Some of My Reading In Past Year

Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (2003) This autobiography of a Chinese peasant boy who goes on to become a world famous ballet dancer is a fabulous tale. On the one hand it is a story of courage, determination to succeed, loyalty to family and personal growth. On the other it gives an insight into the narrow world of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and its stifling effect on individuality. It also reveals the extraordinary amount of work and practice that lies behind success at the highest level. A poignant moment for me is when Li leaves China for the first time and stops over at Tokyo airport. He sees a cup of coffee advertised for US$3.00 and ‘in total astonishment’ calculates (twice) that this is equal to half a month’s salary for his factory worker father. The poverty of rural China constantly pierces the story and the Western reader’s conscience.

Learning to Fall by Philip Simmons (2002) (157pp) Simmons wrote this book after he was diagnosed with a rare terminal disease. This is a gem. It doesn’t get much better than this. He is an absolute inspiration and the short book is filled with wisdom, hope and inspiration. Words don’t do his words justice. You just have to read it yourself. Humbly recommended for anyone who is having or has had a big challenge. Philip’s words can be revisited regularly for they are a tonic for all ailments.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (2006) (216pp) Please see my comment on the blog on 12 February 2007.

The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan (2006). Please see my comment on the blog on 14 January 2007.

Shantaram by Gregory Roberts (2003) (933pp). This is one of the best books I have read. This autobiography/novel is riveting for its story as well as its portrait of Mumbai. Written by an escaped Australian criminal it has the lot: romance, suspense, gun running and all sorts of crime, gangs and gurus, obscene opulence and wrenching poverty. Roberts does get the reader right inside India. Even if only half of the adventures were true it would still be unbelievable!

Inhaling the Mahatma by Christopher Kremmer (2006) (427pp) Kremmer is an insightful writer who has a talent for taking his readers into unfamiliar cultures and leaving them richer for the experience. In this book he shows us India based on his long encounters there as a reporter then a husband married into an Indian family. Religion and politics in all their Indian colour and complexity are handle skillfully and interestingly. The revelation of the story behind the intriguing title is just amazing and yet, so India.

The Last Nizam by John Zubrzycki (2006) (382pp). This is the remarkable story of an Indian prince, Mukarram Jah, the Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad. It is a story of unbelievable wealth – Jah’s grandfather had been the richest man in the world. Yet this prince turned his back on his dynasty and on history and in the 1970s bought a half-million acre sheep farm in Western Australia. I was mesmerized by a man who could reject all the sycophants and corruption of his bejeweled palaces in India to find solace in the remote outback only to be ripped off by so many Aussie ‘entrepreneurs’ who saw him as an easy target. Nevertheless Jah did have a lot of fun driving bulldozers and getting his hands dirty. Sadly it all fell apart and he now lives in exile in Istanbul.

The White Earth by Andrew McGahan (2004) (376pp) This is a really good Australian novel that covers a range of themes including family conflict, the taming of the land, and the conflict with Aborigines over Native Title. There are echoes of Hansonism and the simplistic solutions that it prposed for complex problems. For me the obsession with property and the potential dangers in inheritances and anticipated inheritances resonated strongly. Set in Queensland, McGahan interweaves contemporary developments with historical events and traditions in a way that is provocative and sobering.

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis (2004) (480pp). I read this when son Jesse was visiting over Christmas. He had been reading it across the world and was raving so I grabbed it. It is the autobiography of the frontman for the popular band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. I learnt a lot about the drug scene and the sexual demands and opportunities that go with being a successful rock star. It is a tedious chronicle of his daily drug experiences and almost daily diverse sexual experiences. It’s interesting though, in the same way Keith Richards is interesting. Kiedis, like Richards, has defied the survival odds. The sad part is that in a perverse way, for many of his fans and readers it probably validates the drug scene and its link with rock music because he does enjoy many drug experiences and does survive and succeed. It has added to his charisma – just look at the Amazon reviews. If more people died or were totally stuffed at an early age, the horror of what drugs can do to a person and the ripple effect for their family just might get greater attention.

Military Madness

I heard on the news yesterday that the new American jet fighters, the F-22 Raptor, cost $500 million EACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! On this blog on 13 January 2007 I reported the work of Fred Hyde who is building schools in Bangladesh. Fred can build a school for $6000. Now ponder this: One F-22 Raptor could build 83,333 schools in Bangladesh. This is just too unreal to even comment on.

Dick Cheney's Visit

What a coincidence that this entry should follow one headed Big Snake. Just wanted to ask that you click on my aussie values blog link opposite to see a great article by Mike Carlton in SMH 17 Feb 07. (I know the dates don't add up but that's because the blogs are entered on American time and they are a bit behind!!)

