Treasures I Didn't Even Know I Had

I was surprised to see on the list The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan - that just shows you what an ignoramus I am. I have no recollection of buying this book or what might have possessed me to do so! I have a few Australian novels on my shelf, all grouped together. But One Hand Clapping was not amongst them. That's because I didn't even realise this was an Australian book. Oh dear. But I've read it now and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was pretty grim, set in Tasmania, the context being dam constructions and tells the terribly hard story of migrants from Europe in the 50s as they came to The Lucky Country to do all the "wog jobs" that the city Aussies didn't want to do. Many of the migrants had witnessed war-time atrocities and were seriously disturbed as a result. The little girl on the cover of the book is the daughter of two migrants and she's the novel's focus, the story centering on her troubled but ultimately hopeful relationship with her father.

So, I own a few of these books I'm going to read. But then there comes the question of how do I access the remainder of the books on the list? Well, I've been working my way through the list and our Sunshine Coast library catalogue online and thankfully, there are many available at the library.

Others I hope to pick up nice and cheaply at second hand bookshops, like I did Wake in Fright, by Kenneth Cook.