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Absolutely Revolting

October 1983, no. 55

Welcome to the October 1983 issue of Australian Book Review!

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David Kerr reviews Hostages by Fay Zwicky
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Contents Category: Short Stories
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Article Title: Heady stuff
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In an authorial note Fay Zwicky describes her collection of stories as thematic rather than chronological.

They are all concerned more or less ironically, with the growth of a writer’s consciousness which may help to account for the varying degrees of stylistic density and the shifts in personae.

The first seven stories, the Helen Freeman sequence, offer a retrospective view of Helen’s struggle to establish a female identity in a world dominated by men and by masculine edicts and rituals. Taking a hint from the introductory note, these stories reflect, in essence, the stages in the author’s personal development from her youthful recollections of her family during and after the Second World War to her marriage and separation. It is arguable whether these stories should be treated as the discontinuous narrative of one life, though they can be read that way. They are not, however, an autobiography. 
Book 1 Title: Hostages
Book Author: Fay Zwicky
Book 1 Biblio: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1983
Book 1 Author Type: Author
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In an authorial note Fay Zwicky describes her collection of stories as thematic rather than chronological.

They are all concerned more or less ironically, with the growth of a writer’s consciousness which may help to account for the varying degrees of stylistic density and the shifts in personae.

The first seven stories, the Helen Freeman sequence, offer a retrospective view of Helen’s struggle to establish a female identity in a world dominated by men and by masculine edicts and rituals. Taking a hint from the introductory note, these stories reflect, in essence, the stages in the author’s personal development from her youthful recollections of her family during and after the Second World War to her marriage and separation. It is arguable whether these stories should be treated as the discontinuous narrative of one life, though they can be read that way. They are not, however, an autobiography. 

Read more: David Kerr reviews 'Hostages' by Fay Zwicky

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Clement Semmler reviews Shadows of Our Dreaming: A celebration of early Australia by Anne Fairbairn
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Contents Category: Poetry
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Article Title: The land and its people
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It is difficult for a reviewer to do justice to this enchanting book. But if one were looking for something to give to an Australian to help him better understand the history, traditions, literature, environment, and folklore of his country – or if one wished to help a visitor to Australia to an appreciation of all those circumstances from 1788 to the present day which have shaped the characters and characteristics of those who inhabit this vast continent, then this book is it.
Book 1 Title: Shadows of Our Dreaming
Book 1 Subtitle: A celebration of early Australia
Book Author: Anne Fairbairn
Book 1 Biblio: Angus & Robertson, illus., 250 pp, $14.95 pb
Book 1 Author Type: Author
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It is difficult for a reviewer to do justice to this enchanting book. But if one were looking for something to give to an Australian to help him better understand the history, traditions, literature, environment, and folklore of his country – or if one wished to help a visitor to Australia to an appreciation of all those circumstances from 1788 to the present day which have shaped the characters and characteristics of those who inhabit this vast continent, then this book is it.

Anne Fairbairn's method is as simple as it is effective. She has devised a three-line poem, a sort of haiku, if you like, with an Aboriginal title to introduce each of the hundreds of small sections of her book – fitting these within her master-plan of five parts: The Outback, The Sea, The Sky, Early Settlers and The City.

Read more: Clement Semmler reviews 'Shadows of Our Dreaming: A celebration of early Australia' by Anne...

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Free Article: No
Contents Category: Politics
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Article Title: An uneasy compromise
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A few years ago my publisher suggested that I write a book on sociology of law in Australia. My reply was that there existed far too little research to adequately deal with the topic. I therefore approached O’Malley’s book with a little bit of jealousy. He has written a book I would have liked to have written.
Book 1 Title: Law, Capitalism and Democracy
Book 1 Subtitle: A sociology of Australian legal order
Book Author: Pat O'Malley
Book 1 Biblio: Allen & Unwin, $24.95, $11.95 pb, 204 pp
Book 1 Author Type: Author
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A few years ago my publisher suggested that I write a book on sociology of law in Australia. My reply was that there existed far too little research to adequately deal with the topic. I therefore approached O’Malley’s book with a little bit of jealousy. He has written a book I would have liked to have written.

