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Want to tackle an unsolvable social dilemma in a novel? Want to get your readers thinking overtime on human nature? Want to ask the hardest questions? Well author Jonathan Trigell must, because he has come up with the ‘big daddy’ of social justice predicaments in his book Boy A.
Jack was put away at the age of 11 for a horrendous crime, which we eventually learn the details of as the story moves along. After 18 years of juvenile and then adult imprisonment he is released back into society under a new name in a new district. His carer, a councilor who has been assigned to Jack from the beginning, is his only link to his past, and his only life-line should his new world fall apart around him.
This is pretty heavy stuff and as we learn the circumstances of Jack’s down fall and his rehabilitation it is hard to sit back and watch as things start to go wrong for him. And you do start asking yourself hard questions … ones that I’m sorry to say there are no real answers to. Like … when does a child start to become responsible for their actions? And if we are not willing to accept rehabilitated criminals into society, what should we do with them? If you think you know the answers, read Boy A and then see if you have the same views.
Trigell has really laid bare some raw bones here. At no point are you misled into thinking things would turn out rosy, but if you’re like me and try to see the good in people, it brings home again the reality that in certain circumstances we are never going to do the right thing. Coincidentally, the media was preying on a recently released paedophile and his whereabouts at the time I took this book up, and the role of the media in such cases has a strong profile in this book. Plenty of thought provoking questions there!
There has been a movie made (I always find these things out after I’ve read the book!) and the reviews seem favourable, so I’ll have to have a look. But don’t rely on the screen to know Jack’s story … read it first. I think it will get under your skin ... and I don’t think you’ll regret it.
Want a laugh? Then crack open A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz. This colossal book takes the dysfunctional family to a new realm. A chronicle of the wayward Dean family, A Fraction introduces us to the Father, Martin Dean, a true non-conformist who is bent on living his life outside the square, dragging son Jasper along with him. The Uncle, Terry Dean who becomes Australia’s much loved criminal (only in Australia) who wreaks havoc in the sporting world by systematically assassinating those corrupting his beloved nation’s favourite pass-times. And our narrator, Jasper, the long suffering son who would do anything to be released from his father’s genetic make-up.
It’s a crazy book, full of laughable, extraordinary situations in which suspension of believe is your first port of call. I’m not a fan of big books, but once into this rollicking mayhem, it was hard to leave. Over 700 pages of witty ramblings, mostly from Jasper, puts this read into what I can only call comic opera. And there is no leaving during the intermission!
Actually you can open it at just about any page and find something worth chuckling over.
Page 20, p.2 ‘I have nothing against children, I just wouldn’t trust one not to giggle if I accidentally stepped on a land mine.’
Page 316, p.3 ‘She was the one who told me I was only good-looking enough to attract about 22 percent of the female population. I thought that was a dismal figure, really abominable. It wasn’t until I was able to spot the loneliness in the faces of men that I realized that being attractive to 22 percent of women is a whopping success story. There are legions of ugly, wretchedly lonely, hopelessly inept sociopaths out there who fall in the 0-2 percent category – armies of them – and every one would kill for my 22 percent.’
Page 317, p.2 ‘Whatever the case, sometime during my week-long absence the fish came down with a bad case of starvation and, unlike humans in the same fix, did not think to resort to cannibalism.’
So you get the general idea. Not to be taken seriously is an understatement. But there is a lot to be said for having a good laugh at one’s self, (a very healthy trait in Australian society) and in fact A Fraction of the Whole is really just one big laugh at the whole human race.
This is a great book!
I know I’ve been quiet for awhile, but I just had to get back to blogging and let everyone know how much I enjoyed The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Concentrated around a group of friends and a momentous moment when one of them takes it upon himself to slap anothers child, this is one of the most honest voices in Australian contemporary literature that I’ve read.
