Closet His, Closet Hers

From Burge Words:  A COLLECTION of ten stories, all variations on the same theme: hiding from the truth.
The matron who interprets her sexual desire as physical pain, obsessed with one of her nurses to the point of stalking.
The father who has liaisons with men at public toilets, and the kid who works out he knows the bloke.
The painter who is out but not too proud, not until she’s achieved something with her life, and the Auschwitz survivor she must care for in her day job.
The mother who tries to find ‘the right girl’ for her son, only to come face-to-face with his male partner.
The daughter who finds her gay uncle on Facebook and confronts her christian father about his homophobia in one insightful email …
Captured at the crossroads of their lives, these people face choices between extraordinary heroism and cowardice.

Thoughts: Michael is a writer who likes to tell it like it is, even if his characters are hiding some pretty big secrets. His characters are all struggling with their sexuality and how they fit (or don't fit) into the roles society has chosen for them.
If you have read Michael's book Questionable Deeds you will recognise some of the situations he presents in Closet His, Closet Hers. There are a couple of stories which were almost like dry runs of what is delved into more deeply in the non fiction Questionable Deeds. For me it felt almost like a testing of the waters - can I write about this or is it still too raw?
All of the stories are about same sex attraction. At times it is very confronting, forcing you to not only face how parts of society react to same sex relationships or sex, but possibly your own thoughts and feelings.
Closet His, Closet Hers highlights the shame and trauma placed upon people when they are forced to hide what they truly feel. All of it's characters are damaged in some way because they feel they have to hide how they truly feel. And the damage extends to their friends and their family. No one can be happy if they are living a lie.
I would like to think that many of scenarios presented in Closet His, Closet Hers no longer exists. That a man no longer feels he has to marry, have children, live the suburban life if that is not what he wants. That a woman doesn't have to deny what she really wants and feels able to follow her desires and dreams. Sadly however I know these scenes are still played out in the daily lives of some. Hopefully books like this can highlight how damaging that is and everyone can learn to accept that love is love, regardless of a persons gender.

If you would like to know more about Michael Burge, his current publications and his upcoming releases, check out his website, Burge Words.

Closet His, Closet Hers gets 4 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing

Book Review: The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher

From Goodreads: In The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel’s trademark gifts of penetrating characterization, unsparing eye, and rascally intelligence are once again fully on display.
Her classic wicked humor in each story—which range from a ghost story to a vampire story to near-memoir to mini-sagas of family and social fracture—brilliantly unsettles the reader in that unmistakably Mantel way. 
Mantel brutally and acutely writes about gender, marriage, class, family, and sex, cutting to the core of human experience. Unpredictable, diverse, and even shockingly unexpected, each story grabs you by the throat within a couple of sentences. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher displays a magnificent writer at the peak of her powers.

Thoughts: This is our book group read for May. I'm not really sure what to think. I didn't particularly enjoy any of the stories, but have the distinct feeling I missed something. I'm looking forward to our discussion on it in the hope the other members of my book group can shed some light.

At the moment though, I kind of feel like Mantel was trying to be too clever for her own good. Many of the stories seemed to go nowhere and say very little. In fact, only days after finishing the book, the only stories I can recall in any detail are Winter Break and the title story - The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher. The stories were short, which was just as well since by the time I got to the end of them, I was ready to give up on them. The book itself if not long - only running to 300 pages all up. Hmm, will wait and see what the others say.

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher  gets 2 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

Book Review - Nocturnes

From Goodreads: In this sublime story cycle, Kazuo Ishiguro explores love, music and the passage of time. This quintet ranges from Italian piazzas to the Malvern Hills, a London flat to the “hush-hush floor” of an exclusive Hollywood hotel. Along the way we meet young dreamers, café musicians and faded stars, all at some moment of reckoning.
Gentle, intimate and witty, Nocturnes is underscored by a haunting theme: the struggle to restoke life’s romance, even as relationships flounder and youthful hopes recede.

Thoughts: As I have said before, I love Ishiguro's writing, but I frequently feel out of my depth with it - like I am missing something. But what I do love is that I'm not intimidated by it - I'm happy to read the book, enjoy the language, the story and leave the in depth analysis to others. Once I had finished Nocturnes, I read some of the reviews on Goodreads by readers who do this analysis very well and in general I agree with them - I can now recognise how each story looks at the different stages of a musicians professional life and the effect it may have on their personal life, issues with denial and having to compromise your principles to go to the top of your chosen field.