Read more: Stan Ross reviews 'Law, Capitalism and Democracy' by Pat O’Malley

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Free Article: No
Contents Category: Self Portrait
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Article Title: A good innings on a sticky wicket
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Looking back over what I guess is my literary life (so hard to distinguish from the other that it’s a bit like leaving a forest and, in a clearing, trying to pick out the path among the trees!). I suppose I could lay claim to being one of the least disappointed or frustrated writers around the place. In part, this may be a tribute to my limited expectations which were nothing if not a reflection of a 1930s childhood when, if it was working-class and semi-itinerant, the philosophy one imbibed was not to ask too much. My brother who with my mother was the essential fountain from which I drew that sustenance which comes in the guise of folk wisdom, was fond of saying: ‘They (meaning whoever the authority-figure was) never put the roof on my lavatory!’ The sacred places were sacralised by a sense of independence which, now I come to think of it, depended upon what seems to me a very traditional Australian view not to expect too much whose lugubrious extreme is summed up in the national beatitude: Blessed is the pessimist, for he shall not be disappointed …
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Looking back over what I guess is my literary life (so hard to distinguish from the other that it’s a bit like leaving a forest and, in a clearing, trying to pick out the path among the trees!). I suppose I could lay claim to being one of the least disappointed or frustrated writers around the place. In part, this may be a tribute to my limited expectations which were nothing if not a reflection of a 1930s childhood when, if it was working-class and semi-itinerant, the philosophy one imbibed was not to ask too much. My brother who with my mother was the essential fountain from which I drew that sustenance which comes in the guise of folk wisdom, was fond of saying: ‘They (meaning whoever the authority-figure was) never put the roof on my lavatory!’ The sacred places were sacralised by a sense of independence which, now I come to think of it, depended upon what seems to me a very traditional Australian view not to expect too much whose lugubrious extreme is summed up in the national beatitude: Blessed is the pessimist, for he shall not be disappointed …

Read more: 'A good innings on a sticky wicket' by Bruce Dawe

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Philip Martin reviews The Observatory: Selected poems by Dimitris Tsaloumas, translated by Philip Grundy
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Contents Category: Poetry
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Article Title: Embrace all these experiences
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Migrant writing in this country isn’t just burgeoning, it has begun to flourish. The writing itself and the study of it begin to look like a ‘growth industry’. What I know of it is varied both in kind and quality, but I’ve no doubt at all that the poetry of Dimitris Tsaloumas is an important achievement by any standard.
Book 1 Title: The Observatory
Book 1 Subtitle: Selected poems
Book Author: Dimitris Tsaloumas, translated by Philip Grundy
Book 1 Biblio: UQP, $14.95, $7.95 pb, 169 pp
Book 1 Author Type: Author
Book 1 Readings Link: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-observatory-dimitris-tsaloumas/book/9781761280986.html
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Migrant writing in this country isn’t just burgeoning, it has begun to flourish. The writing itself and the study of it begin to look like a ‘growth industry’. What I know of it is varied both in kind and quality, but I’ve no doubt at all that the poetry of Dimitris Tsaloumas is an important achievement by any standard.

Read more: Philip Martin reviews 'The Observatory: Selected poems' by Dimitris Tsaloumas, translated by...

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Nancy Keesing reviews The World of Norman Lindsay edited by Lin Bloomfield and A letter from Sydney edited by John Arnold
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Contents Category: Biography
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Article Title: Norman conquests, Lindsay style
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The World of Norman Lindsay is compiled by Lin Bloomfield, proprietor of the Bloomfield Galleries in Paddington, NSW, and an authority on Lindsay’s work. It was first published more expensively in 1979. This elegant paperback will make it widely accessible, which is a matter for satisfaction. It contains comprehensive, short, expert articles about Lindsay’s life and achievements as an artist and the reminiscences of Lindsay’s children, grandchildren, models, friends, and colleagues. Good illustrations, some in colour, cover every era of his works in all their variety, and the book also includes photographs of people and places.
Book 1 Title: The World of Norman Lindsay
Book Author: Lin Bloomfield
Book 1 Biblio: Sun Papermac, $14.95 pb, 150 pp
Book 1 Author Type: Editor
Book 2 Title: A Letter From Sydney
Book 2 Author: John Arnold
Book 2 Biblio: The Jester Press, $27 pb, 58 pp
Book 2 Author Type: Editor
Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600):
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The World of Norman Lindsay is compiled by Lin Bloomfield, proprietor of the Bloomfield Galleries in Paddington, NSW, and an authority on Lindsay’s work. It was first published more expensively in 1979. This elegant paperback will make it widely accessible, which is a matter for satisfaction. It contains comprehensive, short, expert articles about Lindsay’s life and achievements as an artist and the reminiscences of Lindsay’s children, grandchildren, models, friends, and colleagues. Good illustrations, some in colour, cover every era of his works in all their variety, and the book also includes photographs of people and places.

