(Top) Ten Australian Books You Should Read Before You Die

[GOLLUM]

This is actually from a recent annual survey from the Australian public that was conducted by ABC TV's First Tuesday Book Club as part of the National Reading Year 2012 celebrations.

As with all lists I agree with some choices but some are I believe more a result of recent 'popular' books making their way into the list rather than a more comprehensive retrospective analysis of Australian literature. Also keep in mind this was a popular vote per se within a limited 'viewing' demographic rather than one conducted by academics or scholars, which is not to say they are always going to be the best judges of course!! Indigenous writings aren't really covered here either (actually I'll post another thread on indigenous writings in 2013 including both aboriginal myths and legends as well as selected writings as sourced by, amongst other publications, the excellent Macquarie PENN anthology of Aboriginal Literature.).

1. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
2. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
3. A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey
4. The Harp in the South - Ruth Park
5. The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
6. Jasper Jones - Craig Silvey
7. The Magic Pudding - Norman Lindsay
8. The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas
9. The Secret River - Kate Grenville
10. Picnic at Hanging Rock - Joan Lindsay

Comments: Personally I don't agree with choices 5, 6, 8 and 9. the latter three being recent additions. They are all good books don't get me wrong but I think we have greater works than this to showcase. I'm not sure if I would have had Mark Zusak's Book Thief in a top 10, possibly in a top 20 list? but I'm happy to see it there as it's a part fantastical novel AND I'm a Zusak fan, so there's some bias there...

In no particular order then and I have NOT yet spent a lot of time compiling a FINAL top 10 list but inlcuding several of the current choices and in no particular order my list would include:

1. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
2. Power Without Glory - Frank Hardy
3. A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey
4. The Harp in the South - Ruth Park
5. The Getting of Wisdom - Henry Handel Richardson
6. The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
7. The Tree of Man - Patrick White *our only Nobel Laureate
8. The Magic Pudding - Norman Lindsay
9. Picnic at Hanging Rock - Joan Lindsay
10. For the Term of his Natural Life - Marcus Clarke

*other works of fiction to at least consider displacing up to 2 of the above (and definitely in a top 20 list) list include for me:
The True History of The Kelly Gang - Peter Carey
We of the Never Never - Mrs Anea Gunn
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony - Henry Handel Richardson
Monkey Grip - Helen Garner
On the Beach - Nevil Shute
Robbery Under Arms - Rolf Bolderwood
The Boat - Nam Le
The Year of Living Dangerously - Robert Koch
The Lucky Country - Donald Horne
On Our Selection - Steele Rudd
The Shiralee - Darcy Niland
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie - May Gibbs
Remembering Babylon - David Malouf
My Brilliant Career - Miles Franklin
I Can Jump Puddles - Alan Marshall
Death of Bunny Munroe - Nick Cave
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

*in the short form
Frank Moorhouse
Elizabeth Jolley
Henry Lawson
Katherine Mansfield *NZ by birth but we tend to claim her too...

in a non-fiction/history category:
The Fatal Shore - Robert Hughes
History of Australia - Manning Clark *only read extracts of Clarke's multi-volume magnum opus but it does display flashes of genius and is certainly well researched.
Schindler's List - Thomas Keneally *not Australian subject matter per se but a great 'historical novel'.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

in a non-fiction/history category:
The Fatal Shore - Robert Hughes

A great book.

 

[Montero]

And on an Australian sf theme (but on checking I found the author is American) Sandra McDonald, The Outback Stars

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/sandra-mcdonald/

 

[GOLLUM]

If nothing else it might be amusing to read an American's interpretation of Australian indigenous culture, in this case elements of Aboriginal mythology....

From the reviews I've read it sounds like it's a decent read without being anything outstanding.

Stephen Palmer's comment made we wonder actually what if any novels/fiction non-Australian readers may have read that would not fall into the category of mainstream SFF?

As an adjunct to that I'm also opening up other threads in 2013 that cover Australian SFF. specially in the fields of Horror, SF and Fantasy...not to mention some colonial crime fiction.

 

[GOLLUM]

I realised I forgot to mention a fairly significant character in Australian literary history namely Xavier Herbert (1901 - 1984). His best known work is Poor Fellow My Country and it is a huge work (approx 1,500 pages). I've not read it myself, only aware of it by reputation as being a GREAT Australian work. His other well known novel is Capricornia.

 

[Extollager]

The book is one of my orange-spine Penguins and also a backlog item. Maybe I will get to it in 2013.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/533752-orange-spine-penguin-english-library-books.html

I've read Year of Living Dangerously and Picnic at Hanging Rock. Gollum, If you have read the "sequel" to Picnic, did you dislike it as I did?

