I am in a book club and there are some books that I love and some that I do not.
A fair swag of it is Oz lit and I am trying to pinpoint what it is that riles me so about the more vaunted tomes.
I honestly think part of it is a modern cultural cringe where they feel that they have to write - so beautifully they do write- about harshness and despair at nearly every turn.
You get to the point as a reader that you mistrust even the slightest glimmer of hope because you know that it will be spectacularly extinguished by the absolutely woeful "shit happens and then you live miserably in filth" ending they learned in Capital A capital L Australian Literature 101.
I just finished Denizen. Gorgeous writing. Nailed the above.
Prior to that I failed to finish Salt and Skin - the whole time I felt like I had read it before (perhaps I had or perhaps it's cookie cutter AL).
Please offer me something to disprove my theory - or lament with me
I think you'll find that's not just Australian Literature. It happens a lot in ours, too. One of my book club members refers to them as "misery books".
ReplyDeleteI follow an Oz blogger who makes a point to buy and read a book by a fellow Aussie each month. I'll have to watch for some uplifting ones to share with you.
LOL. I came here to say the same as Kelly. It's everywhere, sistah. EVERYWHERE.
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