Christina Stead is back: The Man Who Loved Children, Letty Fox: Her Luck and now, For Love Alone

Posted on November 18, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

Thank goodness Miegunyah – an imprint of Melbourne University Press – who have the very cool slogan, Books With Spine – have begun republishing the works of Christina Stead. We need to be reminded that Australia used to produce artists of genius. And it might just encourage our present crop of writers to either give [...]

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Letty Fox – Her Luck by Christina Stead

Posted on May 19, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

How many times do I have mention my undying love for Christina Stead before someone sends me a review copy!? No-one even told me that a new edition of Letty Fox – Her Luck was in production! Do I have to set up a fan club? And now it’s here and I look like a [...]

Filed under: Australian Author, Literary Classic, Literature, Publishing | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Elisabeth Holdsworth, author of Those Who Come After, answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on March 21, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Elisabeth Holdsworth author of Those Who Come After Ten Terrifying Questions ——————— 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in a south-western province of The Netherlands, called Zeeland, not long after the end [...]

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Contemporary Literature, Fiction | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The 50 Must Read Australian Novels (10 to 1) (The Popular Vote 2010)

Posted on January 7, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

So, it’s come to this, has it? The Top Ten Must Read Australian Novels, as voted by you lot. It’s a list of surprises – there’s the inclusion of Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (it’s a film ain’t it?), the omission of Peter Carey and Patrick White from the top ten and, the biggest surprise [...]

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Reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (A review, of a kind by John Purcell)

Posted on September 21, 2010 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

I once read a book review written by Theodore Dreiser . The book he was reviewing was Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. What I recall of that review, read many years ago, is that Dreiser had come clean, saying something like – it took Maugham 500 odd pages to convey all that is [...]

Filed under: Contemporary Literature, Fiction, Literary Classic, Literature, Review, Writing Style | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »

Coming in December: The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead (Good start. Now publish all of her work.)

Posted on September 20, 2010 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

“I am convinced that tens of thousands of people would bless the day that this book was published, if only they could be exposed to it.” JONATHAN FRANZEN The Man Who Loved Children is Christina Stead’s masterpiece about family life. Sam and Henny Pollit are a warring husband and wife, he a fully blown narcissist [...]

Filed under: Fiction, Literary Prizes, Literature, Review, Writing tips | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Christina Stead, Henry Handel Richardson, Clive James, Germiane Greer

Posted on January 26, 2010 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

Bring Back the Cultural Cringe The cultural cringe served a purpose, it caused the best and brightest to look outwards beyond the Australian Coastline to a world of complexity, of difference, of foreign ideas, foreign questions and answers and of universal solutions. Since the demise of the cringe self-complacency has stifled our endeavours. Our benchmark [...]

Filed under: Fantasy, Fiction, Literary Prizes, Literature | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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