Carpentaria: Winner of 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award

Carpentaria, an 'epic' novel centering on indigenous issues in Australia's Gulf Country, has won this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Previously won by luminaries such as Peter Carey and Tim Winton, this award recognises a 'published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases'.

This year's choice, written by Alexis Wright, is seen as a critical step in the recognition of the importance of indigenous stories and writing in Australia.

Has anyone read this book? Do you have a view?





*photos and art in this post have been sourced from here

The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles: A visit by Elizabeth Stead

Last night nine of our members met at my house to discuss The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles. The discussion was led by TD.

We were honoured to have, as our special guest, the author Elizabeth Stead. At 75 years of age, Sydney resident Elizabeth made a lively guest, full of life and wit and fabulous stories of her time living on a tropical island like the one in The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles.

The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles is a story in the true sense of storytelling. It is set on an unnamed tropical island "just two degrees below the equator of its world" and tells, through linked stories, a tale of how missionaries and other visitors from the modern world impact the lives of the native villagers. And how the villagers impact them. We all agreed that the book was beautifully crafted and Elizabeth Stead's ability to develop characters and weave them together, in such a witty way, was superb.

Of the very few criticisms that exist of this book one is that the book doesn't specify a time in which it is set. This is quite deliberate. Ms Stead told us that she loves storytelling and for her "Once upon a time" is enough. Those with a keen ear to the historical references in the novel would probably place it in the 1950s as we emerged from the rubble of the second world war and before the feminist movement had traction.

Our group had already discussed how we felt about the book before Ms Stead arrived (we all liked it)and so could concentrate on asking her questions about her writing in general and about the three years she spent posted to a tropical island with her three small children (her husband was in the Navy).

Here's what we learnt about the book:

• Ms Stead thought of the title for the book 15 years ago. Before the current trend for books to be called "The Gospel of..."
• The book took 15 years to write (in between she wrote other novels such as The Fishcastle and The Different World of Fin Starling).
• The island represented in the book does not exist.
• Ms Stead does not plan out her books in advance. The stories emerge as she writes.
• Sam Maitland is based on the characteristics of a real person. That person has never lived on a tropical island. He doesn't know he is the basis for the character.
• So as not to offend the native villagers on the real tropical islands - the myths and legends represented in the book are made up by the author. The real myths and stories are safely held by the villagers themselves.

Here's what we learnt about Ms Stead's life on a tropical island:

• Ms Stead had two small children when she went to live on a tropical island. Her third child, a daughter, was born in primitive circumstances there. The natives held a "Sing Sing" for her to celebrate the birth. Talking about it still brings a tear to her eye.
• Milk was such a rare commodity on the island that when a US ship once docked with fresh milk the base wives held a "milk party".
• While the native children were immune to local diseases, the base children weren't. They lived on anti-biotics.
• Vegetables were impossible to grow and were rare. Base wives would buy Taro and Yams from the villagers who were able to grow them deep in the forests.

Here are sample reactions to Ms Stead's visit from our bookgroup:

"What I came away with last night is how very entertaining Elizabeth Stead is. She seems to me to be a 'character' herself and probably has another book full of stories about island life tucked away in her memories. It was a very enjoyable evening and I will definitely be waiting for her next published book."

"I really enjoyed the book. I was glad such a topic that could be serious, such as white "invasion", could be told with wit. I laughed alot."

"Meeting Elizabeth was very exciting her stories were fantastic. I was amazed at all she told. 15 years to write. Who says woman need to have it all at once, I love how she raised her family then had her writing career." (Ms Stead did not publish her first novel until she was 60)

"The book made me chuckle! I found the characters particularly interesting and loved it. Elizabeth Stead coming to our bookclub added an extra dimension to the evening and the book, and it was great to hear her views on writing the book and where her ideas came from."

"I loved the book because it reminded me of the places that we visited with my father in East New Britain and very much reflected some (not all) of the missionaries we met out there. It also questioned the validity of enforcing Christianity on indigenous people "for their own good". "

"Having Elizabeth at the meeting was very valuable as you rarely get the opportunity to ask questions about the background to - and motivation for - the novel. I hope that I have as much spark and enjoy my wine as much when I am 75"


Thank you Elizabeth Stead for visiting our group. And thank you to Simone (Ms Stead's publicist) for making this possible. We greatly appreciate it.

Rating:

Avg: 7.8/10

Lowest score: 7 Highest Score: 8.5


Next book: Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali to be held at LV's house on Monday 16th July


*photo above sourced from here.