 

[hitmouse]

Rather pushing it a bit here, but I think I should be allowed some flexibility as a Brit who has lived in Australia for two longish periods.

The Magic Pudding Norman Lindsay
An Older Kind of Magic Patricia Wrightson
Legends of the Dreamtime Roberts & Mountford
The Shock of the New Robert Hughes
Thoroughly Decent People Glen Tomasetti
True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey (also Oscar & Lucinda, Jack Maggs)
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson & Day
Unreliable Memoirs Clive James

and lastly, the script for the film The Castle. Possibly the funniest film script ever.

 

[AE35Unit]

Can someone tell me if the Bunyip exists in book form?

 

[GOLLUM]

Can someone tell me if the Bunyip exists in book form?

Absolutely. Both from Aboriginal mythology and colonial fiction inlcuding children's fiction in our country.

I'll be making specific literary references to the Bunyip when I post those other related threads in 2013.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I'd forgotten about the Clive James books - hilarious.

 

[GOLLUM]

I've read Year of Living Dangerously and Picnic at Hanging Rock. Gollum, If you have read the "sequel" to Picnic, did you dislike it as I did?

Year of Living Dangerously was good and is considered possibly more of a minor classic but still worth putting in as a list of books to read. The early 1980s film based on the book like Picnic (below) is very good and worth watching if you can obtain a copy, starring as it does a young Mel Gibson.

Picnic At Hanging Rock on the other hand is seen as a bone fide major 'Gothic' classic of Australian fiction, The excellent 1975 film based upon the book is also regarded as a major highlight of Australian film. Following are some additional notes/observations I posted when discussing the film with folk offline..if you've not seen the film do yourself a favour and see it! I've been to the 'rock' myself, it resides in my home state.

..In fact if you ever were to travel to Australia you could do worse than attend the annual outdoor screening of the film at Hanging Rock... here are some pics...the film still gives me the shivers to this day as does the landscape something damn unnerving when you are there, especially if you replay in your head, as you can't help but do, the eerie and incredibly effective panpipe music ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP1Oe...eature=related) that provides a backdrop to the film ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncar...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncar...n/photostream/
http://albinshs8.global2.vic.edu.au/files/2012/03/picnic_rock_macedon-1sse623.jpg

When you say 'sequel' I'm not sure of you are referring to the alternative text Lindsay wrote after the original novel came out? I'll assume for now that is what you are referring to and in that event I don't like the ending at all!! Again part of previous off-line correspondence between myself and other members.

This 'revision text' was created by Lindsay some time after the release of the original book where the "disappearance" is given an explanation. I can't but feel that this somehow detracts from the strength of the "mystery" and therefore unresolved aspect of the story itself; certainly from the perspective of the film. One can't help but feel that Lindsay must have either been pressured to provide a "solution" to the mystery or been offered a financial incentive to do so.....

 

[GOLLUM]

I'd forgotten about the Clive James books - hilarious.

Yep, The Clive James Memoir does in fact get several nominations for a top 10 list...and it's damn funny.

Also anyone who has not seen the Australian classic The Castle as raised by hitmouse is missing out on something. It's a very funny film indeed!

 

[GOLLUM]

The book is one of my orange-spine Penguins and also a backlog item. Maybe I will get to it in 2013.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/533752-orange-spine-penguin-english-library-books.html

You must have a special knack for attracting toruble perhaps?...

I only say that tongue in cheek as along with Picnic you've possibly hit upon the other controversial novel in Australian fiction from the point of view of alternate endings.

Marcus Clarke's For the Term of his Natural Life is widely considered as our greatest Gothic novel and I'm not about to argue that point. In fact it's subgenre is classified as Tasmanian Gothic if you want to get even more technical about it. I'm pretty sure your Penguin Orange Spine will be the shorter novel (also note the longer title) as this appears to be the one most often in print. Again an extract from previous correspondence....

First the novel....
Perhaps Australia’s most significant and most famous 19th-century colonial novel and scarcely out of print since the early 1870s, For the Term of His Natural Life has provided successive generations with a vivid account of a brutal phase of colonial life. The main focus of this great convict novel is the complex interaction between those in power and those who suffer, made meaningful because of its hero's struggle against his wrongful imprisonment. Elements of romance, incidents of family life and passages of scenic description both relieve and give emphasis to the tragedy that forms its heart.

Now the different versions, another extract from previous correspondence...hang on to your hat, this is a story in and of itself Extollager!...

For the Term of his Natural Life is considered THE seminal Gothic novel of this country since European settlement more than 200 years ago.

