June reads

Except ‘Breath’, I obtained all this month’s reads from the discard shelf at the local library. I also tended to choose the books that I knew H would not want to read so that I could wild release them when I had finished.

Candelo by Georgia Blain was a library discard that I obtained for a few cents. The story revolves around a family holiday at Candelo and the events that lead from there to continue to effect the parties involved. The story is narrated by Ursula, the middle sister of the family as she manages her current life situation in relation to that of the past.

Breath by Tim Winton I read almost in two sittings. The pace is such that you have to remember to draw breath yourself. It could be a simplistic coming of age story about two boys, but it is made more interesting by the narrator. The narrator is one of the boys, who now as an adult is reflecting on his boyhood after attending the scene of an attempted suicide as a paramedic.

Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope is a beach novel, but a welcome distraction after completing my literary review for uni. I found the contrast between London and Charleston vivid, particularly between family and their relationships. Sometimes it is difficult to not assume that two English speaking countries are going to be similar. It is a story about four characters who for different reasons are at turning points in their own lives, or because of the lives of others. Little resolution with aplomb, and a lot of life is messy.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella challenges the corporate world with domesticity. It got me wondering how many people that do not have the life skills to look after themselves without the assistance of other people or organisations. The novel was romp through mistaken identity and domestic faux pas.

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson was not a book that I particularly enjoyed reading. The crimes are horrific but clever, the detective work relies on a break-through, and there is a love interest. Fortunately it was easy to read over two days to get to the end.

Altar Ego by Kathy Lette was published ten years ago, which is about the time I stopped frequent spending my $24.95 on new releases. Instead, I’m pleased I was able to give the library fifty cents to read the book now. I feel that the screed on the back cover makes the novel appear to be more interesting than it is. And while I know that this is the purpose of the back cover, I think it was better written and more interesting than the pages between the covers.

All in all, a bit of pulp fiction for the month.

May reads

Three of the books I read this month I obtained from the local library. However, they were library discards or books that people had donated in order for the library to do some fundraising. So it has being costing me money to go to the library

• The Falls by Ian Rankin is a DI Rebus and DC Clarke investigation of a missing student. In additiion to the usual plodding, the story includes an online game with the Quizmaster, except the clues are cryptic and in real life.
• This Reader’s Digest Select Editions included The King of Torts by John Grisham, A Week in Winter by Marcia Willett, and The Last Detective by Robert Crais, and Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray. All are authors that I don’t usually seek out, but I enjoyed the medley of this digest. The King of Torts was predictable in part, and The Last Detective a little pedestrian. I enjoyed most A Week in Winter and Eat Cake. Both could be described as women’s fiction, but the characters were developed and their relationships formed the story. The two cake recipes at the end of Eat Cake: Almond Apricot Pound Cake with Amaretto and Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with a Spiked Sugar Glaze sound glorious. I think I will copy them before wild releasing this book.
• Tom, Dick and Debbie Harry by Jessica Adams was definitely cringe material. The story is centred around a wedding in a rural town in Tasmania, Australia. It is described as ‘a hilarious romp’, and it certainly is a light read, funny in parts, but not hilarious.
• The Ghost Writer by John Harwood I picked up at The Coop Bookshop sale because it was set in Australia and the UK. It is a story within a story within a story. Parts of a manuscript are set in different type and form part of and become the story. A good creepy read.

I’m looking forward to some wild releasing once I have finished my literature review for uni.

April reads

Reviewing my reading for April, I think I was really demonstrating my eclectic taste or desperation for reading - anything.

Between reading scholarly papers for my studies, fiction was often a welcome reprieve.

Timeline by Michael Crichton was obtained from Nigel at Pizza With Attitude with the intention of bookcrossing at the newly established BookCrossing Zone. Unfortunately, Pizza With Attitude is no more I found Timeline fascinating, and if you have any interest at all in medieval history, archaeological digs, or quantum technology - then this book has something for you.

The Zhukov Briefing by Antony Trew is an old old espionage novel involving a submarine aground off the Norwegian coast. The intricacies of world intelligence services dealing with the captain and commissar of the Soviet submarine sometimes reads like a Laurel and Hardy script, and at other times breathtakingly ruthless.

Whirlwind by James Clavell is 1343 pages of high adventure and sub-plots of a helicopter company during the times happening in Iran during February 1979. While reading about the CIA, KGB and MI6 was somewhat intriguing, the relationships and journeys of the helicopter pilots, crew, family, and friends was much more interesting.

Fast, Loose Beginnings: A Memoir of Intoxications by John Kinsella describes the benders and poetry of himself and others that Kinsella meets along the way early in his life as a poet and critic. Having not read his poetry before, I particularly like that which refers to the Western Australian bush.

March reads

Read four of Mam’s beach novels and The Turning which I got in time for the play (adaption), but only cursorily looked at prior to the performance.

I tried to finish the beach novels before they were required for second-hand bookshops somewhere between Perth and Naxos. The were all quick reads, some more memorable than others.

