistic 19th-century Vienna; a Catholic priest saves it from burning in the fires of Inquisition. These stories and more make up the secret history of the priceless Sarajevo Haggadah - a medieval Jewish prayer book recovered from the smouldering ruins of the war-torn city.
Now it is in the skilled hands of rare-book restorer Hanna Heath. And while the content of the book interests her, it is the hidden history which captures her imagination. Because to her the tiny clues - salt crystals, a hair, wine stains - that she discovers in the pages and bindings are keys to unlock its mysteries."

Flanagan, Kitty "488 Rules for Life"

Flanagan, Kitty "488 Rules for Life: The Thankless Art of Being Correct" - 2019

I always love lists, that must have prompted me to get this book. I probably picked it up second-hand somewhere but don't remember where, it definitely was used.

Kitty Flanagan is an Australian comedian. Quite how famous she is, I have no idea, perhaps someone will enlighten me.

The subtitle to this book is called "The Thankless Art of Being Correct". Of course it's thankless. Nobody likes a know-it-all or a goody-two-shoes. Especially if they overreach.

488 rules for life seems a bit much and I must have guessed it already, a lot of them are superfluous if not right out ridiculous. I don't want to mention them all here because then I'd have to repeat half the book. All I know is that Kitty Flanagan and I lead a completely different life. She says not to have more than six people around the table for any dinner party. What? That's boring. When I invite my brothers and their wives, we are a small circle of eight, but that happens seldom, often nephews and nieces are included, friends and neighbours. The more, the merrier. And when I have a party with friends, there is never a limit. We love a crowded house. Unfortunately, that was not always an option in the last two years which must have been heaven for people like Kitty Flanagan.

In rule # 279 (Leave a courtesy buffer seat), she mentions "I go to the movies by myself a fair bit - admittedly it's not always my choice, a lot of people refuse to go anywhere with me because of all my rules." Shouldn't that be a sign?

What I didn't like about her writing was the way she was more or less imposing that these were the best rules that exist and everyone should adhere to them.

But she also had her good moments, like when she talks in #167 (Enforce the "Please wait to be seated" sign) which is impossible in our part of the world since hardly any restaurant or café works that way) about the "waiter vision impairment syndrome". I always call it the "Waiter Eye". I don't know whether you have to be born with it and only then you are a good waiter, whether they teach you that at waitressing school or it's something they learn over time. In any case, it's annoying having to sit on your chair half the time wanting to order another drink or whatever and having to follow all the waiters with your eyes all the time. It would be nice if tables could have a little flag that you just put up if you need help and then you can carry on with your conversation or meal until a waiter has time for you. We just went to a sushi place where you put in your "all you can eat" orders on a tablet and you could also "call a waiter". It was fantastic and we had a lovely time.

Or in the chapter "A word about fashion". Quote: "Fashion updates more often than my stupid phone's software and my stupid phone's software needs updating all the time (Which I really don't understand - why can't the get it right the first time?)" I have asked myself that question lots of times. Not the one about fashion, I don't care about that, I dress quite normal but wear my clothes until I really have to throw them away or they don't fit anymore in which case I give it to a charity shop. Anyway, the software. If people have to update the software to the phone or - even worse - the word processing programs, they should either change it so I don't have to change anything or at least explain to me what they changed in words that I understand even if I don't have a university degree in computing.

And then there is rule #388: Give me the recipe, not the story of your life. She talks to vloggers and I couldn’t agree more. No matter what I want to know, if I check for advice on YouTube, I want the advice, not a whole history about whatever they are talking about. Like, in this case the recipe. I want the recipe, I want to know the ingredients and what I'm supposed to be doing. Preferably written down in the description below the film so I can start right away and don't have to watch the clip over and over ... and over again. What I don't want is this: I got this recipe from my grandmother, I always remember when we cooked this together when I was little, my brother didn't really like it but I luuuuuved it, blablabla … then I moved into student accommodation because I started studying. I studied … blablabla … After many more years … blablabla … I finally moved into my own apartment with my own kitchen. The kitchen is … blablabla … And now I have cooked this recipe for the first time after so many years … blablabla … I still miss the plate my grandmother used to serve this on … blablabla … etc. etc. You know the gist. If you're lucky, you will get the recipe after 15 minutes but it usually takes at least half an hour. Why do people do this????