A Letter from Sydney by Norman’s son Ray was written in 1959 and is now published for the first time in a handsome limited edition. It was a response to a request from his brother Jack for some background reminiscence to reinforce Jack’s memories of their rakehell youthful days in Sydney during the 1920s. Jack was about to write the second volume of his autobiography. (The first volume, Life Rarely Tells, had already appeared, the second was The Roaring Twenties and the third Fanfrolico and After – Penguin published the three as a trilogy in one volume Life Rarely Tells, 1982.) Jack, with full acknowledgement, directly quotes a good deal of Ray’s letter in the second volume, but usually considerably expands the material with his own additions and comment.

Read more: Nancy Keesing reviews 'The World of Norman Lindsay' edited by Lin Bloomfield and 'A letter from...

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John Hanrahan reviews Teacher Learning edited by Gwyneth Dow, Melbourne Studies in Education 1982 edited by Stephen Murray-Smith and Melbourne Studies in Education 1983 edited by Imelda Palmer
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Contents Category: Education
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Article Title: Who'd be a bloody teacher?
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Gwyneth Dow has edited a collection of essays that forms a relevant and coherent whole. The authors seek to salvage what they see as ‘the good things’ in education reform of the late sixties and early seventies, reform that had weaknesses which were the result of ‘faulty thinking, poor social analysis, romantic psychological theories, slip-shod pedagogy’. The contributors to this book are Rory Barnes, Gwyneth Dow, Rod Foster, Noel P. Gough, Bill Hannan, and Doug White. Gwyneth Dow points out they do not all share the same ideological positions, but they are clearly in fundamental agreement about curriculum reform, a more democratic approach to teaching and to the running of schools, and a more socially aware view of teaching and teacher education.
Book 1 Title: Teacher Learning
Book Author: Gwyneth Dow
Book 1 Biblio: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 185 pp, $11.50 pb
Book 1 Author Type: Editor
Book 2 Title: Melbourne Studies in Education 1982
Book 2 Author: Stephen Murray-Smith
Book 2 Biblio: Melbourne University Press, 289 pp, $19.00 pb
Book 2 Author Type: Editor
Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600):
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Gwyneth Dow has edited a collection of essays that forms a relevant and coherent whole. The authors seek to salvage what they see as ‘the good things’ in education reform of the late sixties and early seventies, reform that had weaknesses which were the result of ‘faulty thinking, poor social analysis, romantic psychological theories, slip-shod pedagogy’. The contributors to this book are Rory Barnes, Gwyneth Dow, Rod Foster, Noel P. Gough, Bill Hannan, and Doug White. Gwyneth Dow points out they do not all share the same ideological positions, but they are clearly in fundamental agreement about curriculum reform, a more democratic approach to teaching and to the running of schools, and a more socially aware view of teaching and teacher education.

This book is at once theoretical and practical. It takes quite a daring approach by creating Maria, a young schoolteacher. The contributors follow her as she and her colleagues attempt to devise a more meaningful curriculum. In presenting Maria, the writers use the techniques of both the biographer and the novelist. ‘Maria wandered out to Paul's kitchen to make coffee. She leant against the sink. Jesus, who'd be a bloody teacher?’ Extraordinarily, among other things this book is ‘a good read’. Maria is interesting in herself, and not a lifeless ‘John and Mary’ figure. The device is handled with skill and restraint, and some of Mary's colleagues are used as convincing devil's advocates against co-operative reform in teaching and teacher education.

Read more: John Hanrahan reviews 'Teacher Learning' edited by Gwyneth Dow, 'Melbourne Studies in Education...

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