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kat7890erina's review
4.0
3.5 stars
The book starts like a string with neatly spaced knots along it: vignettes that connect loosely and build the image of living in rural Australia. Then the string starts to unravel into more gothic scenes and a rather abstract collage, ending with a few scenes about Thunderbolt.
I found the book rhythmic and easy to read, though the content became quite unusual. Australiana delivers an exploration of rural life that is both haunting and familiar.
The book starts like a string with neatly spaced knots along it: vignettes that connect loosely and build the image of living in rural Australia. Then the string starts to unravel into more gothic scenes and a rather abstract collage, ending with a few scenes about Thunderbolt.
I found the book rhythmic and easy to read, though the content became quite unusual. Australiana delivers an exploration of rural life that is both haunting and familiar.
emilyfrizz's review
4.0
This is a true constellation of stories, weaving together snippets of lives and characters, some interconnected, some standing alone. You feel a sense of journeying through the book, and there is a quiet unease that follows. Yumna Kassab brings to life the sense of a small country town, the dryness of drought and the smell of clean country air. It feels at once both poetry and a good story. The audiobook is great to listen to as well!
thecurbau's review
3.0
What a strange book. It's less of a story and more of a collection of ideas of stories, notions of events that are related to Australia. When layered together, it creates a vibe of what this land is. It gallops through motifs that bump into the next one before it swirls into a longer story - one where the characters have names and desires and lives - before then shifting back towards a tumble of tales about bushrangers and the past. You can feel it trying to make the future and the past a whole at its close, but honestly, it's hard to care. It just... is. And maybe that's what Australia is. Somewhere that just... is.
leemac027's review
4.0
I attended a recent event at the State Library of NSW where Yumna Kassab was one of the authors on the panel discussing their work.
Following that I was keen to read Australiana and I am so glad I did. This is so cleverly written with each short chapter having an element that carries across into the next. The writing evokes the remoteness of rural Australia, the heat, the despair, the love, the violence.
I found it compelling and truly enjoyed how Kassab simply but powerfully put a country town on the page.
Fabulous read!
Following that I was keen to read Australiana and I am so glad I did. This is so cleverly written with each short chapter having an element that carries across into the next. The writing evokes the remoteness of rural Australia, the heat, the despair, the love, the violence.
I found it compelling and truly enjoyed how Kassab simply but powerfully put a country town on the page.
Fabulous read!
apressler's review
4.0
This is a beautiful, confronting and untamed book with a strong, authentic voice. At times, it may border on the cliche, but it toes the line between stereotype and reality (does that make sens?). The writing is lovely. It flags slightly around midway in my opinion but otherwise this was a solid read.
booksbecreads's review
2.0
“When the river runs dry, the town runs red”
This book was bizarre and I have no idea what the threads were between the story other than climate, regional Australia and some random characters that popped up
This book was bizarre and I have no idea what the threads were between the story other than climate, regional Australia and some random characters that popped up
reddoorbooks's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I became immersed in drought while living through torrential rain and flooding. So strange but a great way to see the point of the stories.
counterturn's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
archytas's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I thought that Kassab's The House of Youssef was one of the most underestimated Australian debuts of recent years, so I was thrilled to see Australiana garnering a swathe of critical praise. And if in the end, I didn’t adore it quite so much as that book - and it shares some similarities - that isn't to say it isn't very good.
The book is divided into sections - in the first, we hop through the town and time, jumping perspectives. It is a wonderfully applied technique, highlighting relationships and feeling like an introduction to a town. Kassab's characters are often overcome, swamped by a moment, and she uses the crisis - even over something as simple as buying a jumper - to show us who we are.
The second section is more experimental short fiction and feels the least pulled together.
In the third, we meet an unreliable narrator in a wonderful piece that captures so much of contemporary small-town tensions, the politics of the city and the country and the deep sense of betrayal.
The longest single narrative piece is the creepy survivalist Pilliga - an unforgettable piece of writing that captures the tension between settlers and harsh terrain and something about how small communities both know and don't know each other.
Each section contains callbacks to the others, something Kassab uses effectively across both works. It creates both a sense of cleverness in the reader and is yet destabilising - are you getting more insight or just being fooled into assumptions? Kassab's capacity to get the reader to question what they actually understand builds upon the ways reading creates empathy - it opens up perspective by causing doubt.
Finally, this is a book fiercely concerned with climate change, and the very real effects on rural communities (and food production). The alternating floods and draughts are as unbelievable to the characters as they were to us a decade ago. Kassab's stories demand recognition of what is happening and impact not only the weather but also the denial.
The book is divided into sections - in the first, we hop through the town and time, jumping perspectives. It is a wonderfully applied technique, highlighting relationships and feeling like an introduction to a town. Kassab's characters are often overcome, swamped by a moment, and she uses the crisis - even over something as simple as buying a jumper - to show us who we are.
The second section is more experimental short fiction and feels the least pulled together.
In the third, we meet an unreliable narrator in a wonderful piece that captures so much of contemporary small-town tensions, the politics of the city and the country and the deep sense of betrayal.
The longest single narrative piece is the creepy survivalist Pilliga - an unforgettable piece of writing that captures the tension between settlers and harsh terrain and something about how small communities both know and don't know each other.
Each section contains callbacks to the others, something Kassab uses effectively across both works. It creates both a sense of cleverness in the reader and is yet destabilising - are you getting more insight or just being fooled into assumptions? Kassab's capacity to get the reader to question what they actually understand builds upon the ways reading creates empathy - it opens up perspective by causing doubt.
Finally, this is a book fiercely concerned with climate change, and the very real effects on rural communities (and food production). The alternating floods and draughts are as unbelievable to the characters as they were to us a decade ago. Kassab's stories demand recognition of what is happening and impact not only the weather but also the denial.