Frank and Leon are two men from different times, discovering that sometimes all you learn from your parents' mistakes is how to make different ones...
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May 25, 2011
Jeanette
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Quite an ambitious debut novel for this Australian writer. I like her prose style and her ability to create a sense of atmosphere in the story.
Remember that old saying about the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children? I think this story shows how the wounds of the fathers are passed down to the sons through the generations.
The story is set in Australia. Chapters alternate between Frank and his father Leon, although the story covers three generations, including Le More...
Remember that old saying about the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children? I think this story shows how the wounds of the fathers are passed down to the sons through the generations.
The story is set in Australia. Chapters alternate between Frank and his father Leon, although the story covers three generations, including Le More...
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Feb 10, 2012
Shivanee
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Excerpted from the full review:
"Frank Collard turns to the wild, and his grandparents’ rustic outpost in the swamplands, when an abusively disastrous relationship shatters his heart. Lonely, he gradually inches away from being corralled by the teeming landscape that surrounds his shack, to becoming a part of it, blending gracelessly and gruffly into the local milieu. Though he adapts the semblance of a normal life, rooted in work and earnest, albeit thorny, social interaction, he More...
"Frank Collard turns to the wild, and his grandparents’ rustic outpost in the swamplands, when an abusively disastrous relationship shatters his heart. Lonely, he gradually inches away from being corralled by the teeming landscape that surrounds his shack, to becoming a part of it, blending gracelessly and gruffly into the local milieu. Though he adapts the semblance of a normal life, rooted in work and earnest, albeit thorny, social interaction, he More...
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Dec 18, 2011
Richard
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Rating: 2* of five
How awful it must be to be heterosexual...to know, with the full force of society's blasting, trumpeting inculcation of knowledge that your Object of Desire will not, can not, indeed may not, ever make sense to you.
Evie Wyld presents the stories of three generations of miserable men and the women they screw up in this, her debut novel. Lady's got guts, let's hand her her just props...she writes of the horrors of war as experienced by these men with the assur More...
How awful it must be to be heterosexual...to know, with the full force of society's blasting, trumpeting inculcation of knowledge that your Object of Desire will not, can not, indeed may not, ever make sense to you.
Evie Wyld presents the stories of three generations of miserable men and the women they screw up in this, her debut novel. Lady's got guts, let's hand her her just props...she writes of the horrors of war as experienced by these men with the assur More...
Dec 02, 2010
Fleur
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It must have been towards then end of last year that I first spotted After the Fire, a Still Small Voice, cover turned out on the new books shelf in the library. Such an intriguing title. Such a beautiful cover. I had to pick it up and find out more. I was intrigued and yet I didn’t bring the book home. I wasn’t sure that it was the book for me.
But then I read so much praise for both book and author that I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. And so the next time it appeared on t More...
But then I read so much praise for both book and author that I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. And so the next time it appeared on t More...
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Mar 01, 2010
Amy
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Frank has returned to his childhood playground, a beach cottage near Queensland, to sort out his life after a devastating breakup, a relationship that inevitably ended when he became physically violent with his girlfriend. He loathes what he did, and runs to hide in a place that he thinks will comfort him. Once there, memories begin to eat at him, becoming so real that he turns his head and alerts to their arrival.
He can’t relate to his new violent streak, and tries to analyze what More...
He can’t relate to his new violent streak, and tries to analyze what More...
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Dec 24, 2009
David
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I’ve been meaning to read this book ever since I came across Evie Wyld’s excellent short story ‘Menzies Meat’ in the summer. In the intervening months, After the Fire, a Still Small Voice has won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and received near-unanimous praise – now here’s some more.
What’s particularly striking about the novel, looking back on it as a whole, is how quiet it is; it’s probably the quietest book I’ve read all year. Its tone is quiet, its theme is quietness – the things More...
What’s particularly striking about the novel, looking back on it as a whole, is how quiet it is; it’s probably the quietest book I’ve read all year. Its tone is quiet, its theme is quietness – the things More...
