Oceania Books

Used this guide book for a one-month biking trip in Tasmania. Other than differences in price listed (expected), the information provided is very accurate and I appreciate the author's personal touch in this book, particularly those blocked text introducing ordinary locals doing extraordinary things. In fact, I had one of the most memorable excursions following the author's footstep. Looking forward to using other Bradt guide for my future travel.

This anthology is my "deserted island" book. All the wisdom of the entire universe is contained within. It's the I Ching of anthologies-toss it in the air, let it fall where it may, absorb the wisdom within.

THIS CRAZY THING A LIFE

Serge Liberman

This Crazy Thing a Life: Australian Jewish Autobiography, by Richard Freadman. University of Western Australia Press, 2007, 301p., $39.95.


With this book, This Crazy Thing a Life, Professor Richard Freadman of LaTrobe University has produced a landmark study of Australian Jewish writing. He is the first scholar in Australia who has written a comprehensive work in the field - or at least in one aspect of it, that of Australian Jewish autobiography - which is a wide-ranging, profound and multi-faceted presentation and discussion based on his reading of some 300 published book-length memoirs and 400 shorter pieces published in anthologies, a number that impresses with the sheer industriousness of Jewish autobiographers, the bulk of these writings having come into the light only in the past ten fifteen years.
The book is divided into three parts.
The first of these is an extensive discussion of Australian autobiographical writing set against the background of Australian Jewish history, population growth and the profound demographic, cultural, ideological, religious, organisational and political changes that have taken place here from the pre-war predominantly Anglo-Saxon Jewish life to its profound transformation as an immediate consequence of the post-war influx of Eastern and Central European Jews as refugees. These migrations, attended by the experiences of uprootedness, statelessness, refugee status and finally of citizenship, as reflected in the works of many of the writers studied, raise the issue of what it means to live in the diaspora - a question rendered particularly acute upon the establishment of the Jewish State.
The short and long-term consequences of migration raise other debatable concerns: "What is Jewishness?" (one corollary of which is "What is Australian Jewish autobiography?") and where is the dividing line between Australian Jews and Jewish Australians, these appearing to be in considerable part defined by where these antipodean Jews appear to locate themselves along a spectrum from being resolutely Jewish first and foremost at the one end, grading through accommodation, integration, acculturation, marginalisation and indifference to their Jewishness, culminating in assimilation at the other.
At another level, Professor deals with the pitfalls of autobiographical writing raised by contemporary critics of a so-called postmodernist stance who question the capacity of memory and language to accurately narrate the past, thereby also questioning the ability to do so with absolute truth and completeness, an argument which, when taken to the extreme, gives balm to Holocaust deniers. In academic institutions, these are particularly complex literary and philosophical themes, but Professor Freadman, while being no less scholarly, writes with a lighter hand. He is lucid, articulate and marvellously accessible as he takes up arms against these views, approaching the texts with what he calls a humanist and empirical approach, writing more as a commentator, an elucidator, a guide and a companion to help his readers to see more deeply into the works he discusses.
True as this is of the whole book, it is more evident still in its second part, in which he teases out a generous succession of diverse crystalline elements, insights and associations that a lay reader might so easily miss, as in the works of Jacob Rosenberg, Arnold Zable, The Brett sisters, Doris and Lily, Mark Baker, David Martin, Andrew Riemer and Susan Varga, these separate essays on each being complemented by another on the Makor Library's "Tell your Story" project, recounting its work in facilitating the writing of autobiography in the community.
The last part of the book is an anthology of extracts from the works of some sixty-six writers, a selection of memoirs of the "Old World" and of survival through the Holocaust, followed by accounts of statelessness, migration, and settlement in Australia, while touching upon relations between the generations, the authors' sense of belonging or of wariness as Jews, their degree of Jewish observance, and other issues of gender and careers.
This Crazy Thing a Life is a book that is not just of this time or for this time. Given its scope and its depth, it is a model for both further studies on Australian Jewish writing and a guide and encouragement to anyone who has a story to tell - not only of the Holocaust and migration, which inform the greater part of this volume, but of the phases that come after - such as growing up in Australia, of "making it" or "not making it" here, and of other gains, aspirations, achievements, evolving identities and ambivalences, perplexities and complexities encountered in Australia. It is as much a book for one's home, one's bedside table, all Jewish institutions, all institutions engaged in the study of genocide and all other appropriate university faculties.

