Want to feel thankful for Medicare? Read this book.

Lionel Shriver (We Need to Talk About Kevin) has written a funny book about terminal illness. Or at least, funnier than you would expect, considering the subject matter.

The hero of So Much For That is Shepherd Knacker, the epitome of a decent man. His life is turned suddenly upside down when his wife Glynis is diagnosed with a rare cancer, and given a poor prognosis.

We follow him as he tries to navigate the hideous expense and bureaucracy of the American healthcare system, while remaining a good husband, father, friend, son and brother to those around him. The main storyline is predictable, but there are some audacious twists that somehow remain believable.

Shep’s staunchest ally is his best friend Jackson, who, despite dealing with his own serious family health issues, provides comic relief in the form of long rants against the government, the establishment, or anyone else he thinks deserves it.

These passages in fact are the parts of the book that didn’t ring quite true for me. Informative, yes. Particularly for a non-American reader. However, they had the feel of a long ‘letter to the editor’ from Shriver, conveniently put into quotation marks and treated as dialogue.

Many of the characters are angry, flawed, unlikeable. They are also, for the most part, beautifully drawn in great detail, although a few (Glynis’s sisters and Shep’s sister Beryl in particular) are little more than caricatures.

The damning portrayal of the American health system is sobering. It was written before the government reforms of 2010, so we can only hope that things are starting to improve. However, it did make me feel incredibly lucky to be living in Australia where Medicare (although far from perfect) means we all have a safety net if the worst comes to the worst.

Shriver has a knack of getting right inside us, where the thoughts we are ashamed of reside. And she holds them up to the glaring light. The book poses some truly uncomfortable questions: How much is a life worth? How well do we deal with death, living in a society where the subject is more taboo than religion, money or even sex? Do nice guys finish last? And how good a friend will we really be when our loved ones need us most? 

www.tlcbooktours.com

Maggie Sakko

It's SNOT that hard... or is it?

By HH

I am the proud mother of two boys!
They are 14 months apart. I’ve had a few people take their hats off to me, but I am neither the first nor the last brave mother to have her kids this close.
It is hard work. It’s that simple. HARD WORK.
But you learn as the days pass to become a really great juggler in your new life at the circus. Of course you are dressed as the sad clown. That’s due to lack of sleep so I guess the sad clown make-up is a blessing then!
I am trying my best to get back on the writing band wagon to entertain you all with my mummy-in-traning antics.
There is so much to tell, and it may come out in dribs and drabs so please forgive me.
How was my week?
Baby #1 is sick with a cold, full of snot he licked baby #2 and now he's is sick with a cold too. Off to the doctor, who advised it was a throat viral thingy and antibiotics are required. Thank God baby #2 is young enough to just swallow the medicine with a confused, shocked, (what is this crap?) look on his little face.
Baby #1 on the other hand is an entirely different story. He can not be reasoned with and has excellent mouth clenching abilities. After a battle and many tears the only way to get this medicine in there is to hold him down, and shove the syringe into the back of his throat while he gags and splutters and I’m sure he hates my guts.
I’m the mum- it’s my job I have to do it. So cleaning snot has been on the agenda this week. Listening to the kids cough and sneeze and breathing like monsters overnight. I’m not getting much sleep worrying about them. Sad clown make-up has turned into ‘Return of the Living Dead’ zombie face.
I’m soooo beautiful right now! Not.
Tomorrow is another day.
Good night my monkeys, mummy loves you.

Photo: My monkeys. Xander and Slater.

Easy Weekend Reads… ‘The Honey Queen’ by Cathy Kelly

Sunday Times bestseller, Cathy Kelly, returns with her latest book The Honey Queen.  In true Kelly style, the characters are believable, immediately likeable, and engaging.   The story is beautifully crafted with just enough tension to make it comfortable to read and a page-turner at the same time.

The novel follows three main characters: Peggy, a young woman desperate to escape her past by setting up a knitting shop in a town far from her family; Francesca, a career woman on the verge of menopause and retrenchment; and Australian born Lillie, whose husband’s death awakens an intense need to return to her birthplace and discover her roots. 

Kelly has a wonderful ability to write about the everyday lives of women in a way that makes it nearly impossible to put the book down.  Like her last novel, The House on Willow Street, she uses the narrative to raise awareness about the rights of women in domestic violence situations.  Through Peggy, who tries to convince her mother to leave the family home and start a new life, Kelly again explores the fear of staying, the fear of leaving, and the eventual relief when the cycle is broken. 

The author’s deep love of true family and community shines through the narrative.  The reader is transported into the realistic but loveable town of Redstone and into the innermost thoughts of her characters as they try to build good lives and genuine relationships. 

www.cathykelly.com

Amanda G

Easy Weekend Reads… ‘The House on Willow Street’ by Cathy Kelly

Number One Bestseller, The House on Willow Street (Harper Collins 2012) is a romantic fiction set in Ireland during the global financial crisis. It follows the lives of four women who return to the Irish village of Avalon to heal their broken hearts. 

Mara, after being cheated on in a publically humiliating way, is determined to create a new life in Avalon.  She moves in with her aunt Danae – a hermit who is forced reluctantly into socialising by her niece.   Sisters Tess and Suki must forgive the past if Tess is to restart her life after divorce, save her antiques shop, and reconnect with the one man she never stopped loving.  Suki, a once famous writer, needs to resurrect her career and write the book that will help her do it.   

An ambassador for UNICEF and supporter of rights for women and children, Cathy Kelly draws the theme of domestic violence into the narrative.  She treats the topic with sincerity and care.  Her insightful observations of human behaviour shine through in her strong, believable characters.

