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crazybooklady_'s review
4.0
I attended the book launch for Storyland and left feeling very excited to read this and in fact started it the next day. A short description of this book is that effectively it is Cloud Atlas but set in Australia. Set along the Illawarra across four centuries we meet five very different characters and learn their stories of living on the land.
Much like Mitchell's Cloud Atlas we meet the five characters, each living in a different time point from the past to the present to the future. These stories are all, however, set in the same region, along Lake Illawarra which is south of Sydney in New South Wales. Each of the characters are linked in some way, whether it be by the land, or blood or history. I loved McKinnon's transitions from character to character. They were seamless and smooth.
Each of the characters were very unique, some likeable and some were not. My favourites were Lola, an unsurprising common favourite. She was a strong, independent woman trying to do fight by her family in a harsh time that was made harsher if you were a woman without a husband. Bel was another favourite but completely different. She is a child and her perspective it described in the innocent way that only children can. She is an unusual soul and the way her mind works is unique and fascinating. I really enjoyed McKinnon's glimpses into the future, they seem all too possible which is a terrifying thought.
An added bonus in this story is that many of the past stories have some basis in truth. Will's story is based on an expedition with Flinders and Bass and was written after consultation with Flinder's diaries for accuracy but from the perspective of their servant boy, Willian Martin. The character of Hawker is based on a true event where an Aboriginal woman was shot and mauled for stealing corn, an all too common story in those days that is no less horrific. In Bel's story an ancient skeleton was dislodged in a storm, another even that occurred in the 90's in this area. These fictional stories steeped in truth and accuracy lend this novel a little something more, lend it more reliability and impact on the reader.
The experience of reading this book was supplemented by the good fortune of having just listened to Girt by David Hunt as an audiobook in the days prior. I, therefore, understood the references to Bass and Flinders, Bennelong and Macquarie giving it a little something extra. It certainly adds to the enjoyment if you are familiar with Australian history but won't make the novel any less enjoyable if you aren't. If you are not overly familiar with Australian history, particularly if you are Australian yourself, I do recommend David Hunt's unofficial Australian histories in Girt and True Girt (next up on my audiobook list). His books are a comical, yet accurate explanation of Australia's history, which I found fascinating. We don't learn a lot about our own (accurate) history at school and I found this a fascinating experience. Our history is at times so ridiculous that it sounds like fiction.
The only slight let down for me was that the ending seemed slightly anti-climactic but in a way it suits the style of the book and finishes of the tale nicely. I would highly recommend picking this book up. I have no doubt that Storyland will eventually become an Aussie classic, a tale of life in Australia and how we are all interconnected. I give Storyland four lyrebirds.
Much like Mitchell's Cloud Atlas we meet the five characters, each living in a different time point from the past to the present to the future. These stories are all, however, set in the same region, along Lake Illawarra which is south of Sydney in New South Wales. Each of the characters are linked in some way, whether it be by the land, or blood or history. I loved McKinnon's transitions from character to character. They were seamless and smooth.
Each of the characters were very unique, some likeable and some were not. My favourites were Lola, an unsurprising common favourite. She was a strong, independent woman trying to do fight by her family in a harsh time that was made harsher if you were a woman without a husband. Bel was another favourite but completely different. She is a child and her perspective it described in the innocent way that only children can. She is an unusual soul and the way her mind works is unique and fascinating. I really enjoyed McKinnon's glimpses into the future, they seem all too possible which is a terrifying thought.
An added bonus in this story is that many of the past stories have some basis in truth. Will's story is based on an expedition with Flinders and Bass and was written after consultation with Flinder's diaries for accuracy but from the perspective of their servant boy, Willian Martin. The character of Hawker is based on a true event where an Aboriginal woman was shot and mauled for stealing corn, an all too common story in those days that is no less horrific. In Bel's story an ancient skeleton was dislodged in a storm, another even that occurred in the 90's in this area. These fictional stories steeped in truth and accuracy lend this novel a little something more, lend it more reliability and impact on the reader.
The experience of reading this book was supplemented by the good fortune of having just listened to Girt by David Hunt as an audiobook in the days prior. I, therefore, understood the references to Bass and Flinders, Bennelong and Macquarie giving it a little something extra. It certainly adds to the enjoyment if you are familiar with Australian history but won't make the novel any less enjoyable if you aren't. If you are not overly familiar with Australian history, particularly if you are Australian yourself, I do recommend David Hunt's unofficial Australian histories in Girt and True Girt (next up on my audiobook list). His books are a comical, yet accurate explanation of Australia's history, which I found fascinating. We don't learn a lot about our own (accurate) history at school and I found this a fascinating experience. Our history is at times so ridiculous that it sounds like fiction.
