Book Description
Mutant Message Down Under is the fictional account of an American woman's spiritual odyssey through outback Australia. An underground bestseller in its original self-published edition, Marlo Morgan's powerful tale of challenge and endurance has a message for us all.
Summoned by a remote tribe of nomadic Aborigines to accompany them on walkabout, the woman makes a four-month-long journey and learns how they thrive in natural harmony with the plants and animals that exist in the rugged lands of Australia's bush. From the first day of her adventure, Morgan is challenged by the physical requirements of the journey—she faces daily tests of her endurance, challenges that ultimately contribute to her personal transformation.
By traveling with this extraordinary community, Morgan becomes a witness to their essential way of being in a world based on the ancient wisdom and philosophy of a culture that is more than 50,000 years old.
Download Description
Experience the spiritual odyssey story of an American woman in Australia and discover the wisdom of an ancient culture through its compelling, powerful, life-enhancing message for all humankind -- a message that can save our world from destruction and fill our lives with a great sense of purpose.
Customer Reviews:
Total Fantasy - not based in fact........2007-10-04
Please, if you read this book (and I recommend that you DO NOT) consider it complete fantasy. Yes, it has been labled as "fiction", but the author claims it is based on her actual experience. Google her name, or the book title, and read the controversy surrounding this book.
Aside from the controversy, it is poorly written, and the author's racist language is offensive. Don't buy it, and don't read it.
Total disrespect for another's cultural beliefs.......2007-08-02
I read this book a few years ago, with utter disbelief. As the review above states, there is no way this woman knew anything about Australia, apart from what she may have garnered off the internet. I rate this book 1 star only because there wasn't a zero star option.
It is a fact across all Aboriginal peoples (and there are more than 1) that a man would NEVER reveal any tribal secrets to a woman and vice versa. This one fact alone tells me the book is utter rubbish. I'm only sorry the Aborigines of Australia could not take a class action against this woman. Don't buy the book. Come to Australia and see for yourself.
Interesting But.....A Fairy Tale/Hoax.......2007-07-09
My wife, a Holistic Healer, is totally enamoured with this book and it's "lessons" of life, living and healing.
After reading it, I looked for more info about the author. Wow, the whole book is apparently a fabricatation to make money and/or advance the ideals of New Age spirituality.
If I had known it was untrue from the beginning, I probably would have enjoyed it for what it was, a story about living in the desert and native ideas of living, one with the earth. However, I feel I wasted a lot of emotion believing her adventures were mostly true experiences. I had doubts numerous times about the truthfulness of experiences she described. She covers for that possibility by claiming in her Forward that the book was a "fictionalized" account to protect the tribe,it's members and their location.
I give it 2 stars because it was an interesting read about living in the outback, and about spiritual beliefs even if her story has turned out to be totally untrue.
Mutant Message.......2007-06-21
Good easy read. A look into your inner self and how you look at the world.
Take It For What It Is: Fiction. Period........2007-06-12
I read this book in my 20s, and then again 2 years ago. It is charming and weaves in many of the indigenous traditions that we'd all like to incorporate into our lives. However, this book is a work of fiction and has very little to do with authentic aboriginal culture. This taints the credibility of the author and her book. So, let it inspire you to seek out authentic indigenous lifeways. But be sure to take this book for what it is: fiction.
Average customer rating:
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Down And Out Down Under (Geronimo Stilton)
Geronimo Stilton
Manufacturer: Scholastic Paperbacks
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ASIN: 0439841208 |
Book Description
G'day, mate! I was searching for ideas for my new book, and my friend Petunia Pretty Paws knew just where to find them -- in Australia. Holey cheese, it sounded like a fabumouse adventure! But between surfing with sharks, being chased by poisonous snakes, and getting lost in the outback, I was beginning to wonder if this trip down under was really a good idea. Kangaroos and koalas and crocs -- oh, my! Would I ever see New Mouse City again?
