The Happy Prince

Another classic for the 2012 Classics Challenge: The Happy Prince and Other Fairy Tales by Oscar Wilde. This book of little moral tales is charming. I wish it had been read to me as a child, so I am keeping them book to read to my own children (when I have some ...). I was put onto this book by the First Tuesday Book Club.

The Happy Prince is one of the nine fairy tales written by Oscar Wilde. It is the tale of an ornately decorated statue who is saddened by the poverty around him. So he asks his only friend, a late migrating swallow, to take his jewels to those in need.
   When the Happy Prince has given all he has, and is no longer so beautiful, the rich men of the city meet to decide his fate.
   The Happy Prince's selflessness opens up the eyes of his friend, the swallow. The swallow doesn't feel the cold of the winter, because he is warmed by doing good and bringing joy to the needy. The swallow eventually sacrifices his life, by not migrating, and dying from the cold, once his task of dispersing the Happy Prince's riches is done.
   What I found interesting throughout these fairytales, and which I don't really appreciate in a child's book, are some of Wilde's own views put across - such as some very religious references, and also some references to Jews. I found them subtle and confronting.
   All these fairytales are little tales of morality. I really enjoyed them. Great lessons for kids.

There Should Be More Dancing

Another novel towards the Australian Women Writer's Challenge: I read There Should be More Dancing by Rosalie Ham last week. I've read Rosalie's two other novels (Summer At Mount Hope and The Dressmaker) and I enjoyed them far more, I must say. This novel is not as wickedly funny. It took me longer to read, and it was probably more emotionally challenging.

Margery Blandon was always a principled woman who found guidance from the wisdom of desktop calendars. She lived quietly in Gold Street, Brunswick for sixty years until events drove her to the 43rd floor of the Tropic Hotel. As she waits for the crowds in the atrium far below to disperse, she contemplates what went wrong; her best friend kept an astonishing secret and she can't trust the home help. It's possible her first born son has betrayed her, that her second son might have committed a crime, her only daughter is trying to kill her and her dead sister Cecily helped her to this, her final downfall. Even worse, it seems Margery's life-long neighbour and enemy now demented always knew the truth. There Should Be More Dancing is a story of Margery's reckonings on loyalty, guilt and love.
   I didn't like Margery, and I didn't feel much empathy for her. She was a nasty, narrow-minded woman, who purposely closed off her emotions to her family. It's sad that she wasted her life, and realises too late. She's eighty, and what kind of life can she now lead?
   The characters are vivid, unique and have realistic traits. They are three-dimensional characters, and Rosalie Ham is very good at character development. Unfortunately, I think there is a reason why so few novels' central characters are elderly, and that is that they don't generate much action.
   It's a great novel on its own, but Rosalie Ham's other novels are so brilliant that I was disappointed by comparison.

April Prompt - A Classics Challenge

I read Charles Dickens' Great Expectations most recently, as part of the Classics Challenge. I'm ashamed to say that I have never read Charles Dickens before. This month's prompt focuses on the cover of the book.
   The edition that I bought and read had close-up of a pair of iron manacles laying in a swamp. It's a fitting cover, having now read the book. But when I first picked it up, it wasn't an appealing first impression. Originally, I couldn't find an image online of my cover, but this time I found it and I have also included a number of other covers from other editions (there has been so many).

The above covers reflect many aspects of the book. My cover, with the manacles, are obviously the chains that Magwitch filed off in the swamp when Pip was a child. The second cover is of the crazy old Miss Havisham, in her wedding gown and dead flowers. The third is of Magwitch and Pip in the graveyard, where the story begins, with Miss Havisham, Estella and Howard in the background. The fourth is just a painted image of Pip himself.
   My favourite part of the story is Miss Havisham, so I really like the cover with just her on the front.

The Messenger

I read The Book Thief two years ago, and really thought it was unique and powerful. So when I saw another book by Markus Zusak at the book shop, I snapped it up. Zusak wrote The Messenger before The Book Thief. It won the 2003 CBC Book of the Year Award (Older Readers) and the 2003 NSW Premier's Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize), as well as receiving a Printz Honour in America.
   The Messenger probably hasn't been as popular as The Book Thief, because it doesn't have as much international appeal. It's topic does not focus on an international traumatic event on WWII. But, I think Zusak's writing is better in The Messenger - I think it's more subtle and possibly even more touching.

Blurb: Ed Kennedy - cab driving prodigy, pathetic card player, useless at sex - shares coffee with his dog and is in nervous-love with Audrey. His life is one of suburban routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.


