Book recommendations needed: Australian literature
Hello everyone,
As the title of my post suggests it, I would like to compile a list of 15-20 Australian books to read in the coming eighteen months. I know I can check out Lisa’s blog (ANZ LitLovers) or Sue’s (Whispering Gums) or Kim’s (Reading Matters) but I don’t know how to narrow down all the Australian books I could find there to a 15-20 books list.
So I need help. I’m open to literary fiction and crime fiction but I’m not good with essays and non-fiction in general. I have already read books by Max Barry, Stephen Orr, Julienne Van Loon, S.A. Jones, Madeleine St John and Toni Jordan.
I’ve read The Magic Pudding, which proved to be a complicated read for a foreigner. I tried to read That Dead Man Dance by Kim Scott but I had to abandon it because it was too difficult to read in the original and it’s not available in French. However, Benang: From the Heart and True Country have been translated into French. Is one of those a must read?
I also know that I should read Tim Winton, but which one?
Clearly, I need help!
So please, leave book recommendations in the comments below.
Thanks!
Emma
Book Around the Corner 
I’m very ignorant about Australian literature, but recently I bought the following books based on multiple recommendations by Australian friends and bloggers: Elizabeth Harrower – The Watchtower; Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career; Romy Ash – Floundering; Zane Lovitt – Black Teeth (recent crime fiction).
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Thanks! I forgot to mention that I have The Catherine Wheel by Elizabeth Harrower and The Death of Bunnie Munro by Nick Cave on the shelf.
You need to read Company by Max Barry, especially with your line of work. It’s huge fun.
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If you are interested in an older book, I can recommend (For the Term of) His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke.
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Thanks, I’ll check it out, I’ve never heard of it.
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Free at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3424
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Thanks!
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Can I recommend Eucalyptus by Murray Bail? It’s short, sweet & fairytale-like.
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PS thanks for linking to my blog
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Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll look it up.
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Richard Flanagan : The Narrow Road To The Deep North is brilliant …… and I second Marina Sofias recommendation of My Brilliant Career . I read Cloudstreet by Tim Winton and also loved .
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Thanks for the recommendations.
After reading the blurb, I’m not sure I can stomach The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
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It is harrowing….more emotionally . There’s a bit in that book that still makes me want to cry when I think of it ….. so moving . I’ve not read any of his others but kimbofo raves about him and an Aussie friend told me The Sound Of One Hand Clapping is brilliant .
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Thanks, Helen. I’ll check out The Sound of One Hand Clapping.
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My tastes are rather vintage and I don’t know how easy some of my recommendations will be to get. I also recommend My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin and its sequel My Career goes Bung. Two other Australian novels I enjoyed were Painted Clay by Capel Boake, and The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge. Another much later novel I really enjoyed was The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Cary I enjoyed very much though others by him not so much. For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke is very good too.
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Thanks a lot. I’m checking books on Goodreads as I read comments and discover the books recommended.
You have managed to list two books that Lisa has not read (or not listed as Read on Goodreads) Congratulations!
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*chuckle* I’m going to keep out of this because I’ve more than had my say on my ANZLL Books You Must Read page (which needs updating!).
Except to say, I’m glad you’re not discouraged by your experience with That Deadman Dance, and also to ask, have you read any of Karen Viggers’ books? They’re all been translated into French and are readily available in Poche editions.
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I will check your Books You Must Read Page (don’t know how I missed this)
I may try That Deadman Dance again after I’ve read other Australian books. There were too many things I was not familiar with when I read it and I got lost.
I’ve never tried Karen Vigger. Which one would you recommend?
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I haven’t read any by Karen VIggers, but heard about her at a translation symposium, see here: https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/09/17/aalitra-symposium-translating-australian-literature-16917/
The Books You Must Read is a bit overwhelming… my original idea was just to show readers how many great books there are, but I now realise that a little filtering is more helpful and that people like to know a bit about the books rather than just see a list. So try here: https://anzlitlovers.com/2011/01/26/the-anz-litlovers-list-of-best-australian-books/ and here: https://anzlitlovers.com/2012/11/25/a-suitcase-full-of-books/ and (give me time to find it) a reading list that I wrote for a travel company, especially for people travelling to Australia….
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Sorry for the laste answer, I had a crazy week in the office.
Thanks a lot for the links, it’s really helpful. I’m like a kid in a candystore and I don’t know what to choose. But I’ll manage 🙂
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Brilliant recommendations of Australian literature, Lisa! Thanks so much for sharing these two posts!
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I can’t find the list I was looking for, it was at Insight Guides but maybe they’ve moved on. Email me at anzlitloversATBigPondDOTnetDOTau and I’ll send it to you.
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Thanks, I will.
