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Post by matilda on Jan 26, 2008 12:15:32 GMT -5
So Mags, what's your favourite in 'Hammers Under the Anvil'? I haven't read it in a good few years - as I recall my two faves were the one about the woman with the beard, and the one about Alan and his mate getting Alan on a horse and priding his father up. I love Alan Marshall and we miss him but I reckon he'd be happy with recent developments here. If you like Alan Marsahll I'd suggest the other 'social realists' of the time - my fave being Dorothy Hewitt's 'Bobbin Up'. As for Neville Shute, he can bite me - all too colonialist for my taste. For a contemporary take on Alice Springs in the young adult genre I'd suggest anything by Uncle Bobby Randall. More generally I'm loving Anita Heiss in that genre, and so is Sis. My Australian holiday reading was Charles Firths' 'American Hoax' - hilarious, I tried it 'cos he's a mate but it's well worth it. So, what were you favourites?  M |
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Post by Kasman on Jan 27, 2008 3:13:33 GMT -5
Got several Alan Marshalls in my bookcase.
If anyone is interested in a good 'ol fashioned Oz detective novel, try "Vodka Doesn't Freeze" by Leah Giarratano.
Dr Giarratano is a psychologist specialising in both sides of violent offences - both crim and victim counselling. I met her a month or so back in relation to my daughter's victims compensation claim.
As for Neville Shute - haven't read any in a long long time although I do have a copy of Alice floating around somewhere.
I have recently reread all my Arthur Upfields (all four, lol). They're terribly dated and a real product of their time and place. Just as Betty McDonald/Mary Bard's books are a product of their time and place. Thankfully, our attitudes have changed since the 30s.
One book I do haul out from time to time is "The Innocent" by John Kingsmill, which is an autobiographical look at Bondi in the 20s and 30s. My dad gets a brief mention in this one, which is why I have a copy. He coached the writer in maths back in the early 30s.
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Post by matilda on Jan 27, 2008 18:12:27 GMT -5
Hey Kas, will try to find "The Innocent": - love stuff about Sydney in the 20s and 30s - my grandparents lived at Millers Point and Annandale respectively then but in the first few years of their marriage (mid-late 30s) were at Bondi Beach before they made the massive trek to (cop this) Oatley and did the homeowner thing (they were Depression survivors so I gather the owning thing was very important to them) which I assume was the equivalent then of where you are now.
I assume you love Harp in the South and Poor Man's Orange?
As I was standing in the shower last night a thought came to me re 'Hammers' - Mags, was Alan's mate's name Joe?
I was thinking about Neville Shute - maybe I shouldn't be so harsh - product of times - but just find that whole 'poor hopeless Blacks' thing hard to cope with. Then I was thinking about the generation of Aust women who fell in love with Bryan Brown's playing of Joe in the mini-series of Alice and what a GREAT character of Shute's that is.
Kas, who is Arthur Upfield?
M
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Post by Kasman on Jan 27, 2008 20:38:45 GMT -5
Kas, who is Arthur Upfield? M He wrote the Bony detective books. Remember James Laurenson? And didn't one of the Daddos play the character in a short-lived remake where lead character's name changed from Napoleon to David Bonaparte. Why they had to get 1. a kiwi and 2. a white guy to play a half-caste is quite beyond me, though. I actually haven't read the Harp in the South or Poor Man's Orange, but I do have a copy of Careful, He Might Hear You somewhere here (although I'd have to search through no less than three different double-stacked bookcases to find it). Believe it or not, I also have a copy of the novel (as well as the miniseries on DVD) of Against the Wind! Another of my favourite oldies is For the Term of his Natural Life - Marcus Clarke. A hard book to read! |
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Post by matilda on Jan 28, 2008 3:58:41 GMT -5
Kas, who is Arthur Upfield? M He wrote the Bony detective books. Remember James Laurenson? And didn't one of the Daddos play the character in a short-lived remake where lead character's name changed from Napoleon to David Bonaparte. Why they had to get 1. a kiwi and 2. a white guy to play a half-caste is quite beyond me, though. I actually haven't read the Harp in the South or Poor Man's Orange, but I do have a copy of Careful, He Might Hear You somewhere here (although I'd have to search through no less than three different double-stacked bookcases to find it). Believe it or not, I also have a copy of the novel (as well as the miniseries on DVD) of Against the Wind! Another of my favourite oldies is For the Term of his Natural Life - Marcus Clarke. A hard book to read! I kind of remember the original Bony - was it Ed Deveraux playing the Blackfulla in that one? A Daddo on it's own is enough. Reasons for other myriad I would have thought and I think by the time the second version aired we were all so over talented Black actors not getting the jobs that we didn't watch. A Daddo for heaven's sake! LOVE Sumner Locke Eliot - assume you know him Mags given that he lived the second half of his life in NYC - read his bio again over Xmas, again Sydney last century so interesting and leaving, one of the few to go to the U.S at that time rather than London. Also like to get in the mood in the run-up to the Mardi Gras season!! His other books as good as Careful, I reckon. Get yourself Ruth Park's books Kas. Is Term hard cos of the writing or cos of the harshness of the early colony? M M |
