Opinions, Opinions and Opinions
June 4th 2008 10:48
Before I move on to my next read, I really can't go on without making comment on last night's First Tuesday Book Club on the ABC. The fact that they were discussing the last two books I have reviewed here was enough for me to tune in. I usually lose interest in watching by 9:30, so rarely make it to air time. But I'm pleased I made the effort this month as there are some great points about books and the reading of them that I would like to address.
There were no surprises with Winton's Breath. They all loved it, it's a great book by a great author and we all agree on that score. But when it came to Demons at Dusk, I was disappointed along with Peter Fitzsimons. And my disappointment did not lie in the other readers opinions - we are all entitled (espeically in a book club) to our own point of view. What really got to me was what the others missed in this book. Yes, I'll agree, it was not brilliant creative writing. We can't all be Tim Winton! And I don't believe Peter Stewart ever tried to be. But a great deal of the discussion last night revolved around whether this book made, or was, good fiction ... should it have been written as non-fiction, was the writing good enough to be fiction, how true was ..... etc etc.
When FitzSimons made the comment about 'literary snobs', it hit the nail on the proverbial head, because it is exactly discussions like this that gave birth to this unkind, yet at times, precise tag. What the reviewers failed to do was move on from Winton. Demons is, and was never meant to be in the same literary family as Breath. Why does it take a non-itellectual to see that?
That's point one -
Now, as far as Demons being more suited to non-fiction ... sure it probably could of been easily classed and marketed as such. But how many fiction readers would have benefitted from reading it? There are non-fiction accounts of Myall Creek (Blood on the Wattle for one) but where is the harm of bringing true history to fiction readers? I applaud it.
Point three -
I find it hard to believe that someone as informed and articulate as Jennifer Byrne could miss the fact that the relationship between Anderson and a (married) aboriginal women would not follow the same cultural and social etiquette as our European forebearers did. If it was prohibited to offer their women (married or not) to these white men, it would not have been allowed, full stop. One of the most serious offences we have done to the aboriginals of this country is to assume their culture and laws were not important, to us or to them.
When will we understand that these people had a highly developed, intricate social strata that worked ... even when we came along? And I think, after reading Demons and Dusk, that the convict Anderson was close to learning just this.
Anyway, I've had my rant. And something was brought home to me last night ... It's very easy to get caught up in the whole 'literary thing' (I've done it myself) and to bag anything that doesn't come up and over the bar. How important is it to remember that the writing of books is the sharing of thoughts, information and expression ... not the seeking of approval or recognition.
I love reading, I love writing, and I love my book club. But it does worry me that airing a show like the First Tuesday will put some readers off, believing they are not intelligent, not intellectual, (not smart) enough to join this elite group of perusers. I think it may be time for Jennifer to ask the opinions of those readers who do not have a persona to uphold.
What do my readers think?
There were no surprises with Winton's Breath. They all loved it, it's a great book by a great author and we all agree on that score. But when it came to Demons at Dusk, I was disappointed along with Peter Fitzsimons. And my disappointment did not lie in the other readers opinions - we are all entitled (espeically in a book club) to our own point of view. What really got to me was what the others missed in this book. Yes, I'll agree, it was not brilliant creative writing. We can't all be Tim Winton! And I don't believe Peter Stewart ever tried to be. But a great deal of the discussion last night revolved around whether this book made, or was, good fiction ... should it have been written as non-fiction, was the writing good enough to be fiction, how true was ..... etc etc.
When FitzSimons made the comment about 'literary snobs', it hit the nail on the proverbial head, because it is exactly discussions like this that gave birth to this unkind, yet at times, precise tag. What the reviewers failed to do was move on from Winton. Demons is, and was never meant to be in the same literary family as Breath. Why does it take a non-itellectual to see that?
That's point one -
Now, as far as Demons being more suited to non-fiction ... sure it probably could of been easily classed and marketed as such. But how many fiction readers would have benefitted from reading it? There are non-fiction accounts of Myall Creek (Blood on the Wattle for one) but where is the harm of bringing true history to fiction readers? I applaud it.
Point three -
I find it hard to believe that someone as informed and articulate as Jennifer Byrne could miss the fact that the relationship between Anderson and a (married) aboriginal women would not follow the same cultural and social etiquette as our European forebearers did. If it was prohibited to offer their women (married or not) to these white men, it would not have been allowed, full stop. One of the most serious offences we have done to the aboriginals of this country is to assume their culture and laws were not important, to us or to them.
When will we understand that these people had a highly developed, intricate social strata that worked ... even when we came along? And I think, after reading Demons and Dusk, that the convict Anderson was close to learning just this.
Anyway, I've had my rant. And something was brought home to me last night ... It's very easy to get caught up in the whole 'literary thing' (I've done it myself) and to bag anything that doesn't come up and over the bar. How important is it to remember that the writing of books is the sharing of thoughts, information and expression ... not the seeking of approval or recognition.
I love reading, I love writing, and I love my book club. But it does worry me that airing a show like the First Tuesday will put some readers off, believing they are not intelligent, not intellectual, (not smart) enough to join this elite group of perusers. I think it may be time for Jennifer to ask the opinions of those readers who do not have a persona to uphold.
What do my readers think?
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