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brendanlambourne's review against another edition
5.0
Wow - Stan Grant has taken me into a world I did not really understand and allowed me to understand his sentiment to the fullest. Well written, a must for every Australian to read.
headlesswork's review against another edition
a bit too dense and academic for my brain at the moment - i hope to revisit it when i'm not so physically/mentally fatigued
zacmcdougall's review against another edition
5.0
Stan Grant is an amazing writer. It is absolutely disgraceful how he has been treated by certain segments of the Australian population.
imoganthebogan's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.75
This book was a meditative essay collection that incorporated Grant’s lived experience, famous philosophers and artists to philosophically explore the idea of Australia and what it means to be an Australian.
This book grapples with complex topics like the production of history, the role of memory and whether justice and forgiveness are dichotomous through the lens of the First Nation communities of Australia.
I will be honest and concede that some of the more heavier and nuanced discussions around philosophy did go over my head. Despite this I am again in awe of Grants storytelling ability and his desire to engage in the necessary difficult and hard conversations that Australia needs to have. My favourite part of the book was the epilogue which was so tragic and hopeful and just a perfect encapsulation of raw human emotion, I would recommend everyone give it a read. I would recommend this book for people that want a more philosophical examination of Australia’s history and national identity.
This book grapples with complex topics like the production of history, the role of memory and whether justice and forgiveness are dichotomous through the lens of the First Nation communities of Australia.
I will be honest and concede that some of the more heavier and nuanced discussions around philosophy did go over my head. Despite this I am again in awe of Grants storytelling ability and his desire to engage in the necessary difficult and hard conversations that Australia needs to have. My favourite part of the book was the epilogue which was so tragic and hopeful and just a perfect encapsulation of raw human emotion, I would recommend everyone give it a read. I would recommend this book for people that want a more philosophical examination of Australia’s history and national identity.
casiuolc's review against another edition
4.0
feels weird rating something like this out of 5. really interesting reflection on the impacts of colonisation in Australia and what we should do with so-called Australia Day
ch8m3l30n's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
ezza1637's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
laurabellereads's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
dvrk_academic's review against another edition
5.0
This was the book I was hoping to love the most this month and it truly is an exquisite book that I had to put down several times just to be able to question myself and reflect on what Stan Grant was writing. This book speaks about accepting one’s own Indigenous culture (for Native Peoples), how they fit into a country that is yet to acknowledge that this country is actually their’s and how can others living in this country be allies. This book and Grant’s collection of thoughts is centred around Australia Day: why is that the national holiday on that day specifically and why is it not a day of mourning but instead a day of celebration? Grant opens the beginning of the book talking about the Australia Day 2016 protests. Allies of the Aboriginal community came out in full force demanding that the government changes the date of celebration to another date as opposed to 26th of January. I also vividly remember that day to be the day I stopped celebrating Australia Day because I learnt the meaning behind it. How can a nation celebrate a day, where so many Native Peoples were killed? It didn’t sit right with me then, and it doesn’t sit right with me now. This book made me more aware than ever about symbolism and the meaning behind some actions taken by the coloniser and the government. It also reminded me that we have a long way to go before things are remotely ok again.