More Hell than Bliss

On holiday in Yamba currently, so able to read a bit. Staggered my way through Bliss which was quite hard going really. About Harry Joy in Hell. Nice enough ending though. Bought People of the Book today at the Yamba Bookshop. But might go back to the Patrick White book I started ages ago...

Bliss ...

Finished TheTax Inspector last night. Ending too weird and gruesome, rather OTT...

Tonight: Bliss.

Trying -and Loving - Peter Carey

Yes, I finished Holden's Performance a couple of nights ago. It was kind of a slow, gentle and ponderous read, a bit like the main character of the book. But beautifully imagined, such inventive writing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Reading Holden, I really got a sense of the craft of a good fiction writer. It wasn't quite 'poetry' but the effort and cleverness of the writer, the left-of-field outlook on life was quite evident without being overstated; a very clever and eccentric writer. Give me more ...

And Carey is Murray Bail on acid. And exactly the opposite of what you'd expect from the cover of The Tax Inspector. It is out there! Full of crazy, yet ordinary, and very engaging characters. Loving it.

Bought Bliss at the Flinders Fair today - bargain at $2!

Yes, I know Peter Carey is famous and I really should have read at least one of his books by now; Illywhacker, Oscar and Lucinda... still, that's why I'm on this mission, to finally get around to all those books I really must read and discover a whole lot more!

Work (and winter bugs) gets in the way

I am still struggling my way through Holden's Performance and nearly at the end. Progress has been slowed by reading commitments of the work variety and the increased need for sleep (rather than reading long into the wee hours) due to winter bugs. I even took a study day today, to try and get on top of some of the work stuff!

Maybe tonight, I will polish off 'The Holden'.

Holden Prototype

Well, yes: Holden's Performance is sort of about cars. The story is set in post-war Adelaide which saw the introduction of, and beginning of the love affair with, the Australian-made car.

This particular car is the Holden Prototype Car No. 1 which became the definitive model for millions of Holden cars.
Photo credit: Dragi Markovic, see the National Museum of Australia website.


And I'm back in the driver's seat again, finished for now with things Singapore...

The Lure of Singapore

It seems I can be quite distractable when starting a new book. We're off to Singapore for a week later in the year and even for a week-long stay, there's a lot to choose from to see, do and most importantly, eat! So, I'm going to read this lonely planet guide and make a few jottings to plan our time, before getting seriously stuck into Holden's Performance. But then there's the very tempting Further Reading section in the lonely planet guide, for the obsessively well-prepared traveller...Particularly tempting is a "rowdy" Paul Theroux novel, Saint Jack. Might just have to give that one a whirl - I went through a bit of a Paul Theroux phase, I suppose it would have been when in my lates 20s. And there are some titles written by local literary luminaries to try out as well.

A Book about a Car?

I finished Vanishing Points last night. A few days ago, I was surprised to discover the book comprises two novellas. Enjoyed both very much, the second one more so. And I've just realised I can't remember the name of the second one. The first was called the Genteel Poverty Bus Company! And now the book is back at the library.

I was even moved to a few tears last night as I neared the end of the second novella. Julie had taken her children to a very small shanty Aboriginal settlement in the Cape. She'd "abandoned" her children largely to the disinterested care of her dreadful, filthy rich, crass developer husband whom she'd recently left, finally unable to live with his serial infidelities. Anyway, one holiday weekend, she scooped up her three kids, bundled them into a caravan and drove them up to the far north; then blew their minds with a few days at an unofficial mission run by three nuns in this tiny, run down place on the coast. Julie's youngest, some sort of child genius described as eight going on eighty, turned to his Mum and asked her - Mum, why are these people so poor? A few days in that environment had taught them all so much and brought them closer together as a family. Did it for me!

So now, to Holden's Performance. Holden is a person's name I think. But the title still brings to mind a car when I read it ...