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Amy Witting, Olga Masters
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Thanks Guy. I have the Nick Cave on my TBR and I’ll read it soon.
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I’ve just finished Jen Craig’s Panthers and the Museum of Fire; cannot recommend it highly enough and will now read Jen’s earlier book. Gerald Murnane is a fascinating writer; read his Barley Patch and keep meaning to read more. I’m also intrigued by both Brian Castro and Alex Miller, though I’ve yet to read either; I’ve got The Sitters to read of the latter, and been recommended Double-Wolf of the former.
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Thanks, Anthony.
I’m not sure I’m the right reader for Panthers and the Museum of Fire.
Murnane, Castro and Miller seem to be more my kind of writers.
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Guy’s suggestions of Witting and Masters are excellent Emma. Joan London’s Gilgamesh (sorry no review on my site as I read it before I started blogging) is excellent too and is set partly in Europe. Her The golden age is supposed to be good. I just haven’t got to it yet.
Tim Winton’s most famous is Cloudstreet. It’s long. But he’s also written some novellas that could be a good place to start like In the winter dark and That eye, the sky. They may not be easily accessible.
Anita Heiss’s “choc-lit” (i.e. chick-lit but with indigenous characters!) books, e.g. Paris Dreaming, might be fun to try. (I’ve reviewed that one).
I’d also particularly second heavenall’s suggestion of Kate Grenville’s The idea of perfection. I’d add Grenville’s The secret river. It has its controversies but is worth reading I’d say.
My brilliant career is a must!! A true Australian classic.
Crime fiction. Peter Temple’s The broken shore is a good one. (I’ve reviewed Truth but I like The broken shore best). And I think you could check out Angela Savage. (I’ve reviewed one of hers). I’m not an expert on Crime though.
And there are so many new writers. However, the ones we’ve all named here have stood the test of time and are hopefully more easily available. I’ve tried to choose ones that I think would be OK for you in English if they are not available in translation.
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Thanks for all the thoughtful recommendations.
I had Anita Heiss in mind, Lisa recently reviewed Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossom and it seems educational for a foreign reader.
I’ll have a look at The Broken Shore, I enjoy reading crime fiction.
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I’m afraid I’m going to be of little help with this as my knowledge of Australian lit is very poor. That said, the one I really want to read is Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, a book that always seems to garner excellent reviews. Best of luck in compiling your list.
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I was nearly going to add that one to my list Jacqui. It’s not quite in my “must reads” but it is a good read and is part of what we call Australian Gothic.
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Thanks Jacqui. I already have a nice list and I haven’t even checked Lisa’s Must Read Page.
I knew I’d get a good variety of recommendations when I wrote this billet. It’s so much better than looking for ideas on the internet.
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I really enjoyed A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz. I haven’t read his more recent work yet.
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Thanks, I think I’d love Toltz’s book. I’m even surprised that Guy has not read it yet.
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I think you might like it, and Guy might as well. It’s very funny.
Another favourite of mine is Nick Cave’s first novel And the Ass Saw the Angel, it’s a very dark Southern Gothic book but I’m not sure if you’re into such books.
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I have The Death of Bunny Munroe on the shelf, I’ll start with this one but I have to say And the Ass Saw the Angel is the kind of book title that would catch my attention.
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I would recommend Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey and also The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.
You could also check out the guest post that Sue at Whispering Gums did for me which contains recommendations – https://bookertalk.com/2014/10/06/a-view-from-here-books-from-australia/
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Thanks for the link to your post, I’ll have a look at Sue’s list.
Wasn’t Flanagan’s book a bit gruesome?
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No I didn’t find it so. There are books about Japanese prisoners of war that are very detailed about their conditions and I do find them hard to read but in this book, that section wasn’t very large and wasn’t in too much detail
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Thanks, it’s good to know.
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My favorite is Thea Astley….
my thoughts: https://nancyelin.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/the-slow-natives/
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I was going to suggest Astley too as I love her, but I think if Emma found Kim Scott’s That deadman dance tricky to read in English, she’d probably find most of Astley so too. But if any of hers were translated into French, then I’d say go for it. One that would probably work well for Emma in English is Coda.
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No Thea Astley available in French. What was difficult in That Deadman Dance were all the descriptions of the landscape and my absolute ignorance of Australian history. I couldn’t picture the landscapes in my head because I missed too many words and I couldn’t make the link between the story and the big historical picture. That’s probably a book to read after I’ve read others to give me more background.
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Thanks for explaining that Emma. That makes sense. It probably does, I guess, assume at least a knowledge of our history. I think Astley would be a challenge in English too, because of her “densely woven grammar” (as one critic calls it) and highly “imagistic language” (as she herself called it). Her writing drives Helen Garner beserk!!
