Learning more

When I wrote my poem about Benazir Bhutto I read books about her and about Pakistan. There are three books well worth reading that I can recommend.

The first is Benazir Bhutto's autobiography 'Daughter of the East'. It was first published in 1988 and is available in paperback published in 2007, the year Benazir was assassinated. The book ends with an update on Benazir's return to Pakistan in 2007. She acknowledges the dangers that she faces and quotes one of her heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, as an inspiration for her determination to continue as a political leader:
'Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent on things that matter,'
Benazir was certainly not one who chose to remain silent and the autobiography traces the influences and great events that shaped her.

On the morning of her assassination Benazir finished the final edits of her new book 'Reconciliation- Islam, Democracy, and the West'. (Pub. 2008, Simon & Schuster) In it she defends her faith against politicisation and exploitation by extremists and fanatics. She looks at the history of the Muslim countries as she argues the question is Islam incompatible with democracy? She does not back away from pointing to many faults within Muslim countries but also points out that:
'The so-called incompatibility of Islam and democratic governance is used to divert attention from the sad history of Western political intervention in the Muslim world, which has been a major impediment to the growth of democracy in Islamic nations.'
This 'sad history' is discussed in relation to a number of specific countries across the world. The history of Pakistan is covered at length.

For another view on the history of Pakistan I read 'Frontline Pakistan' by Zahid Hussain, the Pakistan correspondent for 'The Times' of London, the 'Wall Street Journal' and 'Newsweek'. (Pub. 2008, Tauris & Co.) Based on interviews, newspaper reports and agency reports and investigations, the book gives a clear indication of the forces that have made Pakistan into a volatile and dangerous place on the front line of war between the West and al-Qaeda.

Reading these books has made me better informed about the politics and history of Pakistan, a country that will continue to play a major role in the future of our world and the struggle for a peaceful planet. Each of them was available for loan from my local library.

Finding books to read

As I was saying before I was so pleasantly interrupted by Christmas, New Year et. al....isn't it fascinating how readers find the next book they want to read? I find good reads mainly through bookish magazines and newspapers and by talking to friends. Sometimes a new book gets a buzz in the zeitgeist.

'The Slap' by Christos Tsiolkas has achieved that this summer around Melbourne with lots of people reading it and talking about it. I tried to borrow a copy from my local library but other keen readers were onto it before me so I'll have to wait my turn. (I did read one chapter when I was babysitting the other night and I can't wait to read the rest.) With 'The Slap' unavailable, I decided to read Tsiolkas's first novel instead and I'm very glad I did.

'Loaded' proceeds at a furious pace through the eyes of a substance-fuelled,young, Greek, bisexual,music-loving, lover, brother, son, friend who rushes around Melbourne in a long, speed-driven, orgy. Naturally I loved it. I can't believe it's taken me so long to getting around to reading this book - 'Loaded' was first published in 1995. A really wonderful, poetic, first novel. Now 'The Slap' promises a lot of interesting reflections about modern life in Melbourne coming from its potent central event of an adult slapping another couple's kid at a backyard barbecue. Child protection/abuse and all their moral accoutrements are indeed contested subjects in our society - think Bill Henson.

Another good read was 'The Ferocious Summer:Palmer's Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica' by Australian writer Meredith Hooper. (Published 2007) This book is an account of the author's days spent on the Antarctic Peninsula over the summer of 2001-2002. She especially recounts the work of the 'birders' who have studied the habits of the Adelie penguins in the Peninsula area since the 1970s. The book gives a marvellous insight into how science is done and the build up of evidence about climate change from the sharp end in Antarctica. I found a recommendation for it in a 'best reads' column in the 'Australian Book Review'.

My third read was also clearly in the zeitgeist. I finally got a fix on it when I read the last Quarterly Essay, 'American Revolution: The Fall of Wall Street and the Rise of Barrack Obama', also by an Australian author, Kate Jennings. Sometime along in the essay, when Jennings is chasing the daily story of Obama's campaign and the simultaneous machinations on Wall Street, she writes this:

'The VIX reaches its highest point ever: 81.7. I turn off the television and read 'The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo', a mystery by Swedish writer Steig Larsson. Timely as hell because it has a financial scandal as part of the plot. The Swedes know a thing or two about financial implosions because they had to nationalise their banks back in 1992 when the housing bubble burst. When the banks had stabilised they were privatised again: taxpayers got their money back.'