Through the eyes and inner most thoughts of eight characters, Tsiolkas gives the omniscient reader their versions of the incident and how it affects their lives and relationships. All the characters are completely believable, as is the situation they find themselves in. Some are more likeable than others, but they are all totally human in every way. There is a mix of cultures within the group that could be found in any of Australia’s major cities; Greek, Indian, Yugoslav and your average Aussie, which makes it all the more real and possible. From toddlers to teenagers to the elderly, The Slap connects the dots that form Australia’s society today.
But I think the real power behind this book is the social issues it tackles. Why do some people include violence in their lives? Marriage and infidelity … how can they survive together? Social status, why is it so important? What is life like for a teenager today? All these topics and a lot more are woven into an intense but totally enjoyable read that really musn’t be missed. If you’re only going to read one book this year, read this one.
Have just read one of the best biographies in a very long time. Celeb bios can be, how should I put it, limited in scope. This I found out mind you, by reading many of them over a 10 year period some 15 years ago. So I am understandably hesitant about picking up another one these days. But I have to say that Weller has put together an extraordinary profile, not only of these incredibly successful women and their careers, but of a specific time period in which cultural changes were made that would alter our views and throw away attitudes faster than one could ever imagine.
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I don’t normally rate the books I read, but if there was a prize for the most thought provoking book read this year it would have to go to Clive Hamilton’s The Freedom Paradox: towards a post-secular ethics.
Literally oozing with metaphysical and ethical arguments and the work of philosophers (mainly Kant and Schopenhauer), it does tend to send the layman’s head spinning at times. But Hamilton’s intensions are clear; for us to find freedom, true freedom, we do not look to our politicians, our church, our bank managers, magazines, e-bay or TV, we look within ourselves. He painstakingly (and this takes a lot of patience on his part) divides our world into the phenomenon and the noumenon. In other words, the reality we can see and the reality we can’t. He does acknowledge that for a large number of people, theology explains their noumenon. But in a world where the religious are fading, we need other answers. Enter metaphysics.
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Hi everyone, and please forgive my absence, but a chance meeting with a book has caused me to be lost in the wilds of Alabama and the land of the Mockingbird.
A few months back I happened across the biography of Harper Lee, I Am Scout. I have been a fan of To Kill a Mockingbird for many, many years. Lee’s style has always mesmerised me to a degree that constantly brings me back to this book as an all time favourite. Few surpass her flare for genuine narrative.
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Nobody suffers like the Irish. Thankfully nobody can it express like them either, which is exactly why a book like The Gathering by Anne Enright can work.
To be honest, winning the 2007 Booker Prize was the only way to get me to read this book. I feel as though I have read enough about the plight of Irish children and the terrible treatment that has been doled out them over the decades. But whether the theme as been over used or not, I still love a well written book, and The Gathering is exceptionally well written, there can be no doubting that.
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As I read my way through an assembled list of Australian authors, (that I am constantly updating) I can’t help but be amazed at the writing talent we have in this country. What is it that makes Australians such convincing and confident storytellers? Where do we find the audacity to tackle any subject, plot or setting?
Well … what ever it is, I’m thankful for it, because I believe we churn out some of the best fiction written today!
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Close to two years ago I wrote a post on listening to audio books (Listen to This – Oct 2006)expounding the merits of listening to a quality reading of books by professional actors and readers. And without a doubt I have seen the popularity of recorded books increase with library members in that time. We all seem to be adjusting to the idea of machines doing more and more for us … it was only a matter of time before they took over the more leisurely pursuits!
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Inspiration is not always forthcoming at the conclusion of a novel … and I have struck out on the last two I’ve read. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey was an addiction memoir taken to its tedious limit. It is an unusual approach to writing such experiences, I’ll admit that, but I was over it after the first 100 pages. I was ready to give him some crack myself! Just to relief my own suffering!
Don’t get me wrong, I have all the sympathy in the world for addicts. I watched as my brother fell into that hell. And he never made it out, so I have plenty of empathy there. But if I’m going to read about someone’s struggle to freedom I’m afraid I need more than just repetitive phrases when things get really tough.
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on Tractors in the Ukraine
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