Earth - shattering and sharing

It was a bouncing Banjo who greeted us all enthusiastically as we arrived at 1 Fox Street on 12 November 2025 for our last meeting of the year to discuss the books to round out our hare raising year.  Two-caps Barb was last to walk through the gate, and Cherilyn was the one apology, being previously committed to a musical evening rather than a convivial literary one.  

 

Colour and shape

Star jasmine was the opening sit-down/glass-of-wine conversation starter, creeping its way through gardens, fences, roof tops and pear trees – for which colour and shape is everything.  But for two-caps, were they Manchurian, Oriental, Ornamental, Bartlett (Megan’s preference) or something else?   

 

Soon, jasmine talk dwindled out and was overtaken by book discussion - launched via Orbital, the 2024 Booker winner written by Samantha Harvey - but not before an unscientific riff on how satellites circle the Earth (see below for a proper answer).  

For an author of such a contemporary book, it was a little surprising, but somehow welcome news to discover Harvey is a social media reclusive.  Author of five books, and with a degree in Philosophy from York University, Sue said her background story was challenging to find, but Cherrie's sleuthing suggested trying Radio National for some snippets - https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/bigideas/out-of-this-world-booker-prize-winning-author-samantha-harvey/105871714

  

With no narrative, no characterisation, and no chapters (structured through the 16 orbits of Earth the International Space Station makes in 24 hours 250 miles above the Earth)*, the book pushed the boundaries of the novel form of writing.  Understandably, it also pushed some readers, who decided that 136 pages were just about enough - and maybe a few too many, especially when some pages had to be re-read.   

Nell's spacewalk (don't look down!) created some discussion around how it was that the astronauts were able to leave the craft to do repairs - and perhaps this NASA image answers the query with each astronaut tethered by a wire to the ISS (just visible if you look really hard starting from the bottom right hand corner).  

Attention to the stories of the 6 international astronauts** and their extraordinary daily existence on the International Space Station – including their regular 2 hour exercise routine; waste disposal; and tasteless calorie intake - were a little relief from the imposing philosophical questions the book took us to - because it was essentially a soliloquy on planet Earth and human existence.  Some BIG questions were traversed in the 136 pages  - Are we alone: Is there a grand design: Is there a grand designer; Why do we humans think we’re so special; The wondrousness of the natural world of Earth, and the Mystery of Space.   

A number of orbits referenced climate change as the typhoon bore down on the Phillipines; other orbits referenced the importance of 'perspective' through Shaun’s postcard of Diego Valezquez’s 1656 painting, Las Meninas, and Michael Collins' 1969 image of the Luna module returning to Apollo 11, when for the first time all the world saw itself.  'We all see things differently' was the starting point here for Harvey, but she ultimately posed the question ‘do differing perspectives matter when we’re all in this together?’  (ed:  I would have liked to include Cherrie's erudite quotation from the book here about the folly of human's capacity for war and destroying everything, but a. I lost the precise words, so b. I couldn't find them).   And a final ed note: they say astronauts come back to Earth changed for the good after experiencing the wonder of space, so I'm voting to send Trump, Putin, Netanyahu and few other so called strongmen up to the ISS.

 

It was a challenging, unconventional book and very different to our next venture into the natural world.  Julie talked about Chloe Dalton's background as a high pressure advisor in UK politics before finding her little leveret when in lockdown in the country.  Expecting the book to be a journey about how the leveret led her back a more satisfying life in politics, it did anything but.    After taking advice, Dalton resisted attempts at domestication, going to great lengths to respect its 'territory' and preserve the hare's wild and natural existence.  Following the hare through its life cycle, the book in turn reflected on Dalton's capacity to think differently, and the way in which humans can respectfully interact with the natural world.  Our readers agreed it was a well paced and well written entree into eco-lit, where the leveret was the winner, while the humans showed what they are capable of if they take the time to understand the misunderstood.

Is Bugs a Bunny (top left) or Hare (bottom right)?

There was quite some discussion on the difference between rabbits and hares, with the 'M' country girls (Margy, Mog and McLassie) familiar with the different ways in which each animal inhabited the countryside (eg rabbits burrow; hares don't).  This then riffed into a discussion about McLassie's mother cooking Jugged Hare, and while its not the same recipe, here we go for the game cookers - 

Jugged hare is a traditional stew made from hare, which is first cut into pieces, marinated in red wine and spices, and then slow-cooked in a tall jug placed in a pan of water. The term "jugging" refers to this method of cooking, which is a form of stewing that can be replicated in a modern oven using a casserole dish. Historically, the hare's blood was added to the sauce to thicken and enrich it, though modern recipes may use other thickening agents like cornflour. 

