For the longest time, I had listened as teachers spoke to me in slow-motion voices that made me think they had language difficulties. I had said nothiFor the longest time, I had listened as teachers spoke to me in slow-motion voices that made me think they had language difficulties. I had said nothing as classmates asked if I could even read. If I had any English. I had been mistakenly put in ESL classes by my high school. But I knew I had English and I wanted to be someone who didn't just have English in the sense of possessing it but in the sense of a lover has the object. I had a sadomasochistic fascination with English: it hurt me, and it gave me acute pleasure.
This is an extremely hard book to rate. As in the quote I have mixed feelings about it, as the narrator in the books has about English. The narrator is the daughter of a Malaysian family growing up in Australia. There's quite a bit to it this novel that is hard to pin down. The narrator is an English Lit scholar, with a special interest in Sylvia Plath and Post Colonialism (which she admits is another way to say racism). The narrator has been on the wrong end of racism growing up in Australia and now doing an Artist's residency in Scotland. There's some echos of Plath's life in the narrator's life- experiences with a teacher almost place her in Plath's position and the teacher in Ted Hughes role, as an abusive male in a powerful position. While she is away from home, she is caught-up in memories of her parents and particularly her grandmother. Snippets of memory, tell of an almost abusive love, seeming to originating from a fear of protecting her from what they have experienced themselves. There's often thoughts that seem to be channeling Plath. Even the residency seem to have similarities to Plath's Bell Jar. If anything this novel has really made me want to read Ariel again. One that I need to sit with and consider if I want to read again to get more from it. ...more
This distinguished poet is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Canberra. I need to read more of his work. TWe are sleepless among memory's debris
Vol 2 of Saga is another enjoyable instalment, this time we meet the paternal grandparents, witness a colossal birth while retrieving the ghostly babyVol 2 of Saga is another enjoyable instalment, this time we meet the paternal grandparents, witness a colossal birth while retrieving the ghostly babysitter from banishment by said grandparents. Bounty hunters, including a jilted ex-gf, are foiled again. The parent's favourite author is taken hostage by another bounty hunter. All good fun. ...more
Seems like a great start to this adult fantasy/SciFi graphic novel series. Characters and world building are developing well, with funny and snappy diSeems like a great start to this adult fantasy/SciFi graphic novel series. Characters and world building are developing well, with funny and snappy dialogue between characters. I'll continue on with this series and see how many more instalments I can pick up at the library. It came to my attention through discussions on what missed out on inclusion of the 100 best books of the 21st century, compiled by The New York Times....more
2.5 rounded up to 3. This one wasn't really for me. I like a quirky Japanese novel but this one just emphasised the restrictiWomen in Translation Month
2.5 rounded up to 3. This one wasn't really for me. I like a quirky Japanese novel but this one just emphasised the restrictions on women in too odd a way for me. I went from reading from the page to listening to the audiobook, early in the novel, and maybe I lost some meaning in the translation. If there was any humour in such a quirky set-up then it was lost on me. I think it would have benefited from a bit of satirical humour to the dreary oddity of the relationships and setup. I was hoping for so much more. ...more
Isabel went back to the beginning. Her hands were clammy and unsteady. She read the name once, read it again. Passed a hand over 2024 Booker Longlist
Isabel went back to the beginning. Her hands were clammy and unsteady. She read the name once, read it again. Passed a hand over it, as if trying to see if it would change, as if the ink was a trick - an illusion, a game.
This novel is set in the 1960s, 15 years after WW2, in The Netherlands. It centres around a woman living in a comfortable country house by herself. She has since she was a child in the starvation times of the war. The house is to be inherited by her older brother. She lives a stayed and peaceful existence, until it is disrupted by her brother bringing his girlfriend to stay. A girl that she takes a dislike too. It's a bit of drudgery getting through this first part of the novel, I almost didn't continue but it does form a good juxtaposition to what is to follow in the next 2 parts of the novel. There is some 'sledge-hammer' for-shadowing here too, we're made aware that Isabel's family has not always lived in the house and when they arrived it was as if the previous owners had only just walked out the door leaving everything behind. Giving the setting, I found this a bit too obvious for what was to come. In Part II, surprising themselves, a passionate relationship develops between the two women, until it comes asunder triggered by the brother. Written better than the first part of the book. Part III is were the book really hits it's stride. The pace is picked up with a reveal in a diary format. Then tied up neatly. A really good entry for the Booker Longlist, I would never have read it except for it's inclusion. The book tackles some new ground for me, that I hadn't read about, in an innovative way about the fallout of WW2. Great handling of same sex relationships in 1960s Netherlands too. A quick read....more
Written well enough, but just bleak. No hope characters. Can't believe that this is part of the booker longlist. It all just seems2024 Booker Longlist
Written well enough, but just bleak. No hope characters. Can't believe that this is part of the booker longlist. It all just seems a bit average....more
A very clever novel. A clear story narrated by different characters in their own chapters. The timeline of the novel goes back and forward in time, inA very clever novel. A clear story narrated by different characters in their own chapters. The timeline of the novel goes back and forward in time, in chapters titled Before, After and Then. Bouncing back and forward like an Echo. Echoing out from a plain in Australia called The Echos where sound can be heard for miles though the vast country. There are Echoes of the Indigenous people and the children taken from their parents and put in a "school" becoming The Stolen Generation, that many didn't survive and are buried in the "school" graveyard. There are other echoes of generational trauma told mainly through the daughters lives starting with their immigration to Australia of the grandmother as a child from England. A well told easy to read novel. The ghost of a loved partner also echoes in a flat in England observing time passing. Terrific literary fiction, although, incest is never a topic that I'm that keen to read about. It's done well in this case. A novel that should do well in next year's literary prizes....more
"At that moment the power of reading became clear to me. If I could see the words, then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn "At that moment the power of reading became clear to me. If I could see the words, then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn't even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding them out or comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and, therefore, completely subversive."
I read this one in two days of unputdownable reading. The story is narrated by the character James otherwise known as the slave, Jim, as created by Mark Twain, and who ran away with Huck Finn down the Mississippi River. It’s an adventure with possibly frightening consequences, that James is all too well aware of. He’s much more astute than he lets on to Huck and much of the rest of the world he’s forced to endure. There’s moments where irony is built on irony. It’s a clever retelling. I wouldn’t be surprised if this made a number of award lists, like others written by this author. One of my favourite reads so far this year.
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