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From your description, I think she’s not for me. It makes me think of Marilyn Robinson.
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I think she’s very different to Robinson, Emma, from the little I’ve read of Robinson, but I think you’ve made the right call, much as I love that your commenter recommended her!
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Sue, maybe a short not too heavyweight history might be a good idea? Have you read Girt? Is it any good?
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Yes, a very good idea Lisa, but no I’m afraid I haven’t. Hmm, a good short history is a challenge. Might need Janine for this.
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There’s Blainey’s one, but that was awful.
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I didn’t read it! Sounds just as well.
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Thanks Nancy!
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I’ve got nothing really, though Narrow Road was highly recommended to me too. My impression is that it is gruesome in places, but not relentlessly or gratuitously so.
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Thanks Max. This one seems to make many lists…
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I recommend a great classic, so good at describing the essence of Australian landscape: The Tree of Man (1955) by Patrick White (1973 Nobel Prize): https://wordsandpeace.com/2013/04/22/book-review-the-tree-of-man/
I have also just read Salt Creek, depressing, but very good too: https://wordsandpeace.com/2017/09/06/book-review-salt-creek/
I also liked: https://wordsandpeace.com/2012/01/28/review-3-2012-remembering-babylon/
And if you have not read her yet, a big Australian author right now is Kate Morton – all her books are worth reading
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I realise that I’d forgotten David Malouf. Another of his that is great is Fly away Peter.
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He seems to write short books, a quality I enjoy in a writer. 🙂
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Moi, aussi, Emma!
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Thanks Emma. I think I’d like the Malouf.
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For Tim Winton, I’d go for ‘The Riders’, and I’d also recommend Elliot Perlman’s ‘Seven Types of Ambiguity’ (although it’s fairly long in the original!).
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Thanks Tony. The Winton sounds great.
Elliot Perlman’s book is available in French. But still…856 pages! It’s kind of daunting.
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My edition is about 650-700 from memory, but yes, it’s a lot of reading in a foreign language (I’ve just reread ‘Buddenbrooks’ in German, so the feeling is still fresh…).
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For completeness sake, I’ll add the recommendations that Vishy gave me on Twitter:
(1) True Country by Kim Scott
(2) The Eye of the Storm by Patrick White
(3) True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
(4) Dirt Music / The Riders / Breath by Tim Winton
(5) Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman
(6) Taming the Beast by Emily Maguire
(7) The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
(8) Walkabout by James Vance Marshall
(9) Ransom by David Malouf
(10) The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
(11) A Short History of the World by Geoffrey Blainey (nonfiction)
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Some good ones here, Emma and Vichy (though I don’t believe no. 10 is Australian.) I think Three dollars is a particularly excellent suggestion for Emma’s purposes.
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I think that Three Dollars will make the list.
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I partially agree with you on #10. Michel Faber is regarded as Scottish by some, Dutch by some and Australian by some. Australians themselves regard him as Australian because he spent most of his childhood years in Australia, went to school and college in Australia and started his career in Australia and lived in Australia till his middle 30s. Faber doesn’t identify himself with any nationality and regards himself a global citizen. He has a Dutch passport. I find that he is a fascinating writer of our times, refusing to get confined to a particular nationality box inspite of our best attempts to put him there.
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Interesting Vichy, thanks for this. I must say that I’d never thought of him, or heard of him, as Australian, in my circles, though I did like Crimson petal…
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And I thought that with a name like Michel, he must have some French in him. 🙂
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Ha, ha, ha! Yes, his name does look very French ☺
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Sue, I just discovered that you are Australian. So if you say Michel Faber is not Australian, it must be true. I apologize for jumping the gun and writing a long comment about him 🙂
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Oh, no apologies at all Vichy. Please don’t apologise. I was really surprised when you named him, that I didn’t even look him up. I usually know the “contentious” Australians like MJ Hyland and Evie Wyld but Faber had never come up (for me in this respect). You taught me something.
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Emma, thanks for adding my suggestions here. Will add a few more comments and suggestions.
(1) Patrick White won the Nobel prize and so I am guessing any book by him is good.
(2) Peter Carey is a two time Booker prize winner for ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ and ‘Oscar and Lucinda’. I see others have also recommended the second one.
(3) Tim Winton has won four Miles Franklin awards which is one of Australia’s highest literary awards.
(4) Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman was especially recommended by Lisa. It is a brilliant book.
(5) Marcus Zusak is also Australian. So in case you haven’t read The Book Thief, you can give it a try.
(6) Geoffrey Blainey is Australia’s foremost historian. He also wrote a book on Australian history called ‘The Tyranny of Distance’.
