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Carol Jones

Author of The Boy With Blue Trousers and The Concubine's Child

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All articles filed in The Gift of Rain

Reading Now

By: Carol Jones July 13, 2018
Author, Book Review, LiteratureTan Twan Eng, The Gift of RainLeave a Comment on Reading Now

A rich and complex narrative of divided loyalties…

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Author, Book Review, LiteratureTan Twan Eng, The Gift of RainLeave a Comment on Reading Now

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REVIEW** Pictured are just a few of the items that have vanished from the world in The Memory Police - perfume, photographs and calendars. An unnamed young novelist lives on an unnamed island where integral aspects of daily life are disappearing one by one. With each disappearance people's memories of those objects also vanish. The Memory Police is a fascist brigade which enforces these disappearances by overseeing the deliberate destruction of any remaining objects —hats, birds, roses, ribbons, perfumes etc — and capturing the very few people who continue to remember them. When the novelist fears that her respected editor is next to be taken away she decides to take action to save him with the help of an old man who was once the ferryman... when ferries still existed. First published in Japan in 1994, and published for the first time in English in 2019, The Memory Police is written in a quiet prose, all the more frightening for its terrifying subject matter. Perhaps the most affecting aspect of the losses endured is the docility with which the island's residents react to them, and the calm acceptance of inevitable future disappearances, even as they lose more and more of themselves with each one. Like much of the best speculative fiction, The Memory Police is an allegory for our current existence. It warns of the perilous nature of totalitarian states, but I feel it is also a lament for other precious items that have vanished or are in danger of vanishing from this world: animal species, forests, languages, customs, ways of life etc. And perhaps finally, it is also a meditation on ageing and death. For the latter parts of our lives are littered with losses of friends, family, capabilities, health and finally of life itself. A very powerful and affecting work by one of Japan's foremost writers. #bookreview #currentlyreading #currentreads #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #nowreading #sciencefiction #speculativefiction #japanesewriters #yokoogawa #thememorypolice #nowreading #newfiction #aussiereaders #bibliophile #booknerd
Last week, @antipodeanbookclub tagged me to post a #summerbook stack. Today's forecast in Melbourne is 36 degrees so definitely summer but not a blue sky in sight and many beaches here were closed yesterday. If you slide to the second frame you will see the view from my balcony covered in a thick haze of smoke from the fires hundreds of kilometres away. My stack is largely made up of books with a beachy feel but I am not a seasonal reader so they are all previously read. My tbr pile is a mixture of fiction and nonfiction that I'll post more on soon, and currently I am reading The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. What are you reading? Anything beachy? Hoping for a much wetter summer. 🙏🏼 We are all mourning here. #summerbookstack #seasonalstack #bookstack #books #igbooks #booklover #bookstagram #bookish #readersofinstagram #aussiereaders #thedry #therip #shallows #onchesilbeach #thesecretsatoceansedge #thefarsideofthesun
While visiting Brisbane for the tennis I couldn't miss the opportunity to call in at the State Library of Queensland, particularly the John Oxley Library that houses the State's Heritage Collection. I've used materials from their online resources many times and was keen to visit the physical library. Pictured are a few rare books, the heritage collection area, and the exterior of the library, which sits in a beautiful spot on the Brisbane River. As an author of historical fiction, I am so grateful for the wonderful heritage collections of all our State libraries and our National library. What's your favourite library? #statelibraryofqueensland #heritagecollections #johnoxleylibrary #statelibraries #nationallibraries #historicalfiction #historicalresearch #writingresearch #writersofinstagram #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #bookstack #shelfie #libraries
REVIEW* The Tenth Muse is an interesting meditation on intellectual endeavour and who owns the results. Are they the property of a single genius or the result of collaborative and cumulative endeavour? It is also a story of a young woman's battle to be taken seriously as a mathematician in a time where she was one of very few. . I found the plot of this novel engrossing and the main character held my attention, she is sympathetic yet flawed. The reader is drawn into her struggle even if sometimes annoyed by the singlemindedness that sabotages her own happiness. How much should we compromise our principles for happiness? Or would our happiness be destroyed anyway if we do? I wonder what others think about this. Personally I think compromise is part of every successful relationship, it's just a question of what you call a principle and what is just wanting to get your own way. . This isn't a book to read for literary style or captivating prose but very enjoyable nonetheless. . . Thanks to my engineer son for the prop. Not reading calculus lately! .. #bookreview #currentlyreading #currentreads #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #nowreading #bibliophile #booknerd #newrelease #newfiction #newbooks #fiction #readersofinstagram #thetenthmuse
I recently reread this very title about a boy emperor who comes to the imperial throne with no education about how to rule, elders who manipulate him, and little care for others. I found it an interesting meditation on power and empathy, or lack thereof, by the author of Raise the Red Lantern. Worth reading if you get the chance. #chinesefiction #asianstories #asianliterature #booksintranslation #nowreading #bibliophile #booknerd #rereads #mylifeasemperor #sutong #recentreads #fiction #bookstagram #bookish #historicalfiction #nowreading #igbooks
Here are my top #10femalewriters of #2019 courtesy of @inbookishfashion Many of them sit happily in historical fiction as that is my favourite genre. Michelle Obama's memoir was also a highlight, as was Atwood's sequel to her classic dystopian A Handmaid's Tale, which I first read decades ago as a young woman. Lisa See always impresses me and I was very happy to see Philippa Gregory return to writing stories about regular people rather than royalty. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yaa Gyasi were new to me and I hope to read more of their work in 2020. Adichie has a sly humour that appeals greatly. Shirley Jackson's novel was delightfully gothic, as was Diane Setterfield's new work. Australian author Lucy Treloar's novel set in a world of rising sea levels was timely, and I had to sneak in my own new release as a vote of confidence! . Looking forward to lots of new reading in 2020. #readingnow #reading2019 #historicalfiction #onceuponariver #theislandofseawomen #thehauntingofhillhouse #becoming #wolfeisland #homegoing #Americanah #tidelands #theboywithbluetrousers #femalewriters #10femalewriters #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #bookstack #readersofinstagram
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