Remembering the 80's

 

Fox Street books - thanks to AI and
all origin artists 

Bouncing Banjo greeted all Bookclubbers with his usual joi d'vivre as we arrived at Fox street on Rememberance Day 2026.  The social gathering started standing around the drinks and cheese table wishing absent friend Megan all the best, and then moved to sitting around the drinks and cheese table to embark on discussions about the two books.

Whistler, Ann Patchett's most recent novel started the proceedings with Julie revealing the author famously eschews technology.  No social media, no mobile, no computer - but she has a book shop in Nashville Tennessee, which makes up for everything, and more.  And it showed in Whistler, where as Julie suggested, good people and positiveness were in abundance - suggesting Ann P's buoyant outlook on life is founded on humanity and not technology.  The drama of the book revolved around 50 year old Daphne reconnecting with her stepfather, Eddie, and how it was they came to be separated 40+ years earlier.  

There was quite a lot of discussion about the two characters (Eddie, Daphne) - and some of the minor characters (mother Abagail, lover Skip), although some were more engaging than others.  Daphne and Leda's relationship stood up well, while their mother Abagail was the subject of some critical comments from a few.  But perhaps (in her defence) her intolerant characteristics were symbolic of  the times.  (Eds note:  and here's an after thought.  Maybe it was Eddie's failure to keep his promise that caused the marriage to end? So much to discuss - nothing is set in concrete!  Life is complicated!  There is no silver bullet to solve life's problems!  It takes 2 to tango!  And many more home spun homilies!)   

Margie P suggested Whistler the horse was symbolic, making two short yet punchy and meaningful incursions into the book, while some wondered about Whistler as the title, given Eddie didn't make it in the end - although Daphne did find salvation in the truth telling of the events cascading down the decades from the 1980's car accident.  This resolved her guilt as it revealed how Eddie and Abagail came to be in the divorce court (ie not Daphne's insistence on a winter raspberry farm excursion but Eddie and Skip's excursions of another kind).  Everyone agreed there was a lot to this book and a lot to like - from young Daphne's guilt to older Daphne's release from guilt; Eddie's thoughtful and caring approach to life which contrasted with his bisexual lifestyle in the1980's and beyond; the affirming relationship between Leda and Daphne; all neatly boxed up with Patchett's quiet yet deeply thoughtful writing throughout.  An author worth following we all agreed.

Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar
(could you ever trust a man who 
wore those sandals!)

And so we moved on to a very different discussion about The Picasso Ransom by A.T. Prewett.  Selected for no other reason than it looked interesting on the bookshelves, readers found themselves wondering about this 2026 entry into the lighthearted 'heist' novel genre.  A.T. Prewett, Sue said, graduated with a Master in Film and TV in 2009 from the Victorian College of Arts - an edifice which played a part in this novel set 40 years earlier in 1986.  Based around the unsolved theft of Picasso's 'Weeping Woman' from the National Gallery of Victoria, it sketched out a possible scenario for the $1.6m artwork that went missing for 2 days, its recovery from Spencer Street Station, starring 70+ Phoebe and her partners in crime (among other things), Eva, David and Huon.  

Generally, readers thought the implausibility of the sexual relationships between the thieves lent into the unlikeliness of a woman born before WW1 hatching and leading a plot to demonstrate against the imminent closure of the Victorian College of Arts as a result of funding shortfalls.  There was general agreement that this reading of the book had considerable merit - yes, it was a lighthearted and shallow novel.  And yet, the lecture given by Fish on 'censorship' early in the book suggested another reading ...'Censorship as you may well know is inextricably linked to politics....which brings us to our topic this week, The Reverse Psychology of Artistic Censorship' (p 33).  Reading the book this way invited questions around the role of art, who determines its value, its funding, and moral questions around whether a crime is justified when the criminal/s have nothing to gain.  Sue suggested this reading had resonance with the significant funding reductions to the arts and culture in Australia 40 years on, and drawing attention to this may have been a catalyst for the clearly 'left' leaning author to write the novel.

Some found it hard to get past Phoebe's relationships in the book - no: read all found it hard! Melbourne's city landscape including the trams and brothels were discussed, as were the poor policing and security practices in 1986 - so what did happen to Phoebe's shoes?    But then a big moral dilemma was posed - does the nature of the artist (eg Picasso who was a pig to many and particularly to his partner of 9 years, Dora Maar on whom The Weeping Woman is based) affect your appreciation of the artwork itself?  It was a question that will hang in the mists of time, as will the identity/s of the true perpetrators of the 1986 heist, the Australian Cultural Terrorists (A.C.T.).  

It was Helen Goh's Lemon Curd Cake time, featuring Mrs Agnes Bowering of Prospect's 'Green and Gold Cookbook' recipe for lemon conserve (it makes around 650g).  

This started a conversation about the ABC's 'Recipe of the Year' program, and the role of the CWA judge - Margie P suggested it was laced with blasphemy because they had never used rulers to measure Anzac biscuits (colour and snap were the benchmarks), lamington cakes or other CWA staples.  And the head CWA judge was quite the ascerbic ruler!

Cherrie's chat took us through the plot summary of a recent play put on by a local theatre company - 'The Sum of Us'.   (The 1994 film with Jack Thompson and Russell Crowe is available on Stan).  Douglas Stuart's Booker short listed book 'John of John' has similar themes (along with others as suggested by 2 caps), and in light of Ann Patchett's book, we wondered whether being gay was having a moment? - and then wandered off into reflecting on the age of the Booker winner (81 year old M John Harrison 'The End of Everything' - one for the hearty and brave reader); recommended Rebecca Perry's 'May we feed the King', and 'Winnie the Pooh', the latter of which will be discussed by Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens on Radio Nationals 'The Minefield' on Sunday 11 am because its 100 years since it was published and is a tour of philosophical thought (surprisingly).  I'm in. 

The door is closing on 2026 and 2027 is peeking through the crack - so we settled on Wednesday 10 March for our next meeting.  Cherilyn selection is Pip Williams new book 'The German Ward', and 2 caps will decide her choice after a good sleep.