What I really like about Ishiguro is how his stories don't end with a nicely tied bow of perfection. In fact there are times the don't really end at all - they just stop! While this can be annoying, it's also refreshing to be left with no idea what happens next. Does the character resolve their problem? Does it all work out or was this simply the beginning of the end? It's almost like you have been give permission to stop and observe a life for a short amount of time before moving on, left to wonder about the importance of what you have observed.

Book Review: Shadow Boxing & Father's Day

Shadowboxing - Tony Birch

Father's Day - Tony Birch

Shadowboxing blurb: Shadowboxing is a collection of ten linked stories in the life of a boy growing up in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in the 1960s. A beautifully rendered time capsule, it captures a period of decay, turmoil and change through innocent, unblinking eyes. Michael's family, led by his long-suffering mother, live as though under siege, surviving his father's drinking and rage as well as the forces of 'urban renewal'. Their neighbourhood is a world of simple pleasures as well as random brutality; of family life and love as well as violence and tragedy. As Michael experiences all this with a combination of wonder and fear, he matures into a sensitive adult who can forgive but never forget.

Hunter Publishers (Father's Day): Tony Birch has an eye for life lived at the margins and in Father’s Day he brings the streets of the inner-city to life with compassion and dry humour. But he also focus on the relationships that connect us all, particularly the emotional lives of fathers and sons. In subtle, understated prose touched with poetry, this new collection of stories cuts deep into the minor joys and tragedies of ordinary Australians.

What I Thought: Both of these books are collections of short stories. In the first, Shadowboxing, all the stories are interlinked. The narrator, Michael, describes his life growing up in inner Melbourne in the 1960's. Each story shows a snapshot of growing up on tough streets during tough times.
The stories in Father's Day are not linked, but once again shine a spotlight on people's lives as they move through their highs and lows.
Birch draws from his own experience of growing up in Fitzroy, an area and time where most men talked with their fists. This interview   conducted by Richard Fidler explains many of the links between Birch's stories and his life. It also explores how Birche moved from an incredibly tough childhood into being an academic and a writer. Using his own experiences lends Birch's stories an air of authenticity. The reader is transported to the time and place of the story, sharing the joys and fears of the characters and allowing the reader for a short time to live in a completely different time.

Challenges: Aussie Author Challenge

Close Range: Wyoming Stories

Title: Close Range: Wyoming Stories  
Author: Annie Proulx
Genre: Fiction - Short stories
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - lent by a friend

From Goodreads: From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes comes one of the most celebrated short-story collections of our time.
Annie Proulx's masterful language and fierce love of Wyoming are evident in these breathtaking tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each of the stunning portraits in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace.
These are stories of desperation and unlikely elation, set in a landscape both stark and magnificent -- by an author writing at the peak of her craft.


What I thought: OK so really? A book about Wyoming? Cowboys and such? Hmmm, ok, I'll give it a go. Oh my goodness, riveting! I have been in such a reading slump recently with so so books I'd forgotten how amazing a truly good book can be.
Annie Proulx writing is so polished it gleans, but it isn't pretentious. You don't feel like you are reading high literature by an author who is desperate to show you how vast her word bank is. It is effortless, provides crystal clear images of what the character is seeing and feeling at the time. So beautiful it flows and the only re-reading you have to do is because a passage is so perfectly written you have to experience it again.

He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly through his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands. 

The collection does include Brokeback Mountain which of course was made into a movie and for me is the pick of the stories, although they are all able to hold their own. Annie Proulx is being added to my list of authors I want to read.

DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT IN ORDER TO WIN AN EBOOK COPY OF CONNIE CORCORAN WILSON'S HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION II!

Today tell me an author you want to read all of.

Scission

Scission by Tim Winton

This is Tim Winton's first collection of short stories and made for a very easy read. Stories range from a young girl who discovers a hidden cache of eggs, the changing relationship between neighbours, a couples honeymoon that doesn't live up to expectations and plans to get ahead that don't work out.

As I have said before, I love Tim Winton, but I am sure I miss half of the symbolism in his writing. I find his writing almost lyrical and his imagery so clear.

A cow bassooned softly. Egg lay on his back. The sky pressed down and it made him think that is someone knocked the chocks from the right corners, the whole lot would crash down and the world would be as it must once have been, with no margin between earth and space, no room for light or dark, plant or animal, no people. (Lantern Stalk p. 46)

 It just sings to me. Once again, with my ban on new books until I work through some existing,  I'm not sure when I will get to Winton again. I will miss him.