by NRB | 19 Jun 2018 | Non-fiction |
The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, the new biography of Australia’s second, fifth and seventh Prime Minister, is a magnificent sweep of a book that demanded to be written. Deakin has been the subject of previous biographies and author Judith Brett quickly establishes her points...
by NRB | 23 Feb 2018 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
All four of my grandparents spoke with regional British accents – Manx, north-country English and Scots. My parents spoke with mid-range Australian accents, neither – to use examples from the period – broad like the Labor leader Arthur Calwell, nor posh like the prime...
by NRB | 19 Jan 2018 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
For the first time in my life I have been threatened with a fine for not voting in an election. This has caused me a little shame. I had to wait until I was 21 to vote (the voting age was not lowered to 18 until 1974), but ever since I’ve voted enthusiastically in...
by NRB | 6 May 2016 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
Language has to change, to absorb new influences, if it is to retain its vigour. Typically, a dominant culture will have a profound effect, impacting on the subordinate society as with Norman French on Anglo-Saxon English, but it’s a two-way process – think of Hindi...
by NRB | 20 May 2014 | Fiction |
Robert Menzies, John Howard, the dreams and delusions of Australian politics – all resonate in this satirical and inventive novel. Typically, reviews begin with a snippet from the book in question or with a short description of the work and its main concerns. In form...
by NRB | 4 Mar 2014 | Non-fiction |
David Malouf’s absorbing essays, full of erudition and with his trademark lucid prose, engage with the troubled issue of Australian identity. In this fascinating collection of essays, written between 1984 and 2010, David Malouf circles around that Australian...
by NRB | 8 Oct 2013 | Crime Scene, Fiction |
The Dreyfus Case, notorious for its betrayals and anti-Semitism, inspires this new thriller from the author of Fatherland. In the Acknowledgments to his new novel Robert Harris thanks his wife: … who has been obliged to share our house with successive waves of Nazis,...
by NRB | 6 Sep 2013 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
The first Federal election I remember was in 1960. It was the one Robert Menzies won by one seat – the ‘Killen, you are magnificent’ election.* I couldn’t vote, being only 18 (the voting age for Federal elections was not lowered from 21 to 18 until 1973) but my...
by NRB | 4 Dec 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
The NRB editors have invited me to nominate the best books I’ve read in 2012. As I explained in a Godfather column earlier this year (NRB 31 June), I keep a list of books I’ve read, with a brief assessment, and I assign each book a mark out of ten. This makes it...
JUNE WRIGHT Mother Paul series. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm6 December 2024June Wright has faded from view, but in 1948 her novel Murder in the Telephone [ … ]
ANDREW O’HAGAN Caledonian Road. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey5 December 2024This new novel from the author of Mayflies is set in London, but Glasgow is [ … ]
IAIN RYAN The Dream. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith3 December 2024Iain Ryan’s latest novel continues his fascination with 1980s Queensland and [ … ]
MARINA YUSZCZUK Thirst. Reviewed by Ann Skea28 November 2024Argentinian writer Marina Yuszczuk puts her twist on the vampire novel in [ … ]