The only slight let down for me was that the ending seemed slightly anti-climactic but in a way it suits the style of the book and finishes of the tale nicely. I would highly recommend picking this book up. I have no doubt that Storyland will eventually become an Aussie classic, a tale of life in Australia and how we are all interconnected. I give Storyland four lyrebirds.
mandi_m's review
5.0
With our book clubs we re-read one of my favourites this month, the beautifully told "storyland". This was a literary Australia fiction told in interlocking stories set in the same place on the South Coast over a span of hundreds of years.
It was so pleasing to have universally good scores for this title - nothing under a 6! High praise indeed :)
We scored it:
Monday 6:15pm - 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 / 7 / 7.5 / 9 / 9 / 9
Monday 7:30pm - 6 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 7.5 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 9
Friday 9:30am - 7 / 8 / 7 / 8 / 7 / 9 / 8
Fridau 10:45am - 9 / 7 / 7.5 / 6 / 8 / 7 / 9 / 8
Beautiful literary Australian fiction. Cleverly plotted and constructed. Looking forward to seeing this pop up on all kinds of prize lists over the next twelve months.
It was so pleasing to have universally good scores for this title - nothing under a 6! High praise indeed :)
We scored it:
Monday 6:15pm - 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 / 7 / 7.5 / 9 / 9 / 9
Monday 7:30pm - 6 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 7.5 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 9
Friday 9:30am - 7 / 8 / 7 / 8 / 7 / 9 / 8
Fridau 10:45am - 9 / 7 / 7.5 / 6 / 8 / 7 / 9 / 8
Beautiful literary Australian fiction. Cleverly plotted and constructed. Looking forward to seeing this pop up on all kinds of prize lists over the next twelve months.
skadinova's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
lisa_setepenre's review
5.0
In 1796, a young cabin boy accompanies Bass and Flinders to explore the southern coast of New South Wales. Convict Hawker dreams of freedom that he believes can only be achieved by an act of extreme violence in 1822. 1900 sees Lola and her half-siblings trying to exist on a dairy farm, resisting the prejudices of their neighbours. Bel goes rafting on the lake in 1998, but the friends she meets carry secrets that turn violent. In 2717, Nada remembers her first life in 2033, when the world began to crumble apart.
Storyland perhaps best described as five novellas set over a span of centuries, connected by objects, wildlife, family and the landscape of Lake Illawarra. Yet that doesn’t do it justice in the least. I loved this book. Loved it.
It is inventive and clever, yet not in a way that calls attention to itself. It never feels like the work of an author who knows – or thinks – they’re being clever and wants everyone and their dog to notice. The cleverness is woven into the stories, showing how interconnected the stories are, though they might be separated by centuries.
Yet, on their own, the five stories are all captivating. The voices are unique and appropriate – I loved how Catherine McKinnon captured the voice of the ten year old Bel – it felt very appropriate and childlike. I would happily read each of these stories again, on their own, but the way McKinnon connects them is downright fabulous.
Storyland perhaps best described as five novellas set over a span of centuries, connected by objects, wildlife, family and the landscape of Lake Illawarra. Yet that doesn’t do it justice in the least. I loved this book. Loved it.
It is inventive and clever, yet not in a way that calls attention to itself. It never feels like the work of an author who knows – or thinks – they’re being clever and wants everyone and their dog to notice. The cleverness is woven into the stories, showing how interconnected the stories are, though they might be separated by centuries.
Yet, on their own, the five stories are all captivating. The voices are unique and appropriate – I loved how Catherine McKinnon captured the voice of the ten year old Bel – it felt very appropriate and childlike. I would happily read each of these stories again, on their own, but the way McKinnon connects them is downright fabulous.
samstillreading's review
5.0
When I first read about Storyland by Catherine McKinnon, my thoughts turned to a picture book I adored as a child – My Place by Nadia Wheatley. If you loved that book, Storyland is the grown up novel that takes an area of land around Lake Illawarra in New South Wales and tells the story of those who inhabit it, from Australia’s infant years to way into the future. It’s a clever story that sings the love of the land as the people are tied together through the ages via blood and objects. It also weaves into the narrative the history of Australia and imagines a future that is both scary and yet utterly plausible.
