classics – Page 2 – Aussie Reviews

Australian Classics, by Jane Gleeson-White

This useful reference explores fifty classic pieces of Australian literature, discussing the influences which shaped each book, the author’s background, events of the day and more. The fifty chosen books range in time from Rolf Boldrewood’s 1882 novel Robbery Under Arms to Tim Winton’s 1991 offering Cloudstreet, and in form from fiction and nonfiction prose, to children’s books and poetry.

Whilst readers may have their own ideas about which fifty Australian books should be included in such a collection, the author acknowledges that many worthy offerings have been exclude by inviting other Australians – including Frank Moorehouse and David Malouf – to share their own lists of favourite Australian books.

Lovers and students of Australian literature will find much to absorb here –new aspects of old favourites as well as perhaps an awareness of gaps in their personal reading or home libraries.

An excellent reference. First published in 2007, and rereleased in 2010 in paperback format.

Australian Classics: 50 Great Writers and Their Celebrated Works, by Jane Gleeson-White
Allen & Unwin, 2010

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The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs

One very hot night, when the Cicadas were singing so loudly that Snugglepot couldn’t hear his father snoring, he and Cuddlepie crept out of bed and out of the house.
“Where are you going?” asked Cuddlepie.
“To see the Humans,” said Snugglepot.
“Only in the distance,” pleaded Cuddlepie. Then they began their journey.

Since their first appearance in 1918, the adventures of gumnut babies Snugglepot and Cuddlepie have delighted readers of all ages. Images of the pair have also been widely loved.

This new edition brings all three volumes of their adventures together in one volume, with the original illustrations. Collectors and adults who have loved the tales in the past will be delighted to have them anew, and younger readers may enjoy the chance to discover them for the first time.

In paperback format, this would make a great gift for a young Aussie reader.

The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs
This edition Angus & Robertson, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

My Country, by Dorothea Mackellar & Andrew McLean

I love a sunburnt country
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!

Since its first publication in 1908, this poem has been learnt, sung, recited and cherished by countless Australians. Now, it is brought to life in stunning watercolour to be loved and cherished by a new generation of readers.

My Country combines the original poem by Dorothea Mackellar with sumptuous watercolour illustrations by illustrator Andrew McLean, who captures both the beauty and the diversity of the Australian landscape. the design of the book is also beautiful, with the cover presented like a leather-bound album with picture insert, and the endpapers adorned with gumleaves.

A lovely gift, likely to appeal to children and adults and also suitable for classroom use.

My Country, by Dorothea Mackellar & Andrew McLean
Omnibus, 2010

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The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill, by Dorothy Wall

Over seventy years after he first made Australian children smile, rascally koala Blinky Bill is back in print in The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill. Combing three volumes of Blinky’s adventures, this book was first published as a combined volume in 1939, and has been rereleased to commemorate the seventy year anniversary.

In hard cover format, with coloured pages (different for each of the three books), and coloured endpapers and plates as well as black and white illustrations, this is a delightful offering which will be loved by collectors who remember the stories from their childhood, as well as children who may not have heard them before. Whilst the stories are in places dated (even politically incorrect), Blinky’s adventures are still lots of fun. I shared the book with my nine year old son over several weeks of bedtime reading, and he laughed out loud many times, and repeatedly asked for more.

The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill would be an ideal gift for any Aussie kid.

The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill, by Dorothy Wall
This edition Harper Collins, 2009

this book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Come By Chance, by Madeline Winch

Bertha was alone.
She had walked and walked
and was far from anywhere.

Bertha, with her sensible shoes and walking stick, has walked many miles alone. She finds an abandoned house on a hill and makes it her home. She works hard for many days and her final touch is a sign Come By Chance that she affixes to the front door, so that all may know they are welcome. Then, she sits by the fire on a dark, stormy night. One by one, animals seek to join her in the still warmth of the house. Bertha has found company and they have found shelter. Together they see the winter out. When Spring comes, most of the animals depart. But Bertha, and the one remaining animal know that winter, and their friends, will return.

Come By Chance is a very simple and gentle text. Most openings have no more than one or two sentences. The illustrations are mostly full- or double-page except the vignettes where the transformation of the house takes place. Where the text describes the storm outside, the illustrations show the arrival one-by-one of frightened and bedraggled animals. Much of the action is shown in the illustrations and combines with the spare text to offer a gentle story of caring and companionship. Bertha is clearly capable of being alone, but enjoys the company that arrives by chance. Come By Chance was first published in 1988 and is here republished by Walker Books in their ‘classics’ series. Included are notes from Maurice Saxby and some early sketches for Bertha and other characters. Madeleine Winch shares her inspiration for and the development of the story. A delightful story recommended for young children and anyone who loves picture books.

Come By Chance, Madeleine Winch
Walker Books 2009
ISBN: 9781921150845

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

Come By Chance, by Madeline Winch

Bertha was alone.
She had walked and walked
and was far from anywhere.

Come By Chance, Madeleine Winch
Walker Books 2009
ISBN: 9781921150845

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

The Harp in the South, by Ruth Park

This was the place where the Darcys lived – Plymouth Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, in an unlucky house which the landlord had renumbered from thirteen to Twelve-and-a-Half.
It was the oldest in Plymouth Street, a cranky brown house, with a blistered green door, and a step worn into dimples and hollows that collected the rain in little pools in which Roie and Dolour, when little, had always expected to find frogs.

