Australia Books

With 'Terra Nullius', Sven Lindqvist turns his ascerbic, post-colonial attention on the great antipodean continent of Australia, ancient land mass, ancient indigenous cultures and one of the greatest of C18th Enlightenment experiments. The grim life of what was essentally a prison developed when the option of the United states was closed due to the War of Independence, is well documented by Robert Hughes in his, 'Fatal Shore'. Lindqvist's rhetoric is of cooler peruasion, but none the less withering for that. The manner adopted will be familiar to Lindqvist's readers. We are conducted on a studious and lugubrious tour of the literature surrounding the subject, the land mass and the treatment of its indigenous peoples, by its colonizer. These alone are salutory selections and presented in Lindqvist's usual succinct and pithy chapters. However, he is not a long distance operator, drawing conclusions in the safety of a European cell. He does the hard yards, gets the soundbites, scents, geology and social realities right. I recommend this as a primer for intending travellers to central Australia, who might wish for some background to the contemporary malaise in indigenous affairs, or in need of some background on why the federal government saw fit, and found it so easy, to intervene its army in indigenous communities, with barely a ripple of concern from the Australian public. It should be mandatory on the reading lists of Australian students. Check my website, rodmoss.com

Literary historian Sven Linqvist was introduced to Australia at a young age. An 1896 book described how white European invaders viewed and treated the Aborigines. The story depicted a trio of young European boys encountering a group of Aborigines at a meal. Tucked away in a deep cavern, which to the boys meant the Aborigines couldn't have hunted the meal, the boys immediately concluded the group was engaging in cannibalism. The result was inevitable, the boys opened fire with their carbines, wiping out the "natives". For Lindqvist, it launched a train of thought he pursued years later. Journeying around and through Australia, he brought in his swag a background of European literature dealing with "primitive" peoples. In this vivid account, he takes us on both a geographic and a sociological tour of Australia's historical dealings with its indigenous population. At each stopping point, he relates what occurred to the Aboriginal occupiers there. It's not a pretty story.

The Aborigines were the focus of a good many early ethnographic scholars, almost none of whom set foot on the southern continent. Emile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, Bronislaw Malinovski, among others, read a few accounts of missionary or other observers to draw novel, if still Euro-centric, ideas of what Aborigine social structure was like and what it meant for human history. The common theme was that primitive societies represented a step on the way to "civilisation". According to Lindqvist, these scholars were uniformly incorrect. Instead of family, clan or even religion binding Aborigine society, it was the land they occupied. Europeans, who considered nomadic peoples as "landless", failed to observe the way land featured in family relationships, religion and the way a people who seemed to be constantly on the move, viewed the land. Aborigines may not have farmed the soil or used it to pasture animals, but that was because they understood how fragile that resource truly is. Europeans, under the influence of Christian dogma about "heathens" and academic dogmas about "primitive people", occupied Aborigine land with the view to "assimilating" or eradicating them. Assimilation was achieved by elimination of all ties to their own culture and a brief education leading to demeaning jobs as domestics or labourers. In short, forced off their land, forced to deny their roots, forced to enter an alien life.

The colony of New South Wales considered the issue of "terra nullius" ["land not occupied"] in the 1820s, but the author mercifully skips over the issue of whether displacing or killing Aborigines was "legal" or not. Instead, he views it as the attitude and the practice of Christian European settlers and miners as they crossed the continent. Until recently, only a few accounts made any effort to bring the Aborigines into historical narratives. Lindqvist makes the most of what he can find to depict the atrocities perpetrated against them. Beyond merely shooting them, Europeans also turned to the seizure of children to be trained in "mission" stations to be domestic servants or road and farm labourers. In addition to simply breaking up families with this tactic, the removal of children dismantled the entire social structure of the culture. With firm ties to particular areas of the countryside and ancient traditions regarding who could marry among the various "moieties", Europeans demolished millennia of finely-tuned cultural foundations.

As a literary historian with a broad outlook in philosophy, the author carefully examines the options facing the white population of Australia. How much guilt is to be recognized when you're living in a place so blatantly wrested from an indigenous population? How much responsibility is there for an individual in those circumstances to consider or bear? It's interesting that Australians have had sufficient sense of conscience to implement a "Sorry Day" in recognition of the injustices done to original peoples. Court cases finally introduced [almost] full citizenship, some justice for recent murders and, most significantly, recognition of what "land rights" implied. Regrettably, the federal government of the time [recently overturned after an over-long tenure] immediately attempted to impose new restrictions on access to sacred places. Even so, some halting first steps have been taken. It will be interesting to watch whether Lindqvist's account provokes Australia into more constructive steps into the future. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

There's some very important and fascinating work going on these days in the intersection of algorithmic information theory, computer science, physics, and cosmology that may very well be leading us to a much deeper understanding of the world. The long-sought "Theory of Everything" may in fact turn out to be much simpler and more beautiful than previous attempts at such a thing might have lead us to believe. Over the last several years a mailing list, the Everything List, has been home to much discussion and debate among researchers from a variety of disciplines who are individually and collectively converging on a common understanding of the way things may actually work at the deepest level.

