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Good Reading : August 2008
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26 goodreading ı AUGUST 2008 word of mouth This section gives you an entertaining introduction to some of the books available this month, reviewed by famous names and new voices, all of them passionate readers, just like you. Each book has been given a star rating, and RG indicates those books suitable for reading groups. You can write your own reviews of any of the books in this section at www.goodreadingmagazine.com and share your opinions with other gr readers. ★ Disappointing ★★ Worth a read ★★★ A good read ★★★★ Highly recommended ★★★★★ Outstanding RG Recommended for reading groups The Sea of Many Returns Arnold Zable This book is filled with stories of arrivals and departures, of men drawn like migratory birds across great distances and back again. All of these interwoven stories lead Xanthe back to the island of Ithaca, the birthplace of her father Manoli, her uncle Andreas and her grandfathers Stratis and Mentor. In Ithaca with her own daughter to work on the manuscript of Mentor’s memoir, Xanthe collects and translates tales of her family’s journeys away from Ithaca and around the Mediterranean, along the River Danube and across great swathes of water to Australia.Those who never return are haunted like Homer’s Odysseus by memories of the island, constantly luring them back to its harbours and the people they left behind. Like Homer’s tales, Arnold Zable has crafted a moving novel that aches with nostalgia and displacement. Like the tides that carry men away from Ithaca, there is constant ebb and flow throughout The Sea of Many Returns reflecting the movement of people around the world and the draw of a homeland across distance and time. Although this novel presents a complex map of characters, places and jour neys, Zable is a master navigator, deftly guiding the reader through the sometimes difficult transitions from story to story. ★★★ Text $32.95 Reviewed by Elizabeth McIntyre The Red Book Meaghan Delahunt There’s an Australian, a Tibetan and a Scot in India, but it’s not a variation of an old oke.The Australian photographer sees sounds and hears colours; the Tibetan refugee’s family was killed in the Bhopal gas disaster in India; and the Scot is an alcoholic who becomes a Buddhist monk.The trio drift in and out of each other’s lives in India, bound by tiny coincidences of birth and acquaintance with one particular family in New Delhi. The structure of this novel reflects Delahunt’s background. Born in Melbourne, she now lives in Edinburgh and has spent a good deal of time in India. Françoise, the female photographer, sees India as red, and Tuesday is a green day, but she takes her photographs in black and white. She is in India to mark the 20th anniversary of the Union Carbide gas disaster that killed so many people in Bhopal. She meets Naga, a Tibetan refugee whose family died at Bhopal and whose wisdom as a monk colours her life, and Buddhist monk Arkay, a Scot battling his addiction to the bottle.There’s a doomed love affair, and yet Delahunt manages to find a happy ending in this thoughtful tale of the way individuals make what they believe are choices. A gentle book, full of healing on many levels, it ends with unflinching optimism. ★★★★ RG Granta $29.95 Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville The Boat Nam Le The vastly different set of seven short stories in Nam Le’s The Boat cross borders and time periods to deliver stories from Columbia, New York City, coastal Australia,Tehran, Hiroshima and a number of places in between. Le writes confidently from perspectives ranging from an insalubrious old artist nearing the end of his life, to a young woman fleeing the Vietnam War as a refugee. What unites these stories is that each is a snapshot of a pivotal point in the characters’ lives. Immediately gripping, Le’s masterful style invites the reader to ponder the possibilities and impossibilities of the characters’ choices. Often suspenseful, each story is concluded with an unpredictable and often moving end. The first story has autobiographical elements as the protagonist shares his name and calling with the author. This introductory story relates Le’s inner world with touching intimacy and works to establish a rapport with the reader that spans the following six stories. The Boat takes the reader on an emotive journey through waters of varying depth and charge, riding the highs and lows of each unexpected wave. ★★★★ Hamish Hamilton $29.95 Reviewed by Alexandra Irving
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