Vacation
Lying together. Muffled distant traffic sounds. The pounding ocean on the gritty beach. A softly playing radio by my head. My wife, beloved stranger, reading. Continue reading Vacation
Falling
I like a movie that makes me work. That makes demands on me. I have to make an effort to understand. At the end of such a movie I feel a sense of achievement. Often, I think about the movie … Continue reading Falling
Then as Now
In 1911 Penang, then a Sultanate and free port controlled by Britain, Ethel Proudlock was put on trial for murder, but her real crime was to have deceived her expat husband by having an affair. Not that unusual, but her … Continue reading Then as Now
The Doomsday Joke
The passage of time shouldn’t be feared. I can say stuff like that because I am at the rudder-end of the ship of time. But why am I on about time and it’s passing? Well if I am writing this … Continue reading The Doomsday Joke
Question Everything
I had read the first two chapters of Richard Flanagan’s new book “Question 7”, before I had an inkling what it was all about. Then I thought I got it. But when I did finish it, I realised, with delight, … Continue reading Question Everything
Compassion
Is death the elephant in the room? Unseen when we are young, ignored as we live and, perhaps, even welcomed when we are old? I have been thinking about death more often over the past few years as I add … Continue reading Compassion
Voice of a Silent Planet
Time does many things. Sometimes it heals. Sometimes hurts. Sometimes numbs and sometimes it is just very helpful. It is this latter aspect of time that is pressing in on me today. I remember very clearly when time last helped … Continue reading Voice of a Silent Planet
Being sorry, but for another reason.
If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be? My word to give up is such a little one but oh so powerful when used properly. Not everyone uses it. Some folk never use at all. In fact some recalcitrants seem still to learn that it’s a word that can be used personally. Maybe they just aren’t sorry. Sadly for me “sorry” is so embedded that it slips into my speech involuntarily, even when things are not my fault. Continue reading Being sorry, but for another reason.
The Little Lying Buddha
I saw it in a window, In the corner of my eye, On the floor, in the sun, As I slowly walked right by. I stopped and I wondered, In the street of that small town, Should I do it? Should I do it? It was then I turned around. I walked back several paces, To that curious windowpane, And I raised my iPhone to my eye, And saw the sight again. There really is a difference Between art and and what you see. I saw a little Buddha lying Looking up and back at me. … Continue reading The Little Lying Buddha
I have become death
“I have become death. The destroyer of worlds”! That “bundle of bright shards”, as a friend described Oppenheimer, is still bright in my mind. A sudden suggestion by my good wife yesterday afternoon found us in the local cinema with … Continue reading I have become death
White Lotus 2 : Light and Dark
“White Lotus” has returned. The first series of this intriguing drama was set in a hotel in Hawaii. The stresses and strains of human existence was played out against the opulent, if sterile, existence of guests and staff in a … Continue reading White Lotus 2 : Light and Dark
Love’s Labours Lost, or Not!
It’s back! Not love! Ah no! Love’s never been away, well not for long at any rate. No, I’m talking language here. The Language of Love. The Five Languages of Love, specifically. It was thirty years ago that a Southern … Continue reading Love’s Labours Lost, or Not!
In the Branches of the Boab
Unlike fiction, the thought of reading an autobiography fills me with some apprehension. Reading fiction feels like being an extra in a Hollywood movie. Plenty of explosions, noise, shouts and screams, even the ricocheting whine of near misses but, most … Continue reading In the Branches of the Boab
The Sinister Hand
Being born left handed can bring some unexpected pleasures but also a multitude of worrisome pains. Because we in the West write from left to right, left-handlers cover what they have just written with their writing hand. Years passed before … Continue reading The Sinister Hand
Can I tell you a Secret?
Beginnings are so exciting. Hope! Discovery! Novelty! Perhaps that’s why new love is such an aphrodisiac for the young at heart? Well my new love is Peter May. Perhaps not the man himself, I don’t know; he sounds interesting and … Continue reading Can I tell you a Secret?