And yes, she says in rule #1 "If you don't agree with a rule, forget about it, move on to the next one." She also says we shouldn't bleat about it on social media. Well, I just did but that's what us book bloggers do. If we read a whole book, we more or less are allowed to review it on our blog. Aren't we?

All in all, I have noticed lately that whenever a book is praised to the heavens about being funny, I usually can't find the humour in it.

From the back cover:

"488 Rules for Life is Kitty Flanagan's way of making the world a more pleasant place to live.

Providing you with the antidote to every annoying little thing, these rules are not made to be broken.

488 Rules for Life is not a self-help book, because it's not you who needs help, it's other people. Whether they're walking and texting, asphyxiating you on public transport with their noxious perfume cloud, or leaving one useless square of toilet paper on the roll, a lot of people just don't know the rules.

But thanks to Kitty Flanagan's comprehensive guide to modern behaviour, our world will soon be a much better place. A place where people don't ruin the fruit salad by putting banana in it … where your co-workers respect your olfactory system and don't reheat their fish curry in the office microwave … where middle aged men don't have ponytails …

Other rules to live by include:

1. Men must wear shorts over leggings
The gym is no place for people to discover whether or not you are circumcised. That’s a private discussion for another place and time.

2. Team bonding activities should be optional
Some people love it when management decides that an afternoon of bowling or paintballing or (god forbid) karaoke will help everyone work better as a team. Others would rather be dead.

3. Don't ever mention your 'happy place'
To me, this sounds less like a pleasant, fun state of mind and more like some kind of utopian wank palace you’ve had built in the basement.

What started as a personal joke is now a quintessential reference book with the power to change society. (Or, at least, make it a bit less irritating.)

What people are (Kitty Flanagan is) saying about this book:
'You're welcome everyone.'
'Thank god for me.'
'I'd rather be sad and lonely, but right.'
'There's not actually 488 rules in here but it sure feels like it'."

As always, my freedom ends where yours start. And that also applies to the author's rules. Don't make up weird rules because you don't like certain things. I'm sure Kitty Flanagan wouldn't like to follow all the rules I might make up willy-nilly.

Brooks, Geraldine "Foreign Correspondence"

Brooks, Geraldine "Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over" - 1997

Geraldine Brooks describes how she started writing to many different people from all over the world because she felt so far away from everything. That was the same for me, even though I lived in the middle of Europe. But at the time, the little village in Northern Germany might as well have been on the moon.

Other than that, there wasn't a huge difference in her upbringing and mine. We are about the same age and grew up in similar circumstances, though my parents were purely working class, no former singer or anything, and they were from the same area where they lived and died.

So, I really liked this story because it was also mine. When I was fourteen, I had my first penfriend. She was from Romania, and I met her once even though we are not in touch anymore. But I have two very good penfriends who started writing to me shortly afterwards, from France and the USA, and we are still in touch. The French friend has visited me several times (first alone, then with husband and family) and I have visited her, as well, same thing, first alone, later with husband, then with children.

I have lived abroad for more than half of my life. I think wanting to meet people from other countries stems from my first friendships by letters. I started to learn Esperanto when I got the opportunity and went abroad as soon as I was able to. Having penfriends certainly encouraged me to explore the world further.

But even if you don't belong to the keen letter writers, Geraldine Brooks has a fantastic way of describing her life as well as that of others, totally interesting.

So far, I have only read this book and "March" by Geraldine Brooks. Must change that.

From the back cover:

"As a young girl in a working-class neighborhood of Sydney, Australia, Geraldine Brooks longed to discover the places where history happens and culture comes from, so she enlisted pen pals who offered her a window on adolescence in the Middle East, Europe, and America. Twenty years later Brooks, an award-winning foreign correspondent, embarked on a human treasure hunt to find her pen friends. She found men and women whose lives had been shaped by war and hatred, by fame and notoriety, and by the ravages of mental illness. Intimate, moving, and often humorous, Foreign Correspondence speaks to the unquiet heart of every girl who has ever yearned to become a woman of the world."

Martin, Catherine "The Incredible Journey"

Martin, Catherine "The Incredible Journey" - 1923

This has been on my wish list for ages and then on my TBR pile for a while. But I am trying to diminish my pile and also to read all my classic books, so it was finally time for this novel.

