Courage Under Fire: Daniel Keighran VC (with Tony Park)

Whether your preference is for either biographies or novels, Daniel Keighran VC’s life story is an autobiography that reads like a best-seller novel and will, I am sure, appeal to a very wide audience. Dan had a childhood, from the time his father reappeared in his life, which quite understandably could have broken his spirit but from which he emerged as a young man with great strength of character. He was lucky to have as his mentor his grandfather, although they didn’t spend a lot of time together after Dan and his sister, Susan, moved to a remote part of North Queensland with their parents; but whenever they did see each other Dan always listened to his grandfather’s words of wisdom and learned from them. He obviously had inherited his grandfather’s honourable, heroic nature and the sad part of Dan’s story is that his grandfather did not live to see him awarded the Victoria Cross.

From the age of eleven Dan was coping with many hardships and, amazingly for an eleven year old, learning from adversity and using his innate problem-solving capability to cope with whatever was thrown at him.

Dan’s courage under fire was the stuff of legends. He is a remarkable young man and his description of his actions which led to the awarding of our country’s greatest military honour should make all Australians proud to know he walks among us. In true heroic style he is a self-effacing man with a great sense of humour and his bravery and honesty shine through all of his words.

Dan doesn’t flinch at admitting that his military career, followed by the responsibilities he has undertaken as a consequence of being a Victoria Cross recipient, have taken a toll on his private life. I wish him happiness in everything his future holds.

There are some great young Australian actors around and Dan Keighran VC’s life is crying out to be made into a blockbuster of a movie!

5 out of 5, of course!!

Published by Macmillan

Son of the Brush by Tim Olsen

 

I took a long time to read this memoir by Tim Olsen, son of John Olsen who has the reputation of ‘Australia’s greatest living artist’, because every time Tim referred to an artist or a work of art I felt compelled to look each one up so I could see who or what he was writing about. This exercise added greatly to my interest in the story of a child who grew up surrounded by people whose lives were totally dedicated to the making of art. With his parents and sister he lived in many and varied artistically inspiring locations including Watson’s Bay on the east side of Sydney harbour; Notting Hill, London; a Spanish village called Mojacar; Hill End in country New South Wales and Dural in the rural outskirts of Sydney.

With this background Tim’s life was always going to be about art but he turned from painting to curating and, with his stored knowledge and understanding of his chosen subject, he set about creating galleries which would accommodate the works of the best artists he could find. He has held countless successful exhibitions for his clients and he has carved out a truly impressive career.

Through the quite fascinating story of his personal as well as professional life is woven the thread dealing with Tim’s overcoming his addiction to alcohol. His day to day world involves of necessity a lot of entertaining and, as well, he grew up surrounded by artists, many of whom, including his father, viewed alcohol as an intrinsic ingredient almost in fuelling their creative endeavours. As the son of a famous father Tim enjoyed benefits and privileges many people would envy but it was always going to be difficult for him to make his own way in life.  His heartbreak when his father left his beautiful mother thus bringing to a end an idyllic if unconventional childhood and the consequent adjustments he had to make were hard for a sensitive boy to make sense of.

 I have seen how alcoholism invades someone’s life. It gets easier every day to step inside that fog and leave the world outside. Tim’s eventual victory over his addiction is an inspirational story. It is hard to see from the outside why someone like Tim would have needed to barricade himself from a world full of art, travel, beautiful and famous people, his adored son and his loving father but life is never that simple.

I was very happy when I was referencing the artists Tim was naming to find Nicholas Harding. I was looking at the Archibald Prize entrants at the Sydney Art Gallery a few years ago when I came across a stunning painting of one of my favourite authors, Robert Drewe.  I didn’t make a note of who painted it at the time but when I looked up Nicholas Harding while reading Son of the Brush I found it there together with some other beautiful paintings by Nicholas Harding. I have thought of that painting often and it was lovely to see it again, if only on my iPad, courtesy of Google! (I’m hoping one day to win the lottery and buy a Nicholas Harding of my own.)

5 out of 5!

Published by Allen & Unwin

A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin

This is Ian Rankin at his finest. John Rebus is so perfectly written it is hard at the end of each book to come back to the realisation that he is a character in a novel and not a real, live person!

Rebus has retired from the police force although he keeps in touch with Siobhan Clarke into whose capable hands have fallen the cases which once would have come his way. Advancing years and health problems have slowed him down physically somewhat but mentally he remains as sharp, and as dogged, as ever. 

In this book Rebus’s daughter, Samantha, calls on him when a tragic event takes place in her life. Rebus finds himself  in the village of Naver where Samantha lives carrying out a murder investigation although he is constantly having to be asked to leave it to the local police force and he also becomes involved in searching into events which took place during the Second World War in a prisoner of war camp which is situated near the village.

Meanwhile, Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are carrying out their own murder investigation in Edinburgh and coincidentally there is a possible connection with the murder in Naver. Obviously Siobhan will become the focus of the Rebus books over time, which echoes Quintin Jardine’s Bob Skinner series where Bob’s daughter, Alex, is starting to take the central role with Bob still an important figure in the background.

There is still much enjoyment to be had from reading a Rebus novel. Ian Rankin is keeping them as fresh and exciting, and real, as ever. Definitely 5 out of 5.

Published by Orion.

 

I don't like short stories, which might have something to do with the fact that I can't write them. 

However, when I learned that South African author Sifiso Mzobe's long-awaited second book was going to be a collection of short stories I had no hesitation in ordering it as an ebook (it's available in print in South Africa, but to the best of my knowledge, only in ebook in the rest of the world).

Mzobe is such a brilliant writer, I would read his shopping list if he let me.

I met Sifiso at the Franschhoek Literary Festival 10 years ago when we were both speaking on a panel about crime writing. He had read my new book at the time, The Delta, and told me he liked it; to my shame I had not read his first book, Young Blood.

I read Young Blood a short time later and it changed, forever, the way I looked at my adopted 'other home', South Africa, its people, and its often-recounted troubles, especially with crime.  The book won a swag of richly-deserved awards, and set Sifiso a very high bar to clear with his next work.

Confronting, yet beautifully written, Young Blood looked at how and why people turn to crime (and a whole host of other themes I won't go into here).

Searching for Simphiwe, is similar, but different.

If there is a theme or common thread in this collection of stories, set mostly in Umlazi township, south west of Durban, it is probably just 'life'.

There are tales of love (a beautifully-written old-age Romeo and Juliet that also touches on racism); loss (a wealthy man who, on his deathbed, just wants his children to like each other); courage (a young man fighting incredible adversity to stay away from crime and just get a job); and hope (the title story is about a man searching for his brother, who is lost to drugs).

Tying the whole collection together (and keeping me turning the pages) is the serialised hunt by Detective Zandile 'Z' Cele for a number of girls who have gone missing from the township. Through Z, Mzobe shows his mastery of characterisation.

Right from the start (no real spoiler) we learn Z is corrupt, taking money to keep a low level drug dealer out of jail, but Mzobe quickly (these are short stories) and adeptly reveals more and more of Z's life and circumstances and shows us her true character.  

Searching for Simphiwe should be required reading for any author (like me) who tries to create flawed heroes/heroines and any reader who loves them. It's also a beautiful, at times heart-wrenching look at a country and community Mzobe clearly loves, where despair and inspiration live side by side on the same streets every day. 

As a writer, Sifiso Mzobe has done that most difficult of things - to surpass a critically acclaimed first novel (and make me like short stories).

Absolute five out of five.

Tony Park