Banjo started to get restless with the talk of rabbits and Jugged Hare, and so with the consensus that 'Raising Hare' wasn't hair raising but did raise awhareness about sharing the planet with other animals, the Orange/Almond cake came out with cups of tea.  Kathy opened the cake-time natter, suggesting some recent HBO shows worth watching, including 'The Pit' and 'Task' (some violence but worth it to see Mark Ruffalo says Kathy, who appears to hold a candle for the actor), but after some research from your editor, you will need to add on to your Foxtel or Amazon Prime subscription to get HBO offerings in Australia.  Conversation about cooking/eating for one or two, cooking roasts for family, daily eating habits and selling houses (all 🤞for Mog's bid reveal on Monday) rounded up the evening.    

Country flowers - with text poem by Laura

 "Your mum brought me flowers

And I love them!

You never bring me flowers

She is now my favourite person".

As we packed up our trappings and bid farewell to Banjo and the country flowers, we settled the first meeting for 2026 on Wednesday 11 March.  Venue to be decided, and book selections are

Cherilyn: Flashlight by Susan Choi (get in early because there's a 24 week wait via Libby)

Barb: choice to come before Christmas.  Maybe The Confidence Woman by Sophie Quick, or This is Happiness by Niall Williams - but definitely won't be Nobby's selection of poems by his friend

 

Afterwords:

Satellite answer: Satellites stay in fixed orbits above a country by occupying a geostationary orbit, which is a unique type of orbit around 35,786 km above the equator; here, a satellite moves at the same rotational speed as Earth, so it appears stationary over one longitude. This is how communication and weather satellites can always 'hover' above the same region, providing continuous coverage. 

 

*Megan was correct

**and why are some called Astronauts, and the Russians Cosmonauts?  Is it just a language thing?

For people interested in the ISS App where you can track its orbit, its called 'Spot the Station' by NASA.

 

 

Memorial Homes

 Yikes!!  It's an experimental new format 😱!   But before clicking on the image (and hopefully this should take you to a flip book), there is a post script.   Volume III of 'On the Calculation of Volume' will be published on 18 November 2025 (no surprises there).  

And here are the books for the next meeting - 12 November 2025, at 1 Fox Street Goodwood.

Julie:  Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

Sue: Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Finally, its the writeup 🤞- (note: after testing, best read on a tablet or screen although a phone is doable)

Seeds of/and Time

Two lucky dogs had finished their bones and were well into mischief* by the time the last FnB'er arrived at Megan's place on Wednesday 16 July, to discuss her selection, 'Wild Dark Shore' by Charlotte McConaghy, and Kathy's choice, 'On the calculation of volume' by Solvej Balle.  We all wished absentee Cherilyn well in overcoming her flu and chest infection, marvelled at how quiet and well behaved Eddie was, came up to date with Mog's building project (occasionally thinking perhaps we may not have seen the last of Sheffield Street at our previous meeting? - yes don't worry, I'm sure we did Mog!), before Megan dove headfirst into the cold seas deep in the Southern Ocean.

After introducing us to Charlotte and her vast library of authorship, and explaining how Andrew brought home a collection of books from Dymocks sometime ago which included this one, Megan enumerated many words the book brought to her mind:  

Isolation, remoteness, unpredictable, tormented, vivid, family love, devastation, love/lust, romance, informative, mysterious, passionate, dedication, harrowing, eerie, grief, loss, climate change, choices.

You can find Megan's thoroughly researched report about the author and book here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mMCNSvUJCrNS4_uF-DM9EyJ-xeTv_Doiz3xSOUg9G6A/edit?usp=sharing

(Quick warning note:  if you hit the link on this and the two other google document links you should get to Megan and Kathy's documents (?) but may not get straight back to the blog).

One non-reader reported still being on the long list waiting for the book from the library; while other readers agreed with Megan that it was a well told, well written lively page turner.   However, for some the writing was patchy, with the sea scenes vividly captured while parts of the storyline were left hanging on the precipice of verbosity (ed: maybe an overstatement there!).  The odd character of young seed counter Orly created some discussion, as did the unlikely lifestyle of Fen, while some wondered about the extent of Rowan's injuries and attention given to the ongoing stitching repairs and bandaging.   All agreed there was a lot going on in this fast paced entertaining book with its dramatic ending - raising the possibility that as it was written by a script writer will there be a film or mini-series?  But as the rescue boat finally appeared on the horizon, we discovered it was the author's prerogative to not tell us about how the one adult left standing (Dominic) was going to explain the island's five deaths, one imprisonment, one underage sexual predation/encounter, one boat wreck and the extensive property damage on the island to the legal authorities on his return.  The general consensus was that it was very readable entrant to the Eco-lit genre, although some considered it was perhaps over-embellished with mystery. 