That's when the first ace turns up and Ed becomes the messenger. 
Chosen to care, he travels through town, helping and hurting, until only one question remains. Where are the messages coming from?


This is a novel "about glowing lights and small things that are big". It's about a Good Samaritan. It's about very normal Aussies. It's about one particularly normal young man who does some loverly things (small things that mean a lot) for other people. It's very spiritual. There are lots of messages: to be selfless in love, about the meaning and value of aspirations, and about the joy we can experience despite the difficulties we face in day-to-day life. It's a novel that can be hard and confronting, but it's a novel that is very funny and real.
   The narrative voice in this novel is so strong - it's a brilliant, real voice. His language is authentic, blunt, and sounds just like he's talking to us. It doesn't have too much flowery, emotional investigation. It just is.
   Please read it!
   P.S. Another novel for the 2012 Aussie Author Challenge.

Great Expectations

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is the novel that I alluded to in an earlier post that I was struggling with. I found it slow and boring. The language is lovely, and there is some wicked humour and beautiful phrases. However, if Dickens had written this book in this century, an editor would have made it about half as long as it is.

I think part of the reason that I didn't enjoy it is that I didn't like Pip. Usually, if a book is well written, I can put aside my dislike for the character, but I couldn't with this novel. Pip would make me sigh with frustration at his snobbery. I laughed when Trabb's boy was making fun of Pip for pretending not to know anyone and making out that he was too good for the locals where he grew up. But even with Pip narrating from later in life, I still think he has very little insight. Or very little insight into Biddy, who knew him better than he knew himself.
   Because I cannot generate much enthusiasm for this book, I will answer some of Penguin's bookclub questions:

   Why do you think it is one of Magwitch's principle conditions that Pip (his nickname) "always bear the name of Pip" in order to receive his financial support?
   I don't think there was a deep and meaningful reason for this, like some other reviewers. Magwitch was poorly educated and a criminal. Often, criminals go by an alias. Magwitch didn't know Pip's real/full name, so he had to identify Pip by the name he knew, and he wanted Pip to retain the name so that he could find him.

   Why do you think Miss Havisham manipulates and misleads Pip into thinking she is his secret benefactor? 
   She was a wicked, bitter old lady and wanted to inflict emotional turmoil on Pip. By letting him think that she was his benefactor, she kept him tied to her and Estella, whilst he might otherwise have gone off looking at other women. Also, her own family thought that she was Pip's benefactor, and it suited Miss Havisham to have her jealous family (who just wanted her money) to be in equal turmoil to Pip.

   Miss Havisham confesses to Pip that in adopting Estella, she "meant to save her from misery like my own". Do you believe this, given Dickens' harsh characterisation of Miss Havisham throughout the novel?
   I do believe that Miss Havisham honestly thought that to begin with. She was lonely and wanted something to love. She would have been better off getting a pet. She certainly couldn't have adopted a boy. But given Miss Havisham's bitterness, and how beautiful Estella ended up being, the result could not have been any other way.

   When Miss Havisham is set afire, do you believe that, given her state of mind, Dickens intended us to read it as an accident or a kind of penance/attempted suicide on her part for her cruelty to Pip and Estella?
   I certainly read it as a suicide attempt. I don't know if Dickens meant it that way.

   What do you think makes Pip change his opinion of his benefactor Magwitch from one of initial repugnance to one of deep and abiding respect and love?
   Pip's repugnance was born out of his fear (of Magwitch being a murderer) and his sudden loss of his own belief that Estella and he were destined for each other. Once Pip got to know Magwitch and his past, and once Pip accepted his circumstances, his repugnance for Magwitch dissipated. However, I don't think he would have loved and respected Magwitch as much if Magwitch wasn't on the run and in need of help. If Magwitch was going to be a continual burden on Pip and follow him around forcing him to live how it pleased Magwitch, I don't think Pip would have loved him at all.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

I am reading another book at the moment, which I will review when I finish it in the next week or so, but it is so slow and boring that I was looking around for something else to read. I picked up Wild Swans about 15 years ago, but didn't finish it. It was too confronting, I think. This time, I read it in two days. A bit more perspective probably helped me deal with the stark reality of the human rights abuses in China. I can't believe what so many people went through, but their hardships have certainly helped make them the fastest growing nation in the world today.

