Earnest

Great to reread down the track .

Reviewed: 30-07-2020

In the light of world events and American politics, and the successive works by Ford, it was very satisfying to see how no one can foresee what on earth is going to happen. In the driest, witty way he has, Frank gets all of it down as he sees and feels it. His own magnificent flaws, his puzzled but realistic take on his own family and others, he’s a real people person..who often gets it wrong. A pleasure taken at an ambling pace. The voice actor is perfect. He captures the wry, sardonic take on life that Frank has and gets agitated just badly enough in all the right places. Not Ford’s best, but well worth taking in along the way to the next book.

Smashing serve of great storytelling.

Reviewed: 22-12-2019

How mightily pleasing to listen to wonderful “old school” language but with such panache that you thrill to each scene as it is set and played out. The gifted ways the author transmits the flavour/character/place whilst dealing with dialogue or narrative transitions is so effortless that I found myself almost actually clapping. Yes, there was proselytizing, but hey, it’s those kind of times we are living through. Hope life goes on in safety for all.

Hard to respond without feeling trite

Reviewed: 10-08-2019

Every story about people told by Johann , shook with resonance. The research was reassuring, but the stories..they live. It’s not often that one visual image-that of the gentleman writing what he thought was to be his last book- and telling him what that book helped world thinking lead to - and not burst into tears for the truth. And when “I” occurred in a list of the demeaned and enslaved, women, even now, it’s hard to stay sensible or unmoved. I know now that we will all do what has to be done in our small way.

Young Adult genre-with mega violence

Reviewed: 15-05-2019

Not that there’s anything wrong with that..sort of. Much of the cache of ‘literary novel’ admirers yearn for a different point of view; a refreshing narrator; a hugely authentic new experience. This, sadly, is not it, but it could be mistaken for such an ephemeral creation. Yes, it sparkles often. But it completely belongs to an extended magazine feature for ‘the long read’ section. The magic realism flourishes, the existential journey of the hero, etc etc etc are all here and quite frankly, it’s hard not to be fond of many of the characters. But it doesn’t feel as if it is honest even when it’s funny. Tough lives are far too plentiful and it is hard to get the “rest of them” - those who don’t know -to pay attention. Perhaps this attempt will..

Don’t make them like they used to...

Reviewed: 15-04-2019

A novel not read for many, many years but now, reread with such deep appreciation in a time not so far away from my own passing. A jewel ready for any age to read of daring and the mundaneness of family life, pointless relationships and pointers to the vital need to live a life to the very best level you can. A glorious treasure.

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Evocative and tensely structured

Reviewed: 25-03-2019

I’m so many ways this writing is different from what we have come to expect in this genre. Many basic structural elements seem familiar but different things are described or focused on in refreshing ways. Although the setting is ‘significantly Australian ,’ the humans recognizably Australian, the universality of the many tragedies are still etched so movingly that anyone can grieve. I hope that the film doesn’t become reductive and resort to kangaroos and wombats becoming the lead actors.