Although it is an easy weekend read, there is plenty of tension in this book.  Kelly keeps fascinating details about her characters’ pasts secret until she is left with no other choice but to reveal them. 

Guaranteed to keep you turning the pages…

 www.cathykelly.com

Amanda G

The Dark Side of the National Census

Despite the risk of sounding like someone from Grumpy Old Women, I am still cross about the last Census forced upon me in 2011.  This one was so intrusive I’ve got bets on the next one having additional blank pages for our life stories.

In this dangerous new world of terrorists, hackers, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, just where will our precious information end up?  Let’s not snuggle up with the idea that our data is secure.  If the Chinese can access the blueprints to the ASIO building, it’s safe to assume privacy is nonexistent.

In 1933 and 1939 Hitler used Census information to identify the Jewish population.  Edwin Black, author of IBM and the Holocaust writes: "Each person over the age of twelve was required to fill out census and registration in duplicate, and then was fingerprinted. Part of the form was stamped and returned as the person's new identification form. Without it, they would be shot. With it, they would be deported."[1]

Refreshingly, Canada has tossed the threats of fines or jail, and replaced it with a voluntary survey to safeguard their citizen’s security. 

If only my local Census lady, who hunted me like fugitive for weeks, would embrace Canada’s perspective.

www.ibmandtheholocaust.com 

Amanda G

---

[1] Edwin Black, IBM and the Holocaust, Dialog Press 2008, p.197

Black Books on the best list of sitcoms.

By Morgana Hassan

 

Image: Fan pop

Black Books is a sitcom that will serve you a satisfying comedic fix especially when you are in the mood for satire, dry wit and dark-humour.

Black Books, co-written by Dylan Moran is performed by some of Britain’s best comedians. Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) is a jaded bookshop owner who openly repudiates his customers. Manny (Bill Bailey) is Bernard’s new shop assistant at Black Books who possesses a more submissive and enthusiastic nature. Although their personalities are polar opposite their chemistry is very transparent. Bernard’s old friend Fran (Tamsin Greig) owns a gift shop right next door to Black Books and visits very frequently. Fran’s character is very diplomatic and she acts as an adhesive for Bernard and Manny when they fight, however she (like Bernard) is a raging alcoholic with an unfulfilling love life.

Bernard relies on Manny for being the backbone of his bookshop; Manny relies on Bernard for self-realization and worth for his work, while Fran relies on Bernard and Manny for genuine company and recreational drinking.

All three rely on Black Books as a place to hide away from the world however after a bottle of wine or two (per person), a whole new opportunity for adventure opens up to them.

A fine balance of surrealism and realism is combined into the scriptwriting of Black Books making the series of plots so effortlessly believable for the audience. The realism side of the sit-com allows you to relate to the plot and the surrealism side allows you to surrender to escapism. Not to mention the subliminal pull of craving a wine after 5 minutes of watching the characters guzzling down theirs.

Don’t take my word for it though, give it a go and see how long you can last into a Black Books marathon without craving a drink.

All in all I think Black Books is one of my highly favoured sitcoms, best suited to watch on a rainy day with a glass of red. 

Cheers.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaeeCV8eRr4

THE LOST THING

THE LOST THING

The Lost Thing is a delightful book by Shaun Tan, an award winning Australian author and illustrator. Published in 2000 by Thomas C Lothian, it is a fantasy story about a boy who comes upon a bizarre but benign creature at the beach while hunting for bottle tops for his collection.

The story was developed over about a year and Tan says that the boy is loosely based on himself beach-combing near his Western Australian childhood home. The plot involves the boy’s attempts to figure out what to do with the creature which include visiting fancifully named government departments like the “Department Of Odds & Ends.” Classic themes such as the need to belong, alienation and bureaucratic indifference are explored as the story moves towards its intriguing conclusion.

In 2010 The Lost Thing was adapted into a short animated film which was co-directed by Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and narrated by actor/comic Tim Minchin, and at the 2011 Academy Awards it won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. The Oscar win is all the more impressive as The Lost Thing’s main competitor was an adaptation of The Gruffalo, which not only was a best selling children’s book but boasted the star power of actors Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter and John Hurt.

Rewind a little to 2006 and I had the good fortune to attend the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival where Shaun Tan was a featured speaker. Both myself and my daughter were fans of his work and so I lined up with many others to have a copy of The Lost Thing signed by the author. Fortuitously, I had chosen that book totally at random from the 5 or 6 Tan titles that were available at the festival bookstore.

Shaun Tan turned out to be every bit as charming as his work suggests he would be. Not only did he sign the flyleaf, but also embossed it with his very impressive DEPARTMENT OF ODDS & ENDS rubber stamp and a very cool sketch of the book’s central character giving me a wave and a hello!

What price on eBay you may ask? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can continue to wonder, because that’s not going to happen.

Michael D Hansen -  24 July  2013

Go here http://www.thelostthing.com to check out The Lost Thing official website.

Go here http://www.acmi.net.au/shaun-tan-lost-thing.aspx for details of an ACMI exhibition dealing with the transition from book to film.

ADDITIONAL STUFF - Went to the ACMI exhibition on Saturday afternoon with my daughter and it was an absolute treat. All kinds of audio visual presentations, prints of sketches, colour palettes, fabric samples for textures, and a fascinating insight into the intricacies of the animation process, PLUS a tiny alcove where you can watch the Grammy winning film. Shaun Tan will also be featured at The Melbourne Writer's Festival (22 Aug - 1 Sept).   

MDH - 28 July 2013