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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Enjoyable memoir with some nostalgia about people I knew and places I've been, as well as fabulous tv comedy shows that I've loved. I think it could be summarised as 1/2 autobiography and 1/2 biography/tribute to her father
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Interesting story, perfect for the audio format as Magda does a lot of accents really well, especially her parents. I really enjoyed the parts about her father (Poland, WWII) and growing up in the 60's in suburban Melbourne. At the end she talks about how she believes trauma can be passed down through generations and that part is fascinating.
Loved this heartwarming, revealing and honest story. Couldn’t recommend it more highly. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself Magda.
When I was young(er) I used to look disdainfully at comedies and comedians, as if they were lesser forms of art and performers respectively. I read "serious" books and watched arthouse dramas. Comedies were for the plebs. Luckily, I'm always willing to change my opinions when called for.
In the last fifteen years or so, after consuming huge quantities of stand-up and funny movies (there are a lot of moronic comedies out there - I'm looking at you Adam Sandler and few of your pals) I've concluded that comedians are some of the smartest people around. After all, it's much more difficult to make people laugh than cry, especially given how subjective humour is. The only TV I watch these days is on demand and most of it it's made up of political and news satire shows, some stand-up specials and the occasional series or movie.
I first saw Magda Szubanski in Kath and Kim, a very popular TV series about a particular type of suburban Melburnian. As many Australians would attest, this was one of the most popular Australian series ever. Many had seen Magda in her previous incarnations in various other comedies, TV sketches and variety programs. She's a terrific actor with a uncanny ability to change looks, voice and accents. The rest of the world would know Szubanski via the very popular movie, Babe.
Magda is much more than her perceived funny overweight woman persona. I don't know why I was so surprised to discover that she's a gifted writer as well. After all, she'd written some of the material she performed.
She's also a very sensitive soul, who's fought her father's demons and her own. For many years she kept her sexuality out of the public domain, until 2012 when she finally came out as gay. Since then she'd become a prominent figure for the equal rights movement. For those of you who missed the news, in 2017 Australia become one of the many countries in the world to allow same-sex marriage.
I enjoyed this memoir a great deal. I loved that it wasn't focused on her acting career, it wasn't the type of name-dropping memoir that so many famous/celebrities put out. We are made by our parents and families and by our experiences. Magda shows herself through the people closest to her and through some of her experiences. As a new immigrant to Australia, Magda was keen to discover more about her Polish roots via her father, and the Scottish-Irish ones through her mom. Both parents, but especially her father, want to leave the past behind. She did know that her father had killed people during the War, but she didn't know the details. She only discovers them later in life.
Reckoning is a fascinating story of self-discovery, of finding one's roots, and through it all, of self-acceptance. All the accolades are very well deserved.
Highly recommend it
This goes towards my Aussie Authors Challenge 2018 on www.bookloverbookreviews.com
In the last fifteen years or so, after consuming huge quantities of stand-up and funny movies (there are a lot of moronic comedies out there - I'm looking at you Adam Sandler and few of your pals) I've concluded that comedians are some of the smartest people around. After all, it's much more difficult to make people laugh than cry, especially given how subjective humour is. The only TV I watch these days is on demand and most of it it's made up of political and news satire shows, some stand-up specials and the occasional series or movie.
I first saw Magda Szubanski in Kath and Kim, a very popular TV series about a particular type of suburban Melburnian. As many Australians would attest, this was one of the most popular Australian series ever. Many had seen Magda in her previous incarnations in various other comedies, TV sketches and variety programs. She's a terrific actor with a uncanny ability to change looks, voice and accents. The rest of the world would know Szubanski via the very popular movie, Babe.
Magda is much more than her perceived funny overweight woman persona. I don't know why I was so surprised to discover that she's a gifted writer as well. After all, she'd written some of the material she performed.
She's also a very sensitive soul, who's fought her father's demons and her own. For many years she kept her sexuality out of the public domain, until 2012 when she finally came out as gay. Since then she'd become a prominent figure for the equal rights movement. For those of you who missed the news, in 2017 Australia become one of the many countries in the world to allow same-sex marriage.
I enjoyed this memoir a great deal. I loved that it wasn't focused on her acting career, it wasn't the type of name-dropping memoir that so many famous/celebrities put out. We are made by our parents and families and by our experiences. Magda shows herself through the people closest to her and through some of her experiences. As a new immigrant to Australia, Magda was keen to discover more about her Polish roots via her father, and the Scottish-Irish ones through her mom. Both parents, but especially her father, want to leave the past behind. She did know that her father had killed people during the War, but she didn't know the details. She only discovers them later in life.
Reckoning is a fascinating story of self-discovery, of finding one's roots, and through it all, of self-acceptance. All the accolades are very well deserved.
Highly recommend it
This goes towards my Aussie Authors Challenge 2018 on www.bookloverbookreviews.com
Autobiography of Magda, her early life and her rise to fame while dealing with when and how to reveal her sexuality. Also the story of her father's family - her father was an assassin working for the people's army in Austria. Interesting story, but I don't love autobiographies...
Wept, laughed and was broken open by this book. Can't recommend it highly enough. Not just a memoir of a person, a family, this is also a history of Warsaw and the war, and a comprehensive introduction as growing up a "minority of one". Magda is a lesbian, something she struggled to reconcile with for a long time, not knowing what coming out would do to her family, friends or career.
It's beautiful, and I don't use that word easily with books.
It's beautiful, and I don't use that word easily with books.