Book Description
Dr. Peters lays down the law25 of them to be exactin this no-nonsense playbook for keeping (or restoring) order in your home. With nearly three decades of family counseling experience to draw upon, Dr. Peters has seen it allfrom unruly kids to out-of-control teens. She shares real stories that demonstrate the profound, positive effects that her methods have had in families across America. Her firm but entertaining approach addresses parents most important problems and their most common mistakes, showing them how to set and enforce loving laws of discipline and respect.Dr. Peters gives parents the tools to prioritize and enforce the rules and values that are most important to them. The laws give parents permission to parent by encouraging them to trust their judgmentand act decisively. For parents who fall into patterns of futile nagging without results, Dr. Peters explains the need for, and her proven method to enforce, catastrophic consequences when the code of values is violated. The bottom line is a better-behaved, better-adjusted kid.With shelves full of bland parenting guidebooks to choose from, parents and caregivers alike will find Dr. Peterss national reputation, no-nonsense attitude, and home-tested, results-oriented advice both refreshing and reassuring.
Customer Reviews:
A must -have for parents.......2007-02-11
"Laying Down the Law" does not seem to be too popular with parents these days. Makes you wonder why they're mystified when their children go awry. This book is a wonderful tool that educates and helps you be the parent your child needs.
Little detail yet full of common sense.......2005-11-05
This book is somewhat disappointing to me. It is well organized, concise, to the point, and useful as a book to keep parents on the right track.
However, I found it to be lacking in real details about certain issues with kids. It also is not a real gripping read; I found myself skimming the chapter more than obsorbing what they really said. It would have been more helpful to me if it had greater detail and methods for dealing with kid issues like discipline and the middle school ages.
I recommend books by John Rosemond that give me a little more substance than this book.
Great book for raising polite and responsive children!.......2004-07-10
I got this book off my local bookstore shelf and drove right in. I have one daughter of my own and 2 step children. The Step kids have NOT had ANY discipline from their birth mother and were disrupting my calm and structured household. My main concern was that these kids behaviors would be taught to my well mannered and polite daughter. I had to do something and FAST! These children had no concept of earning their privilidges or listening skills and my new husband and I were going NUTS! I went to the book store for help and this book was a GOD sent! It is not for the timid or people without a backbone. You must be able to Lay down the law and follow through will all consequences "with teeth" every time. Kids need consistenancy and rules. Ms. Peters outlines how to do this and how to get the kids moving and moving NOW, with timers and teaching kids the work ethic and rewards for choosing good behavior. I recommend this book to all parents who have the ability to really take a hard look at themselves and are ready to make some difficult changes in their own behavior for the benefit of thier children. Read it - it's excellent!
Very good book about child rearing.......2003-09-07
Everything that Dr. Peters says in this book appears to be common sense, yet I know very few people that actually act like this. She lays down a very simple framework about what our children should and shouldn't do, and it is an extremely helpful guide.
The format is very straightforward. The beginning of each chapter spells out what the law is. She adds a "real life"story about inappropriate behavior, and she follows up with how you can truly get good behavior again.
As a busy mother, I found the book easy to get through, and not too clinical.
The only thing I didn't like was some parts of her chapter on bullying. Some of her ways to stop the child from being bullied seemed to be a bit off target. Otherwise, this is a great book on parenting.
Just the facts, ma'am.......2003-03-21
If you're looking for a "squeezy, feely" book about how to get your children to be "good people", this is not the book for you. But if you're having problems getting your children to do homework, clean their rooms, do chores, and generally behave, Dr. Peters has a lot of good advice for you.
Peters takes a real life approach to raising children. We have a society that rewards good behavior and punishes bad behavior. We get paid for work, we go to jail for breaking the laws. She proposes that we set up this same philosophy at home.
The main theme of the book is that a parent is a "benevolent dictator". No matter how much you want to be your children's friend, your job is to be their parent, to discipline them, to get them to do the right thing, even if they do not understand the philosophical reasons for doing this.
For example, education. She says that a child is not going to understand the value of an education versus being popular. They will, however, understand that they will receive rewards when they get good grades and be punished when they get bad grades.
And her ideas for rewards and punishments are very sound too. We have been using the "chip" system she suggests in the book and it is working splendidly. Children are rewarded for having a "good day" with poker chips that can be cashed in for money, clothing and electricity. Yes, television, video games and even radio time must be paid for. And punishment includes giving away prized possessions to homeless shelters and other children's programs. Yet, knowing that children do not always behave, there is leeway to misbehave "some" and still have a "good day."
This is the best child rearing book I have found in a long time, and I will keep it by my bedside for years to come.