White Lotus 1 : No Holiday
When we go on a holiday we pretty much take everything with us. All the important stuff anyway. I mean ‘who you are’, ‘what you want’ and ‘what you give’. In that way we all, pretty much, travel light, though … Continue reading White Lotus 1 : No Holiday
Mendacity
I know you would never lie and, of course, neither would I. But there is someone who does. They’re known as the average person and they lie up to twice a day. Usually just little white lies. “Of course that … Continue reading Mendacity
Go Local
When you go local You’re really with friends. Not big internationals, Focused on ends. You buy from the folk That you’ve bought from before. You’ve looked in their windows You’ve been there for sure. They need your return. … Continue reading Go Local
Graphic graffiti
What if I wrote a sentence and drew a picture to accompany it? What if I did that again and again. Over and over. What if My sentences and pictures told a story and I published it? Would I call … Continue reading Graphic graffiti
Deep in the Labyrinth
There are moments when planets align and the crystal spheres of the universe really sing. Both have happened in to me the last two nights. In my declining years finding “something interesting” on TV each night seems to have taken … Continue reading Deep in the Labyrinth
Hard to Swallow?
“Boy swallows universe” shocked me. I too had read the hype and was expecting something unusual………but not THIS unusual. Usually I jot down my feelings after reading a book that I enjoy and post it online disguised as a “review”. … Continue reading Hard to Swallow?
The unadapted eye
I don’t know if all men suffer from this condition but I have been afflicted for as long as I can remember. For as long as I have been reading. I’m not sure this deficit has a name. If it … Continue reading The unadapted eye
The Rooster of Barcelos
Once there was a Rooster in Barcelos in Portugal. A sleek fine cock as ever there was. This fine rooster was destined for only one of two ends, as all roosters are, to crow and sire or to be eaten. … Continue reading The Rooster of Barcelos
Cold Comfort
Poetry and writing are far apart in my mind! In fact I stumbled across Phillip Larkin’s “A Girl in Winter” mistaking it for a book of poems! I’ve read Phillip Larkin’s Poetry in the past and I’ve enjoyed it. He … Continue reading Cold Comfort
Unforgotten
The best short story ever written? I’ve heard pundits push for “A Lady with a Lap Dog” by Anton Chekov. Now that was brilliant but Chekov is some sort of genius with short stories. As an amateur punter I quite … Continue reading Unforgotten
Love in Words
Love in words? Such words are hard to find. The right ones form behind the tongue Then slip, like fish away from grasping hands, And vanish, tantalising in the depths. But fish, like love, remain Real and Living, only well … Continue reading Love in Words
Here Today!
Damm! I did it again. And I promised myself I wouldn’t. In fact it’s all I have been doing these last couple of months. Yes, you’ve guessed it. I been gorging on Jack Reacher. Three “wham bam thank you mams” … Continue reading Here Today!