The book is part of what has been termed as Tasmanian Gothic. Australian Gothic fiction is generally not couched in the same traditions of its "classic" European cousin and although it's something of a sensationalised account of early penal life sprinkled with some 'unlikely' events, it still remains a dark and powerful work in its own right, where the Australian landscape becomes a character in its own right.

The serilaised original was written in the early 1870s prior to a single pulbication in 1874 titled His Natural Life. On the urging of the publisher, a 'revised' or 'updated' shorter manuscript was also written by Clarke prior to his death in 1881. After Clarke's death this revised edition in book form had its title changed by the publisher to the common title we know today as For the Term of his Natural Life. More below on this....
[FONT=&quot]
Consequently, there are 2 distinctive beginnings and more importantly endings to this novel. The original serial version begins the story in England with the central protagonist working for an alchemist, prior to his deportation to the Tasmanian penal colony. The "shorter" or alternate version begins with the central character already in Australia or certainly on his way over here following his sentence. The ending in the longer version is more thematically complete for reasons I do not want to enter into here. The shorter version has a darker ending but of course is a revision of the original manuscript created by Clarke himself. Basically the serialised version in book form was revamped by Clarke to a 200,000 (from 370,000) word edn. due to editing considerations (driven in no small part by the publisher) because of the sheer size of the book in those days and ended up being a 'more acceptable' 3 volume edn. for the English/European market.

Ok, that's the simple part believe or not. It gets more complicated. There are an estimated 15 different versions/variations of this classic novel for a myriad of editing reasons but all of which fall more or less into the 2 essential endings/camps described above. One such additional variation or stream from the original manuscript involved a US edn. where due to the uncompromising reality of Clarke's novel in its depiction of the brutality that penal life and life in Australia at that time could bring in addition to the book's infamous cannibal scene the story was softened somewhat to suit the sensibilities of the US market. The majoirty of the films/productions made follow this American model, which is disappointing to say the least.

Ok EXtollager. That's enough to chew on for now I'm sure. I have both main versions. Which do I prefer? Hard to gauge. I probably prefer the longer version as it was in fact what the author originally intended but then the shorter version has the more powerful or impactful ending.

Definitely it's a book you should try to read in 2013, even if you have the abridged version..it's still a significant work in our literary heritage.

Cheers.
[/FONT]

 

[Extollager]

Marcus Clarke's For the Term of his Natural Life is widely considered as our greatest Gothic novel and I'm not about to argue that point. In fact it's subgenre is classified as Tasmanian Gothic if you want to get even more technical about it. ....[FONT=&quot]Definitely it's a book you should try to read in 2013, even if you have the abridged version..it's still a significant work in our literary heritage.[/FONT]

Thank you, Gollum! My Penguin edition is the 1870-72 serial text. I may well read it in 2013.

 

[Extollager]

Picnic At Hanging Rock on the other hand is seen as a bone fide major 'Gothic' classic of Australian fiction ...
When you say 'sequel' I'm not sure of you are referring to the alternative text Lindsay wrote after the original novel came out?

What I read was called, I think, The Secret of Hanging Rock. It may have been a "continuation" that is published with the novel in some editions. I thought the original was much better. By the way, one of my favorite things in the latter is the enigmatic red cloud that is mentioned at one point. I like the way it is left unexplained.

If I were to read a whole series of stories in which enigmatic elements appeared, I would probably start to hanker for some Lovecraftian explicitness. However, I find I appreciate sequences in which one doesn't feel that the author is simply playing games with the reader, but does have confidence in his material to the extent of leaving something unexplained or to be inferred. No doubt I feel this way in part as a reaction to the pulp tradition.

I thought Lindsay's Picnic did a nice job of balancing, on the one hand the need to tell the story -- it is all there; and on the other the tact not to provide "explanations" that resolve more than what needs to be resolved.

This must be a hard thing for authors to manage sometimes; probably sometimes they don't even realize the choice they must make between giving readers just the story, and also writing unnecessary additions to it. (It seems to me that Blackwood's "Willows" breaks down a bit on this score.

 

[Extollager]

Year of Living Dangerously was good and is considered possibly more of a minor classic but still worth putting in as a list of books to read. The early 1980s film based on the book like Picnic (below) is very good and worth watching if you can obtain a copy, starring as it does a young Mel Gibson.

Yes -- as well as having read the book, I've seen the movie a few times. Perhaps my favorite scene is that in which the dwarf leaves the hero in the scary Djakarta night-town after referring to Tolstoy's What Is to be Done? In fact I think I've shown this clip in connection with teaching Russian lit in translation.

I gather that C. J. Koch's other novel(s) didn't get the acclaim this one did.