Dr. Russell Standish is one of these researchers, and has contributed significant and novel insights in this field. In authoring this book, Dr. Standish has served a different and much needed purpose. The book is an excellent and very approachable introduction to the subject at hand; it skillfully navigates the territory between expert and layman. It provides a very concise yet thorough overview of several years of discussion and debate on the aforementioned mailing list, and in doing so sets the stage for Standish to present his own startling and compelling conjecture about the ultimate nature of the universe in which we live.

This book may well be the vehicle by which these ideas become well-known and generally understood by the scientifically-literate public. As such it may be one of the most important popular science publications of our time.

If you only ever choose to read one book on the topics of algorithmic information theory, quantum mechanics, cosmology, eschatology, the nature of mind / consciousness / experience, the Simulation Hypothesis, ontology, scientific philosophy, or mathematical reasoning - make it this one.

This book covers a diverse range of topics that may be of interest to info-lifers or Infodels. It takes the idea of the anthropic principle and developes the idea of the multiverse and using information theory to explain that an ensemble of universes with every random configuration carries no information and is essentially nothing. We would (using anthropic reasoning) as conscious observers find ourselves only in a highly ordered subset of the ensemble. The book goes on to describe the implications of such a world with regard to the simulation argument, personal immortality and the doomsday argument. His Borgesian worldview is backed up by mathematical and philosophical arguments. Definitely a good read for infolifers of a mathematical platonist bent.

As just another digger I found this book to be most worthy.
Having been through the training regimes as recommended by Ted Serong in Australia and having the understanding of the type of war we were involved in I could never understand the manner in which the Americans fought the war.
After reading this book I now understand it to have been a distrust of non American ideas and arrogance of the"we know better" type and impatience, thinking always that bigger is better rather than looking at quality.

The Vietnam War, and especially the reasons for its loss, from both military and political standpoints, will continue to be a matter of importance for those who are concerned with the survival of democracies.

Much has been written on political considerations, but military questions have been more neglected. Hence this book, which examines the role of Brigadier Ted Serong in the conflict, will be of great interest to a variety of readers.

Anne Blair is a research associate with the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University. Her interest in Serong is well-based. He had a central role in the development of military strategy and tactics, although to a large extent his views conflicted with those ultimately applied by the United States in Vietnam.

Early during his time in Vietnam, Serong concluded that the American forces were not properly directed, and that the South Vietnamese Army also should have directed its efforts in different ways.

He was involved in the development of the Police Field Force (PFF), with the aim of destroying the structures of the Vietnamese Communists in rural and mountain areas, and also the networks by which guerrillas obtained weapons, food, information and recruits.

Serong's concept (which is particularly persuasive in retrospect) was that the PFF would clear areas of Viet Cong influence, thus freeing the South Vietnamese Army (the AVRN) for combat against the North Vietnamese regiments that were operating in the border areas.

Unfortunately the United States forces showed a lack of patience, and were not prepared to support adequately the gradual advance of the program.

The PFF was absorbed by other US mission programs in 1966-67, but Serong himself remained invaluable and was consulted constantly by government advisers and by military commanders at the highest level.

At all times, his perceptions of the strategic position were sound. For example, he was one of the first to appreciate that the 1968 Tet Offensive constituted, contrary to media reports, a militarily disastrous loss by the Communists.

This book is very valuable. It is well researched. The author had the advantage of numerous conversations with Serong, and her account is expressed carefully, with much detail and appropriate references.

It is impossible to read it without concluding that Serong is a great Australian, and a great man in any context, a figure of enormous importance whose advice, had it been followed properly, would probably have led to a different result in Vietnam.

It is therefore a book which, in addition to its general readership, should be studied closely by military strategists and tacticians, and by the various academics, think-tanks and institutes which are so influential in the application of political and military policy.

- I.C.F. Spry, News Weekly book review, Melbourne, Australia

I've been searching for a book other than a tourist's guide to New Zealand to learn more about my husband's home country. This is the book! Filled with lots of relevant (and recent) information, including gorgeous photos, this book is amazing. I can't wait to visit this beautiful country with him and see it for myself!

I recently bought my first copy of this book in the Auckland airport. I ordered my second copy for a friend. In addition to being a beautiful "picture book" with photos the quality that I wish I had taken while there, this book provides extensive text with factual information on most aspects of life in New Zealand ranging from the land and its climate, its fauna and flora to its history and the quality of life there today. This is a great book for anyone planning a visit or wishing to recall the special beauties of this wonderful country after returning from a visit. Or you may "visit" this country through this book. It is a very up-to-date publication, we even recognized photos of some of the same Maori performers we saw in concert during our recent visit! This is a very comprehensive publication, I think that it is outstanding!