View from my cell
The clean straight linesOf crisp design,The ebbs and flowsOf nature!The here, the now,The what we have,The what may beTomorrow.At first sightA divide so tight,A sugical incision,But that’s the mythOur brains imposeUpon our earthly prison. Continue reading View from my cell
Early in the day
Early in the shopping mall Looking for a comfortable place to sit I saw a young woman Most bizarre eye mascara Coming down the escalator As I went up! Clown-like, I thought, But as we passed And I continued up … Continue reading Early in the day
Well spring, sprang, sprung of poetry
Dear Lord don’t let me rhyme, Not rhyme at every line, Not every single time. It’s out of date, It’s what they hate, It makes new poets, most irate. So in this last And final line I’ll put down something … Continue reading Well spring, sprang, sprung of poetry
Adrift
At times I was nonplused and at times I was puzzled. At times I was hurried along by the strength of the words and at other times frustrated by the inane humanness of the people. The last time I was … Continue reading Adrift
The Lake
At first only the little golden galaxias noticed but soon others became curious as well. A skittish shoal of grayling watched nervously and a gunmetal short-finned eel slunk back under the waterlilies until only his piercing blue-grey eyes glared out. … Continue reading The Lake
Ace
They are stupid! Just look at them all wandering around searching for clues. They won’t find any there. Not under that tree. I’m too smart for that. I know, I know. I did rush it and probably made mistakes when … Continue reading Ace
Sam
I dreamt of Sam the other night. I’ve not done that for years. She was exactly as she was in my younger years; soft, gentle and understanding. My wife had sensed I was awake and placed her hand on my … Continue reading Sam
Man on a Train
The swaying of the carriage was hypnotic as the train hammered blindly on. My head nodded gently to and fro. Sporadic flashing red lights hurtled by and caterwauling level crossings, like so many discarded dreams, submerged into the uneasy night. … Continue reading Man on a Train
Blue Grenadier
“That’s $7.40, love.” I gave the older woman behind the counter a $10 note and took the plastic bag containing the fish. She gave me the change. I added it to the growing collection of coins in my pocket and … Continue reading Blue Grenadier
Under Surveillance
The rain is still falling. I look down from my lounge room window, down at my patch of street. The pavement stones are worn and uneven. Random puddles of water reflect the passing legs of those to whom the weather … Continue reading Under Surveillance
A storm
The light in the room faded. The curtains, as if breathing for the room, blew gently in and then out against the flyscreens. The air felt colder. He looked up. Outside the sky had darkened too. The gum tree so … Continue reading A storm
Bucket Moon
Carrying water The night cool I look down The full moon Glimpsed forever In my mind In my bucket. Continue reading Bucket Moon
The drystone wall of writing
I would love to be a writer and because of that I have been reading. I know that the saying “want to write – learn to read” is old and good advice but it has taken me quite some time … Continue reading The drystone wall of writing
A high jump
I don’t like reading books about horses and my worse nightmare would be to read a book specifically about horse jumping. I don’t know why. Perhaps as a little boy, seeing the girls in our class all become besotted with … Continue reading A high jump
Magic tricks
I’ve just finished reading “The Magician”, Colm Toibin’s fictionalised biography of Thomas Mann. I’d heard of Thomas Mann but had read none of his books so I was quite willing to believe he was a magician, certainly as far as … Continue reading Magic tricks
Inside
One day I looked outside And saw, An inside I’d not seen before. A part of me. A card held tight. A card that never sees the light. Are eyes the mirror Of the heart? Ah yes, but not this … Continue reading Inside
No country at any age
I shut the book. Just sat there thinking. Thinking back about the story. Always easier to write about a book you fell in love with than one you didn’t. And, I guess, I didn’t. It’s Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for … Continue reading No country at any age
Cold clue
There is something very appropriate about the title of John Banville’s recent book, “Snow”. I’d not read any of his books before and, to my shame as a reader, I’d not even heard of him. John Banville is an Irish … Continue reading Cold clue
All minds are glass
All minds are glass.All fragile and so clearThat all we hide residesOutside defencesAnd creates our fear. The well hid thoughtsAre hidden from ourselves.Those are the onesWe should care most about. Continue reading All minds are glass
The death of love, or not
Reading in translation, like hearing a story second-hand, is always a precarious business. So many thorns to impale yourself on. Not the least of which is the trust we place in the translator to bring us not only the author’s … Continue reading The death of love, or not
Shopping mall moment
Planets spin and Stars collide.The great and powerful tread their wayThen vanish,Gone for ever more. And in more humble heartsA little clock ticks byAnd counts the hours,The patchwork days,The sum and total of our lives. Continue reading Shopping mall moment
Orbit
I have a clear and certain memory of October 4, 1957. My brother and I were sitting together on the steps of a shed that had been built in our back yard to house my Father’s amateur radio equipment. I … Continue reading Orbit
Sputnik Sweetheart
There was a story within the words, Those words within the writing, That writing between start and end. Within the starting and ending story itself, That’s where it was, The feeling. And I was there too. So, long before I … Continue reading Sputnik Sweetheart
Slipping our moorings
Barbara Pym was in dire straits. She had been a popular writer in the fifties but in the past five years she’d not managed to interest her publisher in any of her new manuscripts. A four point turn was what … Continue reading Slipping our moorings
Looking back
What were you before you were born? That sounds easy enough, a foetus? And before you were conceived? Still easy! For a while you were one of your mother’s eggs and also one of your father’s spermatozoa. And before that? … Continue reading Looking back
A fevered mind
There’s a difference between Patricia Highsmith and myself. She outlined “Carol” in 2 hours and I took 7 months to read it. Perhaps I’m bending the truth a little. In 1948, after writing “Strangers on a Train” which was quickly … Continue reading A fevered mind
When the time is ripe
Time can be most unkind to some writers. Cool and sexy now may look gauche and gaudy in a quarter of a century. Ken Follett wrote “The third twin” twenty five years ago. It was 1996 and on the fifth … Continue reading When the time is ripe
Anything can happen at midnight.
