Sunday, 21 September 2014

Book Review

Breath - Tim Winton
The characters presented in the novel Breath have a strong sense of “rebellion against the monotony of drawing breath”.
We are first introduced to Bruce Pike a twelve year old, who lives in Sawyer (near Perth) and a year older, Loonie. Both of them become friends while pushing themselves to the limits of risk taking – swimming to the bottom of a local river and then holding their breath for more than two minutes, solely for the purpose of tricking tourists to believe that they were drowning. Superficially such behaviour may appear to be mere foolery however, it’s symbolic of the craving for thrill needed to break the monotony of bare, existential plains of the Australian outback.
Both the boys have a chance meeting with a semi retired surfer of repute - Sando, who the boys almost immediately take for a guru. In surfing they find the beauty of doing “something pointless and elegant, as though nobody saw or cared”; Sando opens to them a whole new vista in risk mitigation by taking them to surf in a remote shark frequented bay, or in the huge waves of ‘Old Smoky’ and even trying to attempt the Nautilius – a rock face infamous for ship wrecks.
The author also explores the emotional side of such risk taking attitude, especially in the portrayal of an unusual sexual relationship between Sando’s wife Eva and Pikelet. Tim does not take a moral standpoint on such behaviour of the characters and rather focuses on undermining complex psychological issues which lead to the formation of such attitudes. This urge of risk taking is best summed up in Eva’s words, “I miss being afraid”.
(Ref. m.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/10/fiction5)
The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas
The Slap is essentially the story of modern Australia’s social setting. The book opens with a Barbeque party, attended by a multitude of Australians from different social backgrounds; though the incidence of Harry slapping Hugo is treated as the central event or the primary conflict around which the story revolves, the conflicts portrayed in the novel are not limited to just that.
Tsiolkas develops the plot by means of 8 central characters, four men and four women. Conflicts between these characters further the storyline. Australian suburbs play a pivotal role in developing these central characters. These residential spaces are not just a back drop to the events of the plot but also provide dynamism to the portrayal of characters by relating social parameters as crime, affluence, security and prestige of these neighbourhoods with the personal qualities of a character associated or living in one of the suburbs cited.
However it would be inappropriate to assume that the conflict in The Slap is only related to the conflicts in modern suburbs of Australia. The problems or situations portrayed also have a strong relation with the conflicts of varying ethnicities and social classes residing in the country. Also varying individual behaviour and personal dilemmas in terms of choices such as infidelity and sexuality play a role as important as, the power dynamics influenced by wealth and position; bringing out the conflict among different interest groups in 21st century Australia.    
 (Ref. m.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/08/the-slap-chris)
Whose Land
Oodgeroo Noonuccal is a native Australian (of Aboriginal descent) poet. In her poems ‘We are going’ and ‘No more boomerang’, she is addressing the issue of the impact of white settlers on the native Australian way of life.
Although both the poems are reminiscent and lamenting about the old, simple and innocent Aboriginal way of life which has now been almost fully destroyed by the westernisation of their homeland by the whites; the poems differ in their approach to the subject in quite a few ways.
We are going analyses a first person perspective of an aboriginal tribesman who is lamenting at the sight of the Bora ring being disrespected by the white settlers. The tribe’s man is saddened by the thought of how his culture is falling to ruin since the western ways brought by the white men has lead to the aborigines defecting to a ‘comfortable’ western lifestyle, forsaking their own cultural heritage; and so it is on the brink of extinction. The tone of the poem is transitional and shows the period of change from an aborigine way of life to a western way of life. The mood is best summed up by the closing line, ‘and we are going’ – conveying a transitory phase.
No more boomerang has a sarcastic and mocking tone when compared with We are going. It presents the other side of the transition, that is, the period when the western way of life has completely taken over the native Australian value system. Noonuccal uses this poem as a tool to lament as well as mock the blind following of western ways by the Aboriginal men and women at their own loss. The poem is a forewarning against the ruinous new values; the last line of the poem perfectly captures this sentiment by simply stating how all progress is useless since the modern atom bomb will ‘end everybody’ – mocking western ideologies which advocate elimination of foreign cultures and ethnicities in the guise of development.
Nation and Place
This unit discusses the notions of Australian national character. Speeches by three Australian presidents have been discussed in this context; all of which highlight the national character as one of ‘mateship’.
Prime Minister Keating discusses the bonding between the soldiers during the war to highlight the mateship phenomena; whereas, Howard uses the loyalty and patriotism of the Australian citizens to highlight the same. Lastly, Julia Gillard relates this phenomenon to the camaraderie shown by the citizen during the floods. However, it must be noted here that these political outlines of national character have made use of mythical appeals. They have exaggerated upon certain characters and played carefully on others so as to include all while describing the national character, playing safe so as not to alienate a section of the society.
Due note must also be taken of Richard White’s argument in ‘Inventing Australia’ that, national identity is a product of three major factors. First being the scientific developments and revolutions in the nation that bring about a homogenous character of nation’s citizens as a result of a development or as a response to the revolution. Second being the influence of the think tanks such as journalists, writers, artists and other creative individuals who influence the society’s thought process. And lastly, people with economic or social power.  
Politicians fall in the third category highlighted in Richard’s arguments. It can be said, that the politicians have inculcated in the masses the idea of Australian mateship in order to bring them together for a common cause and for winning their unified support in times of trial and calamities such as war, floods or even elections.
If White’s understanding of national character is true then it may be said that the future of Australian national character rests in the developments in the three key fields stated by White.

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