Battle of Kapyong

Strangely enough, the Battle of Kapyong in the Korean War, is being written about quite a bit in the media this year around ANZAC Day. The Korean War and Kapyong were of course part of the subject matter of Brother Fish. So I am grateful to Bryce Courtenay for his story which has opened my eyes to a piece of history that features Aussie, NZ and Canadian troops amongst others, pitted against the Chinese who were helping the Nth Koreans defend Seoul. Again oddly enough, the Kapyong battle lasted for 2 days, ending on ANZAC Day, 1951. The war theme is continued in The Book Thief, being set in Nazi Germany.

Book Thief Time

I finished Brother Fish last night and can now start The Book Theif. Here's Bev who gave me Brother Fish to read - thanks Bev. In a sawp, Bev now has Come in Spinner to take away on her Easter holiday. In the end, Brother Fish wasn't too bad; quite a good yarn, some interesting characters. I was surprised to read in the book's acknowledgements that Courtenay does have an editor (haha!).

Brother Fish or Book Thief?

Last night I finished The Messenger. It really was a very good book: clever, subtle and profound, just like the back cover blurb says. Bev has loaned me Brother Fish to read and today, Kim brought in The Book Thief. The Courtenay again daunts me, I'd rather not have to read any more of his books (snob!) but I will. And I will indulge in a little speed reading I am sure, to hasten progress toward The Book Thief. A lovely reward after a big fat fishy read. It's not that I'm not grateful to Bev... just shame about the book! But Bev quite enjoyed it and once I am finished I will get a "vox pop" from my lovely friend... the nice thing about Brother Fish is that Bev read a lot of it on her holiday in Port Douglas...

I Am The Messenger after The Brush-Off

The Brush-Off was a very entertaining romp through 80s Melbourne, art and politics. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now to Markus Zusak. I am reading a book that preceded the apparently very famous The Book Thief. Messenger got off to a deceptively silly and grungy 20-something sort of a start. But it's ramping up into something quite startling. Another startling fact is that this novel was written by a very young Zusak: by my calculation, this writer was only 26 at the time of its publication. Karien and Kim have raved about Book Thief. I hope to nab Kim's copy if she still has it!