Browsing No 260 - April, 2004 by Issue Date
Now showing items 1-20 of 40
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Looking At Both Sides. "The Cruise of the Janet Nichol Among the South Sea Islands: A Diary By Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson" by Roslyn Jolly (ed), "Robert Louis Stevenson: His Best Pacific Writings" by Roger Robinson (ed) and "Albert Wendt and Pacific Literature: Circling the Void" by Paul Sharrad [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Whether it's fate or mere coincidence, the life stories of the two most celebrated writers of the Pacific — Robert Louis Stevenson and Albert Wendt — dovetail together on the small tropical island of Upolu in Western Samoa. -
Bruce Beaver - A Poet's Poet [tribute]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Bruce Beaver died peacefully in his sleep on February 17, a few days after his seventy-sixth birthday. He had been under dialysis for a dozen years, so the news was not unexpected. But it is always a shock and a sadness ... -
Altman's Travels. "Defying Gravity: A Political Life" by Dennis Altman [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)The late Graham Little’s review of "Defying Gravity" appeared in the April 1997 issue of "ABR". Allen & Unwin was the original publisher. -
Consolations of the Heart. "In The Year of Our Lord Slaughter's Children" by Philip Hammial, "Home Town Burial" by Martin R. Johnson and "Loneliness" by Maurice Strandgard [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Here are three volumes that offer differing responses to a world characterised by injustice, brutality and personal hardship. -
Gifts of the Senses. "Tiepolo's Cleopatra" by Jaynie Anderson. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Melburnians are rightly proud of the great painting by Giambattista Tiepolo in the National Gallery of Victoria: "The Banquet of Cleopatra". Now restored to its prominent position in the gallery, it will continue to attract ... -
Scorsese's Couch. "Scorsese's Men: Melancholia and the Mob" by Mark Nicholls. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Due to his use of psychoanalytic theory, Nicholls does not aim to communicate with the mass audiences who enjoy Scorsese flicks at the local suburban multiplex cinema. Rather, the author targets those familiar with the ... -
Kokoda Truths. "A Bastard of a Place: The Australians In Papua" by Peter Brune. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Brune’s narrative is at its best when evoking the small details of battle, and makes good use of the many interviews he has conducted with veterans of the campaign. The book is handsomely presented, and the maps are ... -
Blind Spot. "The Girl in the Golden House" by John Biggs. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)"The Girl in the Golden House" remains stuck behind its author’s blind spot — it is evocative of Western fantasies of Hong Kong and its people, but offers little more illumination than this. -
Swings and Roundabouts. "Spinning Around" by Catherine Jinks. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)This novel explores, exposes and ultimately celebrates a woman’s transformation from well-groomed single to maternal mess. It is part domestic farce, part journey to greater contentment, which, Jinks suggests, is achieved ... -
Sites of Resistance. "Very Big Journey: My Life As I Remember It" by Hilda Jarman Muir. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)"Very Big Journey" is Hilda Jarman Muir’s story. Nevertheless, a good deal of the book’s joy lies in the author’s hearty self-assertion, and how this seems to have been enabled by a broader indigenous community. -
Spreading the Academic Nets. "Consortia: International Networking Alliances of Universities" by David Teather (ed). [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)This book suffers from the occasional drawback of edited volumes that disparate contributors have difficulty achieving the coherence and power of a spirited sole author's sustained writing. Nonetheless, this is an important ... -
Copious Corruption. "The Philosophy of Sir William Mitchell (1861-1962): A Mind's Own Place" by W. Martin Davies and "Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia" by James Franklin. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Sex had nothing to do with Socrates’ conviction, though that is not James Franklin’s view. In his new book, "Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy", he says that the charge that provides the main title of the book ... -
Thomson's Legacy. "Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land" by Donald Thomson (ed Nicolas Peterson). [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Donald Thomson's stature as a great Australian and a champion of Aboriginal rights is confirmed by this engaging compilation. Thomson was also a world leader in ethnographic field photography. Published first in 1983, this ... -
Nothing But the Truth. "Reflections on Life, Love and Society" by Nicolas-Sebastian Roch de Chamfort (ed and trans Douglas Parmee). [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Although this selection of nearly 500 pieces is necessarily fragmentary, Parmée has arranged the texts in such a way as to suggest certain preoccupations. By turns witty, cynical and wise, despairing and hopeful, Chamfort’s ... -
High Praise. "Australian Constitutional Landmarks" by H.P. Lee and George Winterton (eds). [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Even if there is a little hyperbole, the book demonstrates in a readable way how, when it has faced major tests concerning the welfare of the Australian Commonwealth, the High Court has usually come down on the side of ... -
Medici Matriarchs. "The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence" by Natalie Tomas [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)The origins of Tomas’ study of the Medici women in a doctoral thesis are evident in the scholarly apparatus that accompanies, but does not interrupt, her narrative. Over a third of the book consists of footnotes and a ... -
They Make A Desolation and They Call It F.A. Hayek: Australian Universities on the Brink of the Nelson Reforms. [essay]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)This essay explores the role of the economist F.A. Hayek on the reforms to Australian Higher Education. It argues that the Nelson reforms bring Australian cost levels and structures closer to those of the US. -
Big Bad Business. "Bad Company: The Cult of the CEO" by Gideon Haigh and "The Big End of Town: Big Business and Corporate Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia" by Grant Fleming, David Merrett and Simon Ville. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)As Australians, we seem to be much more comfortable acknowledging the role of an orchestra’s conductor or a film’s producer or a sporting team’s captain than we are at accepting the pivotal role of a brilliant CEO. It is ... -
Fakes and Heroes. "On the Warpath: An Anthology of Australian Military Travel" by Robin Gerster and Peter Pierce (eds) [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)"On the Warpath" is a flawed book; its lack of balance and proportion alone disqualify it as a suitable addition to school libraries. But we are on the whole better off having it than not. Its existence adds a little to ... -
The Tick of the Biological Clock. "The Philosopher's Doll" by Amanda Lohrey. [review]
(Australian Book Review, 2004-04)Many novels display some of the characteristics that encourage readability: consistency of theme, soundness of structure, steadiness of pace, depth of characterisation and elegance of style. In "The Philosopher’s Doll", ...