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Post by Kasman on Jan 28, 2008 14:25:04 GMT -5
I kind of remember the original Bony - was it Ed Deveraux playing the Blackfulla in that one? A Daddo on it's own is enough. Reasons for other myriad I would have thought and I think by the time the second version aired we were all so over talented Black actors not getting the jobs that we didn't watch. A Daddo for heaven's sake! LOVE Sumner Locke Eliot - assume you know him Mags given that he lived the second half of his life in NYC - read his bio again over Xmas, again Sydney last century so interesting and leaving, one of the few to go to the U.S at that time rather than London. Also like to get in the mood in the run-up to the Mardi Gras season!! His other books as good as Careful, I reckon. Get yourself Ruth Park's books Kas. Is Term hard cos of the writing or cos of the harshness of the early colony? M M James Laurenson was Bony. Term is hard because it's just such a gut-wrenching story - the harshness of the early colony and the cycle of the story... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2008 22:18:46 GMT -5
Kas, who is Arthur Upfield? M half-caste... For the Americans on this board, what does this term mean, because it doesn't sound too nice? Just curious....  |
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Post by Kasman on Feb 2, 2008 3:40:33 GMT -5
For the Americans on this board, what does this term mean, because it doesn't sound too nice? Just curious.... Half-breed, one of mixed racial descent. |
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Post by maggiethecat on Feb 2, 2008 10:40:29 GMT -5
Some admin I am! I suggest this fabulous new thread, you're off and running, and then I neglect you.  I am going to have to go back with notepad in hand, start writing a list and then hit the library -- I am always pining for something great to read and new suggestions. As for Hammers Under the Anvil, it's been years since I read it and I don't remember which sections were my faves, but that's a good excuse to go back and reread it. And Kasman, I can't believe you know Betty Macdonald! I'll be back later to write a longer post, but I will say now that she's one of my all-time favorites and has been since I discovered her books as a child. Yes, they're dated now and a product of their time (in Onions in the Stew everyone smokes like mill flues and Betty sprays her garden with DDT) but the humor and the wonderful way in which she describes things remain fresh. I've been getting away with quoting some of her better lines for years, and people just think I'm funnier than I am.  And now it's off to my Saturday errands but I'll be back! And thanks again for a terrific new discussion.  |
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Post by maggiethecat on Feb 2, 2008 10:47:39 GMT -5
Believe it or not, I also have a copy of the novel (as well as the miniseries on DVD) of Against the Wind! Wait a minute, wait a minute, you're sparking a faint memory here -- was this about a young woman, fobbed off on unwanting family, and at some point she lived on a houseboat? Or, at any rate, a river was central to everything. Sorry to be so vague but I remember seeing this at least fifteen years ago (I can picture the lead actress's face: big blue eyes, dark hair), once, an run by a great cable station that used to show great miniseries (all the Catherine Cookson stories, for one thing) and -- sigh -- no longer does. Am I on the right track? Please refresh my memory! I'd also forgotten "Careful, He Might Hear You," which I never read but which is right up there with the best movies, ever. Really beautiful movie -- another I'd forgotten and now want to see again! |
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Post by rducasey on Feb 2, 2008 11:39:09 GMT -5
Believe it or not, I also have a copy of the novel (as well as the miniseries on DVD) of Against the Wind! Wait a minute, wait a minute, you're sparking a faint memory here -- was this about a young woman, fobbed off on unwanting family, and at some point she lived on a houseboat? Or, at any rate, a river was central to everything. Sorry to be so vague but I remember seeing this at least fifteen years ago (I can picture the lead actress's face: big blue eyes, dark hair), once, an run by a great cable station that used to show great miniseries (all the Catherine Cookson stories, for one thing) and -- sigh -- no longer does. Am I on the right track? Please refresh my memory! I'd also forgotten "Careful, He Might Hear You," which I never read but which is right up there with the best movies, ever. Really beautiful movie -- another I'd forgotten and now want to see again! Hey Maggie, I did check this out on imdb and it was there. Against the Wind, with the whole cast listed. I do vaguely remember it too. www.imdb.com my favorite site for answering all these questions. I checked netflix and do not think it is on dvd, however. |
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Post by Kasman on Feb 2, 2008 16:52:16 GMT -5
Wait a minute, wait a minute, you're sparking a faint memory here -- was this about a young woman, fobbed off on unwanting family, and at some point she lived on a houseboat? Or, at any rate, a river was central to everything. Sorry to be so vague but I remember seeing this at least fifteen years ago (I can picture the lead actress's face: big blue eyes, dark hair), once, an run by a great cable station that used to show great miniseries (all the Catherine Cookson stories, for one thing) and -- sigh -- no longer does. Am I on the right track? Please refresh my memory! I'd also forgotten "Careful, He Might Hear You," which I never read but which is right up there with the best movies, ever. Really beautiful movie -- another I'd forgotten and now want to see again! Hey Maggie, I did check this out on imdb and it was there. Against the Wind, with the whole cast listed. I do vaguely remember it too. www.imdb.com my favorite site for answering all these questions. I checked netflix and do not think it is on dvd, however. No houseboats involved. Against the Wind is set in the very early days of the colony. I think you're probably confusing it with All the Rivers Run, which had a houseboat setting. There were no houseboats in Against the Wind - it predated them by probably 60 to 70 years. Against the Wind had a convict setting - life was as hard as it gets. |
