patrick2024's reviews
115 reviews

Good gods! The tears that flowed.
This book captures so authentically the male voice. More precisely male friendship and how it is expressed. It was so funny and so warm. Drawing you into the relationships making the experience of reading so visceral at the end.

Memoir is not buy usual jam but Cher’s conversational authentic telling of her story kept me turning the pages.

Great contextualised insights into the live of Oodgeroo. I’m addition so many surprises about Brisbane at the time. 

Lovely short stories that confirmed AND challenged my notions of life in Japan.

Beautifully written. 
A little too stereotypical or cliches in character.
The Sri Lankan heart to the story was a joy.

Convoluted mess. 

Women are written out of history. How? Patri-magic. 
The first 30 pages were challenging but once Funder dove into the subject the pace took off in succinct punchy chapters.
At its core this is about injustice in a marriage and the insidious marginalisation of Eileen, wife of a famous author whom I now am repulsed by so much I choose not to type his name. 
Funder examines the  blunt elimination of a woman’s voice from her own story and how it is to us near invisible in its execution. 
But the connection to Eileen is so finely done tears flow with hers as I read.

I liked reading of this family experiencing ordinary often unfair life experiences. Layered through the voice of displaced Palestinians which added authenticity rather than  overpowering the story. 
I felt it ended suddenly with the main voice abandoned which was unfulfilling but on reflection is part of the point.

An away win with a late goal.
Authentic Australian noir.