For those in the U.S., Thanksgiving is nearly here so I’m wishing everyone a very happy turkey day in advance. My husband and I usually do not travel for Thanksgiving but this year we are going to San Francisco for a rare family get-together at my sister’s. I think 15 relatives or so will be there, which is pretty exciting. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
Meanwhile this week I finished Australian author Kate Grenville’s 2005 novel “The Secret River,” which is set during the early 1800s about an English bargeman, William Thornhill, who is deported (for stealing) along with his wife to the colony of New South Wales in what later would become Australia. After a few years, Thornhill’s pardoned and settles with his family fifty miles beyond Sydney on the frontier — with dreams of owning his own farm land along the banks of the Hawkesbury River. The only problem is the land has long been the territory of an Aboriginal group that uses the land as well. A culture clash between the settlers and the natives ensues with the hostility gradually escalating until one final act ends up changing all of their lives forever.
What starts out as a pretty measured-paced novel builds to a crescendo toward the end. Grenville is quite a gifted storyteller and I felt in “The Secret River” she captured the sensibilities of the characters, the densely forested landscape along the river, and the settler-Aboriginal conflict very well. It was like I was on the edge of the Australian frontier in 1814 with circumstances and the heat about to boil over — the wife wanting to return to England, Thornhill wanting to stay, and the other settlers pushing to settle things with the natives once and for all. I credit Grenville for writing such a well-researched historical novel that flows so easily; she definitely seems to be a born storyteller. Apparently, according to Wikipedia, “The Secret River” was inspired by Grenville’s interest in finding out about an ancestor of hers who settled along the Hawkesbury River, and it took her five years and twenty drafts to complete. Oh my, no wonder the novel turned out right.
I read “The Secret River” as part of AusReadingMonth, which is being hosted by Brona at Brona’s Books. She helped pick out this novel for me and I’m glad because it seemed right up my alley. I’ve read a lot of fiction by Australian author Tim Winton but never had read Grenville before. “The Secret River” is the first novel in a trilogy and I’m interested in reading the other two books about the Thornhill family. From the first one, I could visualize Australia so well even though I’ve never been there, but I sure would like to go. I meet quite a few Aussies here in Western Canada — as the people of the Commonwealth countries sure seem to keep together.
In other news last week, I finished the audiobook of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 children’s classic “A Wrinkle in Time.” I had not remembered the fine details of the book from my youth so I returned to rectify that. I’m so glad I did. I really enjoyed listening to the story of Meg and her younger brother Charles Wallace (who can forget Charles?) as they journey along with schoolmate Calvin O’Keefe to find their missing father, a scientist who had been working on fifth dimensional time-travel before disappearing. I loved the trio of their helpers: Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, and was appropriately intimidated by the dark planet of Camazotz and the disembodied brain that controls the place. Blech! Run Charles Wallace, Run! Luckily Meg seems to learn some valuable lessons about fighting conformity and evil along the way. I listened to the audiobook narrated by actress Hope Davis that came out with the 50th anniversary edition a few years ago. I highly recommend Hope’s reading of “A Wrinkle in Time.” It’s good fun.
Also my Hub and I finally saw Steven Spielberg’s Cold War film “Bridge of Spies” last week. It has all the historical intrigue and ingredients to be quite fascinating — and it is to a certain extent. It’s about an American lawyer trying to get back a captured U.S. spy pilot in a prisoner exchange with a Soviet spy. The movie is good, but in some respects “Bridge of Spies” seems to come across a tad dry (I think from the script) despite how much tension and anxiety you would think such circumstances would involve during the Cold War. The movie is definitely worth going to — it’s quite an interesting event in history. I just felt it could’ve had more intensity or pulse to it (instead there is a bit of Coen Brothers’ humor in there). For goodness sakes, world annihilation was on the line.