“The Midnight Library”? Until a friend praised it on Facebook, it was a book I’d never heard of. Matt Haig? Until “The Midnight Library”, he was an author I’d never read. And that seems to be the message. Both from … Continue reading Anything can happen at midnight.
The Other
Sometimes, at the heart of a story, is a secret so known yet so unsuspected, that to reveal it in a review could mortally injure the book for prospective readers. I think “The other woman” is such a book! I’ve … Continue reading The Other
Seen Song
So many voicesCalling in my head.Look hereThey say!Then there!So much to seeSo much to understand.Like food is for the bowelOr blood is for the heartSo vision brings the world to meAnd joy is all around. Continue reading Seen Song
The silver tipped cane
It was the rain that drove me inside as it had others. I normally never queue. Certainly not in a second hand book shop. But I had been lucky and had found a rather delightfully antiquarian book on pre-missionary sexual … Continue reading The silver tipped cane
Show Boat
Edna Ferber knew nothing of Show Boats and to be honest neither did I. But a chance comment by a promoter, after bats nesting in the chandeliers of her local playhouse had driven other patrons into the street, led Edna … Continue reading Show Boat
T.S. I love you
We’re only young once but how do we know when we’re old? Just when does the wisdom of the years kick in? When is the age of innocence over? We have been going through boxes of old photographs and I … Continue reading T.S. I love you
Old photographs
The old photos, Shelved so long, Have been refound. * Some blurry in my hands Some crisp and living, As on that day, That week, That year. Now all consigned to history. * But the feelings. That each photo brings … Continue reading Old photographs
Does it matter?
“Trust” is a thick book with a complex story, but, like many a ‘who done it’, it is thin reading. Easy to be critical, I know, especially when I read the book by Chris Hammer so avidly. I finished the … Continue reading Does it matter?
