Books about/set in Australia?
 

I LOVED Bill Bryson's book (much more so than several of his others) on Australia and I wanted to hear other recommendations?
I'm not looking for dry history books, but historical novel or a lively non-fiction would work. A decent book not necessarily about Australia but filled with Aussie characters would be good too. I like to see the little differences in speech, food, customs, etc.
Thanks!

AB Facey's book "A Fortunate Life", is an incredible read. The autobiography of a man who was born in Victoria in the late 1800s, struggled as a pioneer in Western Australia and fought at the famous battle of Gallipoli in WWI. Just as entertaining as Bryson but in a totally different way.

http://www.westprint.com.au/Articles...unate_life.htm

Following is a selection of works by some leading Australian writers and set at least partly in Australia - they don't fit the category of light historical fiction, though - in that category something by Colleen McCulloch might be your best shot.

George Johnston: "My Brother Jack"
Peter Carey: "Oscar and Lucinda"
Thomas Kenneally: "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith"
Tim Winton: "Dirt Music"
Christopher J. Koch: "Out of Ireland"
Robert Drewe: "The Drowner"
David Malouf: "Remembering Babylon"
Clive James: "Unreliable Memoirs" (non-fiction)

Not all historical, but set in Australia - here's a few more:

The Shiralee - D'Arcy Niland
The Harp in the South/ Poor Man's Orange - Ruth Park
Its Raining in Mango/Being a Queenslander - Thea Astley
The Idea of Perfection - Kate Grenville
Capricornia/Poor Fellow My Country - Xavier Herbert
The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith - Thomas Kenneally
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

Whilst not fiction, anything by or about Barry Humphries will read as if it is.

Sorry, Neil had already mentioned "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith" - "A Family Madness" by the same author is a good red.

Sorry again - I meant a good "read".

I would also addd the novels by Judy Nunn - which give a good historical background of the various cities and areas in which the stories take place. These include - Territory, Araluen, Kal and Beneath the Southern Cross.

Mary Durack's book 'Kings in Grass Castles' is based on her family pioneering and settling in the Kimberleys. There is a sequel but I can't remember the name.
Tim Bowden has two books on travelling in Australia 'Penelope goes west' and 'Bungles to Broome'.
'Ordinary people, extraordinary lives' by Margaret Carroll - stories of ordinary Australians who have done amazing things.
If you want a romatic novel, Di Morrissey has written several books set in Australia.
Incidentally Judy Nunn has a new book 'Pacific'

Pat, I loved your Freudian slip. But of course one needs a good red to accompany a good read.

I found "Remembering Babylon" readable but a great disappointment after the pleasure of reading his "The Great World" which is a very special book.

A good travelogue: "Travels in Oz" by Howard Jacobsen.

You might also try:

"My Place" by Sally Morgan
"Tracks" by Robin Davidson
Ruth Park's "Sydney"

A B Facey's book is a reminder of how humble we all should be. Recommended.

We of the Never Never by Mrs Aeneas Gunn (non fiction)
No Footprints in the Bush by Arthur W Upfield (fiction/mystery)

A few more:
Tamara McKinley- Mathilda's last waltz
Bruce Chatwin- The Songlines

Thank you!
It looks like I'll have plenty to fill my time up until my trip!

(Historical Fiction)

True History of the Kelly Gang -- by Peter Carey

Talk about Australian characters - I am thoroughly enjoying:

"One for the Road," by Tony Horwitz.

One reviewer said "A high-spirited, comic ramble into the savage outback populated by irreverent, beer-guzzling frontiersmen." My sentiments exactly.

I'm only a third of the way and I love it. Horwitz also wrote "Blue Latitudes" which I believe is a "must read" for any lover of the South Pacific.

Great question pb and i. Thanks for the long and I'm sure reading list.

Cold Beer and Crocodiles, by Roff Smith. The author rode his bike around Australia, very enjoyable read; has all the elements you're looking for.

I was moved by Stan Grant's autobiography "The Tears of Strangers." He's a successful international journalist (ABC, CNN) who happens to be Aboriginal. His explaination of the personal dilemma facing an Aboriginal man successful in white society is perceptive, powerful and disturbing.

It might be a bit heavy but it's a fascinating read and full of Australian history.

By far the best book I've read in the past couple of years just happens to be an Australian historic novel: "Gould's Book of Fish" by Richard Flanagan. Don't get me started ... but it's a masterpiece.

I'd also endorse the earlier recommendations for just about anything by Tim Winton; "Cloudstreet" is my favourite.

For a gentle intorduction to the world of Aboriginal culture, I'd recommend "Songlines" by Bruce Chatwin.

Although I'm only a few chapters into it, I'll recommend "Mango Country" by John van Tiggelen (Pan McMillan Australia, 2003). To quote the back cover: "Journeying around North Queensland, jungle tour guide turned gonzo journalist John van Tiggelen lingers in places that tourists are ill-advised, disinclined or simply unable to visit. He goes crocodile hunting, shoots a nude calendar for charity, joins the world's wildest cricket carnival, attends the opening of the Big Mango and flits around the Torres Strait on a wing and a prayer. En route he is harassed by cassowaries, bush poets, thong collectors, falling coconuts, Bob Katter (a local politician - NC) and the alien commander of 18 million spaceships. But he also harasses them."

