No 255 - October, 2003

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Tony Birch reviews Stuart Macintyre and Anne Clark's The History Wars
and Robert Manne's Whitewash
Peter Ryan reviews Chester Porter's autobiography Walking on Water
Spring Reading by Lolla Stewart

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 38

A Brace of Martins. "The New World of Martin Cortes" by Anna Lanyon [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Ball, Martin
In 1519 the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés marched into Tenochtitlán (Mexico City), heart of the Aztec Empire. Thus began the often tragic history of European colonialism in the Americas. Anna Lanyon’s previous book, "Malinche’s Conquest" (1999), retraced and recovered the extraordinary life of Cortés’s translator and lover, the native American woman Malinche. The present book does the same for their child, Martín Cortés.
Only One Masta. "The Third Force: ANGAU's New Guinea War 1942-46" by Alan Powell [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Dillon, Hugh
Unattractive as some aspects of ANGAU’s régime may have been, the battle could not have been won without it. But it is the native peoples who emerge from this fascinating and powerful account as the true heroes of the campaign. What gives the book its particular authority is that Powell articulates the stories of individual men who served within ANGAU’s ranks, and their often extraordinary feats. He accurately sums up their contribution: ‘ANGAU’s men, black and white, were the essential force behind the Allied war machine in New Guinea; a symbiosis that carried the seeds of victory.’ Powell’s fine book is a worthy tribute to those strong, brave men of PNG.
The Amplitudes. "The Global Reach of Empire: Britain's Maritime Expansion in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 1764 - 1815" by Alan Frost [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Merwick, Donna
Frost’s British empire of the eighteenth century may not be the one that others prefer to write about. He doesn’t take naked imperialism to task as others do. He doesn’t make it his job to look closely at the other side of the beach. He is concerned with the terrible personal cost —to sailors, whalemen, soldiers — of trafficking imperialism. And the story he tells is as complex an account as any historian might care to undertake.
The Hotel of Poetry. "Rooms and Sequences" by Mike Ladd. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) King, Richard
Last Year's Issue of "Papertiger" (a poetry journal on CD-ROM) contained a piece called ‘Transglobal Express’, a collaboration between Mike Ladd and an outfit called Newaural Net. ‘Transglobal Express’ is an ‘audio poem’, the text of which is spoken by strangers on an Internet connection and set to a heavily percussive soundtrack. Clearly, Ladd has a fondness and flair for the unusual poetic enterprise. But I wonder, reading "Rooms and Sequences",whether big ideas are too often pursued at the expense of careful composition.
Fixing the Bounds. "The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: Captain Cook in the South Seas" by Anne Salmond. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Frost, Alan
Anne Salmond has been assiduous in searching the records, archival as well as published; and her knowledge of Maori history and ethnography allows her to write authoritatively about culture contact. There are some very good aspects to this book; nonetheless, it is not altogether successful, faltering in editorial matters large and small, and in organisational ones. Readers will learn much from this work. However, with more time spent on it and with the benefit of rigorous editorial advice, it might have been a really distinctive study, rather than one with some distinctive aspects.
Among the Chinese. "From Rice to Riches: A Personal Journey Through A Changing China" by Jane Hutcheon. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Torney-Parlicki, Prue
The opening scene of "From Rice to Riches" has the author travelling in a taxi with a camera crew through the city of Bengbu in China’s central Anhui province. A furtive glance in the mirror of her powder compact convinces Jane Hutcheon that they are being followed by Chinese officials. Determined to escape their pursuers in order to obtain the interviews needed for an investigative report on the pollution of the nearby Huai River, the crew twice changes taxi before diving into a crowded street market. It is a fitting introduction to a book that is largely about journalism and the means by which journalists — in this case, foreign correspondents — get their stories.
Suspension Bridges of Disbelief. "The Anatomy of Truth" by Kate Wild. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Tetaz, Carolyn
As a whole, Wild struggles to establish a fictional world the reader can fully relax into. In this strange, dramatic story, Wild requires the reader to build suspension bridges of disbelief, at times without her assistance. But each section of this work is strong, with many vivid scenes and sharp observations, and Janey is an intriguing character, as much a victim of her own delusions as those around her. This ambitious and sinister exploration of women as wives, friends, mothers and sexual partners is worth reading.
Get Porter. "Walking on Water: A Life in the Law" by Chester Porter. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Ryan, Peter
All young persons contemplating ‘a life in the law’ as a career should read this book, ideally when they are about sixteen, to allow adequate time to switch to dentistry, say, or engineering. But whatever your age, Chester Porter’s huge experience, wisdom and humanity will enlighten you about the true inwardness of those sometimes compatible concepts, justice and law. We should all read "Walking on Water" and be better educated, and no one should embark on litigation before they have done so. By the time they lay the volume down, they will have cooled off, left their solicitor untelephoned, saved themselves a bucket of money and averted a heart attack.
Bestsellers/Subscription
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10)
This item is the September 2003 Bestsellers and Subscription Form page of this issue.
Advances, Contents, Letters, Imprints and Contributors.
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10)
This item includes miscellaneous pieces from this issue.
Creative Choices. "Explorations in Creative Writing" by Kevin Brophy. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Tucker, Robyn
