Joy Dettman

These two books have been on order for a few weeks now - they must be very popular. Dominic and I went to the library after dinner to pick them up. I am starting with Mallawindy. And it's a very grim start...

I finished Maestro last night.

Maestro

Having trouble getting an image (but finally did, a bit blurry)on here of the second Peter Goldsworthy book I'm reading, Maestro. But since I'm nearly finished it, thought I'd better get something on here ...

Three Dog Night ended up really irritating me with its implausible moral dilemma. I got quite cross with it - shades of For Love Alone.

Maestro is better.

Henry's Daughter is waiting for me at the library; might take Dominic after work tomorrow to pick it up.

Contillo; then a book by Dr Goldsworthy

I finished reading Tangara about Wednesday and am now well over half way through Contillo, another of my Leura book bargains. Contillo is a lovely gentle, understated read; so compelling though, as the characters are wonderful. Not outrageous, but ordinary and perfectly brought to life by Aitchison's writing. The book begins in an impoverished rural village in Italy just before the onset of WW2. Stefano Contillo is a farm labourer with an ever-increasing family. He emigrates to Australia so he can send money back to support his family. He misses the war in Italy but is interred in Australia. The book says little about that but says so much about other aspects of social and political life in Australia at that time. From the unionised steelworks and slums of Sydney to the rough, empty and rutted-roaded Queensland where Contillo goes cane-cutting. It's wonderful.

Dr Peter Goldsworthy (father of Anna, of Piano Lessons fame) featured recently in an article in a local rag; I think he's taking part in a Noosa Long Weekend culture fest. So I thought I'd see what he's written and there are at least a couple, from memory, maybe three, of his books on my list. Three Dog Night was available in the library so I will start with that once I have finished (and I will be sad) Contillo.

Adolescence

I finished The Little Company last night. It was really very good. Again, someone else's words describe this book so much better than I ever could; here's the back cover blurb: "The work successfully demonstrates how personal questions intertwine with larger political and intellectual concerns, and the impact of extraordinary times on ordinary people ... the book has a complex narrative structure and explores the politics and propaganda of the war through the experiences of the Massey family. The book records some of the events of the war but is primarily set in Sydney and the Blue Mountains".

Dominic and I had gone to the library yesterday and I picked up Puberty Blues. It's just a little shorty so I had finished that by this morning. And now I am reading Tangara, one of the three I recently bought from Leura books.