I had heard of a story where children walk back through half of Australia to their parents ("Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence" by Doris Pilkington, I believe) but not of this one. But it carries more or less the same message. A child gets taken away from its mother and she walks all the way through Australia, through the desert, along dangerous areas, escapes evil men, all to get her son back.

A good story, well told. And its most important message, all human beings feel the same, there are none that are "like animals". And who wants to tell us that animals have no feelings, either? A story that should make us think that we should treat all human beings the same!

From the back cover:

"First published in 1923, The Incredible Journey tells the story of Iliapa, an Aboriginal woman, who embarks on a long, arduous journey through the Australian outback in search of her son after he is abducted by a white man. Catherine Martin said that she wrote this novel 'in order to put on record, as faithfully as possible, the heroic love and devotion of a black woman when robbed of her child'.

The novel presents a vivid picture of the Aboriginal people (viewed through the eyes of a white novelist), their culture, their dispossession and, in particular, this abhorrent white practice of taking Aboriginal children away from their parents."

Hislop, Victoria "One August Night"

Hislop, Victoria "One August Night" - 2020

I absolutely love Victoria Hislop. My first book by her was "The Island" and I have read all her subsequent novels (see here). All of them were fantastic, great stories with a lot of information mainly about Greece but also some other Southern European countries (Cyprus, Spain, Turkey).

Fourteen years after her first novel, the sequel to it was published. It is the end of the leper colony in Greece since they found a cure. That is great news for some since their loved ones return, not so good news for others who fear their lives will change. And they do.

A drama that occurs on the return changes the life of everyone whom we got to know in the first book. It would have been nice to learn more about other inhabitants of Spinalonga but we learn more about Maria who spent a long time of her life there.

As in all her novels, Victoria Hislop tells us a lot about her beloved country Greece. She has been made an honorary citizen in the meantime, a well-deserved recognition. I always love her describing the Greek whom I got to know as a warm and loving people. And her stories always have a feeling of truth, you can believe the people really existed, they led this life. She always brings me back to Crete which I really love.

I am already looking forward to her next book which she will hopefully write soon.

From the back cover:

"25th August 1957. The island of Spinalonga closes its leper colony. And a moment of violence has devastating consequences.

When time stops dead for Maria Petrakis and her sister, Anna, two families splinter apart and, for the people of Plaka, the closure of Spinalonga is forever coloured with tragedy.

In the aftermath, the question of how to resume life looms large. Stigma and scandal need to be confronted and somehow, for those impacted, a future built from the ruins of the past.

Number one bestselling author Victoria Hislop returns to the world and characters she created in The Island - the award-winning novel that remains one of the biggest selling reading group novels of the century. It is finally time to be reunited with Anna, Maria, Manolis and Andreas in the weeks leading up to the evacuation of the island... and beyond."

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.

Zusak, Markus "The Messenger"

Zusak, Markus "The Messenger" (US: I am the Messenger) - 2002

A couple of years ago, I read "The Book Thief" with my book club and really loved it.  Not just me, the other book club members were also full of praise. I always thought that was the author's first book but that is not the case and when I found out, I had to read at least one more of his books. And this will probably not be my last one, either. Because I loved this even more.

We get to know Ed Kennedy and his friends, all more or less "losers" who don't have a brilliant future in their lives. Ed's siblings went to university, he is a taxi driver with not formal education. His friends are in similar situations. That's when Ed becomes "The Messenger".

I loved all the messages he had to deliver, they were compassionate and showed a lot of empathy. And that's how I came to love Ed, as well. What a wonderful young man. And most of the recipients of the messages are wonderful, as well. We learn that we can help others just by being there, lending an ear, buying them an ice cream … It doesn't need much to be the hero in someone else's life and we don't always need a reward for that, either. The book itself contains a great message.

Spoiler:

I wasn't too sure about the twist at the end. But then I decided, I know someone wrote Ed, he isn't real. But I would have liked another ending, one that made me believe until the end what he existed and what this was all about. Now, I still don't really know what the reason behind those messages are.

* * *

Needless to say, I love his writing style.

From the back cover:

"protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?"