• Death in Holy Orders by PD James is a Commander Adam Dalgliesh tale set in an theological college on the East Anglian coast. A student is murdered and the ongoing investigation is helped and heeded by the isolated close-knit community.
• Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell was an intriguing story about the investigation led by Chief Inspector Wexford when a body is found wrapped in a purple cotton sheet. I thought the novel was going to be a straight forward whodunit, but there was bit more to it than that.
• Piece of My Heart by Peter Robinson was a little more plodding, but the scene of the crime - a rock festival, made it a little more interesting. The threads connecting the present day to aging rock stars is a little tenous though.
• Exit Music by Ian Rankin is DI John Rebus’s last case in the force. A bit of winding up occurs, as Rebus attempts to pass on/fob off his unsolved cases and business to colleague DS Siobhan Clarke. Some of the jobs are not resolved as one would like.
• The Turning by Tim Winton I got from The Book Depository which seems all wrong since Winton is a Western Australian author. But it was just too easy and the price was right. I don’t know why books have to cost so much in Australia in comparison to the UK or USA. Anyway, The Turning read and on the bookshelf means that I have all Tim Winton’s books, so far. Having finished it, I wish I had more to read. The book follows three generations of a family, and each chapter/short story is sort of complete, but sort of keeps you hanging. A certain amount of cringe material and rawness as the place and some periods felt familiar to me.

I thought that uni would slow up my reading, which it did in a way but only from a time point of view. I was just too tired at the end of the day from reading scholarly papers to read some more for entertainment. However, I did find that non-fiction was good for a few hours escape.

decisions decisions

This weekend:

• Do ‘at home’ stuff because we have been out for the last three weeks at the Perth International Arts Festival, including cleaning, ironing and finding out where I’m up to with painting the fence, sanding oregon doors, and cutting glass for the fanlight leadlight.
• Set out a course of action because it is the first week of uni.
• Drive to the Perth Chilli Festival at Araluen Botanic Park. And on the way or on the way back visit Zanthorrea Nursery because we (well H) has a gift certificate.
• Attend an IWD event on the day.
• Go on the train to the Mandurah Crab Fest.
• Laze around and read a book, currently Fast, Loose Beginnings by John Kinsella.
• Go to the Women’s Showcase at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
• Drive to see the Sculptures by the Sea on and near Cottesloe Beach.

Perhaps I’ll get Friday done first and see how I wake up tomorrow. Work, uni, and then art exhibition.

February reads

February reading included a trilogy and one work of non-fiction.

Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ was an easy and enjoyable read - pure escapism. I’m pleased that I put the money towards obtaining the trilogy from The Book Depository rather than going to see the film, The Golden Compass. With the excellent exchange rate at the moment, the boxed set of three paperback novels published by Scholastic has provided me with many hours of entertainment.

Northern Lights Philip Pullman
Novel on which the ‘The Golden Compass’ is based. Although there is resolution of sorts at the end, it was very easy to proceed to the second book in the trilogy without stopping. I’ll probably view the DVD when it becomes available.

The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman
I enjoyed this book as much as the first in the trilogy. I found it clever how the author told a story that included physical science in parallel with spiritual and fantasy.

The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman
This is the one book in the trilogy that I don’t think would stand alone. The story is complicated with much to be resolved, and I felt that if I had not the first two books to refer to then I may not have enjoyed it as much.

Billy’s Halo Ruth McKernan
This is a compelling story about science, medicine, and the relationship between a daughter and her father. Ruth McKernan is a neuroscientist and tells the story about the relationship with her father who becomes ill. What I thought was most endearing is Ruth’s objective use of the scientific resources and knowledge that only assisted her part of the way to understanding and supporting her father during his illness.

Ruth’s personal story is interspersed with information, examples and interesting case studies such that you cannot but help learn more about human biology, in particular the brain.

Couers

Festival Film ‘Couers’ opened at the Somerville last night.

Directed by Alain Resnais, Private Fears in Public Places (Couers) is adapted from Alan Ayckbourn’s play titled Private Fears in Public Places (2004). It is a film of a play, which provides the opportunity for the audience to see the drama from all angles with some interesting cinematographic effects. For example, the falling snow I felt was effective in making the transition between scenes and added to the atmosphere, and observing people in rooms without ceilings moving from one room to another.

Set in Paris during what appeared to be a snow storm, the drama revolves around six characters, seven if you include Lionel’s bedridden father Arthur who is always a voice in another room. There are some relationships and connections between the characters, but the film is more about six individual stories rather than one main plot with perhaps an underlying theme of looking for love or acceptance.

I was not sure whether there is any resolution for Nicola and Dan (Nicola’s fiance), brother and sister Thierry and Gaëlle, or Lionel (bartender and son of Arthur) and Charlotte (casual carer for Arthur and Thierry’s work collegue at a real estate business). Perhaps more it was a snapshot of ordinary likeable people (except for Arthur) muddling through and find their way through life. It almost had a Thomas Hardy feel about it with regard to fate and chance.

