Thirteen Tonne Theory by Mark Seymour

Partial to the occasional biography, I once again heard ol’ Faine spruiking this one on the radio whilst interviewing the author, Mark Seymour.  Written in a direct, punchy style (fragments galore!) the story is cleverly and engagingly presented.  Short and sharp.  Referring to other members of the band by their vocations (The Doctor, The Synth, The Brass Section) Seymour tells tales of life with Hunters and Collectors in a uniquely self deprecating manner.  Not one to hold back from mentioning his own flaws and foibles Seymour is witty and intelligent with a stirringly dry sense of humour.

Having not before realised that “Holy Grail’ was written about Napoleon, the song takes on a whole new meaning beyond the AFL Grand Final.  Seymour’s analysis of why Hunter and Collectors had to wind up is also surprisingly interesting for someone who knew little of the band prior to the book. 

 Well worth a read.        

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Gifted to me, I didn’t have high expectations of this book.  I’ve seen the author well marketed in the likes of Borders, but to me she has always appeared to have an air of Danielle Steel or some such; the mass-author.  So it was with obligation that I delved into Nineteen Minutes.

With character names such as Drew and Courtney it was hard to ignore that the story was based in America.  The style of prose is quite simple and readable – the length of paragraphs was relatively short and so the pace was quite brisk – although I found it easy to put down.  Nineteen Minutes starts in the current time and then switches to different times in subsequent chapters i.e. that is the second chapter reverts to seventeen years prior.  This style works for this story in that as the book progresses we learn more as the plot unravels.  It’s almost as though time is the alternate character and given the name of the book in Nineteen Minutes I found this to be a nice duplicity.   

I found the book a little predictable, some of the characters a little sketchy and some of the scenarios not quite believable. Having said all that, I can’t say that I hated this book although I won’t be in a rush to pick up another Jodi Picoult but if one comes my way I’ll probably give it a go. 

  

Joe Cinque’s Consolation by Helen Garner

I was meandering through Readings in Hawthorn one leisurely Saturday afternoon when I came across a Helen Garner book on the bargain table.  I’d not heard of this particular title but knowing of Garner’s reputation and given that it was a bargain at $13.95 I decided to indulge.

 Again, it took me a while to get there, but this book is a seriously fantastic read.  Garner manages to relay quite a disturbing occurrence with compassion and integrity.    

The story centres round the death of Joe Cinque, a young, intelligent and handsome man in his mid-twenties.  His partner, suffering severe mental illness secretly drugs him with Rohypnol and injects him with heroin one weekend resulting in his death.  Garner follows the court proceedings with acute observation and details interviews with members of all families involved.  Those with the Cinque family are particularly touching.     

I’ve read books that comprise largely of courtroom sittings – almost with unbearable detail; that is why part of me hesitated in picking up this book.  But what Garner offers is a completely fresh approach to a story based largely around courtroom appearances.  The prose is delivered in a short, sharp style that keeps the reader longing for more.  Use of repetition is effective and really drives home the severity of this crime; the waste of a young and talented life for no good reason. 

This account left me feeling sad, concerned and yet very lucky.  An immensely satisfying read.    

The Yapping Dog

The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry

Last year in my Editing class, as part of the Professional Writing and Editing Course I’m undertaking part time at the CAE, I used my final assessment presentation to discuss the writing style of Shane Maloney in the Murray Whelan series.  A long time fan of Murray, I was rapt with last year’s latest instalment Sucked In.

After my presentation, a class member struck up some passing conversation about Maloney’s writing of the introduction in the reprint of Charles McCarry’s The Tears of Autumn.  I recalled this from an article in the Weekend Australian.  Class member said it was a great book and worth reading.  So I bought it.

Not unusually these days, it’s taken me about 5 months to get to it, but boy, what a read!  I could not put this book down.  The style of writing is fast paced, the characters are completely believable and the entire premise of the book, whilst does not sound so believable on the jacket, makes me look back the assassination of JFK with new eyes.     

I won’t give anything further away other than to say that if you enjoy a suspenseful and enthralling read then tootle on down to your local and get yourself a copy.  I’m about to head out and pick myself up the other Charles McCarry masterpieces…

Watching Brief by Julian Burnside

I was prompted to pick up this book after I had heard Julian Burnside on the conversation hour with Jon Faine late last year.  At the time I couldn’t help but think it was a Howard-bashing leading into the Fed election, even though Burnside went on to express that it wasn’t, and that the timing of the launch was coincidence.  Whilst I tipped it to be a classic leftie book I figured I would give it a go anyway.  It’s taken me a few months to get around to reading it although; I must say that now that I have, I’m glad.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe with everything Burnside depicts in this book, but I think the essays/speeches are for the large part quite interesting and put forward a human element to mandatory detention – one that I don’t recall being portrayed so much during the political debates.

Burnside reproduces a series of essays/speeches delivered over a decade or so, as well as writings published in newspapers/other publications.  Because he is ‘on message’ for a lot of these, it does tend toward being a little repetitive although Burnside does mention this in his introduction.  

All in all, an interesting read, a bit of an eye opener as some of the material is quite disturbing.  Particularly interesting is the final section of the book which reviews some of Burnside’s favourite legal battles.