McCullough, Colleen "The Ladies of Missalonghi"

McCullough, Colleen "The Ladies of Missalonghi" - 1987

I already mentioned in my review of "Fly Away Peter" by David Malouf, that one of my blogger friends, Brona from Australia published a list of Australian novellas a while ago. I asked her which one she said she'd recommend and she said "Ladies of Missalonghi" by Colleen McCullough.

So, here we are. Like most of the girls of my generation, I have read "The Thorn Birds", so the name of the author was not unknown to me.

The location is a small town called Byron in the Blue Mountains of Australia and the story takes place just before World War I. Like many small towns, it is dominated by just a few people, in this case mainly the men of one large family. The women are the losers, especially the unmarried ones.

Having been born into a small village where my parents didn't grow up and having no family there, I know exactly what Colleen McCullough is talking about. She has retold life in such an environment very accurately.

All in all, this was a good read, a tad easy at times but that's what this sort of book is about. I would recommend it to anybody, no matter what you prefer.

Spoiler:

The end was not really surprising but a tad too "magic realism" to me. It just sprang out of nowhere.

* * *

Apparently, the author was accused of plagiarism as the novel resembles "The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery. I haven't read that one. Should I?

See Brona's review here.

From the back cover:

"The Hurlingford family have ruled the small town of Byron, nestled in the Blue Mountains, for generations. Wealthy, powerful and cruel, they get what they want, every time.

Missy Wright's mother, a Hurlingford by birth, has been shunned by her family since marrying for love, not money. Now widowed, the women live a quiet existence in genteel poverty. Plain, thin and unforgivably single, it seems Missy's life is destined to be dreary.

But then a stranger arrives in town. A divorcee from Sydney. And she opens Missy's eyes to the possibility of a happy ending.

This is an endearing tale, full of wit, warmth and romance, from the bestselling author of The Thorn Birds."

Malouf, David "Fly Away Peter"

Malouf, David "Fly Away Peter" - 1979

I belong to those people who think that the internet is fantastic. Granted, there are some downfalls, people try to make others feel bad just because they can and they know they won't get caught.

But I see the advantage. I have met many, many lovely people on the internet. First, in some chatrooms (remember chatrooms? Those were the days!), then on Facebook and other social networks, and at last here in the blog community. So many great people from all over the world.

One of those lovely people is Brona from Australia who published a list of Australian novellas a while ago. I asked her which one she said she'd recommend and she said "The Ladies of Missalonghi" by Colleen McCullough.

I ordered it but am still waiting for the copy to arrive. In the meantime, I asked another great Australian friend which one she would prefer and she recommended this one. And since that copy arrived faster, I started with this one.

I don't think David Malouf is much known in the Northern hemisphere. And what a loss. He seems to be a great author. This novella could have been a thousand pages long, I still would have loved it. Well, if you know my taste, I probably would have loved it even more. LOL. Although, that is hardly possible.

This is a great story about World War I. But not just that. We first meet Jim Sadler in Queensland where he is observing birds. The whole story is lined with birds but Jim soon gets to see parts of the world he probably would have liked not to visit. He is one of those soldiers that fight in Flanders fields. The difference between his two lives could not have been greater.

The author was born 1934, after the war ended and too early before the next war to have participated in it. But he must be a great listener because with this story he tells us how it was to lie in the trenches, to see comrades killed, you get such a good view about the war. A view you might rather not have. But it certainly helps to understand what war could mean.

This is a novella written for young adults/children. I agree with my friend there, who recommended this. It's required reading in Australia and she said she doubts that many kids are mature enough for it. I think it might be too much for some younger readers to cope with, as well. However, those that love reading and are interested in history, they might appreciate it. I would recommend it for anyone over 16.

While researching, I found this quote by the author.
"I knew that the world around you is only uninteresting if you can't see what is really going on. The place you come from is always the most exotic place you'll ever encounter because it is the only place where you recognise how many secrets and mysteries there are in people's lives".
I don't know about this. I always am more interested in other places and find the one I come from boring because I know all about it (or at least think I do).

From the back cover:

"For three very different people brought together by their love for birds, life on the Queensland coast in 1914 is the timeless and idyllic world of sandpipers, ibises and kingfishers. In another hemisphere civilization rushes headlong into a brutal conflict. Life there is lived from moment to moment.