Can't help quoting his example of North Queenslanders' habit of tacking "ay" on to the end of sentences:
'Ay mate.'
'Ay.'
'Sod ay.'
'Ay?'
'Said soddiday ay.' [I said it's hot today, isn't it.]
'Reckon. Binodder but ay.'
'Yeah, See ya later ay.'
'Ay mate.'

I must say here that my favourite book about Australia (though it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it struck a chord with me because I recognised the streets and places -- and the era --which were so beautifully described) is Clive James's "Unreliable Memoirs". I mention it here solely for anyone who's about to embark on a trip to Sydney, as this city's premier bookshop (well, one of the top three or four) Dymock's in George St, is currently having a large sale which includes about forty copies of this book for around $AUD6.. what's that, about $USD3.95. Now THAT'S a souvenir you will not throw away when you get home! (I almost thought of buying the lot and selling them by mail order through this forum, but I decided that it wasn't in the spirit of the forum).

We visited the Dymock's on George St. many times. Their prices, along with the favorable exchange rate, made everything seem about 1/2 price of what we would pay here in the US. I bought so many Aussie travel books that my suitcase was overweight and Qantas made me repack it at the airport!

I finally got around to ordering some of these books! Thanks again!

There were a LOT that weren't available from Barnes & Noble.

I know this is an old thread, but was just flicking through it. Please spare us from Di Morrisey, talk about purple prose. Almost on a par with Bryce Courtenay.

Happy to see this thread given the Lazarus treatment, because I just remembered an unforgettable book that I will strongly recommend to everyone.

It's by John Hooker, a New Zealander by birth, and it's called "The Bush Soldiers". It's a powerfully written, beautifully evocative work whose story is anchored in the scenario of a successful Japanese occupation of Australia in 1942. Before you think "Oh, no ... not another 'what-if?' book!" and switch off, this conceit is a vehicle for Hooker's moving exploration of deep-rooted Australian themes, among them the impact of World War I and the Depression on a generation of Australians, and the unresolved (and perhaps unresolvable) conflict between Aboriginal and European cultures.

This narrative is interwoven with the main plot, set in the Far West of New South Wales along the Darling River, as a small ragged band of survivors plan a guerilla raid on the Japanese mines at Broken Hill. This backdrop is conveyed so vividly that you can almost smell the gum leaves and red dust of the Outback.

Read it - you won't be sorry, and you'll probably end up knowing more about the forces that shaped Australia in the first half of the 20th century than any history text can teach you. Yes, IMHO it's that good.

I'm surprised that noone has mentioned "The Outback Series" by Aaron Fletcher. There were 4 books to the series & they're all wonderful. I hope there will be more.

I love books on Oz so was glad to find these suggestions. Thanks!

"He Died with a Felafel in his Hand". A fabulous dry humoured tale about young house-share tenants in Australia, with a bit of an insight into subcultures and youth angst. If you don't know what albino moon tanning is, you have to read it.

I haven't read "Felafel", but I saw the movie and thought it was pretty lame. Maybe just another case of a failed adaptation. To tell the truth I don't know what's happened to the Australian film industry - maybe two decent flicks in the last three years. Have we exported too much talent? I was however pleased to see that Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Hugo Weaving are to star in a local movie called "Eucalyptus", and Ms K will be paid Actor's Equity award rate of about $770 for a 40-hour week as her contribution to the industry. I hope it's not another well-intentioned flop.

I'm cheating a bit because I've only just started reading this book, but I feel safe in recommending "My Brilliant Career" by Miles Franklin (1879-1954). This is a remarkably precocious book written at age 16 by an independent-minded young lady (full name was Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin) who grew up on a rural property close to what is now Canberra, very entertaining and a great insight into life in late 19th-century Australia.

In his 1901 preface the poet and short-story writer Henry Lawson wrote "She has lived her book, and I feel proud of it for the sake of the country I came from, where people toil and suffer and are kind; where every second sun-burned bushman is a sympathetic humorist, with the sadness of the bush deep in his eyes and a brave grin for the worst of times, and where every third bushman is a poet, with a big heart that keeps his pockets empty."

A characteristic excerpt:

"My organ of veneration must be flatter than a pancake, because to venerate a person simply for his position I never did or will. To me the Prince of Wales will be no more than a shearer, unless when I meet him he displays some personality apart from his princeship - otherwise he can go hang." (No wonder the socialist Lawson admired her style.)

The book was made into a better-than-average film in 1979, directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Judy Davis.

I just finished a book set mostly in Sydney.
"Scream Black Murder" by Philip McLaren, who is an Aboriginal author.
A serial rapist/killer who targets Aboriginal women is on the loose... There are two Aboriginal detectives assigned to a new police department dedicated to investigating unsolved Aboriginal deaths.

I enjoyed the book and following the characters around Sydney's neighborhoods and other areas in NSW and QLD.

It was not available new on Amazon.com-- I ordered a used copy. I am going to see if there are any other titles available.

I recently enjoyed Peter Carey's
"The True Story of Ned Kelley"
I believe it won the Booker prize , Carey's second.

A/D