Trust and Betrayal
I have a fond affection for spy stories. As a child growing up I seemed to inhabit that land so well described in “The perks of being a wallflower”. A land where secrecy seems the safer path and remaining hidden … Continue reading Trust and Betrayal
Nothing more
The gentle wind And nothing more. The sand, the sea, the sky. Just nature’s hand, And nature’s heart, And you and me and I. Continue reading Nothing more
Unwise
To stand against the unassailable Is probably As unwise As it it courageous. It is what We all do every day. All of us! In living, In loving, And in so much hope. Continue reading Unwise
We were never friends
When I turned the last page of Margaret Bearman’s book “We were never friends”, I sat and pondered. What had I just read? Was it a biography, a mystery, a book about families and what they can do to you, … Continue reading We were never friends
Matter Mind
So structured and so solid The real world waits. Waits until we look, Or not, Until we think, Or not. * It never goes away But changes guilelessly. Slowly! Oh so slowly. Gradually! Imperceptibly! * But inside! Inside our heads! … Continue reading Matter Mind
Stress in Paradise
Why does it thrill? But it does! Reading a fictional story set in the real world. Set in your real world. Somewhere you’ve actually been. So when the story took me to “The Mussel Pot”, a cafe in Havelock, New … Continue reading Stress in Paradise
Cuppa Joe
The cup that cheers And floats my soul aloft. I love the taste! The bitterness! The froth! And just like life itself The pleasure’s soon forgot. Though just like life More morrows come along. More pain! More coffee! And more … Continue reading Cuppa Joe
Writer’s Tears
If all the writers In the world Saved a tear for me, And all combined, Fermented them As Writer’s Tears – Whiskey, Would I be sad or happy? Would I be gay or glad? Would I just chug-a-lug it down, … Continue reading Writer’s Tears
The relief of pain
John Le Carre has a peculiar talent. He portrays interrogation as our personal search for truth. It is of course simply trapping a liar in their own lies, but that’s not John’s way. He, or his protagonist, moves forward, step … Continue reading The relief of pain
The poet
Bewailing the want and curtailing the pain, I sat, all alone, in the cold driving rain. Surrounded by sorrow and frozen by fear, I looked for more cliches but none would appear. I saw, in the distance, the end of … Continue reading The poet
Why?
I can see that other people enjoyed this famous little book and took away a bounty of valuable understanding. Sadly, I did not! There were gems in Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a young poet” but despite these I still … Continue reading Why?
That fearful sorbet
I have been reading again. I love reading but my life-pattern has been to read avidly for a couple of books then to let the literary field lie fallow and untended. Something has changed in the past year or so … Continue reading That fearful sorbet
The link
Is there a link? A knowing bond between author and protagonist? A subliminal nod of recognition? Of complicity? Of desire? And if that protagonist is wily, cunning, evil, is it a bond all the stronger? Louise Candlish handles women well. … Continue reading The link
Kryptonite within
Not all heroes are the same. Not even when they are the creatures of the same author. Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch, the Los Angeles detective, is far less neurotic and whiney than Jack McEvoy, the one time author and journalist who … Continue reading Kryptonite within
Sucker punched, again!
I blame my wife though I shouldn’t. I swore that I would never go head to head with Jack Reacher, never again, but the human heart is a wayward orphan and when I saw Jack pucker up in the local … Continue reading Sucker punched, again!
Leap of faith
I have a strong image of Bertie Wooster in my mind but, confusingly, he is an amalgam from several sources, alloyed from different media. First, and fundamental, came the original Wooster whom I discovered in the pages of PG Wodehouse … Continue reading Leap of faith
The Sepia War
It was after I’d read “The Brisbane Line” that I went back and flicked through my Father’s War Record. I say flicked through because there is very little written down. Most in spidery faded ink and almost all in code. … Continue reading The Sepia War
SubConcious
Did you catch “Grantchester”? We saw it on ABC iView. It was a detective series with a twist. The twist was that the local, and devastatingly handsome local vicar, was an unlikely alternatve helpmate to the local policeman solving murder … Continue reading SubConcious
Laying a Curate’s Egg
Until this morning I had no chance of saying, “This life and living business is a bit of a bother. A curate’s egg, if you will.” Well now I can. It all started because I took the advice of a … Continue reading Laying a Curate’s Egg
A cut above
Harry Hole? Well just think Jack Reacher and add a little. Not to the character. No! Harry and Jack are birds of a feather but the writing of Jo Nesbo and Lee Childs are not. Well not entirely exactly. Jo … Continue reading A cut above
Easing off a shot
There is a satisfaction to be gained from ticking a box. It’s a human thing! Revenge and retribution! Now there’s another human thing. And courage in the face of pure evil. And the ticking bomb while our hero desperately sweats … Continue reading Easing off a shot
Spark of life
What would you do if your brain switched off and shut down for four years? And when your brain finally switches back on again you find that you are completely paralysed. Unable to speak or move anything other than your … Continue reading Spark of life
Too little and too late
Too little and too late! That’s how it seems. For so long I followed after dreams. Fancying that dreams were life itself. Not understanding what this is about. There is a harsh reality that underlies The world, the truth, ourselves … Continue reading Too little and too late
Is Love Blind?