Inevitably, the two young men - sanctuary owner and employee - are drawn to the war, and into the mud and horror of the trenches of Armentieres. Alone on the beach, their friend Imogen, the middle-aged wildlife photographer, must acknowledge for all three of them that the past cannot be held."

McKinley, Tamara "Lands Beyond the Sea"

McKinley, Tamara "Lands Beyond the Sea" - 2007

I would file this novel under "Catherine Cookson with a little Australiana thrown in". Too much "Lord loves poor girl, poor girl loves Lord but they can't get together" for me. The stories of the convicts have been described a lot better in other books (Capricornia, English Passengers, The Floating Brothel, For the Term of His Natural Life, The Secret River).

The story about the convicts might have been good if it hadn't all the chick lit paraphernalia thrown in. And I might have enjoyed the book if it hadn't been such an "easy read". Not my thing, I'm afraid.

I read this is the first of a series. I doubt I will read the following ones.

From the back cover:

"Discovery
By the 1700s, the Aborigine people have lived in harmony with the land in Australia for sixty thousand years. But now, ghost-ships are arriving, their very existence is threatened by a terrifying white invasion.

Love
When Jonathan Cadwallader leaves Cornwall to sail on the Endeavour, he leaves behind his sweetheart, Susan Penhalligan ... But an act of brutality will reunite them in the raw and unforgiving penal colony of New South Wales.

Hardship
Billy Penhalligan has survived transportation and clings to the promise of a new beginning. But there will be more suffering before he or his fellow convicts can regard Australia as home ...

A powerful, romantic epic weaving the lives of the Cadwalladers, the Penhalliagnas, the Aborigine and the convict settlers into the untamed tapestry of newly discovered Australia."

Carey, Peter "A Long Way From Home"

Carey, Peter "A Long Way From Home" - 2017

This is my third book by Peter Carey. While I really liked "True Story of the Kelly Gang" and absolutely loved "Oscar and Lucinda", it took me a while to get into this novel. I thought the topic was interesting and the story itself could have been fascinating. It wasn't even written badly. I just couldn't warm to any of the characters, the story jumped back and forth and sometimes I didn't even care who was telling their part of the story (which could have been marked a little better, e.g. by using different fonts for different narrators). The race could not have been less interesting to me - even though I usually quite like motor racing - and the story about the aboriginals didn't really find any compassion with me (although of course this is the case in real life), either. I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven't read it but I'm sure those who have will understand my point - even if they liked the book.

But having read two good books by this author, I'm sure I won't mind reading another one of his, if someone can recommend it to me. Please?

From the back cover:

"Irene Bobs loves fast driving. Her husband is the best car salesman in rural south eastern Australia. Together with Willie, their lanky navigator, they embark upon the Redex Trial, a brutal race around the continent, over roads no car will ever quite survive.

A Long Way from Home is Peter Carey's late style masterpiece; a thrilling high speed story that starts in one way, then takes you to another place altogether. Set in the 1950s in the embers of the British Empire, painting a picture of Queen and subject, black, white and those in-between, this brilliantly vivid novel illustrates how the possession of an ancient culture spirals through history - and the love made and hurt caused along the way."

Hunt, Ken; Taylor, Mike "Xenophobe's Guide to the Aussies"

Hunt, Ken; Taylor, Mike "Xenophobe's Guide to the Aussies" - 1995

I found this book on an airport. And since my son has lived "down under" for a while and I have many lovely friends there, I couldn't leave it behind.

Even if you don't plan to go there and don't know any Aussies, this is hilarious. One of the writers is Australian, the other one has lived there most of his life, I think that is a great combination to get the particularities of a a people.

In any case, a funny read, a hilarious but very loving description.

What a lovely way of explaining to foreigners what is so special about Oz and its inhabitants, how they came to be how they are and what you should know before embarking on a voyage there. I also liked the masses of words that are explained.

In any case, a funny read, a hilarious but very loving description. And it also makes clear that we are all the same, after all. I can explain how funny this book is by an example. Apparently, the reason, they say "G'day" is, it has to be so brief because of the flies. The longer your mouth is open, the more flies crawl in." LOL

There is just one part of the book I don't agree with and I'm sure it wasn't written by the authors. The declaration for Xenophobia is "A phobia about foreigners, probably justified, always understandable." Nope, sorry, I don't understand it. In our day and age where people either travel the world themselves or know about a hundred who do and where we have the world at our fingertips - literally! - xenophobia is NEVER justified.