Book Description
Kathleen joins her husband for a three-month trip to New Zealand when he’s hired by a film studio in Wellington. Leaving behind all that is familiar in her comfortable corner in Southern California, she realizes that the past twenty years have been so tightly woven into the life of her only daughter that she’s not sure who she is on her own or with her husband. In her isolation, Kathleen begins to contemplate reinventing herself, but before her crazy schemes take flight, she meets Jill at the Chocolate Fish café. Even though the two women are very different at first glance, they find they share a common Sisterchick heart and instantly forge a friendship that takes them on a journey where both Kathleen and Jill find that God has returned to them the truest part of themselves that was set aside so many years ago.
Topsy-Turvy Down Under
SISTERCHICK TM n.: a friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and provides a reality check when you’re being a brat.
When Kathleen and her husband, Tony, pack up and fly off to New Zealand for Tony’s three-month film job, Kathleen discovers more than her geography has flip-flopped. In the land down under, comfort food comes in a jar labeled “Vegemite,” gardens sprout hobbit statues, and, if you’re not careful, you just might venture into the Chocolate Fish café with feathers in your hair.
Of course, the feathers could open up a conversation with fellow diner Jill, also a California girl and an instant SISTERCHICK. Together they take in a performance at the Sydney Opera House; hold “hands” with a mama kangaroo and greet her in-pocket joey; watch dolphins surf the New Zealand waves; and discover that, in a topsy-turvy land where “Bob’s your uncle” is a statement that actually makes sense, one’s heart is likely to fall head over heels into a deeper sense of God’s love.
Story Behind the Book
“My motivation for the Sisterchicks™ books came from being involved with so many women who get halfway through life and shipwreck their faith or their families in search of themselves. I wanted to write a book that extols faithfulness and shines the light on God’s plan for a woman’s life, which is always more gigantic and more mysterious than she ever first believed. On the edge of my heart sits a constant prayer for the reader who lifts the covers of these books and snuggles in for a cozy read. My prayer is that she will be filled with hope and will come closer than ever to the One who loves to sprinkle His wonders over our days.”
Customer Reviews:
Sisterchicks Dow Under.......2007-03-25
I cried with this story brought a part of me that I had hide of a long loss. God is so wonderful to use things to prompt our healing.
Another fab entry in the Sisterchicks series.......2006-08-13
Sisterchicks Down Under by Robin Jones Gunn is another fantastic entry in this Christian series. When Kathleen and her husband head to New Zealand for three months, he fills his time with work. Kathleen finds herself alone like never before until she meets Jill at the local coffee shop. The relationship between Kathleen and Jill is so natural as written by Gunn that it's easy to suspend disbelief in the improbabilities. Together they explore the beauty of New Zealand and God, and both grow as people and friends. This book is everything good chick-lit should be: quick reading, extremely enjoyable, lovable characters, with just a sprinkle of Christianity. Can't wait for the next book!
Sisterchicks Down Under.......2006-08-11
I loved this book. Robin Jones Gunn is quirky and witty with kernals of truth scattered throughout like chicken feed!
Another hit from RJ Gunn.......2006-07-17
This book is fun, like the rest. Kathleen learns about "Vegemite", travels to New Zealand with her husband who has an assignment, discovers the Chocolate Fish cafe... and new relationships. It is 'real', touching and inspirational.
2 Fruit Loops from the Land of the Fruits the Flakes & the Nuts do the flip-flop Down Under.......2006-06-11
2 Middle-Aged Mom Chicks hailing from the same Southern California suburb miraculously meet & have Kiwi & Aussie adventures together.
(With the exception of the unspeakably boring shopping scenes), be prepared to don thy walking shoes & rev up thy pogo stick & commence a season of bountiful bouncing between the deeply profound & the hysterically funny in this prototype (or perhaps I should say: "pogotype"?) meandering-with-a-message-type novel ...
& (without giving anything away), the bathtub scene is quite possibly the best thing on the menu & most certainly takes the whole idea of "bathroom humor" to a new & ... um ... sudsy level ...
:P
Book Description
100 Top Houses from Down Under is a collection of 100 projects from the best architects and interior designers in Australia and New Zealand. Included are: beach bachs, city apts, country retreats, suburban homes with a twist, holiday shacks, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Great Value.......2006-03-16
I enjoyed this book because it was not full of fluff or the hit and miss content of similar books - the architecture was compelling, the theme was consistant - I really enjoy this one! In fact I am sending it to several of my friends.