I read another review, which was a positive review overall, but it started out by saying how depressing this book is. I didn't find it depressing. I found it inspiring. It was certainly eye-opening and educational. The hardships suffered by tens of millions of Chinese had my chest tied up in knots. But I wasn't depressed. I felt strong, and I felt the strength of the author, Jung Change. She is inspirational, as is her mother and grandmother, whom the book is about. In fact, the Chinese people are an inspiration, for what they have endured and survived, and for what their nation has become.

People of the Book

As part of the challenge to read more Australian novels by female authors, I finally read People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I have read A Year of Wonders before, and never really knew why everyone raved about Geraldine Brooks. Yes, her writing was fine, but they weren't outstanding. Having read People of the Book, now I know what all the fuss is about. This book is superb!

The historial education in this novel was what most appealed to me. The amount of research that Geraldine Brooks did for this novel is phenomenal. The information about religious history has been presented without an agenda, and has really opened my eyes to many things that I was oblivious of.
   People of the Book has been compared to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. I think the Da Vinci Code is a pale comparison.
   People of the Book won the Australian Book Industry Award in 2008.
   The main story running through this novel is of a book conservator who is responsible for restoring the Sarajevo Haggadah (which is a real book). The story alternates between Hanna (the conservator) in her investigations, and the (fictional) stories of the book's origin and its various survivals through times of upheaval for Jews in Europe.
   I loved this book - please read it, if you haven't already.

March Prompt - A Classics Challenge

I read the best book this month, for this prompt! In March, those participating in the Classics Challenge have been asked a number of questions on a setting in their classic read.
   This month I read The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov: here's my review.
   The setting is in the chapter entitled Satan's Rout! It is an amazing palace in which Satan holds his ball.
   The palace is clearly in another dimension from the world we know, or some kind of supernatural powers are at play, because the massive palace is all situated in a tiny fifth floor apartment in Moscow!

   It is speculated that the setting for Satan's ball is modelled off a Spring Festival that was hosted by the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1935, which was held at Spaso House. Wikipedia says that the decorations surpassed imagination, with a forest of young birch trees being brought into the chandelier room, a dining table covered in Finnish tulips, and an avery made from fish netting full of pheasants, parakeets and one hundred zebra finches. There were also animals roaming around, on loan from the Moscow zoo. Mikhail Bulgakov apparently attended this Spring Festival, which gave him the inspiration for Satan's ball.

Like the rest of this bizarre and wonderful book, the Spring Ball that Satan hosts is a feat of imagination. Margarita is the hostess, and she is bathed in a special serum beforehand, which makes her young and beautiful, and she hosts the whole ball naked (but wearing amazing shoes made of rose petals). Margarita enters the palace through a lush jungle. The first room is full of white tulips, and there is a full orchestra. The next room was full of roses and camellias, with fountains of champagne. Another room contained a jazz band made up of chimpanzees, gibbons, mandrils and marmosets. Butterflies fly over the dancing guests. There is a massive pool with a crystal bottom, full of Brandy with people swimming in it. And there is a extremely grand staircase, at the top of which Margarita meets Satan's guests.
   The mood is certainly intoxicating, frivolous, and over-the-top. It is decadent, and demonstrates Satan flaunting his influence over humans who are too easily tempted to be drunk and naked, and romp with the devil!
   This setting is certainly the culmination of the storyline, and Bulgakov lets his imagination go most extravagantly!

That Deadman Dance

Another brilliant Australian novel: That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott. This was the winner of the 2011 Miles Franklin Award. It was shortlisted for the Indie Book Award 2011, and it was a regional winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
   This book raises so many issues, but does it in a way that is not obvious - it doesn't stick the issues in your face, it unfolds the issues around the beautiful characters. The story is very touching, but (and this is not necessarily a bad thing) it left me feeling sad and ashamed.

This story is based in Western Australia, in the early white settlements, in the early 1800s on what was known as the 'friendly frontier'.
   The novel is told over periods of time, sometimes looking back on events for the point of view of the old, and sometimes right in the moment with the young. It is told from the point of view of black and white, male and female. The way that Kim Scott has developed a unique voice for each narrator is brilliant - they are subtle and unique and very believable.
   There are traces of understanding and hope, of people rising above their prejudices about skin colour. But then there is a clash of cultures, and inevitably the reader is disappointed (why was I so disappointed, when I know the history of our country? Why did I expect any different?).
   This story has certainly left its mark on me, and I can't articulate the emotion that I'm feeling about it. I just hope that every Australian reads this.

Blurb

One part of my final assignment in the creative writing course I was doing with Griffith University, I had to write a blurb for the novel I'm writing. It was inspiring to write, and it has changed the focus of my novel (again).