I had been trying to get my son to read for months, trying out different authors and styles, and FINALLY, he read this book in three days, couldn't put it down.
Highly recommended.

"To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation" by Stuart Scott is a very readable, and scrupulously researched account of the actual armed invasion of Canada by Americans. The story covers events leading up to the Rebellion of 1837, as it is known, through to the capture and punishment of both the Canadian "patriots" and American combatants. Following their capture, trial and numerous executions, ninty-two US citizens and Canadians were transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) for a life of penal servitude. The story ends with a recounting of the efforts undertaken by many to secure the release and repatriation of the US citizens, which was accomplished after 4 long years.

Events during this period actually began along the Canadian/American border from Michigan in the West to New England in the East. Specific military action took place along the Great Lakes in Western New York. Having lived there myself for quite a few years, it was fascinating to read the story, considering many of the places, and buildings are extant. This account contains a wealth of information about the participants, including family relationships, names, and their final resting places. As such, I believe this book is a valuable resource for anyone from the Great Lakes region interested in geneaology. "To the Outskirts..." contains copious footnotes, references and explanations that allows the reader to find out more information and sources on particular situations that may be of personal interest.

I enthusiastically recommend anyone interested in this eventful period of Canadian/American history to read Stuart Scott's fine work.

I cannot speak highly enough about the writing style of this author. From the very first page he had captured my interest and held it raptly throughout. I picked up the Pantheon Books hardcover edition of this book just before I left for SE Asia, because it had been withdrawn from the Worcester (Mass.) Public Library. A criminal shame because this author deserves much better, but a spectacular find for me! This book is a thoroughly unromantic review of the state of the South Pacific islands he wandered through, written with "passion, biting wit, and lyrical sadness" to quote from the review on the dust jacket. Because it was first published in 1992, I will keep a sharp eye out for an update, revision or subsequent books by the same author. Here is but one example of the excellence of his prose in his confession on page 23 for why he undertook this journey:

"The consolation of travel is the control it offers to cowards: you get up and leave; you abandon people; there are fresh winds and fresh places for faulty egos to dilate in; there is a sort of enjoyment to the fear."

So true!

Not only does this collection of essays inspire one to travel to Australia, it inspires one to come back and write about it. The quality of the pieces is top-knotch and the selections hone in on specific and surprising aspects of Australiana. Stories of travellers who spear-fished with Aboriginals and trekked through the desolate Red Centre ignite a sense of adventure and offer appealing travel alternatives. The material is always vivid, clear, and exciting, but is not just a travel brochure. Authors certainly portray the bad with the good (although good usually prevails) and the mixture of sources ensures a good variety of serious, humorous, and romantic styles.

For anyone interested in the history of travel or of the early contacts between Europeans and indigenous peoples, this is a wonderfully stimulating book. Liebersohn brings together a deep knowledge of European intellectual history and a very perceptive reading of travel accounts written by some of the lesser-known early voyagers to Tahiti, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands. The real success of the book, in my view, is how he situates these accounts within networks of patrons, local island collaborators, and a reading audience.

He writes beautifully, in prose that is never cheapened with too easy judgments or clogged up with jargon. His book would be difficult to summarize, but suffice to say it will make you want to go back and read early travel literature.

Very highly recommended. I am going to track down Liebersohn's earlier book, "Aristocratic Encounters," in hopes that it will be as good as this one.

This is a well written general introducton to New Zealand, and is a bt more than just a "Traveller's History". Chambers explains how the geology affected the geography of the region, and how this in turn determined the development of flora and fauna. The ethnographical dscusssion is interesting and written with considerable wit. I found the modern history to be intriguing, and beware the MMP! The book has nice maps and line drawngs and a good bibliography. I am at a loss, however as why one would need the historical gazetteer or list of rulers.

Treasured Islands: Crossing The South Seas with Robert Louis Stevenson by Lowell Holmes (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Wichita State University) is a personal look at a beloved and renowned author of classics in terms of his high adventures on the South Pacific between 1888 and 1890. Life on the islands, European religious influence, and the saga of indigenous populations are all covered in this dramatic, exciting, and well-researched account. Biographer Lowell Holmes draws upon his impressive expertise regarding the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson (he produced a documentary film on Stevenson in the Pacific) to deftly craft a work of historical accuracy and insight. Treasured Islands is a very highly recommended for personal, academic, and community library collections, and a "must" for admirers of Robert Louis Stevenson's literary works.