I suspect the French speakers around me got more from the film than I who needed the English subtitles, but I enjoyed its sometimes whimsical feel around what could have been a long drawn out soapy.

many scenes, three acts

Last night’s preview of The Turning (adapted from Tim Winton’s The Turning) at the Playhouse Theatre created and released tension in waves and challenged all my emotions.

With over 25 scene changes, the three hour production of theatre, music, soundscapes and film followed three generations of the fictitious Lang family from 1974 - 2001. If you are aware of the history, culture, and issues of the times, then there were also various amounts of cringe factor amongst the projected West Australian landscapes and images.

The multimedia created a powerful visual and auditory experience. Unlike a background, and moving from complementary to overpowering the actors giving me the feeling that the live theatre was sandwiched between overbearing transitions such that the acting appeared thin. However, I do recognise that the film provided an atmosphere that captivated the outside largess of the West Australian landscape bringing the outside onto the stage.

We were in the stalls in Row C. If you haven’t got tickets yet, get them at least a few more rows back so that you can see all of the stage. The projection screens on each side mostly showed the same images, but when they appeared different I found that I was turning from one to the other in case I missed anything.

The timing and scene changes in combination with the multimedia were admirably tight, but the production was not 2 hours 30 minutes as stated in the festival programme, It was over 3 hours 20 minutes (including interval). So it was a taxi home as we missed the last bus home.

January reads

I read over 1400 pages this month, 1088 of them in one book over five days.

‘The Hanging Valley’ is a murder mystery by Peter Robinson. Although considered a holiday read I found the characters were well developed such that you could almost imagine yourself sitting in the pub with them and making the same observations narrated in the story.

Set in a small village where everyone or no one knows what goes on, suspects to a murder are added, deleted, and re-added to the list as the investigation led by Inspector Banks plods through the evidence. There are some likeable characters and truly nasty ones who you hope get their just desserts.

I read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett in five days. It is a large book but an easy read and a page turner in parts. I forgot to bring a book and I needed something to read while at the hairdressers as I don’t read or even flick through magazines much. And no, I was not at the hairdressers for the whole length of the book, but I did have to field the jibes while in the salon

I saw the ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ book while standing in the queue to go into a previous festival film. I say saw as opposed to heard about, as it is largish book. I read quite fast and the idea that there was a fat contemporary novel that I had not read was the reason I sought it out when next in the bookshop. Aside: This year I have found that quite a few people bring books, magazines or newspapers to read during their picnic prior to the film.

The story is about the building of a cathedral in England during the twelfth-century. It is definitely an epic story, but it was fascinating reading about the social, cultural, and political aspects during which the cathedral was built. And cathedrals take a long time to build.

Although the cathedral architecture was interesting, what brought the story to life was learning about certain aspects of the building such as the introduction of large stained glass windows and how the walls were calculated to be strong enough to support tall arches and domes. Also, all the different people and their skills that were required to build the cathedral and how they lived.

If there is to be a take away message from the novel it is that I firmly believe that matters of state and religion should be completely separate.

I’ve started to read Northern Lights (His Dark Materials) by Phillip Pullman. So far I’m enjoying it very much. It is heaps better than any Harry Potter books that I have read.

the turning

Listening to the description and frank discussion by director Steve Jodrell and writer Bill McCluskey of how they have ‘re-imagined’ Tim Winton’s The Turning was definitely a well spent hour. I’m pleased that I had the opportunity to attend this Friends of the Festival event.

Barry Strickland facilitated the discussion after a short introduction by Diana Warnock.

Commissioned by the Perth International Arts Festival, the project has the rights to 12 of the 17 short stories in Winton’s book that follows three generations of the Lang family from the 70’s to the present.

Jodrell described the technical challenges such as combining film and theatre in a way that they augment each other rather than one being a background for the other. Fortunately, we were in the upper stalls of the theatre and were able to see the design of the sets as described.

McCluskey explained the genesis of the project, which began with him reading the book while in Broome. The play is ‘re-imagined’ as to bring the narrative to life on the stage. Some characters have been broadened, and some new characters are introduced. There is also the difficulty of a small cast of nine representing a larger number of characters (25 in the production?) that also allowed the actors to explore the relationships, similarities, and differences between the various characters.

It certainly will be interesting to see how the visuals are combined with the drama in the adaption and transitioning of the short stories.

I have not yet read the book, but being a fan of Tim Winton I know that I will enjoy both the book and the play. Although, I understand from some reviews that it is not a beach novel, but “one to definitely put on your list of things to read”. What I like best about Winton’s novels is that they are set in Western Australia. It is sometimes good to have a sense of familiarity with the landscape albeit seeing it through different eyes and times.

The Turning is showing 20 Feb to 8 Mar as part of the Perth International Arts Festival. At the talk, they said tickets are selling well so don’t leave getting yours until it is too late.