Georgiezine

Hollier than Thou-Laura Buzo . This is YA fiction, and some characters don’t quite seem real, but I still enjoyed reading it and was even more pleased to read an interview with her, in which she describes her upbringing as part of a literary family, living and educated in inner city Sydney, and how much she liked “Tirra Lirra by the River” by Jessica Anderson.  The Push-Julia Lawrinson. Also YA, Julia Lawrinson is a WA writer published by Fremantle Press, but in this novel she has convincingly created a young Glebe late teenager, who socialises with The Push via her work friend Trish, and romantic interest Johnno. Side note-Radio National thought fit to interview Julia Lawrinson, with others, on the topic of “sex in young adult fiction”. As my friend Craig once mused, “teenagers-they’re getting it on!” Sarah Hopkins-Speak to Me. Have ruined this by skipping to the back and then trying to read the novel in reverse chronological order, which does it no credit, as she h...

Have been flipping through Hotel Chelsea, which I first read in January 2010. Oh my, how life has moved on since then. Became pregnant, got engaged, planned a wedding, got offered a new job, moved states, started work, got married, renovated my home, had a baby, husband changed jobs and return home too. At the time of reading the book, I lent it to a friend, enthusing about it, but also reflecting on the fact that I was having nightmares about being homeless, about living in the Hotel Chelsea but feeling vaguely scared and worried by the ennui, that claustrophobic dangerous feeling that David Lynch evokes so well in Lost Highway . My friend laughed, said it wasn’t hard to draw a link between my real life temporary homelessness and what my psyche yielded in my dreams. So 18 months along and I’m reading the book and found myself still moderately interested in the individual stories of the hotel residents, but completely put off by the author’s tone and narrative. It was sligh...