BOOKS THUY ON > Books Editor BEING A WORDS person, I’m not very good with numbers. But
this year I’m going to make a concerted effort to make a note of all the books I read. Unlike other New Year’s resolutions, this one should be fairly easy to keep. I know for a fact that the number of novels read will exceed the number of non-fiction books read – I just gravitate towards fiction as a personal choice and am also commissioned by other editors to review novels. There will be a fair smattering of genre, YA and picture books in the mix as well. Surviving on a diet of literary releases may be worthy in itself, but it’s not much fun, so I usually make sure that I throw in a bit of light reading as well. Sometimes this can come in the form of the latest psychological thriller or a slow-burn sleeper novel that, via word of mouth, is touted as The Next Big Thing. I love looking at picture books too because, as someone who can barely draw a straight line, I appreciate the craft and beauty of colour and form — the minimal text also helps with alleviating eye strain. Whatever resolutions you may have made this year, I urge you to add more reading to your list.
THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ HEATHER MORRIS
Based on a true story revealed during years of interviews between the author and Holocaust survivor Ludwig “Lale” Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, this book follows his harrowing sojourn in Nazi camps, where his job is to ink his fellow inmates with depersonalising numbers. In excruciating detail Morris shows how Lale’s guilt about working for the enemy competes with his survival instinct: “He too has chosen to stay alive for as long as he can, by performing an act of defilement on people of his own faith.” Leavening the grimness, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a love story; one day Lale looks up from marking a young woman’s arm and promptly becomes besotted with Gita. Their devotion to each other (and their care for others in the camps) is what sustains them through years of imprisonment and deprivation. It’s a compelling read. Morris’ language is stripped back; some of the scenes are so horrific that linguistic embellishment is entirely unnecessary, and would detract from the story. THUY ON
DYSCHRONIA JENNIFER MILLS
“Time goes funny for me,” says Dyschronia’s child clairvoyant, Sam, who glimpses the future from the depths of crippling migraines. Her visions gradually ripple across the abandoned industrial town of Clapstone, situated on “the uneventful instep of Australia”. First it’s just her mum correcting her tenses and consulting medical specialists, but soon an entrepreneurial drop-in works out how to profit from them – and the town starts listening. Jennifer Mills’ ambitious third novel casts out in many directions at once, mingling grim environmental warnings and thoughtful sci-fi motifs with an intimate family study and talon-sharp critiques of corporate culture. Yet the characters could use more fleshing out and, although intentional, the disjointed flow of chapters makes it tough for the wider story to really gel. This is by no means a feel-good story. That said, Mills’ poetic instincts make for some stunning reading, and it’s somehow comforting to find that Sam is just as helpless as any of us in the face of time. DOUG WALLEN PRINT
E-BOOK
IN THE GARDEN OF THE FUGITIVES CERIDWEN DOVEY
Two narrators with interweaving stories and histories tell this tale. Royce, a wealthy benefactor with mysterious motives for picking women with “potential” whom he will financially support through their studies and careers; and his protégé, Vita, a self-absorbed, embittered expat. Twenty years after they first meet, they begin to exchange letters where they dissect the losses, personal explorations and excavations that have led them to the present. Accusations and assumptions are rife. The premise is clever, and some of the characters come to life gradually, but for the most part, both narrators are so extraordinarily unlikeable that it’s a hard graft to read more than 100 pages without needing to escape for air. The blurb promises a book about passion and obsession, which indeed it is. But the unrequited love, guilt, shame and the desire to manipulate others with whatever means available – money, authority, seniority, status – are not inviting. So perhaps keep this one on the side table until you’re ready. CAT WOODS THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU 9–22 FEB 2018
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