BIG SNAKE

Wendy and I were having a coffee outside yesterday about 11.00am and just outside the back fence there was a cacophony of screeching by about 20 birds of about six different varieties. We back onto a belt of rainforest so there are always plenty of birds but such a commotion, which had gone on for over 20 minutes, was unusual. I went out the back gate and got as close as I could to the focus of the birds' attention and sure enough there was a 3 metre python stretched along a branch about 8 metres above the ground. Wendy and Karissa came to look and we were sure it had just eaten a bird as it was a bit distended and this may have accounted for the noisy behaviour of other birds. It was grey and green with beautiful markings and it was superbly camouflaged against the branches. It just looked like one of the many vines looping around trees. Let's hope it stays in the forest!
We have had 170mm of rain in the past 4 days so everything is just so fresh and green. The Sunshine Coast's dams are overflowing and this is why Peter Beattie is building his SE Qld water grid to pump the water here to Brisbane's dams.

A Bad Luck Story

Bad news for the young Indian boy pictured on my Blog below on 11 January 2007. Anton has reported that it was proving difficult to get in contact with the father of the boy: ...'the clinic's staff show up at his house but he's never there. It may be extremely bizarre to believe, but from what we hear from the relatives of the boy the parents aren't eager to get the operation for him at all. This it seems is because they’re simply too lazy even though we're providing transport and paying for it. This just a typical attitude from my experience parents often don't care about their children in poverty stricken India.’

Although frustrated, Anton has learnt from his experience in India and in his final report he mentions the boy with the clubbed foot: ‘The lesson I learned from all of this is that the clinic’s most important work is not medical aid but education. This was particularly driven home when we offered to pay for the operation of the boy with a club foot (see the blog for details). This condition was caused by cerebral palsy caused by nerve damage ultimately caused by severe nutritional deficiency prior to and after birth. The operation will cost $300. Dr Gehrman said that while he applauded and supported our offer to fund the operation; he wanted to point out that with $300 he could employ and train a health care worker for 12 months. This one trained worker could prevent dozens or even hundreds of similar cases by educating villagers about nutrition.’

My response to Anton was; ‘I guess we should be philosophical about the way other people see things differently to us. I am disappointed for the boy with the club foot because we both know how easy it is for us to improve his quality of life.
I'm sure many Indians would see many aspects of Australian life as bizarre. For example they surely would be bewildered by the extraordinary high suicide rate among Australian youth and the numbers of teenagers using drugs. They would wonder why, in one of the world's richest countries, many Aborigines are living in appalling health, education, economic and employment circumstances. (They would probably also be shocked at our beef barbeque culture.)’

Fortunately all is not lost. Anton is seeking to help another young Indian boy: ‘The other operation is a 12 year old boy with spastic paralysis since early childhood due to cerebral palsy. The knees are deformed so he cannot walk properly, and it's too far progressed to be cured with acupuncture or physiotherapy. At least one knee needs to be operated to help him effectively.’
I’ll report if this small project succeeds.

Book Comment: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Just finished The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (2006). It is very good. I always admire writers who can write realistically through the eyes of a child. There is something about the view of the adult world though children's eyes that sharpens the focus on the insanity and inhumanity of what adults foist on each other and the world. The insanity in this case is Auschwitz and the nine year old narrator, Bruno, moves there because his father is appointed Commandant. Bruno’s ignorance of the reality behind the high wire fence that separates his home from the inmates only enhances the reader’s horror. Boyne cleverly laces his main character’s innocent observations with understatement to magnify the evil that most readers are already aware of. There is some potent satire in Boyne’s view of the Holocaust not least of which in the final two sentences: ‘Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age.’

As I read this book, I was reminded of To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) where Harper Lee uses the young Scout to make observations about the adult world of racism and justice in America’s Deep South. The childlike style also dredged up memories of Raymond Briggs’ caustic satire on nuclear war When the Wind Blows (1982), - perhaps this needs resurrecting in light of current developments! Not that Briggs’ characters are children but they are childlike and the comic strip format adds to the mix.
Of course adults don’t have a monopoly on bad stuff. Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding shows us that even children have an innate capacity for evil.

Big Day Out

Had a Big Day Out this week with my brother Michael. We drove to a feedlot near Dalby (Qld) to see his cattle. It was very interesting and gave some meaning to the term 'grain fed beef’. Basically it is the battery hen equivalent for cattle. It is so scientifically precise in terms of the grain mix, hormones, weight - a very big operation with 10000 cattle. They actually cook some of the grain so it is like toasted muesli - that component tasted good to me too! They seemed contented enough but I was disappointed that their pens had zero shade.

We then drove back through the Bunya Mountains Nat Park and that was fabulous. We spent a couple of hours there and did a good walk. The Bunya pines are very impressive. Great camping ground and info centre. We continued on to Kingaroy and loaded up with peanuts.
A highlight of the day was seeing numerous bottle trees - I had never seen them in their natural state. Also whole mountain sides covered in majestic blackboys. We did 520km all up.
Passed this old house shimmering in the heat. Also passed through several tiny towns where the war memorial set up after World War One was conspicuous. Always sobering to see the bewilderingly large numbers of names from such small communities and of course the numbers who paid the ‘supreme sacrifice’. Also to see 3 and 4 surnames the same can only hint at the staggering grief that was carried by families and communities in those times. (On reflection did any of the names we saw on memorials once play in the dust outside this house?)