   Here it is:

Based on an unsolved double murder that happened nearly 100 years ago in Australia’s most remote alpine cattle station, this story explores how country people close off from outsiders to protect their own.

   A wealthy station manager is found murdered and buried in a shallow grave. His one employee is missing, only to be found months later, also dead. Was is the work of cattle thieves, or an angry husband defending his wife over a rumoured love affair? Or neither ... maybe the two murders were not committed by the same hands. One thing all those country folk agree is that it was bush justice.

   Told through the eyes of cattleman Harry Smith, whose life was intricately tied to the station, this is a tale of loyalty and trust.

The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is a wild ride. I picked it up because as part of my goal to read widely, and to read more classics (as part of my commitment to the Classics Challenge). It was reviewed on the ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club in August 2011, otherwise I would not have known to try it. Having at least heard the reviewers from that program, I knew that this book would not only be a cultural stretch for me, but also very unconventional.

   The devil and his crew of demons descend on Moscow and wreak havoc. They send many crazy, turn people on each other, and particularly target those in the arts and literary culture. There are people turning into pigs, naked women running around, people getting drunk whilst swimming in a pool of champagne, and witches flying on brooms. Margarita is one of the few who recognises the devil for who he is, resists his onslaught and embraces the change that he brings. After selling her soul to the devil, in return she is reunited with her lover, the master. The parallel story is part of the novel written by the master, about the true story of Jesus’ crucifixion from the point of view of Pontius Pilate. 

   This book has an Alice in Wonderland feel about it - the writer’s imagination was wild and crazy whilst he was writing it. There is also a very contemporary feel to the writing, unlike the writing of Boris Pasternak who was also writing in the Soviet Union at about the same time. The sentences are short and crisp, the language is precise, and the description is not over-the-top. This book was first published in the 1960s and became very popular in the mid-1970s, although it was written in the 1930s, and I can see why it had such an effect on the Western culture at that time (during the cold war). It is apparently the inspiration for the Rolling Stones’ song ‘Sympathy for the Devil’.

   I took the book at face value, though I am sure that Bulgakov was having a dig at those in the literary world in Russia that would not publish his work, and also criticising other figures in the Soviet Union at the time. I know that there is a lot that went over my head, due to my lack of knowledge of Russia during that 1930s, but I’m sure there are many subtle references in the book for people living during that period.

   Be patient with this book. There is very little emotional connection with the characters - let it flow around you and take you on an amazing ride that will make you stretch your imagination like a child. Your patience will be rewarded.

Golden Earrings

This is the fifth novel by Belinda Alexandra. I've read them all. It feels like Belinda Alexandra has matured a bit in her writing. The way the lives of the three women in this story are braided together is very well done.
   The other great thing about this novel is that it is a history lesson. Belinda Alexandra definitely does her research. The story is based in Spain. I had never stopped to consider how their economy must have been affected by losing their colonies. I also didn't know that the Spanish Civil War was a predicator to WWII. It just goes to show how little history the public education system taught my generation.

   What I didn't like about Belinda Alexandra's first couple of novels was that her main female characters were perfect, and quite bland. The story occurred around the character - the character certain wasn't the driving force. In Golden Earrings, Belinda Alexandra has been able to distinguish between each of her three women, giving them more definitive traits. However, each time the story is told from the point of view of a different women, the voice is exactly the same. Despite the differences in these women, they all seem to think and feel the same way. I didn't buy that.
   But what I really enjoyed about her first couple of books was the Australian connection. In her last couple of books, Belinda Alexandra hasn't had that Australian connection. I'd really like for her to bring that back.
   This was a 'good read', or an 'easy read'. The pace was pretty good, after the first chapter (the first chapter took a while - the hook is right at the end). I would have given this book four stars in Good Reads a couple of years ago. But since I've been reading so many classics, and really good Australian literature, Golden Earrings is a bit too main-stream. The writing is good, but not charming or great.
   Overall, a good read!

February Classics Challenge

This month, the prompt for those participating in the 2012 Classics Challenge, is to write about a character you find interesting.
   I read Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence, which was one of the classics I'd chosen. The obvious character for me to focus on for this prompt is Paul Morel, who is the son that Mrs Morel holds most hope for, and is who Lawrence explores his own relationship through with his mother.

