WHO WE ARE: The national must reads

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

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A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 24/5/2009
There was a streak of masochism and more than a little myth-making in the suggestions that arrived from this column's readers last week when I sought help in creating a definitive list of Best Books About Australia (go here for that column).

Penelope said "Babette Smith's Australia's Birthstain sources the shame of convict ancestry to homophobia." Dawn Jones said Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder "should be compulsory reading in all schools to show how we became such a racist society (though I do believe we are improving), and the wrong that was done to the indigenous peoples of this land."

Stevn thought Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney by John Birmingham gave "a remarkable insight into the grubby politics and sordidly organic subcultural growth of a nation, despite official policies ... a real survey of how the mass of a decidedly self-interested and disobedient proletarian rabble prone to alcoholism and violence grew into a city."

And MIchael Sullivan suggested The Thorn Birds because it "helped to put Australia on a literary map" (as opposed to being good, presumably). Michael said "It appealed (the novel/story) to the masses; and it raised (I suspect) more tourists to visit Australia." Does that make it essential to The Big 20?

In the end, I think we've nailed it -- a formidable list that offers more pleasure than pain, and as much entertainment as insight:

1. 1788, by Watkin Tench: a new edition of his two books A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay (1789) and A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson (1793), edited by Tim Flannery).

2. The Fatal Shore, Robert Hughes: "probably the most readable history of colonial NSW and Tasmania ever written ... let academics argue over its worth, but no one will doubt its value as an introduction to Australian history" (says Peter).

3. A Fortunate Life, Albert Facey: a "down-to-earth, first hand account of the life of a rambler in early twentieth century Australia" (says GC).

4. My Place, Nadia Wheatley: "a beautiful view of the many people who have made this place home" (says Kate). And another book called My Place, by Sally Morgan: "important for understanding the Aboriginal Australian's perspective of their changed homeland and the difficulties they face in trying to keep their self-worth and their families together" (says Jane).

5. Maestro, Peter Goldsworthy: "His beautiful prose makes the city of Darwin as important a character as the main protagonist" (says Beckala).

6. The Magic Pudding, Norman Lindsay: A hilarious tale of mateship and madness and the source of Australia's national metaphor.

7. For the Term of his Natural Life, Marcus Clark: "read it in the Botanical Gardens and be transported back in time" (says Chris Fuller).

8. They're A Weird Mob, Nino Culotta: The first celebration of a diverse Australia as a nation of immigrants.

9. Kangaroo, D. H. Lawrence: "It was written in 1923 but it so fresh and vivid and relates to many events happening today" (says Shirley).

10. Eucalyptus, Murray Bail: "What could be more Australian? Hopefully Rusty Crowe never gets his plans for a film version off the ground" (says Darren).

11. The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett: "a hilarious look at everything we think makes us Australian" (says Brett).

12. Devil's Hill (Nan Chauncy): "contains wonderful chapters filled with Aussie perseverance taming a wild Tasmania - 'There's a leech having a free beer on your leg, son'" (says Dragonfly).

13. The Future Eaters, Tim Flannery: "a somewhat dry but thorough and profound discussion of the ecology of Australia, and goes a long way towards describing how we have tried to adapt to the bush" (says Nathan).

14. Grand Days, Frank Moorhouse: "quite possibly my favourite Australian novel, with a wonderful heroine ... it shows Australia as once being an important and respected part of the world stage, and it really makes me regret the insularity of modern Australia" (says tqd).

15. Cloudstreet, Tim Winton: "voted Australia's favourite book a couple of years ago," says Julie, but adds: " very different but just as good is The Shark Net by Robert Drewe. Both are set in Perth in the time frame of Eric Cooke the serial killer who was the second last man to be hanged in Australia."

Did we get it right? Go to Comments to argue any choices and help build this into a top 20.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

What about Randolph Stowe's 'The Merry-go-round in the Sea', or "Tourmaline', or for the kids, 'Midnite'? What about 'Wake in Fright'?
These must be on a Top 20 list

by Martin on May 24, 2009 at 12:19 AM

Blinky Bill has to be on there, and Playing Beattie Bow. I would also nominate the Paul Barry book about Alan Bond.

by kate on May 24, 2009 at 02:10 AM

I've just gone through your past blogs..you're making me homesick for OZ..I want to share something with you..
http://theadventuresofyorky.blogspot.com/
It's not in any particular order..so dive in! Just like a sugar cube..wherever you taste it, it's sweet..
Regards,

DD wonders: But is it real? It reads like a parody of ocker dialect.

by Michelle York on May 24, 2009 at 04:22 AM

I haven't read many books by Australian authors, but "My Brother Jack" by George Johnston was one that really stood out.

by james gallagher on May 24, 2009 at 06:10 AM

The Unknown Industrial Prisoner - David Ireland. Or, for that matter ANYTHING by David Ireland.