The Harp in the South is the story of the Irish Catholic Darcy family, living in the slums of inner Sydney in the post war era. Mumma and Hughie and their teenage daughters Dolour and Roie are poor and face a daily struggle to survive, yet they are a family, and, in their own way, able to find some happiness.

In the course of the novel Roie meets her first beau, Tommy, and learns lessons about love, and Dolour grows from a surly child to a blossoming teen. Mumma, meanwhile, lives with the sadness caused by the disappearance of her only son ten years before, and also nurses her mother through her final months. Hughie, the man of the family, is an alcoholic, and unreliable, but his love for his family shows through during tough moments. The Darcy’s neighbours also feature in the story – their lodgers, Patrick Diamond and Miss Sheily with a disabled son Johnnie, as well as Lick Jimmy, the fruiterer from next door, all have their own challenges and foibles.

Whilst there is a sequential plot, this is more of a snapshot of life (and love in its many forms) in the Sydney slums than it is a single story. Readers will connect with, and cheer for, the characters and emerge wanting to know more.

The Harp in the South was first published in 1948 and has been continuously in print ever since. In its newest incarnation, it forms part of the Popular penguins imprint.

The Harp in the South (Popular Penguins), by Ruth Park
This edition Penguin 2009

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The Merry-Go-Round By the Sea, by Randolph Stow

The boy looked down from the sky. He looked down on Rick holding open the gate, and closing it while Goldie waited. He looked down on Rick walking ahead in the road, being nudged now and then by Goldie’s nose, but not turning. The hairs on the back of Rick’s neck were golden. Two crows were crying in the sky, and everything was asleep. The day, the summer, would never end. He would walk behind Rick, he would study Rick forever.

Six year old Rob Coram lives in Geraldton, Western Australia, far away from the war raging in Europe and the Pacific. But when his much-loved cousin, Rick, goes away to fight in that war, it suddenly becomes much more real and personal. As the war drags on, Rob longs for Rick to come home. When Rick, returns, though, he is different, and Rob struggles to maintain the closeness he once felt.

The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea provides a glimpse into family life in war-time Australia, and will especially evoke a sense of the familiar in Western Australian readers. It is also a coming-of-age novel, showing Rob’s growth through his childhood and into his teens, whilst his cousin, made a man in his desperate survival as a prisoner of war, seems to regress and to appear younger back in the world of his childhood.

With a cast of aging aunts and grandmothers, fathers and uncles who seem to play only small roles in Rob’s childhood, younger cousins and childhood friends, Rob’s life rolls through the six years of this tale, with childhood scenes of humour and adventure, interspersed with sadness and tension.

First published in 1965 and reprinted numerous times, The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea has now been rereleased as part of the popular Penguins series, allowing it be rediscovered by past fans and uncovered by a new generation of readers.

The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea , by Randolph Stow
This edition Penguin, 2009

Picnic at Hanging Rock, by Joan Lindsay

‘Miranda…!’ There was no answering voice. The awful silence closed in and Edith began, quite loudly now, to scream. If her terrified cries had been heard by anyone but a wallaby squatting in a clump of bracken a few feet away, the picnic at hanging Rock might yet have been just another picnic on a summer’s day. Nobody did hear them. The wallaby sprang up in alarm and bounded away, as Edith turned back, plunged blindly into the scrub and ran, stumbling and screaming, towards the plain.

On Valentine’s day, 1900 group of young women from an exclusive boarding school are treated to a picnic in the bush. It is a lovely day, and the girls are excited at the chance for a break from their daily routine. But, when four girls go for a walk for a closer look at Hanging Rock, tragedy strikes. Three of the four fail to return and Edith, the one who does, has no recollection of what befell her friends. At the same time one of the teachers accompanying the girls also disappears. In the days and weeks following the mystery surrounding their disappearance grows, nd the subsequent effect ripple throughout the community.

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a classic piece of Australian fiction, first published in 1967, and presenting a mystery which is so well known that many believe it to have some element of truth. Now the story has been rereleased as part of the Popular Penguins series, allowing readers to rediscover it, or for a new generation of readers to sample it for the first time.

A wonderful story which has withstood the test of time.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Popular Penguins), by Joan Lindsay
This edition Penguin, 2009

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The Bodysurfers, by Robert Drewe

From its first release in 1983, The Bodysurfers has been widely acclaimed as a wonderful example both of Australian writing and of the short story form. With recurrent themes and characters across the collection, and familiar beach side settings in many of the stories, these are tales which Australian readers can relate to.

Now The Bodysurfers has been rereleased in budget paperback format as part of the Popular Penguin series. The format makes the title both affordable and portable, and the stories themselves blend character development with absorbing scenarios. Whilst each tale is different, all leave the reader pondering, with deliberately loose ends to be considered. Themes of marital breakup, fidelity, identity and, of course, the beach, recur as the stories span three generations of one family.

A classic.

The Bodysurfers , by Robert Drewe
Penguin, first published 1983, this edition 2009

This book can be purchased online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.