Here is a link to an interview with the author about the book - (make a cup of tea or coffee because its around 25 minutes).

  

Wild Dark Shore may not have been the most creative book title ever, yet it was certainly a long way behind Kathy's selection, 'On the calculation of volume' by Danish author Solvej Balle. What a title!!  According to the answer to my AI query on how to calculate volume, 'Volume measures the amount of three-dimensional space an object occupies', and the calculation made depends on the nature of the space being measured (cube, rectangle, cuboid, cylinder, sphere, odd shapes etc).  Simples!

But then, as Kathy reported, Einstein's theories put Time as the fourth dimension of space alongside the three generally accepted dimensions of height; width; depth.  (Clearly AI hasn't come to terms with Einstein yet - one for the humans)!   Balle makes the concept of time in  'On the calculation of volume' the key variant in her 190 page book on how we go about our lives occupying space in the world.   

As Kathy wrote:

"...in books, the writer alone controls the organizational system, measuring out time through sentences, paragraphs, and chapters, and moving it in service to the plot. It is only in fiction that time travel—or the stopping of time altogether—is really possible; the reader can start a page on one day and end it in a different year. In her seven-part novel On the Calculation of Volume, Balle’s first two books have been translated into English by Barbara J. Haveland.  She pushes the writer’s privilege to its limit. Balle’s protagonist, Tara Selter, is a rare-book dealer in France who has found herself trapped within a time loop, a ruminative version of Groundhog Day that sees her endlessly repeating one day, November 18th, over and over."  

You can find Kathy's complete erudite report here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nVjl7s-BPqvPlQFPi1Lq0gq9SQrKqweZ7t1bQ8jf50w/edit?usp=sharing  

and here is a link to the ABC radio program Book Shelf from which Kathy heard about the book https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-bookshelf/solvej-balle-ocean-vuong-virginia-evans/105194258

General discussion about the book revealed a high degree of puzzlement swirling in the room - what was it about? was it a fantasy? how can living only one day over and over be explained? are there any answers? why do somethings disappear and others don't? can age and mortality be accounted for in the book? does Tara's experience have any connection to dementia, or perhaps transient global amnesia? (the latter of which was recounted in true life experiences).  Curious and intriguing were perhaps the kindest words used to describe the book - while confusing was the most commonly used.  And perhaps this was the intent of the author - question mark, double interrobang.  

Interrobang

Interrobang

With another six volumes to come it led to a suggestion that the exercise could be quite rewarding for the author and translator (a la Harry Potter).    Will there be a resolution, or finality?  The answer is that it's going to be a long wait and see.  One reader offered to report back on volume II (which appears to be more narrative based), and in the meantime we await the decision of the International Booker Prize judges to see if it wins.  If so, perhaps some big literary brains will help us with explanations and answers.  

It was Cake time after this conversation with Kathy's very appropriate danish apple and prune cake the choice de jour  - recipe link here
 https://docs.google.com/document/d/17u3tULzP83MuHyYi_vJhwTSAnA0tJcEtb6puBdPY1Tw/edit?usp=sharing

As Barb prepares to decamp to warmer weather in Noosa, chat over tea and cake turned to keeping warm in winter with the Oodie getting the thumbs up - an over over over large sheepskin lined pull over with hood.  Not a fashion statement or for leaving the house in, but definitely cosy and warm - and it can be yours for only $45 from Bed Bath and Table.

The next meeting was rescheduled to Wednesday 17 September, at Margy's place, and it will be a chatty evening with two authors - book selections are

• Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent (Margy)
• Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (McLassie).  

So that's it till 17/09/25 - when most of us will picture Barb lazing on the warm sands of Noosa after swimming in the bay with 2 caps on. 

* And this time the mischief involved the shredding of only one old sheepskin rug

Freaky v Fab Families

On Wednesday 14 May the FnB club (sans Julie) congregated for the last time at 43 Sheffield Avenue Malvern to say goodbye to a house, and hello to Mog and Cherrie's book selections - The Season (Helen Garner) and Somebody Down There Likes Me (Robert Lukins).    While waiting for Margy P, who was doing her very best to impersonate Helen Garner by taking her teenage grandson to football training, our idle conversation turned to hanging out the washing which turned to cleaning and who does what, when and where - and we all agreed that Peter came out as the King of the Clean after Kathy's revelation that he does most if not all, does it strategically and extremely diligently, every time.  