Lastly in news, congratulations to last week’s National Book Award winners: Adam Johnson for his short story collection “Fortune Smiles” and Ta-Nehisi Coates for his nonfiction book “Between the World and Me.” I haven’t read either author just yet, but I have their books on my radar. Both seem quite thought-provoking.
How about you — have you read any of these books mentioned above or seen the Spielberg movie — and if so, what did you think?
The Secret River sounds really good.
I have heard so many vague things about European settlement of Australia yet I know so few details of it. It seems like this book would fill in some of the pieces.
Have a great trip and a great Thanksgiving!
Thanks Brian. The Secret River was a good novel version of the settlement but I sort of would also like to read Robert Hughes history book “The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding” which seems like it would be really good too. So if I can make time for it next year, I’ll go for it. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Have a great Thanksgiving, Susan!
I haven’t read those books or seen the movie yet, but I expect seriousness from Cold War movies, not quite Coen brothers’ dark humor.
The Secret River sounds very interesting. You are on a roll with the historical period-pieces lately (i.e., the Donner Party book, this one, and Wolf Winter, which was set in the 1700s). I’ll be reading your posts about the rest of the trilogy when/if you post them.
Thanks Carmen. Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Yeah I guess I am reading quite a bit historical based books these days — I hadn’t even realized it. Maybe I gravitate to these types of stories — I was a history major !
I love Australian authors. Have read my share of Tim Winton. Been meaning to read Kate Grenville. So many favorite things in Wrinkle in Time but especially the tesseract! In movies, I saw Suffragette. I will never not bother to vote again!
Thanks Judy, yeah I love Tim Winton’s books. But I should read more Australian authors. Have read a couple of Geraldine Brooks’ books. A Wrinkle in Time was a lot of fun. I had forgotten. But who can forget the tesseract! Never again. Is the Suffragette movie good? I need to see it.
The movie is very good. It really spoke to me as a woman. Possibly the guys won’t get it.
Yes, Geraldine Brooks. I need to read her new one!
Okay that does it. I might need to see the Suffragette solo without the Hub. Though he does like Carey Mulligan. But I’m sure it won’t speak to him like me. So I will sneak off to see it. hmm
Oh yeah. I went with a girlfriend. And Carey Mulligan is awesome. No makeup! She is still beautiful and a great actress.
You are ahead of me… I’m about 60 pages into The Secret River. I like it so far, but I am still in the “measured pace” part. I hope I’ll get to finish it before AusReading Month is over (we have guests from Florida this Thanksgiving week). It’s good to know you enjoyed it.
Yeah TJ hopefully the book will pick up for you. It is a bit slow for awhile and then finally it hooked me. It seems pretty vivid in my mind now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
The Secret River sounds like my kind of book–will have to find it and read it! I would like to read more Aussie fiction (my father lived there as child and I have dozens of cousins and extended family there) but I’ve only read My Brilliant Career, A Town Like Alice, and Morgan’s Run. So much more I could be reading!
I’ve never read A Wrinkle in Time, but I think the audio version would be a wonderful way to experience this classic.
Happy Thanksgiving to you–the kids are flying home today and tomorrow and a snowstorm is arriving in CO on Thursday, so hopefully there will be no call to leave the house!
Yeah Jane: if you liked those three Aussie novels then certainly you will like The Secret River. I think I plan to read more of Grenville’s novels. And you should also check out A Wrinkle in Time on audio. It’s a fun version! I downloaded the audio from the library. Yeah I hear you about the snow — we just got dumped on, so it’s better to stay put. Happy Thanksgiving!
The Secret River sounds quite good. I know I haven’t read neat enough Australian stories.
And Wrinkle in Time? It’s my first favorite book. I still remember receiving it from my Scholastic book order in sixth grade and reading it all in one gulp. Love that book.
Neat to hear Deb: that A Wrinkle in Time is a fav. I can see why. It’s a neat story. Beware of the Dark Thing! And IT.
I really enjoyed The Secret River too.
When it was first published in Australia the idea that the Aboriginal tribes had actually farmed the land by cultivating yams, using fire to herd and catch animals etc was a new idea for most Australians.