From the back cover:

"This is one of a series of guides designed to tell the truth about other nations, using sweeping generalizations and observations as a base, detailing what to expect and how to cope with it. The guides try to explain why things are done the way they are and they try to allay the feelings of trepidation with which the xenophobe approaches new territory. This particular book looks at Australians.

A guide to understanding the Aussies which takes an insightful, laconic look at their character and attitudes.

Appearances are deceptive
Never make the error of underestimating the Aussies. They love to portray a casual disregard for everything around them, but no-one accidentally achieves a lifestyle as relaxed as theirs.

Logic down under
Aussies will twist any statistics to their own ends. One statistic doing the rounds was that 40% of drivers in accidents had been drinking. Since this left 60% of drivers who hadn't had a drop, but who still had accidents, it must obviously be safer to drink and drive.

Let's talk 'strine'
The Aussies are not subtle and neither is their language. They will say what they mean. The problem is that the words they use don't always mean what they say. For example: bluey - someone who has red hair; you're orright - you are absolutely super; itsa bit warm - it is probably 120¼F in the water bag (water bags are always hung in the shade); that'd be right - I don't believe it either.

Out in the outback
Nature is the biggest single influence on the Aussie attitude. And a very harsh and unforgiving influence it is. Reality, totally uncontrollable, is never far outside the suburban limits."

Herbert, Xavier "Capricornia"

Herbert, Xavier "Capricornia"  - 1938

This book was suggested to me by my Australian friends as a classic from their country. It was a tough read of sorts but not disappointing. In this novel, the author tells us of life in Australia's north at the beginning of the 20th century. The life of the white settlers as well as the Aborigines who had lived on this continent for whoever knows how long, the new life created by the two, the "half-breeds" called "yeller fellers", the "quadroons" and the problems that arise by them mixing together. I have never understood how you can believe one race to be better than another but to divide those that have both races in them into different kind of people again ... if you have an Asian parent in between your "white" and "black" ones, you are better than those that have more "black" but still worse than those with more "white" etc. Seems unbelievable and I don't even want to understand it.

A great view of a continent that I don't even know today, even less so a hundred years ago. I have a few friends in Australia and my son just spent six months there, but that doesn't teach me much about their history. However, this did. An informative story, a captivating story, a touching story.

It must have been quite a shocking book when it was published in 1938, so close still to the events, I guess a lot of people still thought that way. The author was even declared "Protect of Aborigines", I think that says it all.

A lot of the books I read about Australia covered more the convicts that were forced to immigrate to Australia, this is later and therefore tells the continuation of that tale.

Oh, and I also loved the names of the characters, almost like Charles Dickens, a lot of them are named after their occupation or some flaw in their character. The undertaker is called Joe Crowe, Mr. Bigtit is an important lawyer, O'Crimnell and O'Theef are police troopers etc. Quite funny. Which shows that the novel is also full of humour.

Good read. If you are interested in Australia, you should definitely try it. Apparently, it inspired Baz Luhrman to make his film "Australia" which I also highly recommend, although the background to the story is completely different. And placed a little later in history.

From the back cover:
"A saga of life in the Northern Territories and the clash of white and Aborigine cultures – one of Australia’s all-time best-selling novels and an inspiration for Baz Luhrmann’s lavish film 'AUSTRALIA'.
Capricornia has been described as one of Australia's 'great novels', a sharply observed chronicle about life in the Northern Territory of Australia and the inhumane treatment suffered by Aborigines at the hands of white men. The story is immense and rambling, laced with humour that is often as bitter and as harsh as the terrain in which it is set, and follows with irony the fortunes (and otherwise) of a range of Outback characters over a span of generations. Through their story is reflected the story of Australia, the clash of personalities and cultures that provide the substance on which today's society is founded. Above all, however, this is a novel of protest and of compassion - for the Aborigines and half-bloods of Australia's 'last frontier'.
Sprawling, explosive, thronged with characters, plots and sub-plots, Capricornia is without doubt one of the best known and widely read Australian novels of the last 70 years. When it was first published it was acclaimed as 'a turning point', an 'outstanding work of social protest'. Its message is as penetrating today as it was in the 1930s when Herbert himself was official 'Protector of Aborigines' at Darwin."