Nice book - could have been better.......2006-02-22
This is a nice book in general. It has a good format, showcases interesting projects and unlike the first book of the "100 Best" series, devotes more pages to each project with more photographs and plans. Some of the photography however is disappointing. Even though most of the projects are professionally shot, some of the houses are represented by snapshots with distorted walls and incorrect color balance, and in my opinion do not belong in a book of this caliber.
Book Description
Hi, I'm Dorothy Ann. Ms. Frizzle's class ended up on the other side of the world when we went searching for the cackling kookaburra. It was a wild walk-about to Australia. We had a hopping good time racing a herd of kangaroos and survived a run-in with the terrible Tasmanian devil. Things got pretty hairy in the outback, but there's never been a field trip quite like the Expedition Down Under.
Customer Reviews:
This is not a travel book........2007-09-12
Bryson's dry wit and way of looking at himself and the world are inspiring and if you get the humor laugh out loud funny, so if you are planning a trip to Australia by all means read this book first, but understand that it's not really a book about traveling in Australia. Bryson is there to get to know the real Australia, he misses the icons of the country completely. The trips that he writes about are visiting friends or wandering the little traveled roads that even few Aussies have.
But you will gain an insight into the soul of Australians, something that will sound very familiar to Americans as their history is so similar to our own, which is probably why we love Australians and more often than not they love us. And after having read the book, if you want to go to Australia and retrace his footsteps and see an Australia that we Americans just miss, we'll, as they say down under, "good on ya".
Superbly written.......2006-11-12
Regarding Fai's review "CHEATED", I guess unless you come from Australia, there's little chance of knowing that it is often referred to as a "Sunburnt Country"; a term which came from a famous Australian poem, "My Country". Perhaps "Down Under" is a more popular term that needs no further explanation to the rest of the world, maybe it's more catchy, I'm not really sure why they changed the title, but it shouldn't detract a reader from its content. This book is hilarious and wonderfully informative. We all know Australia houses some of the world's deadliest spiders, snakes, jellyfish...you name it! But there were a lot of trivial things I read here that were never taught at school, which is a shame because if they did, I'm sure my History and Geography classes would've been a blast. Bill Bryson writes in a way that makes a reader feel they are right next to him experiencing the same things, shrieking at the sight of a spider, getting tumbled around mercilessly by the surf or going to the local pub for some much-deserved beer. This book made me realize I haven't really seen much of my country, and I can't wait to hop on that long-haul train ride, with this book in tow of course, and finally see the endless stretch of everything and nothing behind those famous postcards.
Very informative, telling you many things no ordinary travel book does.......2006-08-19
Bill Bryson is best known for writing very humorous travel books, and "In a Sunburned Country" is indeed a funny account of his travels in Australia. Those who love Bill Bryson's books for their humor won't be disappointed.
But unlike most people, I like Bill Bryson best when he's NOT trying to be funny, and my appreciation of this book is mostly due to the great amount of very interesting information presented.
Bill Bryson amazes you with loads of information about the geology, the animal life, the plants and insects, the history, the statistics, the folklore, etc., etc. The many dangers: poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, poisonous jellyfish, crocodiles, sharks, and rip currents - they're all out to get you. The inhospitable deserts, the beautiful beaches, the huge distances; Bill Bryson gives you a feeling of what it's all like.
The book goes into detail about many aspects of Australian life that are fairly unknown, including the discovery (and re-discovery) of Australia, the settlement by British prisoners, the early expeditions to explore the interior, the gold rushes, the outlaws, and the devastation caused by rabbits and other imported animals and plants. Bill Bryson talks about the many unusual animal species found only in Australia, including giant earthworms that grow up to 1 meter (and can be stretched to 4 meters) and the platypus, a cross between a reptile and a mammal. He talks about Australians and the Australian society, and the situation regarding the native people, the aboriginals.
Bill Bryson doesn't cover all of Australia from the geographical point of view, and the parts he does cover are somewhat random. But that doesn't matter because he captures the spirit of the whole country based on the parts he does visit and the general information he includes.
A very positive aspect is that Bill Bryson makes it clear that he loves Australia. The feeling is infectious, and it makes you want to pack your bags and head "down under" for a long leisurely trip so you can do your own exploring.