(7) Shaun Tan’s The Arrival is a brilliant, surrealistic, graphic novel about immigration. It is one of the finest books I have read. It has beautiful, stunning artwork.
(8) Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One is a beautiful novel about childhood and boxing. I haven’t read it but my friend whose reading taste I admire recommends it highly.
(9) Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines is a travelogue set in Australia. It was highly acclaimed when it came out but I am not sure about its reputation now. Also Chatwin is British and so his point of view is that of an outsider’s. We need to ask Lisa on whether this is a good book from an Australian perspective.
Happy reading, Emma!
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Thanks for all the recommendations, Vishy. I’m amazed at the response this billet received.
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Happy reading, Emma! I will look forward to finding out which books you choose to read. I totally forgot Shirley Hazzard, Emma! She is one of the great Australian writers. Her books ‘The Transit of Venus’ and ‘The Great Fire’ are both critically acclaimed and won literary awards.
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Another one on the global list! I’m struggling to compile everything and I’ll have a hard time downsizing the list from 70 books or so to 15-20. *sigh* I wish I had more time for books.
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Hi Vishy, I love your recommendation of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. I think it’s universal in its themes:) Songlines, yes – and no. Every Australian and visitor should know what the Songlines are, so that they can understand and respect our pre-colonial history but Chatwin’s book is problematic, see here: https://anzlitlovers.com/2013/04/30/the-songlines-by-bruce-chatwin/
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Thanks so much for sharing the link to your review of ‘The Songlines’, Lisa. I loved your review! It looks like a beautiful book, though clearly with its flaws and imperfections. I will look forward to reading it. Thanks so much!
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You’re welcome, VIshy, it’s nice to be able to return the favour for the recommendations you’ve given me:)
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Hi Emma,
I can highly recommend both of Evie Wyld’s novels. I reviewed her second one here: http://andrewblackman.net/2015/05/review-of-all-the-birds-singing-by-evie-wyld/. She describes herself as Anglo-Australian (born in London, grew up in Australia, lived her adult life in England), and her first novel is set all in Australia and the second is half Australia, half UK. So I think she would count for Australian literature, as long as you’re not being too strict 🙂 I also remember reading some Patrick White novels years ago and liking them, but can’t remember the details now…
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Hi Andrew, good to hear from you and thanks for the recommendation.
Patrick White seems to be a mandatory step. I’ll try one that’s not too long or I’ll get it in French.
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Hi Emma, Going back to your question about Benang – since it is translated into French, you simply must read it. Kim Scott is a wonderful writer. And Les Incarnations d’Eddie Twyborn is a Patrick White I would suggest. How do you find the time to read so much and write so much?
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Hi,
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll get Benang, I need to read at least one in translation.
How do I find time to read so much and write so much? Compared to other book bloggers, I don’t read or write a lot. I manage to read roughly one book per week and write one weekly billet. How? Simple answer : a wonderful husband and no TV.
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David Finn is the only Austrailian Author I know of at the moment. He writes fantasy.
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Thanks for the recommendation but I’m not a fan of fantasy. I just don’t get along with the genre. 🙂
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You’re welcome, that’s kind of hilarious the way you put it. I feel that way about westerns.
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Hello, I came across your blog by accident. I see you also like to read new authors. My Australian friend, Diana Blackwood, is launching her book, Chaconne, tomorrow. It sits very much in the literary fiction genre. It is coming of age story (as too is My Brilliant Career), but this time is set in France and Germany, albeit the main protagonist is a young Australian woman. I can’t wait to read it. You can download a sample to see if you might like it. https://www.hybridpublishers.com.au/product/chaconne/
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Hello, thanks for visiting and for your message. I’m always interested in discovering new writers, so I’ll chekc out Diana Blackwood’s book.
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Hi Emma! I am an Australian who reads quite a bit of Aussie literature and crime. Has anyone recommended The Dry and Forces of Nature by Jane Harper for a crime read? I also recommend The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood which won a lot of literary prizes here. I have just blogged about this book and The Dry.
Some other favourites include Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey which also came out as a movie this year and The Eye of the Sheep by Sofia Laguna which won awards and she has a new book out called The Choke. I am not sure if you would class it as literary but The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas is also a great read. I also really enjoyed an indie book called Goodwood by Holly Throsby. It is a mystery novel set in a small town with a cast of very quirky Australian characters. I could go on but I will leave it there. Let me know if you need any other recommendations.
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Hi Jane,
Thanks a lot for your recommendations. None of them had reached me yet and I enjoy crime fiction too.
I will add them to the List. (very long list, now…)
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Anything by Alex Miller. My personal favourite is Conditions of Faith. It about a young Australian woman who goes over to Europe.
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Hello, thanks for the recommendation!
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