Our history teaches us that the land was ‘terra nullius’ when the white settlers and convicts arrived simply because there were no fences and that they hadn’t ‘done’ anything to cultivate the land. The Indigenous approach to looking after the land and farming their food supply was so different to what they knew, that they were unable to see it for what it was.
The Secret River created a lot of discussion at the time.
I can also highly recommend the other two stories. The Lieutenant is set in the same era but with none of the same characters. Whereas Sarah Thornhill follows on from The Secret River and takes us further into inland NSW.
Thanks for joining in AusReadingMonth.
I’ve really enjoyed seeing how our stories are received and interpreted overseas.
Oh thanks Brona, that’s very interesting! I can imagine the book must have created a lot of controversy and discussion. What a big detail of the book. So the natives weren’t really hunter-gatherers; I must amend that. I’ve enjoyed AusReadingMonth and learned quite a bit by everyone’s posts.
The aboriginals were hunter-gatherers, but they did use various farming methods to ensure their regular supply of food. Protection of important plants and their growing environments, fire management and grassy corridors to herd kangaroos to make capturing them easier. They didn’t need fences; they lived on an island. To protect the plants they moved regularly to rest areas until the next season. It was a very seasonal, sustainable, ecological system. Not perfect or idyllic as they still experienced feast and famine times. But their relationship with the environment was not valued by the early settlers. The first fleeters nearly died whilst waiting for the second fleet to arrive when their crops didn’t thrive. They failed to see that the local aboriginals were trying to show them how to eat the native foods. The Europeans had no idea how to deal with this new land. Sadly they also brought smallpox with them on the first fleet and the local tribes quickly began to die.
It was a real tragedy full of miscommunication, misinterpretation and misunderstanding.
thanks Brona. Interesting info. I think next year I want to read The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. Have you read that one?
The Secret River has been on my radar for some time, along with Tim Winton. Which Winton titles do you recommend?
I recently listened to Between the World and Me. It is moving and thought-provoking, and will almost certainly end up on high school/college reading lists. Have also downloaded Fortune Smiles from the library, but it remains to be seen whether I will get to it before it disappears from my kindle.
Happy Thanksgiving… enjoy the family time!
Thanks JoAnn. I plan to get to the Coates book as per your review. It sounds important. As for Tim Winton, I’ve liked his books Breath, Dirt Music, and The Turning (short stories). His recent novel Eyrie was okay but perhaps nowhere near Breath. I still want to read a few of his others. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I love Madeleine L’Engle! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks. Ditto Amy. I didn’t realize L’Engle wrote quite a few sequels to A Wrinkle in Time. I should check those out too. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.
I love Australian history. There is something so fascinating to me about an entire country settled by those other countries deemed unfit for civilization. I’m glad you enjoyed the Granville novel. It does sound like something I would absolutely love.
Thanks Michelle. Yeah I’m starting to get into the Aussie Lit & history, which is fun to delve into. I think I want to read The Fatal Shore history of it – sometime. You would like this novel probably. It’s slow at first but does pick up!
Have a happy Thanksgiving – enjoy your time with your family!
Thanks Kathy. It should be really fun this year.
Happy Thanksgiving! I read A Wrinkle In Time for the first time a few months ago. I liked it but I didn’t love it. I think that if I had first read it as a child, then I would have liked it more. I know a lot of people who read it as kids count it among their favorite books.
Yeah Rachel it’s likely your experience might have been a bit different. The book seemed fun to me. And perhaps the audio helped.
I hope you had a smooth weekend of traveling — San Francisco is a fun city, and I hope you got to see a bit of it aside from relatives.
Thanks Kim. San Fran and Marin County over the bridge are gorgeous. It’s been clear and we biked all around. It’s defintely a fun place. I hope I got some photos.
ps. Yesterday we even saw a whale spouting under the Golden Gate Bridge!
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