If I were to mention two things I was less happy about, it would be the occasional excessive attempts to be funny and the lack of contact with Australians. One of the best parts of the book is about his traveling together with an Australian couple for 3-4 days, but other than this passage Bill Bryson is mostly playing the typical tourist, with little or no contact with Australians. And despite a fairly long discussion about the aboriginal situation he does not ever get into contact with any aboriginals. Why not?
A final note regarding the unabridged audio version of the book, read by Bill Bryson himself: Most authors are poor readers, but Mr. Bryson does a very good job here, almost on a par with a professional reader. Recommended.
Rennie Petersen
PS. "In a Sunburned Country" has also been published under the title "Down Under". It is exactly the same book.
cheated.......2006-05-16
This book has the exactly same content (word by word) with another Bill Bryson's book under the title 'In a Sunburned Country'.
I searched both books thoroughly and neither of them said anything about another book with the exactly content as itself.
I bought both and felt CHEATED.
Great book.......2006-01-23
This book's definitely a keeper. Bill, in his self-deprecating & exaggerated humour, makes this an entertaining read. Also, he decorates all the various locations he visits with intriguing historical information (that I love) & he gives enough detail for this to be a a guide book (to some degree, I reckon).
Amazon.com
"Australia's like an open door with the blue beyond," wrote D.H. Lawrence. "You just walk out of the world and into Australia." Who better to show you the wonders Down Under than Pico Iyer, Paul Theroux, Jan Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Tony Horwitz, and a host of other travel-writing luminaries?
This evocative volume of Travelers' Tales provides a vibrant introduction to the country and its people. Visit well-known sites like Bondi Beach and Uluru (Ayer's Rock), get lost in the outback, forage for platypuses, slog through billabongs, walk along ancient song lines, and land on a deserted island for a Robinson Crusoe adventure that will make you think twice about leaving home. You'll even receive advice from Tim Cahill on learning to speak Australian:
"Most of us flaming septics (septic tank rhymes with Yank) visiting Oz either shoot through like the Bondi tram or muck about playing silly buggers and never properly apprehend the lingo. I was pondering this phenomenon one day while demolishing several dozen stubbies ... at a rubbity (dub-pub) in the town of Coen, whose quaint motto is "Eat Beef, You Bastards."
Whether you're heading to Oz to see the sights in Sydney, adventuring in the outback, or scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef, True Stories of Life Down Under will show you that there's much more to Australia than Vegemite and Foster's beer. --Jhana Bach
Book Description
For the many thousands of visitors heading to Australia for the 2000 Olympics, and the millions of armchair travelers who will tune into the Olympics, this collection of stories will captivate and enchant those fascinated by the land down under. From outback to rain forest, Great Barrier Reef to the Red Center, Australia offers a chance for adventure beyond your wildest dreams. Whether it's biking across the Nullarbor Plateau, drifting through a billibong searching for crocs, surfing the big one, or walking a Songline, you will find it in OZ, and in this collection of true and fascinating stories that reveal the many facets of Australia. Most people have a particular set image of Australia, such as the Opera House or Ayers Rock, yet these famous icons do little justice to the abundance of Australia's natural treasures and its cultural diversity. Australia offers a wealth of travel experiences, from the drama of the Outback and the spectacle of the Great Barrier Reef to the cosmopolitanism of Sydney. Notable authors include Paul Theroux, Robyn Davidson, Tim Cahill, Bruce Chatwin, Robert Hughes, Tony Horwitz, Jill Ker Conway, Pico Iyer, Ronald Wright, and more.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reading on Australia.......2004-11-16
If you are planning a trip to Australia or wish you could, this book should top your reading list. It's not a travel guide, it collects 39 articles or book excerpts from diverse sources that get to the heart of Australia.
You hear first-hand accounts of back packers, travel writers (Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin), Australians, adventurers, vacationers, and just ordinary people. Such a wide selection lets you see Australia from many angles from the food to the people to the animals and the landscape. This is so much more in-depth than a guidebook could possibly be.
Read the harrowing account of a woman canoer who survived a crocodile attack, experience learning to surf at Bondi, ride after brumbies in the Snowy Mountains, etc. Not all stories are heroic, as these are real people writing their impressions of a country and its amazing animals and hardy people. Each gives their own viewpoint which makes for fascinating reading.
The selections vary from 5 to 20 pages, making it a great book to dip into when you don't have extended reading time.