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Post by Kasman on Feb 2, 2008 17:22:47 GMT -5
And Kasman, I can't believe you know Betty Macdonald! I'll be back later to write a longer post, but I will say now that she's one of my all-time favorites and has been since I discovered her books as a child. Yes, they're dated now and a product of their time (in Onions in the Stew everyone smokes like mill flues and Betty sprays her garden with DDT) but the humor and the wonderful way in which she describes things remain fresh. I've been getting away with quoting some of her better lines for years, and people just think I'm funnier than I am. Yeah, Betty McDonald, my mum got me hooked on them when I was a fairly young teenager (I was a precocious reader. I'd read every Alistair McLean in the local library by the time I hit high school). The smoking thing was amusing - and she'd had TB to boot!! (And having lost both parents to smoking related illness, I'm about as anti- as it gets). Smoking on half a lung sounds like slow suicide to me, and the lady did die from cancer at a fairly young age...very sad. I believe the Japanese lady on whom she based Kimmy is still alive, though. Back to Oz literature, I still have most of the "classic" Oz novels we studied at school including Ash Road, February Dragon and Pastures of the Blue Crane, although I believe I consigned Patrick White's Tree of Man to the trash or to the back of some shelf - that one put me off Patrick White for life. Another biographical one that I love is "There's a Seal in my Sleeping Bag" by Lyn Hancock which is a humorous look at the life of an Australian girl who marries a Canadian naturalist. |
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Post by matilda on Feb 3, 2008 22:48:45 GMT -5
Who is Betty McDonald? Sounds like I'd like her.
Find White tortuous, elitist and frankly boring - I realise this makes me some kind of un-Australian but just can't do him.
My 80s Oz reading was of the proto feminist type - Christina Stead etc, my big and everlasting fave being Kylie Tennant. Katharine Susannah Pritchard, all that mob.
Also loved Monkey Grip but Helen Garner's been a bit off since! And of course, Sally Morgan's 'My Place'.
90s faves Drusilla Modeskja and Gillian Meares.
I have to admit to the 00s being a bit reading slack cos of the kids (no brain capacity) but have loved the WA and Brisbane writers - Rhubarb by Craig Silvey fave from the last couple of years. Also what Nikki Gemmell has done.
Mysteries Jean Bedford for 80/early 90s Sydney, Marele Day and my lovely and extremely talented friend Cathy Cole.
Chicklit favourites Jessica Adams and Anita Heiss. Really can't understand what fuss is about re Monica McInereney.
Sadly (in sense that I am now concentrating on children's reading - maybe will have time for own some time in next decade)I have discovered new childrens/young adult stuff recently and am particularly fond of 'Yirra and her Deadly Dog Demon', again Anita Heiss.
To digress slightly took One Drop, topically, by Bliss Broyard away down coast with us and Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Never tire of reading that man.
In terms of 'half-caste' - thanks for the question Americans! - it's not a term I'm fond of even when used without malice, sorry. I'd describe myself as an Australian woman with mixed immigrant and Aboriginal background, not a 'quarter-caste' which is what I would be in those terms. Only speaking for myself but I think most Aboriginal people/people of Aboriginal descent would find both the terms and their negative historical and contemporary connotations difficult.
Cheers
Matilda
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Post by Kasman on Feb 4, 2008 5:33:36 GMT -5
Who is Betty McDonald? Sounds like I'd like her. Writer of The Egg and I. Humorous autobiographical writer who grew up in (but was not born in) Seattle and wrote of her experiences in the 20s and 30s. I have to admit to the 00s being a bit reading slack cos of the kids (no brain capacity) but have loved the WA and Brisbane writers - Rhubarb by Craig Silvey fave from the last couple of years. Also what Nikki Gemmell has done. Sounds like me in the late 80s/90s. Brain still not completely back on deck, lol. In terms of 'half-caste' - thanks for the question Americans! - it's not a term I'm fond of even when used without malice, sorry. I'd describe myself as an Australian woman with mixed immigrant and Aboriginal background, not a 'quarter-caste' which is what I would be in those terms. Only speaking for myself but I think most Aboriginal people/people of Aboriginal descent would find both the terms and their negative historical and contemporary connotations difficult. Cheers Matilda Definitely no malice intended here and it's a term peppered throughout the books concerned and therefore totally in keeping.  BTW, Matilda, did you ever hear of a play called Tilly's Turn written by my friend Ken Horler which was performed at The Stables Theatre a few years back? An interesting look at Surrey Hills at a certain period of its history... |
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