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A review by trishagreenie
The Lucky Galah by Tracy Sorensen
4.0
This book was chosen for our work book club, and I wasn't sure what I'd think since I'm not usually a big fan of books that are told from animals' points of view. However, I really liked this one in the end, for a number of reasons:
* I love galahs, and this story highlighted how much personality they really do have - and yet offered me more insight than I'd had before about the degree to which their personalities are unique.
* The book gave me a sense of nostalgia for the country I live in, with vivid description of the landscapes the story inhabited. It also made me very glad I don't live up norf in that sort of horrible weather! But mentions of red dirt, the ocean, the floods, etc., were really striking.
* I'm a bit of a space nerd, despite not having the scientific expertise to back that up, and so I enjoyed reading about the history of the area with the space dish, etc. (and the cheeky birds that constantly challenged the builders of said dish)
* For me this story highlighted how sad it is for animals be kept in captivity - particularly native animals that should be free. And the niece of Lizzie felt that way too, which I appreciated.
* The book gave insight into the horrific history of how indigenous Australians have been treated, and yet it wasn't harrowing in that it just presented them as factual moments that had been a part of a person's forebears' life story, rather than an ordeal.
* There were some truly comical elements to the book. Some of my favourites included:
1. The letter(s) written to "Kimberley" - as the description of that lady unfolded, I found myself saying, "No, it CAN'T be! Is it?!" And it was. The letter that was being written to Kimberley made me both feel pity for and derision for the author of the letter.
2. The parade they have in the town, with the hilarious costumes, town guests from NASA on the truck being lurched about (and ending up with a face full of dirt/dust), etc. It was a wonderfully comic scene that had me cracking up.
All in all, I enjoyed the read and was relieved with how things turned out for "Cocky" as well. I feared the worst at a certain point there!
* I love galahs, and this story highlighted how much personality they really do have - and yet offered me more insight than I'd had before about the degree to which their personalities are unique.
* The book gave me a sense of nostalgia for the country I live in, with vivid description of the landscapes the story inhabited. It also made me very glad I don't live up norf in that sort of horrible weather! But mentions of red dirt, the ocean, the floods, etc., were really striking.
* I'm a bit of a space nerd, despite not having the scientific expertise to back that up, and so I enjoyed reading about the history of the area with the space dish, etc. (and the cheeky birds that constantly challenged the builders of said dish)
* For me this story highlighted how sad it is for animals be kept in captivity - particularly native animals that should be free. And the niece of Lizzie felt that way too, which I appreciated.
* The book gave insight into the horrific history of how indigenous Australians have been treated, and yet it wasn't harrowing in that it just presented them as factual moments that had been a part of a person's forebears' life story, rather than an ordeal.
* There were some truly comical elements to the book. Some of my favourites included:
1. The letter(s) written to "Kimberley" - as the description of that lady unfolded, I found myself saying, "No, it CAN'T be! Is it?!" And it was. The letter that was being written to Kimberley made me both feel pity for and derision for the author of the letter.
2. The parade they have in the town, with the hilarious costumes, town guests from NASA on the truck being lurched about (and ending up with a face full of dirt/dust), etc. It was a wonderfully comic scene that had me cracking up.
All in all, I enjoyed the read and was relieved with how things turned out for "Cocky" as well. I feared the worst at a certain point there!