Mitchell, David "Cloud Atlas"

Mitchell, David "Cloud Atlas" - 2004

An interesting book. Quite different from anything I've read before. A mixture of a few genres I like and others that I'm not so keen on. Imagine Robert Louis Stevenson, Daniel Defoe, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Michael Crighton, Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Douglas Adams and Margaret Atwood got together to write one continuous story going from any of their times and genres to the next. That's about what the result would be. Really, very interesting and hard to describe.

It's almost like several short stories in one book, only they do belong to each other. The closest type of book I have ever read must be "If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller" (Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore) by Italo Calvino although that is still quite a different story.

I think you have to like dystopian literature, otherwise this might not be for you but apart from that, the writing is quite captivating. We start in the past, get to know the protagonists and their stories, move into the future and then go back to see the end of the different stories. In short: quite fascinating.

From the back cover:

"Six interlocking lives - one amazing adventure. In a narrative that circles the globe and reaches from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future, Cloud Atlas erases the boundaries of time, genre and language to offer an enthralling vision of humanity's will to power, and where it will lead us."

And another one:

"A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified 'dinery server' on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation -- the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

In his captivating third novel, David Mitchell erases the boundaries of language, genre and time to offer a meditation on humanity’ s dangerous will to power, and where it may lead us."

Hay, Ashley "The Railwayman's Wife"

Hay, Ashley "The Railwayman's Wife" - 2013

I chose this book mainly because it was about Australia and I thought it would be nice to read one about another time than just the beginnings. It's a nice book, an interesting story but that's about it. It's an easy read which leads to the result that there is not that much depth in the novel.

Maybe if the author had given a little more thought on the feelings of the people and described them better. Or hadn't wrapped up the story so quickly. It's almost as if someone dies unexpectedly, the story just ends.

Not a bad book as such but not my type.

From the back cover: "In a small town on the land's edge, in the strange space at a war's end, a widow, a poet and a doctor each try to find their own peace, and their own new story.

In Thirroul, in 1948, people chase their dreams through the books in the railway's library. Anikka Lachlan searches for solace after her life is destroyed by a single random act. Roy McKinnon, who found poetry in the mess of war, has lost his words and his hope. Frank McKinnon is trapped by the guilt of those his treatment and care failed on their first day of freedom. All three struggle with the same question: how now to be alive.

Written in clear, shining prose and with an eloquent understanding of the human heart, The Railwayman's Wife explores the power of beginnings and endings, and how hard it can be sometimes to tell them apart. It's a story of life, loss and what comes after; of connection and separation, longing and acceptance. Most of all, it celebrates love in all its forms, and the beauty of discovering that loving someone can be as extraordinary as being loved yourself.

A story that will break your heart with hope."

There is one part of the book that I do love. Anikka Lachlan, the "Railwayman's Wife" starts working in the library and their daughter loves reading, so they talk a lot about books. Some of them are mentioned:

Brontë, Charlotte "Jane Eyre"
Conan Doyle, Arthur "The Lost World"
McKinnon, Iris "Timeless Land"

Roberts, Gregory David "Shantaram"

Roberts, Gregory David "Shantaram" - 2003

A highly interesting book that was recommended to me by several friends.

This is novel is based on the life of an Australian guy, the author Gregory David Roberts, who went to prison for armed robbery and then fled from there to start a life in India. He didn't really lead a straight life after that, he led a very interesting one. We can follow him fighting the Mujahedeen, or living in the slums and running a hospital there. In any case, there is always something going on in "Shantaram's" life. (The name was given to him by his Indian friends.) The story is gripping, highly provocative, it shows the lows and the highs of a life. It is a story about everything, love and hate, crime and punishment, the rich and the poor, the corrupt and the honest, and the meaning of life as well as its banalities. More than 900 exciting pages that you can't put down. Well, at least I couldn't.

This book will follow me forever, of that I am sure.

One of my favourite quotes:
"The world is run by one million evil men, ten million stupid men, and one hundred million cowards."
and
"There's nothing so depressing as good advice."