What interested me was the 'mystery' book that Jennings was reading; it sounded exciting given the fascination of the political and financial dramas she was tracking. I wasn't disappointed, 'The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo' turned out to be a good old page-turner mystery with a sufficiently sex-crazed denouement to satisfy the weirdest imagination (pretty funny stuff!) Plus a nice addition of anger about financial rip-off artists and their weak-kneed apologists in the media and some great characters.

'The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo' is the first book in the Millennium series (second part just published in English in Jan. 2009). Steig Larsson was an investigative journalist who specialised in stories about neo- Nazis. He was also fascinated by the crime genre in writing and he delivered his 'Millennium Series' to his publisher just before he died. He did not live to see the worldwide success of his novel.

I've moved on with my reading now since early summer. Nobody gave me a book for Christmas this year but I've fallen on a pile of stuff about Benazir Bhutto and what's going on in Pakistan.

Good on Bendigo library. All the books I've mentioned are available in their collection and I can order them from home over the net and then have them delivered to the nearest branch library.

Booklist 2008

This year I've managed to keep a list of the books I've read. Here it is with some annotations about the books and where I obtained them. I've set them out in the order in which I read them.

William Dalyrymple, The Age of Kali. Indian travel/history. Borrowed from a friend. My second reading.
Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky. Novel set in North Africa. Borrowed from a friend. Second reading.
Sarah Paretsky, Writing in an Age of Silence, Essays about writing in America post-9/11. Borrowed from a library.
Murray Bail, Notebooks 1970-2003. Australian writer's notebook. Library copy.
Sarah Hobson, Family Web- A Story of India. Anthropological study of village life in South India. Library copy.
Arthur Miller, Timebends. Autobiography by the great American playwright. Purchased at secondhand book sale.
Hannie Rayson, Inheritance. Play set in rural Australia. Secondhand copy.
Sophie Cunningham, Geography. Novel. From my own collection. Second reading.
Helen Garner, The Spare Room. New Australian novel which I bought this year.
Lawrence Wright, The Looming Towers. History of the background to the 9/11 attacks. Library copy.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden. Classic philosophical memoir. Secondhand.
Sophie Cunningham, Bird. New Australian novel. Free review copy.
TimeLife books, Russia Beseiged. History of Russia in world war two. Library copy.
Michelle de Kretser, The Lost Dog. New Australian novel. Library copy.
Maryanne Robinson, Gilead. Novel. Friend's copy.
Karen Joy Fowler, The Jane Austen Bookclub. Novel. Library copy.
Fiona Capp, Musk and Byrne. New Australian historical novel, set in Daylesford. Library copy.
Murray Bail, The Pages. New Australian novel. Bought new.
Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Nights. Detective novel. Library copy.
Amitav Ghosh, Field of Poppies. New Indian novel. Birthday gift.
Amitav Ghosh, The Calcutta Chromosone. Novel. Secondhand copy.
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons. Play. Own collection. Re-reading.
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace. Novel/history/philosophical essay. New translation. Friend's copy. Second reading.
Heather Vicenti, Too Many Tears - An Autobiographical Account of Stolen Generations (Meme Media), new copy.
Bob Dylan, Chronicles. Autobiography, Secondhand copy. Second reading.
Joan Baez, And a Voice to Sing With. Autobiography. Secondhand.
William Shakespeare, King Lear. My collection. Re-reading.
Graham Greene, Journey Without Maps. Travel in Africa. Library copy.
Richard Greene (ed.), Graham Greene: A Life in Letters. Writer's letters. Library copy.
Shirley Hazzard, Greene on Capri. Memoir. Library copy.
Henning Mankell, Firewall. Detective novel. Secondhand.

They are the books I have on my list so far this year.

And now - drum roll please Maestro!
I am pleased to announce the inaugural Gold Camel Award for the best book read by me in 2008.
The award goes to -
Count Leo Tolstoy for War and Peace.
Congratulations Count Leo!
Round of applause.

In making this award I would like to thank the sponsors: friends, op shops, garage sales. bookfairs, public libraries, schools etc

What have others been reading in 2008?