Lawrence introduces Paul during his mother's pregnancy. His mother is struggling in his relationship with a drunk husband, and she is struggling to raise her other children in poverty. She is upset to be pregnant again. When Paul is born, he is introduced as an intense baby with a deep frown and brooding silences. Mrs Morel feels very guilty that her regret during the pregnancy has been felt by the baby, and she thinks the baby is either depressed or already carries the worries of the household on him.
   He becomes an intense child, who is shy and insecure. His hate is sudden and fierce, when he feels like someone is making fun of him. There was also a disturbing scene were he burns his sister's doll, because he dropped the doll and broke it.

   Luckily he grows out of this, and becomes a gentle artistic type, although always moody and tending to have a lot of self-doubt. I imagine him to be a slim, delicate, good-looking man - like the model-types today. His brothers were more masculine, big-boned, lots of muscle, and well over 6 feet tall.
   It is his relationship with his mother, and a couple of lovers that he has, that is the focus of the book. He can never love a woman as deeply as his mother. Women 'can't hold him'. He gets deeply passionate, and then it fades and he gets restless and moves on.
   Whilst it is lovely that he loves his mother so much, I blame his mother for making him feel this way, and wrecking him for any other woman. He will end up alone, because no woman can match his mother.
   Paul Morel is an extremely well developed character, and very believable. He is vivid and palpable, but also dissatisfying.

Women in Literature

Most Australians would have heard of the annual Miles Franklin Award for Australian literature. Stella Miles Franklin bequeathed her estate to set up this award - a female!

  Each year a novel ‘of the highest literary merit, and which must present Australian life in any of its phases’ wins a substantial prize, not to mention that this award is one of the most distinguished awards to win. The author does not have to be Australian, but the novel must be about an Australian theme.

 The award is dominated by men - winners, shortlisted authors, and reviewers.

 I don’t want to imply that men aren’t deserving, or that the novels that have been winning don’t deserve the acclaim. But, why aren’t female writers equally represented? What are the factors contributing to the inequality?

  This year, I am participating in the Australian Women Writers Challenge, which was prompted by a gender bias debate that arose last year, spurred by Tranter. To be honest, I had never noticed the lack of female writers before. Looking back over the last 12 months, I have read 6 books written by Australian female authors, out of 15 Australian books in total. Interestingly, though, of the last 40 books I’ve read, exactly half of them were written by females. So is if only Australian authors that aren’t as equally represented by women? According to Vida, women are fewer in all respects.

   Maybe men are over-represented because they are more willing to put themselves forward and make pitches. Maybe men are more likely to finish a book-length document, because they make the time, whereas women have difficulty finding time to write because they feel selfish if they are not doing everything for everyone else. Maybe female writers are less likely to write about ‘Australian life in any of its phases’ excluding them from the Miles Franklin Award, choosing broader topics like Geraldine Brooks does.

   The other thing I’ve noticed, whilst commuting on the train every day, is that women tends to be the readers of books. Men tend to be reading the paper, surfing on their iPad, or playing games on their phones. Those men who are reading books seem to be reading those popular, highly-commercialised publications that would not be considered literary. Are the male reviewers, then, telling females readers what to read?

   The Stella Prize has now been established, again in memory of Stella Miles Franklin; by women, for women. I don’t want to imply that this is a bad thing, but why do women have to be judged separately? Would Ms Franklin be disappointed in modern females? We should be able to compete equally with the men.

Sons and Lovers

I just finished reading Sons and Lovers by D.H.Lawrence. This is one of the novels that I said I would read for the 2012 Classics Challenge. I loved it! I loved the old feeling of the book and the smell of the pages (the edition I read was published in 1973); I loved the language and the melancholy feeling that it gave me. I was completely carried away whilst I was reading this book.

This novel is apparently a bit of an autobiography for Lawrence, because it is said that he wrestles with 'a serious and intimate emotional problem - his relationship with his mother'. If the character Paul Morel was based on Lawrence (or at least his feelings for his mother), then the love-hate relationship he had with his mother was extreme.
   The cover of the novel, interestingly, features a phoenix. Is this Lawrence, born again out of the dying flames of his love for his mother?
   The pose was very unique - descriptions were often in the language of love. The characters were very sensual, and sexually repressed, so they seemed to find everything in Nature to be very sexual. It caused vivid images for me, and was very refreshing.
   The character development was fantastic, with descriptions of the characters' violent swings in emotions shocking but realistic. I am getting sick of perfect characters is books, who don't have extremes, and are too two-dimensional. The characters in Sons and Lovers jumped out of the page and danced and gyrated around the room!
   Paul is cruel to himself and the women in his life. He is loyal to his mother only, and the sexual love of a woman does not hold him like the deep love he has for his mother.
   It certainly isn't an uplifting story, but very deep and reflective.