I highly recommend this book. After living in Australia 3 1/2 years, it brought back many memories of a wonderful country and showed me why I need to travel there again.
Fun from Down Under.......2000-09-14
This collection of travel writer's accounts of their experiences in the land of kangaroos is amusing and informative. From an explanation of why Aussies call Americans "seppos" (a legacy of the rhyming slang of convicts, seppo means septic tank and tank matches Yank)to adventures in the Outback and quite a lot else, this is just a fun book to read.
Average customer rating:
- Everything Old is New Again
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Murder Down Under
Arthur W. Upfield
Manufacturer: Touchstone
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ASIN: 0684850591 |
Amazon.com
For readers who thought they'd exhausted the list of Golden Age mystery writers, Australian author Arthur Upfield (1888-1964) is often a pleasant surprise. The tales of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (or Bony, as he is known) offer all of the major pleasures of Christie, Tey, and Doyle; but Upfield's works also carry the freshness of his island continent setting and of his "half-caste" hero. Bony, born of an aborigine mother and a white father, is a genius of criminal science and also a classic gentleman. Suave and always impeccably dressed (except, of course, when in disguise), he solves mysteries through patience. As he often repeats to John Muir--one of the many young men he tutors: "Never race Time. Make Time an ally, for Time is the greatest detective that ever was or ever will be." Through Bony, Upfield's progressive series frequently explores the foundations of Australian race prejudices and defies them with Bonaparte's genial wit and disarming smile.
In Murder Down Under the detective is on holiday in western Australia but inevitably winds up with a working vacation, this time assisting young Sergeant Muir. Farmer George Loftus has disappeared, and his car was found smashed along the world's longest fence in the wheat town of Burracoppin. The days before Loftus's disappearance are filled with clues that point to Leonard Wallace, owner of the Burracoppin Hotel. Loftus had given Wallace a ride from Perth back to the hotel, and the pair had shared drinks in the bar before driving off together at 1 a.m.--shortly before the disappearance. Wallace claims that the two had argued and that he had left the car well before the accident. Now, Bony must parse truth and fiction in his inimitable style. Along the way, however, he meets the bizarre Mr. Jelly, an amateur criminologist who collects portraits of murders and who may have some insights into the case. Murder Down Under is a true classic: a rich world of quirky characters and fascinating scenery built around a complex and satisfying puzzle. Other adventures of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte: The Bone Is Pointed, The Bachelors of Broken Hill, and The Mystery of Swordfish Reef. --Patrick O'Kelley
Customer Reviews:
Everything Old is New Again.......2000-01-05
If you like stylized mysteries, Agatha Christie, Australia, or unusual detectives you will probably enjoy this book by Arthur Upfield. The setting is Western Australia of the '30s to '50s. The unusual detective hero is the half-Aboriginal and half-white Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony"). His struggle is to fit himself into the full range of Australian life, while being an outsider to both cultural worlds.
The real treat here is the insight you get into life in Western Australia in the first half of the 20th Century. Like Christie, the book is somewhat mannered in its approach. But the detailed view of Australians trying to live an "English" life in this remote corner will remain with you for a long time.
Upfield's view of the Aborigine in Australian society was probably quite daring for its time, but today it may make you shudder at its racist overtones. Never mind, keep on reading. This isn't life today in Australia; it is life as viewed through Australian eyes forty or fifty years ago. You will find yourself rooting for Detective Napoleon Bonaparte with his Aboriginal wisdom and Dreamworld view of crime and mystery.
Book Description
Spanning more than a century,
Australian Literature crystallizes a spirit, style, and ethos found nowhere else in world literature. These captivating selections in Australian Literature come from major voices, both famous and lesser known, and encompass short stories, memoirs, novels and aboriginal writings. Resonant or wryly witty, charming or disturbing, they explore themes deeply rooted in the Australian experience - shaping the land, the legacies of the convict past, the displacement of the aborigine, the search for a national identity, sex, love, and commitment.