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Jun 09, 2011
Readingjay
rated it:
3.5 stars actually, but no facility to say so. Some beautiful, observant writing here in a novel that needs to take a long time to draw its threads together. Perseverance will be rewarded. Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and on the Dublin IMPAC list for 2011, I had it in my head that this was a YA book, but it isn't - this is literary fiction. Set in Australia, the novel captures the landscapes (coast, city, outback) and the people although some use of dialogue seems forced and there are
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Jan 19, 2011
Our Library
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If you enjoy literary Australian fiction, then give this one a try. It is an impressive debut novel from author, Evie Wyld, who tackles the subject of father and son relationships. This compelling story centres upon a rundown shack in the sugar cane regions of Eastern Australia. Frank, his father and his grandfather have each retreated separately to the shack at some point in their lives. The building has been a haven for the men from the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Now Frank has retreated from the
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Jan 13, 2011
Sarah
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I expected quite a lot from this book because it won an award that Ellie Catton was up for - best commonwealth novel under 35. I think I preferred both Ellie's and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's books, although I was quite seduced by this one. She makes use of unexpected language and imagery. She writes about men and war and going bush in Australia - virtuosic subjects for a young woman. The chapters were really short, which I was pleased about in the Vietnam section, but sometimes too short to real
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Apr 08, 2011
Luke
rated it:
There's some exquisite writing here. I envy Evie Wyld's clean, unvarnished style. Beautifully composed, with startling, vivid imagery in so many places. This book has bold ambitions, which I really liked it for. Parallel stories, separated by forty years, of a father and son - the father being younger than the son for much of the narrative. Each of the journeys is quite compelling, although Leon, the father's, story initially held me more. I really enjoyed the sections about his childhood in the
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Aug 15, 2009
Blue Willow
rated it:
I can't believe a story this good and this well-written didn't make it to the Man Booker long list. Two apparently separate story lines gradually converge in a tough and gritty tale of the legacies of war in an Australian family. Leon's father never recovered from his Korean War experience, presaging Leon's own struggles after fighting in the Vietnam War. In an alternating story line that takes place in the very recent past, Frank attempts to find himself and start a new life in his grandparents
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Aug 24, 2010
Heather
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I guess I don't get along well with authors not from the states. There are lots of colloquial phrases in the book and even using the context, I have no idea what most of them mean. It took me well over 100 pages to figure out one of the things that continues to come up in the story is a freaking bird!
I kept reading this wondering how the two main characters are connected and I will tell you this: You have to get just shy of half way into the book before you find out (unless I missed so More...
I kept reading this wondering how the two main characters are connected and I will tell you this: You have to get just shy of half way into the book before you find out (unless I missed so More...
Aug 09, 2009
Alice
rated it:
I can't believe a story this good and this well-written didn't make it to the Man Booker long list. Two apparently separate story lines gradually converge in a tough and gritty tale of the legacies of war in an Australian family. Leon's father never recovered from his Korean War experience, presaging Leon's own struggles after fighting in the Vietnam War. In an alternating story line that takes place in the very recent past, Frank attempts to find himself and start a new life in his grandparents
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Jun 09, 2010
Zachary
rated it:
I ran across an Advanced Reader's/Reviewer's Edition of this book for $1.00 outside of The Strand and was initially taken with the title. Thought, what could I lose? ...nothing. This debut novel was hauntingly stunning; an absolute pleasure to read. Wylde's got guts. She has command of character conflict, detail, pacing, and dialogue. She knows how to lure the reader in ( shockingly believable through male perspectives), grab him by the throat and hold on until she's ready to let go. She had me
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Nov 20, 2009
Jonny
rated it:
Partly to try and offset the impact of some reviews I just don't understand, I'm going to review this book now.
It's. Really. Friggin. Good.