Books&Gossip now on LibraryThing

Books&Gossip's entire back catalogue of reviewed books is now on LibraryThing. Click on the Search Tab and enter "booksngossip" into the users field to view.

Our books are currently tagged by the year we read them. Over time we will update our catalogue with reviews and comments. Check out who else has read our books, what they have said and get ideas for new books to read.

We have also put a LibraryThing 'Widget' in the sidebar of this blog which will show 3 random books from our back catalogue. Click on the picture to go to Amazon.com, or the title to go to the LibraryThing page.

Happy Browsing!

Suite Francaise: Radio interview with Denise Epstein

When you have a quiet moment I recommend listening to a radio interview with Irene Nemirovsky's daughter Denise Epstein and Suite Francaise translater Sandra Smith. It is extraordinary to hear Denise tell the story of this book from her own point of view.

The interview is conducted by US nationally syndicated radio host Diane Rehm and can be listened to by clicking the appropriate link on this site.

*photo is of Irène Némirovsky in 1930 with her daughter Denise and was sourced from here.

The No. 1 Melbourne Ladies Bookclub

Welcome to the Blogosphere No. 1 Melbourne Ladies Bookclub!

This is the bookclub I belonged to in my Melbourne days. The girls are a fabulous group of friends, from a variety of backgrounds, who have been discussing books and gossiping since 1998.

Check out their blog; look at their past reading list; look at their upcoming books and feel free to post your comments.

Links of Interest: The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles

Current reviews circulating in the Australian press:

The Australian
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Bulletin

May: "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky

This month we met at T's house. Someone must've let slip that mini cupcakes and chewy nougat were on offer for dessert because all 13 members were present. This was the first time we had all been together since last December's Christmas dinner. And discussion was no less lively than that occasion.

We discussed "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky; winner of the Prix Renaudot in 2004 and the French-American Foundation Prize for translation in 2007.

Irene Nemirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903 and died in Auschwitz in 1942. This book is the story of how the occupation of France in WWII affected its civillians. What makes the novel so extraordinary is that it was written as the events unfolded; yet, unlike The Diary of Anne Frank, was not a journal but a fiction. In addition, despite being of Jewish heritage and forced to wear the yellow Star of David, Irene didn't reflect on her war but the war being exprienced by others, including sympathic treatment of the lives of the German soldiers garrisoned in French towns.

The story of how Suite Francaise came to be published only adds to the power of the story. Originally intended to be her "War & Peace" the book was planned to be in five parts: Storm in June, Dolce, Captivity, Battles and Peace? (the question mark was hers). However only the first two parts were completed before Irene was arrested and transported to Auschwitz in 1942. She died within a month of arrival. Her husband soon met the same fate, leaving her two daughters (aged 13 and 5) to flee with whatever they could carry. They happened to pick up a suitcase containing what they thought was their mother's diary. It was not until the 1990s that Irene's daugher, Denise Epstein, read the 'diary' and realised it was a fully formed novel. The book that was published in 2004 is, in fact, the first draft of the first two books.

Discussion:

• despite the power of the story of its discovery we felt that the books stood on their own as beautifully written works of art. Each part, or novella, could in fact stand on its own.
  
• Storm in June is an exquisitely written anatomy of a panic.
  
• Irene possesses an extraordinary talent to be both experiencing an event and be able to stand back and comment on it with such precision
  
• We were amazed that despite the impact of the war on her (viz Jewish heritage) she treated all the characters with a sympathetic eye.
  
• Some members wished the remaining three parts existed to flesh out the relationships further while others were satisfied with the two existing parts, in combination with the story of their discovery.
  
• Irene seemed to have a greater understanding of the privileged classes than the working classes, although some members felt that this was balanced out in the second book.
  
• Most of us loved this book.

Average score: 8.3

Range: 7, 7.5, 8, 8, 8, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 9, 9, 9, 9

Gossip:

• In the world of blogs, SMS and email will we find wonderful, unpublished works such as these in the future? Answer: Yes, because we are recording more than ever.
  
• The MySpace generation: should we be looking at MySpace sites to see what our children will be up to in a few years time?
  
• Blogs: That the norm in the US is for public blogs with personal details displayed; more the norm in Australia for bloggers to have aliases, not show photos of faces on public blogs for security reasons.
  

Next Month: The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles by Elizabeth Stead. Chosen by T and to be held at FL's place on Monday 18th June.