The novel opens in 1796 as young Will Martin goes on an expedition with Bass and Flinders to find a river south of Sydney Cove. The thriving metropolis we know today is but a basic town with the surrounds largely unexplored. The trio overshoot their mark and end up much further south, desperate for water. How will their interaction with the native people turn out? Each story segues seamlessly into the next going from oldest to present to future and then back again. In 1822, Hawker is a disgruntled employee looking after a corn crop in an isolated area. Combined with drink, anger and the need to improve his station, he commits an atrocity – but can it be explained away? In 1900, Lola and her siblings run a dairy farm. But when a young girl goes missing, tensions run high as neighbours accuse each other. Australia may have been settled for over a century at this point, but there is still a sense of wildness in the country. 1998 sees Bel and her friends meeting an older girl, Kristie while playing with a raft. Kristie is fun, but her partner Ned is violent. Finally, Nada must fight for survival in 2027 after everything she knows disappears.
The way the characters' stories are combined in Storyland is magnificent. They flow into each other seamlessly, using a bird or other nature to signify that even though the people change, the land and animals remain. So many themes are raised too - from the European treatment of the Aboriginal people, the fear of foreigners (such as the Chinese), domestic violence and climate change. These are diverse topics, but they are combined skilfully into the plot and also reference real events form history. (I highly recommend reading the author’s note in full, as I found it really ignited my desire to know more). I found Nada’s story, which is set in a future that you could call dystopian, the most chilling. It involves a cyclone so huge that the south coast of New South Wales is a series of islands. That alone is scary enough (and plausible, given climate change and the recent floods further north). But it’s the reaction of the people that is the most unsettling. Given recent world events, it’s also far too conceivable that this could happen.
The portrayal of the Aboriginal people was also interesting, from Bass and Flinders’ point of view of distrust of the unknown to Hawker’s combination of hatred and lust. It made me ponder how far we have moved on from those sentiments. (If Bel’s experience with the public at the skeleton that was found is indicative – not very much for some).
I also enjoyed how little pieces of information from narratives before were woven into the story. There’s a suggestion of the characters being related, plus there are snippets of what became of them later in life. It was only a sentence or two, but I found myself looking out for references of what happened to Bel and the others. There is also a recurring object that appears across the centuries.
The writing in Storyland is beautiful and haunting. It gets under your skin as you ponder the themes and the future of our country. A must read to experience the history and land that makes up Australia.
Thank you to Harper Collins for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
The novel opens in 1796 as young Will Martin goes on an expedition with Bass and Flinders to find a river south of Sydney Cove. The thriving metropolis we know today is but a basic town with the surrounds largely unexplored. The trio overshoot their mark and end up much further south, desperate for water. How will their interaction with the native people turn out? Each story segues seamlessly into the next going from oldest to present to future and then back again. In 1822, Hawker is a disgruntled employee looking after a corn crop in an isolated area. Combined with drink, anger and the need to improve his station, he commits an atrocity – but can it be explained away? In 1900, Lola and her siblings run a dairy farm. But when a young girl goes missing, tensions run high as neighbours accuse each other. Australia may have been settled for over a century at this point, but there is still a sense of wildness in the country. 1998 sees Bel and her friends meeting an older girl, Kristie while playing with a raft. Kristie is fun, but her partner Ned is violent. Finally, Nada must fight for survival in 2027 after everything she knows disappears.
The way the characters' stories are combined in Storyland is magnificent. They flow into each other seamlessly, using a bird or other nature to signify that even though the people change, the land and animals remain. So many themes are raised too - from the European treatment of the Aboriginal people, the fear of foreigners (such as the Chinese), domestic violence and climate change. These are diverse topics, but they are combined skilfully into the plot and also reference real events form history. (I highly recommend reading the author’s note in full, as I found it really ignited my desire to know more). I found Nada’s story, which is set in a future that you could call dystopian, the most chilling. It involves a cyclone so huge that the south coast of New South Wales is a series of islands. That alone is scary enough (and plausible, given climate change and the recent floods further north). But it’s the reaction of the people that is the most unsettling. Given recent world events, it’s also far too conceivable that this could happen.
The portrayal of the Aboriginal people was also interesting, from Bass and Flinders’ point of view of distrust of the unknown to Hawker’s combination of hatred and lust. It made me ponder how far we have moved on from those sentiments. (If Bel’s experience with the public at the skeleton that was found is indicative – not very much for some).
I also enjoyed how little pieces of information from narratives before were woven into the story. There’s a suggestion of the characters being related, plus there are snippets of what became of them later in life. It was only a sentence or two, but I found myself looking out for references of what happened to Bel and the others. There is also a recurring object that appears across the centuries.
The writing in Storyland is beautiful and haunting. It gets under your skin as you ponder the themes and the future of our country. A must read to experience the history and land that makes up Australia.
Thank you to Harper Collins for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
chrischacos's review
4.0
3.5 stars.
Storyland follows 5 narratives around the Illawarra spanning centuries. The book's strongest narratives are from the perspective of modern women - the 18th and 19th century male characters were, in my opinion, a bit dry and cartoonish, and meant that it took me about three weeks to finish the first third while it took about three days to read the rest.