Honestly, if you like books that take you away from yourself, if you enjoy Peter Carey, Tim Winton, John McGahern, Richard Powers, books where landscape and place are another character, where human beings live the same messy lives we all do then please give this book a try. The last fifty pages had me completely compelled, turning p More...
It's. Really. Friggin. Good.
Honestly, if you like books that take you away from yourself, if you enjoy Peter Carey, Tim Winton, John McGahern, Richard Powers, books where landscape and place are another character, where human beings live the same messy lives we all do then please give this book a try. The last fifty pages had me completely compelled, turning p More...
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Apr 03, 2011
Ian
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Through three generations of an Australian family and two wars - Korea and Vietnam - the book looks at how the faults of fathers are visited on their sons.
There's a constant sense of lurking danger, whether from wildlife or from the Viet Cong hidden in the jungle and this is used as a metaphor for the characters' own fears and insecurities.
The book has beautifully evocative descriptions of the Australian landscape, though you will find yourself scurrying for Google occasi More...
There's a constant sense of lurking danger, whether from wildlife or from the Viet Cong hidden in the jungle and this is used as a metaphor for the characters' own fears and insecurities.
The book has beautifully evocative descriptions of the Australian landscape, though you will find yourself scurrying for Google occasi More...
Jul 10, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
This was a very well written and poignant first novel by a new British writer that bites off a tad more than it can chew. After his girlfriend leaves him, Frank drives off into the Austrialian wilderness. Forty years before this, Frank's father Leon is drafted to Vietnam where he experiences a slew of dehumanizing and harrowing events. The lives of both men - told in parallel narratives - have a tragic element, not least in that the similarities between them drive them apart even further. I like
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Nov 06, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
This is a strange book. I'm not sure if it was from my not-very-careful reading reading at the start or if it's a small fault of the book, but I wasn't exactly sure of Leon and Frank's relationship until the sugar statues came into it (about halfway through?). I'm willing to take the blame for that one, since I have a history of missing things like that.
Anyway, it's not a particularly enjoyable story - and I don't think it was particularly clear what, exactly, Leon did - but it is very More...
Anyway, it's not a particularly enjoyable story - and I don't think it was particularly clear what, exactly, Leon did - but it is very More...
May 07, 2011
Kat
rated it:
This opened with little tension and took a lot of patience before the story started to come together, and to a head by the end. There was emotional shape to it, but little substance I felt: what were the characters feeling, beyond a nameless tension or pressure “beneath the ribs”? What was their motivation? Why were the father and son estranged? All this was very hazy.
Some beautiful phrases and descriptive passages, and some very acutely observed interactions between characters, but al More...
Some beautiful phrases and descriptive passages, and some very acutely observed interactions between characters, but al More...
Jan 14, 2010
Dan
rated it:
Three generations of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. This New Australian Writing follows the stories of three messed-up men: a Korean War vet, a Vietnam vet, and a younger man who's just broken up with his girlfriend. You're never told that they're grandfather, father, and son, but it's pretty obvious. The first two thirds of the novel are so writerly that you can picture the author pulling the strings, but the three guys gradually take shape. Unfortunately, right around then, a deus ex machin
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Nov 01, 2009
Julia
rated it:
This was an impulse pick - I chose it for the title, and because it's set in Australia. What an incredible find! It' a first novel, described by the author herself as a "romantic thriller about men not talking". The story moves back and forth between father and son. This is a construction that in my opinion can be very confusing and interrupting, but here it really does serve to illustrate a generational legacy of sorrow and isolation. I was riveted.
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Apr 24, 2010
Allyson
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This was such a sad book, but the writer while a little rough & harsh at times with her language was incredibly gifted in creating her world. Such damaged characters which always appeals to me as a reader, but what appealed to me or has stayed with me since finishing the book last nite, is the feel of their world. Even the Vietnam jungle felt real.
Leon felt an enigma still despite probably more pages spent with him- on purpose?
It was incredibly unique.
Leon felt an enigma still despite probably more pages spent with him- on purpose?
It was incredibly unique.
