0669 | The Engineer of Human Souls | Josef Skvorecky
If Iain Sinclair wants to know how to eradicate plot but nevertheless write a novel that is at once funny, poignant, moving, funny, sad and tragic, he should put down…
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0545 | Slow Man | J M Coetzee
What at first seems like a fairly straightforward novel about a guy dealing with the loss of his leg takes a quite unexpected turn when a character turns up to…
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0398 | The Secret River | Kate Grenville
Context: The first book I read back in the UK where I could finally avail myself of the wonders of ordering books for free at a library… mmmmmm! REVIEW As…
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0375 | For the Term of His Natural Life | Marcus Clarke
Context: Started selling off stuff in preparation for moving out. Someone bought the house we’re renting. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted… REVIEW This was an unexpected page-turner….
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0369 | Oscar and Lucinda | Peter Carey
Context: We visited a beach to the southeast of Kokopo while I was reading this. REVIEW This was a wonderful book from start to finish. Carey writes with great insight…
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0368 | Never Mind the Bullocks | Karl Kruszelnicki
Context: In my room at the Kokopo Centre where we were staying during a language survey, I read this while watched by a hideous doll on the wall. Who makes…
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0359 | Elizabeth Costello | J. M. Coetzee
Context: Finished this as Mrs Arukiyomi was hosting one of her popular cafes one Saturday. REVIEW This was a really strange novel. You can’t win the Nobel Prize without being…
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0333 | Manub & Kilibob:Melanesian Models for Brotherhood | Rufus Pech
Context: Involved in final rehearsals for Cinderella while I finished this off. REVIEW After having had one of the strangest experiences of my life attending meetings of a group of…
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0312 | Remembering Babylon | David Malouf
Context: Read this as we enjoyed tea and cakes at the River Tea Rooms on the banks of the Great Ouse in St Ives, Cambridgeshire REVIEW I don’t think I’ve…
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0294 | The Family Frying Pan – Bryce Courtenay
Context: Read this in one sitting on a day when I really couldn’t face any more interaction with villagers in Male! REVIEW I’m usually wary of any book where the…
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0275 | A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
Context: Finished this off on Trinity Beach just north of Cairns which is mentioned often in this novel. REVIEW A very, very long time ago, I was a teenage boy….
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0247 | Some Experiences of a New Guinea Resident Magistrate – C. A. W. Monckton
Context: put some new strings on my old Eko and then got a blister I played it so much! REVIEW They don’t write books like this anymore. You know when…
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0238 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
Context: 2009 became 2010 while I was reading this. REVIEW I don’t read thrillers as a rule so, when I unwrapped this book on Christmas day, I was intrigued to…
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0223 | The Coast Watchers – Eric Feldt
Context: finished this off at the desk where I’m doing my research job downstairs at 77 Field View. REVIEW This book tells the story of the Coast Watchers, a group…