The inscrutable author and his book

Cherrie swung our attention away from the housework humdrum and straight into the bizarre when introducing her selected book by Robert Lukins.  Reflecting on the difficulty she had in finding information about the author - including basic stuff such as age and background - Cherrie did discover that he had frequented some place in Shropshire, now lives in Melbourne/Naarm, and flew across America in a home made plane with a friend looking for ghost towns.  This may say something about the outsider status of the author.  

Lukins' little yellow plane

It was during the ghost town travels and from a random conversation that he discovered Belle Haven - home of rich and callous American families. There is a mighty big clue about what the reader is in for in the title of the book because it was hard to find a redeeming feature among the characters of the Gulch family, Fax, Honey, Lincoln and Kick.   Through the individual voices of the 4 family members, each laced with introspection and dripping with distain, we were plunged into a narcissistic world of backstabbing, sexual predation, revenge, manipulation, blackmail, capitalism morphing into criminality, serious drug abuse and the mystery of Mouse - and that was just the first few days... (readers please add any more vices you can think of).  Structured around a week in 1996, we all agreed it was a hard read with some finding it more worthwhile than others.  And there wasn't anything gratifying at the end which may have been a clue to Lukins choice of his enigmatic title.  It wasn't difficult to read the book as a scathing commentary on the civil and moral decline of white, rich Americans.  Tough going and not worth it for some readers, but an interesting journey into a very different world for others.

We all breathed a sigh of relief and shook ourselves down before making our way to the footy ovals of Footscray.  There we found Helen Garner, her grandson, Amby, and his family - who were a long way both geographically and metaphysically from the Gulch's of Belle Haven.  Mog reminded us that Helen Garner's last book was her second choice, after her original selection 'An Ethical Guide to Murder' was ditched as lightweight bumph.  And so we enjoyed following Helen and Amby through Helen's monthly reports on training, games and events, including the return of Boof from the NT for the big Grand Final, and Helen's graduation to be the 'half time oranges lady'.  As the writer, and although part of the family, Garner was on the outside looking in, giving us insight into well functioning family life, relationships, community, being present, team spirit, growing up in today's world, physicality and masculinity, along with humour - {page 48; Sign outside the Hawthorn Church 'What would you do if Christ came to Hawthorn?  Answer: move Peter Hudson to centre half forward"}.  

Hudson in his heyday

It made each of us reflect on our interaction with grandchildren - including McLassie who cheerily confirmed her heavy lifting continues with rowing, football and other activities; and Cherrie travelling to Melbourne soon to hear her granddaughters cello recital in coming days (go Beatrice!).  The general view was that the book was a classy read - notwithstanding Garner's take on the role of grandparents which was slightly chilling (read on if you dare)..."you're making a serious mistake if you start to think you're near the centre.  You're on the periphery.  You're a servant.  A hanger on.  And soon you'll be dead."  (p51)

And for more of Helen's writing, try this https://www.themonthly.com.au/july-2015/vox/darkness-every-one-us?share=djF8NzJjMGJkMjl8RkdbRllCXklXVTtEW0pQQ1tEWUNcXVNBWEJdWUdcJ0RGU1FUVl9EQ0E=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Monthly%20Daily%20-%20July%2028%202025&utm_content=The%20Monthly%20Daily%20-%20July%2028%202025+CID_93a04cb7c7f54ded69d2352cdd819928&utm_source=EDM&utm_term=Read%20the%20full%20article&cid=93a04cb7c7f54ded69d2352cdd819928

Lightening the moment, chocolate mousse cake came out and went down with or without tea, but without a crumb left - followed by chat about the phantom defaecator apparently still lurking around Norwood after a sex change.  

Movies recommended were

• Mad about the Boy
• The Brother's Band

and television to watch

• The Piano - ABC Sunday nights (big ticks for Andrea Lam and Amanda Keller: differing views about Harry Connick Jnr)

Books for next time were called

• On the calculation of volume - Solvej Balle (Kathy)
• Wild dark shore - Charlotte McConaghy (Megan)

So that's it till next time - Wednesday 16 July at either Kathy or Megan's place. 

Houses, Doors, Homes

Tuesday 18 March 2025 and all bookclubbers were in for a full house at Barb's place for the first meeting for 2025.