by tandanus on May 24, 2009 at 07:37 AM

No patrick white? His books can sometimes be a little difficult to get into but he had an amazing ability to describe australian life up to his era. If his most celbrated book turned you off (Voss - I didn't like it either) then my two of choice, so far, would be The Vivisector (intimate/detailed life from birth to death of a sydney based artist) and Riders in the Chariot.
Or Richard Flannagan...

by MikeT on May 24, 2009 at 08:51 AM

Careful, He Might Hear You--Sumner Locke Elliott

by Michelle Heeter on May 24, 2009 at 08:59 AM

Hmm, no mention of "The lucky country"!!! I know it is painful but I think every Australian should read this book (if you can find a copy by accident in a second-hand book shop or your dad's box of bought-but-not-read books)

by Ali on May 24, 2009 at 09:34 AM

'The tree of man' 'Dirt music' 'Riders in the chariot' 'The vivisector' 'My brother jack'...

by Dom on May 24, 2009 at 09:50 AM

The Lost Continent?!? You've got to be joking. This is Terry Pratchett's worst book ever - and I'm a fan and an Australian.
I agree with one of the other posters: Midnite by Randolph Stowe should be up there.
What about any of Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby books or Patricia Wrightson's 'The Ice Is Coming?'.
And what about Colin Thiele's Storm Boy?

by Amanda on May 24, 2009 at 09:59 AM

Elizabeth Jolley
John Marsden
For the Term of His Natural Life
Kate Grenville
Try for a 50/50 gender bias

by val tilney on May 24, 2009 at 10:21 AM

Haven't read every book I'd like to have read after 13 years in the country, but 20 is a very limiting figure. At any rate, I'd rather give names than titles: Winton, White, Drewe, Grenville, Bail, and the list will no doubt continue. By the way, I'm just reading the worst translation ever: the Spanish version of Dirt Music is an absolute joke, a real shocker.

by Jordi on May 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM

The Secret River and My Brilliant Career

Death of a Whaler...a contemporary novel about Byron Bay, from whaling and abattoir town to yuppie paradise, by a wonderful emerging writer (name escapes me) who 'sees the Australian story'

by julie on May 24, 2009 at 11:19 AM

Nerida Newton is her name. She also wrote a novel about Lambing Flat which I haven't read but apparently very good.

by julie on May 24, 2009 at 11:24 AM

Frank Hardy, Alan Marshall, Miles Franklin, Randolph Stowe, Ethel Turner, Mary Grant Bruce, Aeneas Gunn, Ion Idriess, Arthur Upfield, Mem Fox. But not "Kangaroo" which has to be the worst book DH Lawrence (not an Australian) ever wrote.

by Alan Brown on May 24, 2009 at 12:26 PM

Tomorrow When The War Began Series by John Marsden..

We shouldn't forget the Teen books, that shape the Young Adults and Adults of today.

by Josh on May 24, 2009 at 12:38 PM

Thirteen of the nominated 15 books on the list are by male authors so ...
Nerida Newton is her name (Death of a Whaler). She also wrote a novel The Lambing Flat which explores those riots from a Chinese perspective.
A Kingdom by the Sea by Nancy Phelan
Phelan “spent childhood in Sydney, growing up near Chinaman’s Beach, on Middle Harbour, in a large, talented and somewhat eccentric family. When she won the Patrick White Award in 2004, she was described as ‘a keen observer of social life as well as the natural world, with a fine satirical gift, and the ability to recreate past times with love and clarity but without sentimentality’.

by julie on May 24, 2009 at 12:43 PM

Bryce Courtney - Four Fires

by Ian Swan on May 24, 2009 at 12:56 PM

The lost continent is a Bill Bryson book.

Also why no Patrick White?

by Stephen on May 24, 2009 at 01:16 PM

Another vote for Randolph Stowe's Midnite. A fantastic kids book that adults love too. It leaves The Magic Pudding for dead. I think the Pudding is vastly over-rated.

by meg on May 24, 2009 at 01:48 PM

No Peter Carey? Oscar and Lucinda was just gorgeous. I loved Robert Drewe's The Drowner. Agree Playing Beattie Bow should be there. Kate Grenville's Lilian's Story. Drusilla Modjeska's The Orchard. Oh I have to stop or I'm going to go to Amazon and spend a fortune.

by Sam on May 24, 2009 at 01:56 PM

How can 'The Harp in the South' by Ruth Park not make it onto this list! Set in WWII slum-town Surry Hills!

by Manda on May 24, 2009 at 01:56 PM

Gosh, if I'd known one of my suggestions was going to be chosen, I would have tried to sound more erudite! I love "Grand Days" because it shows Australia as once being an important and respected part of the world stage, and it really makes me regret the insularity of modern Australia.