Kevin Brophy shows us his skills as an entertainer in "Explorations in Creative Writing". He has read widely and has a diverse collection of tales to tell, from the mundane to the fantastic. The story, anecdote and fragment are all part of his performance. We shift between a reading of Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’, to the ‘agenda of the couch’ and even to writers’ accounts of visits to analysts (Lacan’s consulting rooms — shabby!). Like the best entertainers, Brophy knows how to tell a good story. His writing has an admirable lightness of touch, alternately reflective and playful, and conveys a sense of the vitality of its subject matter.
The Shape of Things. "Agamemnon's Poppies" by Adrienne Eberhard and "The Weight of Irises" by Nicolette Stasko. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Strauss, Jennifer
Each of these collections has much to offer. A preference for one over the other may depend largely on the reader’s temperamental disposition. But as ideal readers, we ought to be capable of taking pleasure in the different qualities, the varied balance of passion and poise in each. Besides, the pair make a handsome addition to the bookshelf. Black Pepper is to be congratulated not only for its continuing commitment to the publishing of poetry, but also for matching quality production to fine poetry.
Behind the Poppycock. "Bamboo Palace: Discovering the Lost Dynasty of Laos" by Christopher Kremmer [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Walker, Nicola
Walker first met a refugee from Laos, a teacher in her former life, while working part-time in a miserable egg-packing factory in the early 1980s. She had only a hazy notion of what had brought Ping to this country. Christopher Kremmer’s "Bamboo Palace" has now clarified those circumstances, and what a sad and painfully human story it is: of a 600-year-old socially iniquitous, politically benign kingdom destroyed and replaced by a totalitarian state.
Striated Tears. "Blood and Old Belief" by Paul Hetherington. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Pierce, Peter
The scene of Paul Hetherington's ‘verse novel’, "Blood and Old Belief", is established in the opening stanza. From the start, we are in the hands of a skilled verse practitioner for whom ‘conservative’ metrical forms are both the bedrock and the supple medium of the story that he tells.
Other Fronts. "Blacklines: Contemporary Critical Writing by Indigenous Australians" by Michele Grossman et al [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Sims, Bruce
Fortunately, the operations of the Australia Council and others (in the case of this book, Victoria University) have tempered the rule of the ‘marketplace’ and allowed different views and genres to be heard. Some would argue that this is a distortion of the marketplace and that different views should be buried or confined to ‘alternative’ media like graffiti walls, a good venue for slogans but not critical writing. This book demonstrates the value of good, thoughtful criticism by indigenous scholars. Mercifully, it is relatively free of jargon and daunting terminology. It needs careful reading, but that reading is amply rewarded.
A Scrummy Book. "A Life Worth Living" by Nicholas Shehadie [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Sherborne, Craig
Not one word is wasted in Sir Nicholas Shehadie’s memoir, "A Life Worth Living". Almost all the words are. This book is a triumph of lack of style over lack of substance. It’s a pity to attach such a proud word as ‘book’ to a publication like this, as it is to attach ‘music’ to two-fingered renditions of Chopsticks. Shehadie is no writer, nor does he pretend to be, which is a shame. Rugby boffins wanting to know Shehadie’s favourite coaches or his all-time dream team will find enough passages in "A Life Worth Living" to satisfy them. But a more demanding reader is advised to spend their $29.95 on something that demonstrates far more care for language and depth of, well, depth of pretty much anything. Self-analysis, gravity of feeling, social or political insightfulness, engaging revelation, are not to be found in these pages. There is little description to speak of, barely any detailed observation, and no images to please the mind. It’s as though Shehadie were only half interested in writing the damned thing at all. He conveys memories of his childhood and youth in a throwaway anti-language of clichés as if he can’t remember the period too well.
The Abacus of History. "The History Wars" by Stuart Macintyre and Anna Clark and "Whitewash: On Keith Windschuttle's Fabrication of Aboriginal History" By Robert Manne (ed) [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Birch, Tony
Both "Whitewash" and "The History Wars" suggest that the discipline of history in Australia is a battlefield for the nation’s hearts and minds. But, more explicitly, it is a plaything for particular ideological forces. At present, we have a group of populist conservatives waging not a history war but a propaganda one — and a cultural and political struggle. It is an issue for all of us, not just historians.
Familial Thrills. "Lethal Factor" by Gabrielle Lord. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Caterson, Simon
This is a crime novel written largely in headlines. "Lethal Factor" is replete with references to such choice items as bio-terrorism, the conflict in the Balkans, paedophilia, Nazi war criminals, strange goings-on in the Catholic Church and academic plagiarism. Such manifold topicality is no guarantee of success in a thriller, and the particular merit of "Lethal Factor" lies not in its wide coverage of current affairs but rather the attention it pays to the detail of everyday life and relationships.
Five-Finger Exercise with Doctors and Insects. "A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies" by John Murray. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Borghino, Jose
Murray knows what he’s doing with the short story form. Hardly a wrong note is sounded or tentative step taken in 274 pages. This is an assured début. Murray is of the ‘epiphanic’ school of short story writers who leave a narrative dangling at a moment when the protagonist has reached an understanding about himself, or his past, or the world. Often, this comes about after some meditation on the past, the evocation of a memory or, most typically, in the feeling of loss when thinking about the past.
Volere (for Susan) [poem]
(Australian Book Review, 2003-10) Middleton, Kate

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