That being said, the historical segments were well-researched and uniquely Australian, and the modern segments were gripping and interesting, with vibrant characters. When McKinnon wants to, she is excellent at heightening the tension by having an unknowable violent threat hiding in not just the antagonistic characters but also our protagonists. The tense scenes are nail-biting.
As an Aussie, it always feels special to read something Australian, and this was deeply, unapologetically Australian in all our beauty and tragedy.
Storyland follows 5 narratives around the Illawarra spanning centuries. The book's strongest narratives are from the perspective of modern women - the 18th and 19th century male characters were, in my opinion, a bit dry and cartoonish, and meant that it took me about three weeks to finish the first third while it took about three days to read the rest.
That being said, the historical segments were well-researched and uniquely Australian, and the modern segments were gripping and interesting, with vibrant characters. When McKinnon wants to, she is excellent at heightening the tension by having an unknowable violent threat hiding in not just the antagonistic characters but also our protagonists. The tense scenes are nail-biting.
As an Aussie, it always feels special to read something Australian, and this was deeply, unapologetically Australian in all our beauty and tragedy.
kellylsykes's review
Didn't connect with this book at all. Not my typical genre and not familiar with the setting so that's likely why, but I was very disappointed.
wtb_michael's review
3.0
A intriguingly constructed book, with Illawarra and surrounds as the key character in a set of stories spanning hundreds of years. There's a lot of very impressive research underpinning the historical fiction sections of this and yet another climate change apocalypse section, which rang terrifying true. The flicking between stories mostly worked, with the connections and themes gradually becoming apparent. There were a few sections that I didn't really connect with, but on the whole this is a hugely impressive piece of work.
archytas's review
4.0
So here I am, running out of time to finish off my 2018 reviews, and still no idea what I think about this book. Everything I can think of to write is wrong. "It's five stories", for example, only it isn't really, it is one story, set across time and people with their own specific concerns. None of the five episodes feels complete, they exist as little vignettes that you dip into but never find out what happens to our protagonists (well, okay, except the first/last instalment, in which the characters are historical personages (Bass and Flinders and the lesser known Will) and the plot closely follows a historical account).
There is overarching themes here, engagement with environment, racism, interpersonal violence, sexism, but each story also looks at a particular slice of Australian life as well in an at times "special of the week" kind of way. The characters are related to each other, but not in a linear way. The lack of resolution to some of the stories left me uneasy, as if stories this pointed shouldn't be left in ambiguity in the end. On the other hand, that ambiguity avoids anything simple, makes the reader think and engage.
The writing is evocative, and the various stories also explore different ways humans have relationships with our environment. The wonder of unsupervised children in their own private playground; the coming of age of a boyman falling for a new country; the antagonistic relationship of an imprisoned labourer with no sense of belonging of self control; the pride of a settler making a home through coaxing the land; and the joy and horror of living in a much loved middle class bush home under threat.
In the middle of the book, is a united section of story which is terrifying and terrible. The structure never fully resolved that for me, making the ambiguity almost frightening as we count our way back to Will and Bass and Flinders. The effect feels deliberate and powerful.The book has stayed with me, but mostly as a sense of unclear unease. It's good, without question, but I feel like it was winking at me and I don't know why.
There is overarching themes here, engagement with environment, racism, interpersonal violence, sexism, but each story also looks at a particular slice of Australian life as well in an at times "special of the week" kind of way. The characters are related to each other, but not in a linear way. The lack of resolution to some of the stories left me uneasy, as if stories this pointed shouldn't be left in ambiguity in the end. On the other hand, that ambiguity avoids anything simple, makes the reader think and engage.
The writing is evocative, and the various stories also explore different ways humans have relationships with our environment. The wonder of unsupervised children in their own private playground; the coming of age of a boyman falling for a new country; the antagonistic relationship of an imprisoned labourer with no sense of belonging of self control; the pride of a settler making a home through coaxing the land; and the joy and horror of living in a much loved middle class bush home under threat.
In the middle of the book, is a united section of story which is terrifying and terrible. The structure never fully resolved that for me, making the ambiguity almost frightening as we count our way back to Will and Bass and Flinders. The effect feels deliberate and powerful.The book has stayed with me, but mostly as a sense of unclear unease. It's good, without question, but I feel like it was winking at me and I don't know why.
jgwc54e5's review
5.0
Loved this book. It is structured like Cloud Atlas (I loved that also!) and the link between the stories over time is the location, around the pt Kembla area. She manages to pack a lot into the different narratives, we get indigenous history, racism, violence against women, climate change, childhood, class without lecturing or judgement, all just part of the story. Very well written.
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