I was recommended this book by a friend. I must say I was a bit apprehensive as I am not normally into Travelogs, but I must say I really enjoyed it. My only criticism, is that it could have done with some photos of the places that were visited, but other than that... a great read. Australia is certainly more wacky than I realised.

I very much enjoyed this novel and found it to be a real page-turner in that it was a tale of endeavour and continually emergent experiences. This novel touched on an area most Australian's seem to be little aware of and seem themselves to experience almost as a foreign country most notably the centre and north of this massive country/continent. Indeed an area that most of us won't experience whilst traversing the urban parts so well advertised by the brochures. As such I found it a fascinating contrast from that given by the rather conservative and urbanised travelogues I'd read on this country by Bill Bryson's `Down Under' although in itself an interesting travelogue. Bill Bryson's travelogue was the last book I bought for my brother when he left for Australia three years ago, this will be my next one.

I just finished reading Tigana today and I must say that I loved it.

The first chapter starts very slowly. But I slogged through it, and by the time I was a few chapters in I was totally hooked. The story builds slowly, but it does build, and by the last chapter of the book I could hardly breathe because I was so eager to find out what happened.

The story is not predictable. I like complex stories like this that take lots of twists and turns, and contain significant surpises. I also like books like this that mostly deal with shades of grey instead of black and white, because they make you think. Often while reading Tigana I had to put the book down to think for a few moments if a character had been justified for doing something. I felt every bit as much sympathy for Brandin and Dianora, because their deplorable actions were done with love in mind, as I felt for Alessan and his group. This is like real life, where bad guys and good guys rarely exist.

Kay's writing contains a message of compassion for all people. But there was one character I really disliked and could feel no sympathy for: Alberico, not only because he killed so many innocent people gruesomely because he seemed to have no feelings at all, no soul, only a cold meaninless ambition. He didn't care about anything except his desire to be Emperor.

As well as the dark and pensive themes of the book, I enjoyed Kay's writing style as always. Although his poetic prose sometimes borders on melodrama he has the power to take my breath away. Rarely do I read a book and want to read certain lines over and over again because they're so beautiful.

The book is full of memorable scenes that are dripping with strong emotion. I felt everything along with the characters: the fear, the pain, the helplessness, the love and elation. I don't think I've ever read another author who conveys such depths of emotion as Kay.

If you like shocking surprises you'll like this book, because it contains quite a few. My jaw dropped open more than once!

All in all a great book that I'll always remember. Kay is a master of emotional, poignant writing that also makes you think. If you're willing to dedicate some time to this book (it's on the long side) as well as some mindpower (it's not something you can breeze through) then you won't be sorry.

I have just finished "Tigana" & feel a deep sense of loss. I can't bring myself to read anything else at present. The book developes complex characters & explores their struggles in a world where good & evil are intermingled in ways which don't allow for simplistic judgements.

This may be the best Hospital I've read. The title is from a line by T. S. Eliot and describes the patriarch of a family, Edward Carpenter, a retired school principal. The novel is set in a small town in Massachusetts around 1990 (though written in 1983)when Edward's wife is planning their fiftieth wedding anniversary party. She will invite of course, in addition to friends and former colleagues, their three children; Victoria, who is in a mental institution; Jason, a therapist in New York and Emily, a concert violinist living in England, along with her eight year old son Adam, whom her father Edward has never seen and didn't know existed until three years ago when Emily gave her first concert in the United States.

The novel is all about families: how easily we as family members hurt each other; what happens when we don't forgive one other; the awfulness of hypocrisy; how we can redeem ourselves; that we can never really know our parents; that though we travel far away, we never get far from where we came; the roads not taken, lost opportunities; and, finally, that we never stop wanting to be loved by our family.

The plot has many unexpected twists, and there are many beautifully written, powerful scenes. In Chapter XIII Edward and Elizabeth travel to New York to hear Emily give her first concert in the U. S. This is one of the most moving passages I have read anywhere in a long time. I read and reread and read it yet again. Great fiction doesn't get better than this.

I'm a fan so I think all hers are great (though her short stories don't inspire as much). When you finish you'll sit back and say "can you believe that?!" Surprise ending teaches that in life things may not always be what you think. The family dynamics and descriptions are so vivid you feel as if you have been injected with emotion

Tom Roberts was published on the occasion of the Tom Roberts retrospective organised by the Art Gallery of South Australia in conjunction Art Exhibitions Australia touring 1996-1997. It contains twelve essays, a Biographical Timeline, a Catalogue, End Notes, Contributing Authors and a Selected Bibliography. Measuring 11.25" x 9.5" it contains 224 pages.