 

[GOLLUM]

What I read was called, I think, The Secret of Hanging Rock. It may have been a "continuation" that is published with the novel in some editions. I thought the original was much better. By the way, one of my favorite things in the latter is the enigmatic red cloud that is mentioned at one point. I like the way it is left unexplained.

If I were to read a whole series of stories in which enigmatic elements appeared, I would probably start to hanker for some Lovecraftian explicitness. However, I find I appreciate sequences in which one doesn't feel that the author is simply playing games with the reader, but does have confidence in his material to the extent of leaving something unexplained or to be inferred. No doubt I feel this way in part as a reaction to the pulp tradition.

I thought Lindsay's Picnic did a nice job of balancing, on the one hand the need to tell the story -- it is all there; and on the other the tact not to provide "explanations" that resolve more than what needs to be resolved.

This must be a hard thing for authors to manage sometimes; probably sometimes they don't even realize the choice they must make between giving readers just the story, and also writing unnecessary additions to it. (It seems to me that Blackwood's "Willows" breaks down a bit on this score.

The Secret At Hanging Rock as you suspected is in fact the name of the 'sequel' and Yes the key difference is an extra chapter added to the end of the original novel that 'explains' the mystery.

That's essentially the point I was making earlier with regards to it being far more powerful and memorable to have certain events in the book left unexplained. I'm glad Jane Campion in her excellent debut as Director did not either a). try to reinterpret the book to the extent of providing convenient explanations to the whole mystery ala Hollywood style or b) use that alternative ending which she may well have been aware of at the time as Lindsay had already written it but chose not to inlcude (very wisely) in the original novel.

As I recall I greatly admired Blackwood's Willows at the time that I read it but a reread is on the cards methinks. Lovecraft as you would be aware considered it the finest supernatural tale (I presume) that he read. I can't recall now the details as to how 'resolved' the story ends up but I'll keep that in mind when I do reread it.

I'm pleased you have the original serial version of 'His Natural Life". I want to do a reading of that next year and include it as one of my review items. A comparative study with the abridged novel would also be instructive. One exciting thing is that about 12 months ago I happened upon a second-hand Marcus Clarke reader that contained not only extracts from "His Natural Life" but also his other writings inlcuding journalistic pieces. letters etc. This is something I am yet to open so I think next year is as good a time as any to delve into what I'm sure will be a fascinating experience.

On Christopher Koch you're absolutely correct. It's by far and away the author's best known work. In fact I am only aware that the author wrote other works but would not know them by name unless I looked up wiki etc. I have assumed it's likely to to be the author's best work but who knows? In fact a quick check reveals that Koch's first novel 'The Boys in the Island' was also made into a film. I've never seen that before. It would be something I would like to see.

 

[Extollager]

That's essentially the point I was making earlier with regards to it being far more powerful and memorable to have certain events in the book left unexplained. I'm glad Jane Campion in her excellent debut as Director

Peter Weir?

 

[Extollager]

As I recall I greatly admired Blackwood's Willows at the time that I read it but a reread is on the cards methinks. Lovecraft as you would be aware considered it the finest supernatural tale (I presume) that he read. I can't recall now the details as to how 'resolved' the story ends up but I'll keep that in mind when I do reread it.

As I recall, about 2/3 of the way through "The Willows," Blackwood, having built up such effective atmosphere, starts having his canoeists discuss an convenient occultic explanation for what's been going on. It is a real blemish, and suggests to me a shortcoming for Blackwood as a literary artist, as if he lost confidence in his material or as if he couldn't think of anything better than this clumsy device, to provide a framework for ideas that interested him. It's as if he didn't realize that he was writing (along with "Wendigo") one of his two best stories, and that it would be a shame to mess up, but he did, a bit. That's how I remember it, anyway. It reminds me of that flub that I have mentioned several times at Chrons, with Lovecraft's "Shadow Over Innsmouth" -- in which he has so obviously taken great pains with building the story as an effort to write at the top of his art, and then he has that bit where the old man on the dock screams, and Lovecraft phonetically writes out the scream. A reader can actually start laughing at this point, at the thought of Lovecraft toiling at the story, and "trying out" various combinations of vowels to make the scariest scream possible, and his aunts looking across the room at one another -- "There goes Howard writing one of his stories again!" and smiling.

 

[Extollager]

I'm pleased you have the original serial version of 'His Natural Life". I want to do a reading of that next year and include it as one of my review items.

I haven't had my copy even four years yet, so I haven't felt too guilty about not reading it so far... Compare some of these!
http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/537022-from-way-way-back-in-your-book-backlog.html

But I'll put my copy somewhere where it will catch my eye... you do have me interested. However, I expect to try first one of the other Australian books you have listed -- A Fortunate Life. I should get an interlibrary loan copy soon.