The only scratching for the evening was 'Noble Ambitions', Cherilyn's first book choice which was rejected by her not long after it was chosen.  Some slogged their way through some of it, some not much of it, and all were thankful at Cherilyn's wise decision to ditch.  Adrian Tinniswood, we all agreed, seemed more interested in delving into aimless decadence and upper class gossip than the demise of Britain's stately homes and the changing nature of British society.  Though seemingly a well credentialed historian, the anecdote that you can't judge a book by its cover seemed fitting, but FnBer's also added the byline  'or its author'.    

W Somerset Maugham in 1934

Barb leapt out of the vacuum of triviality and took us to the world of W Somerset Maugham via Tan Twang Eng's book, The House of Doors, shortlisted for the Booker.  Set in the 1920's British colony Penang, and based around Maugham looking for a story to write (erroneously to bolster his flagging fortune, as Barb's meticulous research revealed) FnB'ers were unanimous about the novel - well researched, well written, well received.  Weaving the smells of Penang, with the cunning of the British to deceive, with the threads of Chinese history, and tieing it all up with the neat ribbon of colonial justice (at least for Ethel and Lesley in the end) it was a great choice. It cleverly linked a true story (Ethel Proudlock) with a fictional life (Lesley) and Maughan's real life choices.  Interestingly, Eng wrote Maugham with his life choices on show (failed marriage; gay lifestyle, Gerald, extravagance), as well as his stammer - exposing the secrets he tried to hide during his lifetime.    Perhaps this has something to say about Eng's sense of justice, his wit and/or morality - but whatever, he wrote a wonderful book about race, gender, power and British colonialism.

We all loved the ending with Lesley (in South Africa in 1947) receiving a letter from Arthur, and a copy of Maugham's book of short stories, The Casuarina Tree, which included Ethel's story (The Letter) - and we all hoped this opened another door for her return to Penang after her life in South Africa with Robert.   

The final twist to the discussion about House of Doors

was Barb's realisation that the para 

she asked her eye patients to read 

to test their eyesight 

was from Maugham's short story 'Rain'.

So we left the House of Doors and moved on to Foster, Cherilyn's second and best choice by far, by Claire Keegan.  

Again everyone loved the book, but there were different views around the room about how this book ends.  Some thought the girl ended up with her foster parents, while others thought she was taken back to her family.  So to get to the nub of the ending I went to AI, and here is what it spat out

The ending of "Foster" by Claire Keegan is poignant and emotionally charged. After spending the summer with her foster parents, the Kinsellas, the young protagonist is returned to her biological family. The final scene unfolds as follows:

1. The Kinsellas bring the girl back to her parents' home on a Sunday.

2. As the Kinsellas are about to leave, the girl hears their car stop at the gate.

3. She runs down the lane towards them, much like she did when fetching the mail at the Kinsellas' farm.

4. The girl rushes into Kinsella's arms, embracing him tightly.

5. She hears Edna (Mrs. Kinsella) weeping in the car.

6. Over Kinsella's shoulder, the girl sees her biological father approaching.

7. For the first and only time in the story, she calls Kinsella "Daddy".

This ending symbolizes the deep emotional bond the girl has formed with the Kinsellas, particularly with John Kinsella. It highlights the contrast between the love and care she experienced during her foster stay and her life with her biological family. The girl's action of running to Kinsella and calling him "Daddy" demonstrates her attachment to her foster parents and her reluctance to return to her previous life

I'm certainly none the wiser so while it is certainly artificial, intelligent it's not!  Perhaps a few viewings of the film, Quiet Girl (film of the book) or re-readings will throw some light on it - but maybe not because perhaps Claire wanted it to end with the uncertainty of life.  

Barb's plum cake with roses and cream

We were still discussing it when Barb's fabulous gluten free plum and coconut cake came out with lashings of cream and the chat turned to moving house, carting boxes, styling for sale, and selling houses.   And now, we're all on tenterhooks waiting to hear if Cherrie and Bill have accepted the Perth offer on their house, or whether they chose the cash option or another better offer.

Next meeting is back to the scheduled Wednesday - 14 May 2025, at Cherrie's place in Adelaide (because Port Eliot is probably no more, and Mog's place at Sheffield Street is likely to be as well, but if not they won't be living there anyway).  Books are:

An Ethical Guide to Murder by Jenny Morris (Mog)

Someone down there likes me by Robert Lukins (Cherrie)

Happy reading till then.  And to keep you going Cherrie recommended Claire's next book, 'Small things like these', as well as TT Eng's second book 'The Garden of Evening Mists'.