It is a long time since I read a saga. You know, one of those old style books where you follow some poor soul from the cradle to the grave. You puff sagely on your pipe as you put the … Continue reading Is Love Blind?
Love, Trust and Armageddon.
I first I read “The Russia House” thirty one years ago. A year later Fred Schepisi’s film was released. I fear, in my mind at least, his tender visuals have over shadowed Le Carre’s careful writing. My memory of the … Continue reading Love, Trust and Armageddon.
Constraints
The tiesThat bind us roundMay be but single strandsAnd have no power But all togetherAll combinedHave strength enough to keep us,Quite Confined. Continue reading Constraints
It’s a Gonzo Thing
“The Rum Diary” was fine. That was a story. A beginning, an end, a middle. Things happened in some sort of unfolding, almost logical way. But “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is just crazy. Mad, hallucinating, drug fuelled drivel! … Continue reading It’s a Gonzo Thing
Rum indeed
Temptation is a wide and well paved boulevard. Impossible to miss, unlike the road to salvation; but, sadly, it is a road we all travel to some degree, if we live long enough, and if only in our minds. “The … Continue reading Rum indeed
The good and the bad
Imagine a horse dropping within a furlong of the finishing line! Pity the jockey standing dejectedly with his whip or the owner with his millions! Pity the vet with his shot gun behind the screen! Pity the irate punters! But … Continue reading The good and the bad
That thing called love
“The Notebook Trilogy” was shocking. I could not believe the words I was reading. Yet it all started innocently enough! The first paragraph was pure Grimms’ Fairy Story. You know. Children! Twins! Little Twin boys! Dropped off to live with … Continue reading That thing called love
Watergate: the Series
It was 1973 and we were young. We had just arrived in a small rural town in Alberta, Canada, and were all bright eyed and bushy tailed, excited to be living in a “foreign” country. Everything was new. Strange vowelly … Continue reading Watergate: the Series
Suburbia
I did nothing, but in hindsight, it was the best action I could have chosen. The spring has reinvigorated our garden and our front yard has become a very busy place. The native shrubs are flowering and while there still … Continue reading Suburbia
All that glitters………
All that glitters is not gold but nuggets can be found quite by accident. Yesterday I stubbed my toe on such a nugget and quite by chance. It was nearly midday and we had been watching the film “Frozen” with … Continue reading All that glitters………
Missing
The Australian inland is vast and ferociously beautiful. Evidence of fertile times, now long past. The low flat horizon, the sun, glowing like a sustained nuclear explosion, rising relentlessly each morning and searing the cracking rocks and dry creek beds … Continue reading Missing
Who? Me?
Can someone teach you how to write? I mean how to write something that other people might just want to read. Maybe even pay money to read! Anne Lamont thinks so. She does just that in real life. She teaches … Continue reading Who? Me?
Electronics on the Highway
At first we thought it was a bird. A high frequency chirp as we rolled down the highway towards Hebel under a clear cobalt blue sky. A few kilometres along the road, it happened again. Our ears were more attuned … Continue reading Electronics on the Highway
Indigenous Dreams
Walking beside the putty coloured Bollonne River, the sky an unbelievable and brilliant blue, the sun warm, still a friend, not yet an enemy, and the trees along the river bank seemingly freshly painted with the soft pastels of ochre … Continue reading Indigenous Dreams
A stitch in time. Threading the eye of the needle.
Ken Follett is a famously successful novelist and here I am 42 years later reading his novel and watching the subsequent movie for the very first time. It happened in 1978 and I missed it completely. Ken Follett’s novel “The … Continue reading A stitch in time. Threading the eye of the needle.
At the End of the Day 