Apr 08, 2011
Ivan
rated it:
I loved most elements of this book. It's very masculine in tone and subject, yet there's a recurring theme of emotional fragility, loss and the fear of being alone. One of those books where you live and breathe the characters' surroundings, unfamiliar as they may be. The bunyip and creeping jesus will live long in the memory.
Strongly recommended. I thought it would finish differently, which is the only reason I haven't given it five stars.
Strongly recommended. I thought it would finish differently, which is the only reason I haven't given it five stars.
Aug 06, 2011
This took a lot to get into. It's hard on non-aussies, to be honest. And the beginning feels somewhat clumsy, with overuse of metaphors - I remember a sentence, not all that long, containing TWO "like a..." phrases.
I enjoyed the novel, but up to the end I could not entirely relate to it. BIG topics, in really capital letters, maybe to BIG to really click. Anyway - an ok read.
I enjoyed the novel, but up to the end I could not entirely relate to it. BIG topics, in really capital letters, maybe to BIG to really click. Anyway - an ok read.
Jul 19, 2010
Susanhayeshotmail.com
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How to sum up this book and why I liked it in a few sentences has me baffled. I actually finished it very quickly and have put off the review because I just can't quite pin down why I enjoyed reading about multi-generational PTSD and multi-generational lack of communication, Frank's inheritance of quiet, sad anger. But enjoy it I did. Very well written, hard to believe it's a debut novel, loads to think about, and I loved the fierce little girl with a pet carrot.
Jan 13, 2010
Tracy
rated it:
Brilliant first novel. Reminiscent of Dirt Music in it's love of the Australian landscape and damaged characters. Would give it 4.5 but it lacked something that kept it from being a favourite that I can't quite put my finger on. Just watched the author on Youtube and she was infinitely much warmer than the novel would suggest. I imaging this novel will stay with me.
May 27, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
A most impressive debut by a very talented writer.
Evie Wyld identifies herself as English, but there is an Australian sensibility about this novel that derives from her long acquaintance with this country. It’s not just the superb evocation of our landscape, it’s also Wyld’s familiarity with the way Aussie blokes bottle up their emotions as if to let them loose is to fail a test of male identity. This is a novel about the intergenerational damage done by war, explored from that curious More...
Evie Wyld identifies herself as English, but there is an Australian sensibility about this novel that derives from her long acquaintance with this country. It’s not just the superb evocation of our landscape, it’s also Wyld’s familiarity with the way Aussie blokes bottle up their emotions as if to let them loose is to fail a test of male identity. This is a novel about the intergenerational damage done by war, explored from that curious More...
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Feb 24, 2011
sisterimapoet
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I really liked Wyld's vivid descriptions, she's clearly adept at the art of show-don't-tell, but at times I did find them appearing rather too often. It felt like over-rich food, delicious but too much and I started to wonder if less could be more.
A great story - well weaved together although I was rather slow to notice the links between the two narratives. I loved the little parallel details, things that Frank would do and then Leon would do something similar.
A great portr More...
A great story - well weaved together although I was rather slow to notice the links between the two narratives. I loved the little parallel details, things that Frank would do and then Leon would do something similar.
A great portr More...
Dec 30, 2009
Miss GP
rated it:
I found this book somewhat disappointing. Sure, the writing was beautiful and evocative, but I need more of a plot in my reading to find a novel enjoyable. There were elements I found odd. For example, the whole missing child thread filled no purpose, and Frank's violent past seemed too distant, too out of character for the current very sympathetic character portrayed, with no clear reason for his change in attitude. Finally, although Leon's & Frank's threads converge, I would have liked mor
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Jan 22, 2011
Mew
rated it:
This is my kind of book; truly believable characters that both enraged and endeared. Amazing descriptions of places and people that pleased all my senses. The intricate details in how the making of the sugar figurines were described was breathtaking and the continued references to food were sprinkled throughout like sugary decorations on one of Leon's cakes. Brilliant in all ways.