Customer Reviews:
Who Says Only Kangaroos Can Jump?.......2007-07-14
Fantastic collection of literature from that most neglected of literary worlds. Many of these authors will be unknown to American readers. This is in itself a crime, and a very poor reflection on our awful schools. Patrick White is a Nobel Prize winner and deserves attention, but Carey is perhaps the more interesting of the two due to his interest in the bizarre and the fantastic. He taps more easily into the postmodern psyche. He is weird and wonderful, reminding this reader of Paul Bowles. Christina Stead is of interest to feminists but deserves attention for her superior writing skills. I can't think of an American woman writer with her cosmopolitan sophistication. Just shows that the Empire was good for something, because the Australian authors have gained from their commuting lives between Sydney and London and South Africa. Malouf, a Lebanese Jew, is fascinating, with a flare for the bizarre, like Carey. And on and on. The Australians, too, have authors of native descent, such as Astley. She passed away recently, I believe, but was one of the more prolific authors of her time. Many of these authors are interested in the dynamics of cross-cultural contact, exploring the lives of whites and aborigines as they have lived, for better and for worse, both together and separately. This is a fabulous anthology. For the price, it is doubtful that a better anthology can be found.
Recommended as an Introduction.......2007-02-06
The book was published in 1993 and contains 26 short stories or excerpts from novels and a memoir by 24 writers. The publication dates range from 1870 to 1989, and about half the pieces are by contemporary writers. The works are grouped by the themes of the bush, the Aboriginal experience, the convict system, the search for a national identity, and relationships. There was an introduction to the country and its literature, with recommendations for further reading.
Compared to other anthologies of Australian literature read that've been published in Great Britain and Australia since the 1960s, this one stood out for including excerpts from well-known novels by Marcus Clarke, Randolph Stow and A. B. Facey. Other memorable stories included one by Beverley Farmer written from the point of view of a male criminal, one by Tim Winton on a difficult childbirth, and one by Marian Eldridge about the problems of a welfare mother.
The selections are in general realist in style and not experimental, unlike some anthologies from earlier decades or the Oxford Book of Australian Short Stories. Although a number of the pieces, 11 or so, have appeared with some frequency in other collections, I'd recommend this book for those seeking an introduction, such as the audience for whom it seems to be primarily intended, North Americans.
Excellent celebration of Australia's literary heritage.......2004-03-12
"Australian Literature: An Anthology of Writing from the Land Down Under," edited by Phyllis Fahrie Edelson, contains over 300 pages of literature and supplementary material. Included are a substantial introductory essay, short author biographies, a map of Australia, a glossary of Australian terms, and a list of suggested readings.
The anthology is broken down thematically. Part I is "The Idea of the Bush." Part II, "Images of Australia," is further broken down into 3 subsections: "The Aboriginal Experience," "The Convict," and "The Search for a National Identity." Part III is "Relationships." Altogether there is a rich sampling of fiction and autobiographical writing. The anthology covers many themes and ideas: family ties, relations between the people and the land, socioeconomic status, education, Aboriginal culture, gay life, marriage, crime, etc.
There are a number of standouts in this overall solid collection. "The Chosen Vessel," by Barbara Baynton, is a chilling suspense tale. "The Loaded Dog," by Henry Lawson, is a wild piece of slapstick comedy. "Northern Belle," by Thea Astley, is a powerful character study that deals with the intersection of racial anxiety and gender roles. Excerpts from "A Fortunate Life," by A.B. Facey, offer a graphic look at the horror of war. This is a rich and diverse collection, well suited both for literature classes and individual reading.
Cultural Eavesdropping.......2001-03-22
Pieced together in snipets that leave the reader hungering for more, "Australian Literature, An Anthology of Writing from the Land Down Under," ambitiously attempts to collect the works of Aussie writers spanning two centuries and crossing class, gender, and racial lines. Edelson's introduction is invaluable for those who are new to Australian history, providing an excellent context for the works that follow.
"The Cooboo" by Katharine Prichard and "Wanamurraganya: The Story of Jack McPhee" offer a glimpse into the mythical, troubled, and gritty negotiations of Aboriginal life, their dealings with colonial oppression, and their relationship to the land. "The Chosen Vessel," by Barbara Baynton, depicts a bush culture of misogyny and "Breaking a Man's Spirit," by Marcus Clarke, offers insight into the convict legacy. At first, the stories appear fragmented and unrelated, but as the reader progresses, the unifying themes of suffering, man/woman's relationship with a hostile environment, and self-determination begin to unfold. Aesthetically, the stories "feel" uniquely Australian, conveying a certain terseness, intensity, and independence.
On the downside, no poetry is included in the collection and I would have preferred more short fiction over novel excerpts. As an introduction to Australian literature, however, it succeeds beautifully.
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