The first few assays concentrate on the artist himself including his place in art in Australia and the progress of his career. The remainder concern themselves more specifically with various aspects of his work including portraits and a very short one on etchings. Three essays each discuss a particular painting or two: Shearing the Rams 1888-90 / The Golden Fleece 1894; A Break Away! 1891; Bailed Up 1895-/1927.

There are around 100 full-colour images mostly up to full page size, occasionally there are two to a page, and there are a few double page spreads; the total includes several detail mages of selected paintings. The colour plates are arranged to accompany the relevant essay, and one appears on each right-hand page throughout the essays. The range of work includes Impressionist style landscapes, portraits, people working, scenes of London and a still life. The Catalogue section also includes black and white thumbnails of the paintings. A handsome well produced hardcover book, the front and back cover of which each caries a picture of a painting.

There were only two painters who truly understood the unique Australian light - Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts. Contemporary with Monet, Tom Roberts was the leader of a group of Australian painters who knew their subjects very well (the Australian outdoors) and understood its unique sunlight.

Roberts' paintings glow with the burning white light of an Australian summer; gum trees are hazy through the heat of midday; thirsty sheep stampede to a waterhole with the dust rising through the heat; a stage-coach is held up under a burning noon-day sun; elegantly dressed 1890's couples picnic under the shade of a gum tree; shearers hard at work sweat under the roof of an outback shearing shed, the burning white sun scorching the landscape outside.

This book captures these magnificent paintings beautifully. The text is well-written and easy to understand, giving an insight into Roberts' pioneering 'plein aire' technique which he learnt while in Europe during the heyday of the Impressionists. The modern reader is made to understand how revolutionary Roberts was. He was the first artist to ever capture the lives of typical Australians, at a time when Australia was a young pioneering land, painted in the style of Monet and the French Impressionists.

The quality of the plates is superb, although I admit a few of the plates are small, thereby loosing much of the original painting's incredible details. (Many of Roberts' paintings are massive.) For the larger works, close-up details show the masterful brush-strokes Roberts employed. This is actually a catalogue for a brilliant Tom Roberts exhibition which toured Australia in 1998, and so the book follows the layout of a typical exhibition catalogue.

If you're an admirer of Monet and the French Impressionists, then this book will show you a painter you probably have never heard of and one you will find facinating.

The burning heat and blinding dust of an Aussie summer never looked so good.

When my daughter was very young, I borrowed Tosca's Christmas from the local library. It became one of her favorite stories. For several years, we observed a tradition of checking the book out of the library prior to Christmas each year. Last fall, after she left for her freshman year at college, I ordered a hardback copy of the book from the internet and surprised her for Christmas. It was a joyous reunion!

Tosca's Christmas is full of Anne Mortimer's beautiful, lifelike illustrations of a very real-looking and acting pleasingly-plump tabby. It paints a somewhat realistic picture of Christmas from a cat's perspective -- all that unwelcome commotion, and not being allowed to actively participate when there is something fun to do (like wrapping oneself in giftwrap). The artwork alone makes buying the book worthwhile. Anne Mortimer's cats are always more realistic than any other illustrator's -- the cat's markings aren't symmetrical, and you know she knows this cat as well as you know your own.

This is one of my favorite books! Great story, very inspiring, writes beautifully. very thought provoking. will make you want to travel!

There are few adventurous people that by-pass the luxury of their deisel-pushers to experience the likes of what Robyn Davidson embarks on as the challenge of a lifetime. That is precisely what makes this book so phenomenal.

Granted, this adventure took place in 1980, but the age of the event changes nothing of the experience.

Roughly structured, and for her reasons only, she embarks on a 1,700 mile trek across the outback to the ocean from Alice Springs. Her transportation? Camels.

The most fascinating part of this trip is she must learn about these amazing creatures from scratch. She moves to Alice Springs and sets forth to find those that are willing to teach her the camel buisness. Some of these teachers are of worthy content and impart essential knowledge. Robyn, however appears to be a natural with these animals, and a relationship with them developes that draws the reader into the story and through every foot of the trip. Her chosen camels have strong personalities, and this delightful distraction imparts great humor and solice on her quest.

Special mention must be made to her best female friend, Diggity. This incredible dog was her lifeline and her mainstay through many trying days and nights. Diggity's personality was beautifully captured by Robyn's recollections, and will tweak the heart of any dog lover.

Robyn's ability to bring the aboriginal people and outback to life as she treks across it's vastness is truly astounding. After I finished her book, I immediately went back onto Amazon.com and bought every single book and reference she wrote or participated in. Her amazing zest and appreciation for the life in the outback of Australia was exhilarating. I urge you to read a truly moving, tear jerking, humorous, enlightling and generally captivating novel that bespeaks of the ultimate travel experience one can ever hope to conjure. Thank you, Robyn!