Hm, still don't think I come across as erudite. I'll leave that for the BA graduates, I guess. :)

And I'm glad that so many books are being suggested, some of which I've also loved. It's nice to see that we love our own literature.

by tqd on May 24, 2009 at 02:50 PM

While not an Australian, Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' is not just his funniest book, I believe, but a refreshing, often thought-provoking collection of contemporary observations about our country and culture.
I would also argue for all of Colin Thiele's writing - a man who's done more to 'show' us our unique Coorong and contribute to its conservation than anyone.
Mrs Aenas Gunn 'We Of The Never Never'; Miles Franklin 'My Brilliant Career'; works by Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson, Norman Lindsay, Neville Chute, James Moloney; Joan Lindsay's 'Picnic At Hanging Rock'; Kate Grenville's fantastic output including 'Lillian's Story', 'The Idea Of Perfection' and 'The Secret River' - all of these capture the flavour, scent and colour of Australian lives and life, our history and geography, flora and fauna, 'drought and flooding rains' (thanks too to Dorothea McKellar!)... there are always too many contenders for any 'definitive' list!

by Glamwhitetrash on May 24, 2009 at 03:36 PM

One of the funniest books about Australia has to be Bill Bryson's Down Under. Capricornia by Xavier Herbert is a beautiful read.

by Tammy on May 24, 2009 at 03:48 PM

Oh...and Nino Cullotta 'They're A Weird Mob'; Ruth Park 'Poor Man's Orange' (and sequels); Xavier Herbert 'Poor Fellow My Country'; Rodney Hall's 'The Yandilli Trilogy'... well, have to stop somewhere I guess!

by Glamwhitetrash on May 24, 2009 at 03:49 PM

What? No Brian Castro book? Guess no-one can understand them.

by Peter on May 24, 2009 at 04:16 PM

Michelle - you got it in one! Sumner Locke Elliot's Careful, He Might Hear You is an absolute must for inclusion on the list

by Kat on May 24, 2009 at 04:44 PM

In the months after, while travelling, I met my husband, he and I exchanged books that we felt said important things about our respective homelands. The first one I sent to him was David Malouf's 'The Great World'. The second was Robert Drewe's 'Our Sunshine'. I stand by that choice, based on his response, although more than a decade has gone by.
I'll be frank here, the lack of enthusiasm for White suggests a laziness faced with demanding writing, in favour of easy good storytelling. One has to work at White. I remain grateful to the aunt who offloaded her Whites onto me when she was doing a major emptying of her bookshelves.
Coming back to the non-citizen's perspective, the Magic Pudding is a great example of something that I love dearly but doesn't work for someone who doesn't feel, in their being, the author's intent. This highlights one of the interesting aspects of this: what a native Australian views as strong often doesn't work for those who don't have the same cultural hooks. And 'Thorn Birds' is an example of the opposite.

by Mim on May 24, 2009 at 05:11 PM

Frank Hardy's Power Without Glory has to be on the list

by Paul on May 24, 2009 at 05:12 PM

"Robbery under Arms" by Rolfe Boldrewood and "Let Stalk Strine" compiled by Affebeck Lauder

by ged on May 24, 2009 at 05:25 PM

Don't forget the landmark 'children's' books by Hesba Brinsmead. Pastures of the Blue Crane was a landmark in my childhood.

by kim meredith on May 24, 2009 at 06:24 PM

The Passage by Vance Palmer once recognised as an Australian classic now sadlt forgotten.

by bruce myers on May 24, 2009 at 07:12 PM

How can you seriously leave out MIDNITE, The Great Australian Novel!
This is a shocking omission. It would have been number 1 in my list.

by maryanne on May 24, 2009 at 08:39 PM

Pratchett's book that "is not a book about Australia. No, it's about somewhere entirely different which just happens to be, here and there, a bit . . . Australian" Is called 'The Last Continent' not the 'Lost' one. Great read, whatever its name.
Can I second the call to include Ruth Park, her capturing of Surrey Hills in 'The Harp in the South' and 'Poor Man's Orange' is wonderful, and offers such a contrast to all those blokey outback 'wide brown land' novels people tend to asociate with 'real' Australia. There're her 'Muddle headed Wombat' stories too, that continue to delight.

by Narelle on May 25, 2009 at 10:44 AM

Ruth Park should be on the list - either for Playing Beattie Bow or the Harp in the South.

And I'm surprised no one has mentioned Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs.

There needs to be a book about a bushranger - it doesn't have to be a non-fiction one, but I would have thought that any of "Our Sunshine", "The True History of the Kelly Gang" or "Midnite" should be included.

And I think we also need My Brilliant Career too.

by Ozpuck on May 25, 2009 at 11:57 AM

I was thinking the novel - On the Beach by Neville Shute and the comment made years ago by some American actress that Melbourne made the perfect place to film the end of the world.
Seriously, the novel 1915 by Roger McDonald is one of my favourite Australia novels, also was turned into one of the best TV mini-series made for Australian Television.

by Garry S on May 25, 2009 at 10:09 PM

Please David, I know it's obsessive, but it's nagging at me, like a cupboard door left that bit ajar or a crumb in someone's beard -- Is it possible to amend the title of Pratchett's book to the correct one? Seeing 'lost' instead of 'last' just niggles. http://www.amazon.com/Last-Continent-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0061059072#

DD replies: Fixed.

by Narelle on May 26, 2009 at 09:40 AM

The Sun-Herald

Who We Are

WHO WE ARE: The national must reads

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