Archives
LATEST TWEETS
'Down and Out in Paris and London' was banned in Australia until 1953. #Orwell himself made a note of the fact in 1949 for his literary executors. #Orwelltrivia
Added Henri #Barbusse's 'Inferno' (expurgated) tran. John Rodker 1932 + 'Hell' (unexpurgated) tran. Robert Baldick 1966 (artwork by Charles Mosley) to my #pariscollection. A scandalous look at Parisian boarding houses originally published in 1908. #Orwell darcymoore.net/paris… pic.twitter.com/BW13…
#Orwell’s bust vandalised at his Motihari birthplace toi.in/dynY2b96/a24g… via @timesofindia
Australia's freedom of information regime labelled 'dysfunctional' in scathing audit theguardian.com/aust… #auspol
IMHO George Woodcock wrote more insightfully about Orwell than anyone else who knew him. He also founded NOW (1940-1947) which I have collected & started reading chronologically, from the first, stapled A4 edition. en.m.wikipedia.org/w… #Orwell #HowThePoorDie pic.twitter.com/PvwV…
Recent comments
-
Jenn Tsun: currently reading 1984 for the umpteenth time, it's still th… on Did Orwell smoke opium in Burma?
-
DavidCaledonia: Lot of stuff about Blair that I have never read before, as a… on Orwell’s Scottish Ancestry & Slavery*
-
Peter Duby: An interesting article Darcy. While rue Cardinal Lemoine is… on Orwell in Paris: War Correspondent*
-
Karen Yager: Brilliant post Darcy. It is so true that students need a lib… on The #hashtag and the #citizen: living with #paradox
-
Darcy Moore: Thanks Richard. I checked out your blog and particularly enj… on George Orwell and William Shakespeare
Currently reading…
Darcy's bookshelf: currently-reading






My Flickr Photos

The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton #review and my #reading in March
The Shepherd’s Hut is a coming-of-age story that will likely remind many long-time readers of Tim Winton‘s earliest publications in the 1980s. His first novel, An Open Swimmer, has a male teen protagonist whose name starts with a ‘J’, an old man and a hut. These early stories revealed Winton’s ability to create an authentic Australian voice by employing a sparse vernacular that captured, rather than caricatured, laconic, mostly inarticulate characters. His skill as a novelist has yet to peak and this is an extraordinarily evocative story about masculinity, especially for young men.
Winton’s latest novel is a first person narrative with a strong authorial presence and memorable characters. The Australian vernacular is well-rendered via his troubled teen protagonist, Jaxie Clackton, whose damaged longing for love is deeply affecting. Narrative voice is what Winton does so effortlessly, engaging the reader in the moment, moment after moment. Some may occasionally wonder how many teenage boys think, speak and feel as Jaxie does but the power of Winton’s writing never really has to coax the reader into the narrative, which is completely compelling.
Winton has a genius for naming characters. We meet most during flashbacks in this novel. There’s Lee, who Jaxie loves and desperately needs to see. Kenny Chen aka Dogmeat, an almost school friend. Captain Wankbag, Jaxie’s name for his alcoholic father, a butcher whose malevolence makes his death more of a relief than a sadness. Many readers will find Jaxie’s experiences of Christmas and his father’s brutality particularly painful to read. Fintan MacGillis, the hermit that Jaxie meets in the shepherd’s hut is a particularly well-drawn figure in the landscape. Winton has often explored religion in his fiction and non fiction:
Setting is always a character in Winton’s novels. The Western Australian landscape is harsh, beautiful and often sublimely described. The individual is always awkwardly present:
The hut, and the surrounding salt marshes, are lovingly evoked. The reader sees the mirages, as the characters do. Eventually.
The language and exploration of masculinity is not the only reason this novel would be interesting to young men. There is moment after moment of recognisable, ordinary Australian life and landscape, writ large, that compels the reader to keep going down the road with Jaxie, and Winton.
My only real criticism of Winton’s novels has been a consistent one. For all of his brilliance, the resolutions to his stories often feel hollow, or cliched. It is almost like the spell he has written under lifts and one returns to the world of what a merely ordinary writer would do to finish the thing off. This novel has the same problem although, I can see it working in a film adaption.
Winton, in a recent interview, suggested a new hashtag to combat ‘toxic masculinity’. Ironically, for all the problems of using offensive terms for the female anatomy as abuse, he probably would have more impact on the target audience using this hashtag then something more polite or politically correct. It is hard to think about as these challenges seem insurmountable some days. Anyway, for the brave English teacher, with the appropriate class, hierarchical support and professional skillset, there is quite a unique opportunity to make a difference with the release of Winton’s new book.
The Shepherd’s Hut is a wise and knowing novel. Boys in secondary school should have it on offer in their classrooms. This is unlikely due to the raw, powerfully authentic nature of the prose, potentially misguided perceptions of political incorrectness and the use of expletives. It is very difficult for schools to address issues of masculinity flexibly due to rules, or perceptions of where boundaries are drawn, for teachers in classroom discussion or choice of literature. Winton is prepared and able to explore language and life in our country honestly. We need to share this wisdom widely.
Highly recommended.
Other titles read during March
Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (2017) by James C. Scott
Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor (2017) by Virginia Eubanks
Jane Austen at Home: A Biography (2017) by Lucy Worsley
.
Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas de Quincey (1821/2015)
Never Mind (Patrick Melrose #1) (1992) by Edward St. Aubyn
George Orwell: A Personal Memoir (1982) y T.R. Fyvel
Incognito Social Investigation in British Literature: Certainties in Degradation (2017) by Luke Seaber
The World of George Orwell (1972) by Miriam Gross (editor)