And one more thing. I loved how easily the protagonist picks up languages.

From the back cover: "'It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured.'

So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear.

Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter Bombay's hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere.

As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power.

Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas --- this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart. Based on the life of the author, it is by any measure the debut of an extraordinary voice in literature."

McCarthy, Pete "The Road to McCarthy"

McCarthy, Pete "The Road to McCarthy: Around the World in Search of Ireland" - 2002

After reading "McCarthy's Bar" a couple of years ago, I was extremely sad to learn that the author had passed away in 2004. I read that that was his only book he had every written. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found this book in a second hand bookshop because it gave me another tale of Pete McCarthy's travels.

This time, he travels from Ireland to Morocco, New York, the Caribbeans, Tasmania, all sorts of destinations that somehow have to do with the name McCarthy, places you wouldn't even imagine having a link to Ireland at all. But Pete McCarthy found it.

Another hilarious book by a funny writer who left us all too early.

From the back cover: "From the bestselling author of McCarthy's Bar, this is a hilarious and thought-provoking journey into his Irish heritage around the world. As a veteran traveller, Pete McCarthy has long been intrigued that the emigrant Irish can be found in all corners of the globe. Determined to pin down mythical tales of his own clan history, Pete is thrust into a world-wide adventure that reveals an unsettled and poignant history, while unearthing a good pint in the most unexpected locations. From the Holy Ground of Cork harbour he travels to Gibraltar and Morocco, then onwards to New York, Tasmania, Montana, and the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat before finally reaching the remote Alaskan township of McCarthy and its population of just 14 people, but a lot more bears."

McCulloch, Colleen "The Thorn Birds"

McCulloch, Colleen "The Thorn Birds" - 1977

I read this book years ago, shortly after the mini series came out in 1983. However, I am sure that I read it in German at the time because I wasn't able to get English books that easily back then. Or at all.

I wanted to reread the novel for ages and now I finally achieved that.

I think we can easily call this book an epic saga. The story of the Cleary family over two generations coming from New Zealand to Australia in the early Twenties of the last century and also moves to London and Rome. But the main story is told in New Zealand, how a family settles in a strange country and goes through all the hardships you can imagine.

The story touches almost every topic you can imagine, well, there are over 700 pages, so there is space for a lot of drama. It is so well written. The characters come alive in a way that makes you feel you know them personally. You fear with them, you rejoice with them. You feel sorry for them when something bad happens. And there is plenty of bad stuff to happen to a family like that but there are also some quite unexpected parts, roads this story takes that you don't think it would.

I especially loved it because it shows the hardships people went through when settling in a new continent. Even though the Clearys were not the first settlers, there was still a lot to overcome, both in New Zealand as well as in Australia. Some things we should not forget nowadays where all these countries have all the modern facilities imaginable.

Anyway, if you love chunky books and would like to read about Australia, this is a wonderful book, whether you have seen the series or not. Read it. You won't regret it. Maybe it's time to get the DVD out again, as well.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover: 

"Treasured by readers around the world, this is the sweeping saga of three generations of the Cleary family. Stoic matriarch Fee, her devoted husband, Paddy, and their headstrong daughter, Meggie, experience joy, sadness and magnificent triumph in the cruel Australian outback. With life’s unpredictability, it is love that is their unifying thread, but it is a love shadowed by the anguish of forbidden passions. For Meggie loves Father Ralph de Bricassart, a man who wields enormous power within the Catholic church…
As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, THE THORN BIRDS remains a novel to be read…and read again."

Forgetting a Book Title

A lot of people never even try to remember the title of a book they read because they see it as entertainment for today and will not read it again.

Even though I agree with the entertainment, if a book is really good, I like to talk about it to friends, and sometimes I like to read it again. So, when I forget the title of a book I read ages ago, it nags at me, I brood over it, I have to think again and again, what was that title again? I remember reading a book about a convict who was sentenced to go to Australia, I believe with his family, and he starts a new life there, and no, it is not "The Secret River" by Kate Grenville or "For the Term of His Natural Life" by Markus Clarke, although the subject is similar.

Anyway, I have asked friends, I have asked people in internet chat rooms, nobody could find the title. It really bugs me that I didn't find the title.

Does this happen to you?