http://hdl.handle.net/2328/3316 Book reviews by Gillian Dooley for the Australian Book Review 2013-05-22T21:41:04Z http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1652 Title: The Darwin in the Detail. "Charles Darwin in Australia", by F.W. Nicholas and J.M. Nicholas. [review] Authors: Dooley, Gillian Mary Abstract: In 1836 Charles Darwin spent two homesick months in Australia, after five years of arduous and adventurous travel on the 'Beagle'. He arrived at Port Jackson in January, and visited Hobart and Albany before returning to England and the comforts of home and family. This book provides an account of those two months, in Darwin’s own words, with commentary by the authors and additional material from other sources. 2002-08-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1306 Title: Untrimmed detail Authors: Dooley, Gillian Mary Abstract: Halfway through "Matthew Flinders' Cat", the protagonist admits that, when writing, he finds it 'almost impossible to leave out what others might think of as superfluous detail. It was, he knew, self-indulgence.' Is this a moment of self-directed irony on Bryce Courtenay's part, or a case of the pot calling the kettle black? This novel brims with 'superfluous detail', and there is little attempt to curb the flow of information. Description: Gillian Dooley, Sydney, Trim, High Court Judge, Salvation Army, homeless, homelessness 2002-12-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1180 Title: The Missing Captain. "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" by Robert Holden. [review] Authors: Dooley, Gillian Mary Abstract: The perils of a certain kind of historical writing are painfully demonstrated in "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea", billed as 'the life of Australian whaling captain, William Chamberlain: a tale of abduction, adventure and murder'. The problems inherent in "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" arise from failures in both language and imagination. Holden has tried to put himself in Chamberlain's shoes and write from his point of view, but he has not made the imaginative leap necessary to write true historical fiction. Like many others before him, he has mistaken long words and convoluted sentences for genuine nineteenth-century prose. In the end, Holden lacks both the material to write a biography and the imagination to write an historical novel, and has fallen uncomfortably between two very high stools. 2003-08-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2328/875 Title: Feisty Times. "Women on the Rocks: A Tale of Two Convicts" by Kristin Williamson. [review] Authors: Dooley, Gillian Mary Abstract: Early Sydney has beguiled many writers, and the latest to succumb is Kristin Williamson. She has combined an interest in the Rocks area with a self-confessed ‘obsession with our feisty female forebears’, and has produced an historical novel involving several real people. This book works well as a portrayal of a chaotic but vibrant society free of the rigid class structures of the home country, but "Women on the Rocks", for all its virtues, is a little too long, and the total effect is rather anodyne. 2003-11-01T00:00:00Z