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The Best Australian Essays
The Best Australian Essays 2014
In The Best Australian Essays 2014, Robert Manne assembles his picks of contemporary non-fiction writing. This sharp collection of essays about the human condition evinces lucid insight, shrewd understanding and heartbreaking empathy.
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Robert Manne
36 books16 followersRobert Manne is emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. His recent books include On Borrowed Time, Making Trouble: Essays Against the New Complacency, and The Words that Made Australia (as co-editor). He has written three Quarterly Essays and is a regular contributor to the Monthly and the Guardian.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 20, 2015
The Best Australian Essays 2014
I don’t read Australian authors. There—I said it. I claim to be this well-read person who feels the books I’ve read are responsible for the person I am, and yet—aside from binging on Aussie fiction as a kid—I hardly go near the writers bred from this big flat, sunny island I was born on. And we’ve produced some damn good writers who have contributed to my literary education and the development of literature globally. So why’d I turn a blind eye?
I have what’s called a “cultural cringe”. Far as I know there aren’t any creams/pills for it, but I’m working on getting rid of it. A cultural cringe is when you treat look at your nation in the same way you’d view your dad, after a few too many at the family BBQ, lashing out and getting into a fight with the in-laws. You turn away and hide your face because you feel that deep, special kind of shame only your family can conjure up. As a young adult I started to feel as if Australia were this uncultured bunch of bogans who couldn’t care less about what the rest of the civilised world were up to. I surrounded myself with European films and American writers while pining to be taken away somewhere more central, where the arts mattered and were taken seriously.
I picked up The Best Australian Essays 2014 because I figured if there was one way to get back in touch the voices on my land it’d be through the best picked writings of last year.
This collection, edited and introduced by public intellectual Robert Manne, is an amalgam of conversation from Australian writers. The book isn’t split up into sections, though the essays almost seem to be divided up into categories.
The collection kicks off with personal essays and dealing with the death difficult parents. Jessie Cole’s essay “The Breaking Point” is about her sister’s suicide and father’s subsequent decent into madness. Cole’s tale sweats emotion, as if she’s digging difficult memories out of herself and dumping them on the page—it’s absolutely marvellous. Helen Garner’s somewhat embittered account of the death of her mother like a series of painful snapshots, each rendered lucidly by her sharp prose. I felt my cultural cringe lift as I realised, nobody writes about family drama like Australians.
Politics comes midway when Rachel Nolan discusses the Liberal party’s cabinet dominated by old, white males and David Marr muses on the different personalities of our current Prime Minister, Tony Abbott (nation-wide shudder). He settles, despairingly, on Abbott as a "blowhard on the campaign trail."
There’s a bit of literary criticism from Clive James on poetry and J.M. Coetzee wondering if it was right to publish Patrick White’s last manuscript when he specifically stated it should be destroyed.
There are a few essays on the natives, including Aboriginal lawyer Noel Pearson’s exhaustive examination of the mass genocide of the natives in Tasmania, and Neil Murray’s tumultuous travels with the Warumpi Band.
Tim Winton caps off the collection (of course) with a breathtakingly beautiful account on the Australian land and why its writers are so reluctant to stop writing about its beaches, deserts and long, barren highways like the Nullarbor. Or why our painters are still trying to capture that bright, blinding sun. He addresses something that spoke to me and my affliction directly:
"Most Asian or European countries can be defined in human terms … I don’t mean to imply that Australia has no culture or that its cultural life is inconsiderable. I seek only to acknowledge the fact that the continent’s natural forms remain its most distinguishing features."
I’ve still a long way to go to gain a better appreciation of my birth land and everything it has to offer. And to anyone who has no trace of a cultural cringe, my issue probably seems pointless. Why not just read whatever I want? Well, when I realised how snobbish I was towards Australia, I suddenly felt that a connection I’d taken for granted, the connection to my own home, had been severed. If I didn’t want Australia, then it didn’t want me. It was a chilling feeling. The Best Australian Essays hasn’t fixed everything, but it felt good putting my ear to the ground again.
I don’t read Australian authors. There—I said it. I claim to be this well-read person who feels the books I’ve read are responsible for the person I am, and yet—aside from binging on Aussie fiction as a kid—I hardly go near the writers bred from this big flat, sunny island I was born on. And we’ve produced some damn good writers who have contributed to my literary education and the development of literature globally. So why’d I turn a blind eye?
I have what’s called a “cultural cringe”. Far as I know there aren’t any creams/pills for it, but I’m working on getting rid of it. A cultural cringe is when you treat look at your nation in the same way you’d view your dad, after a few too many at the family BBQ, lashing out and getting into a fight with the in-laws. You turn away and hide your face because you feel that deep, special kind of shame only your family can conjure up. As a young adult I started to feel as if Australia were this uncultured bunch of bogans who couldn’t care less about what the rest of the civilised world were up to. I surrounded myself with European films and American writers while pining to be taken away somewhere more central, where the arts mattered and were taken seriously.
I picked up The Best Australian Essays 2014 because I figured if there was one way to get back in touch the voices on my land it’d be through the best picked writings of last year.
This collection, edited and introduced by public intellectual Robert Manne, is an amalgam of conversation from Australian writers. The book isn’t split up into sections, though the essays almost seem to be divided up into categories.
The collection kicks off with personal essays and dealing with the death difficult parents. Jessie Cole’s essay “The Breaking Point” is about her sister’s suicide and father’s subsequent decent into madness. Cole’s tale sweats emotion, as if she’s digging difficult memories out of herself and dumping them on the page—it’s absolutely marvellous. Helen Garner’s somewhat embittered account of the death of her mother like a series of painful snapshots, each rendered lucidly by her sharp prose. I felt my cultural cringe lift as I realised, nobody writes about family drama like Australians.
Politics comes midway when Rachel Nolan discusses the Liberal party’s cabinet dominated by old, white males and David Marr muses on the different personalities of our current Prime Minister, Tony Abbott (nation-wide shudder). He settles, despairingly, on Abbott as a "blowhard on the campaign trail."
There’s a bit of literary criticism from Clive James on poetry and J.M. Coetzee wondering if it was right to publish Patrick White’s last manuscript when he specifically stated it should be destroyed.
There are a few essays on the natives, including Aboriginal lawyer Noel Pearson’s exhaustive examination of the mass genocide of the natives in Tasmania, and Neil Murray’s tumultuous travels with the Warumpi Band.
Tim Winton caps off the collection (of course) with a breathtakingly beautiful account on the Australian land and why its writers are so reluctant to stop writing about its beaches, deserts and long, barren highways like the Nullarbor. Or why our painters are still trying to capture that bright, blinding sun. He addresses something that spoke to me and my affliction directly:
"Most Asian or European countries can be defined in human terms … I don’t mean to imply that Australia has no culture or that its cultural life is inconsiderable. I seek only to acknowledge the fact that the continent’s natural forms remain its most distinguishing features."
I’ve still a long way to go to gain a better appreciation of my birth land and everything it has to offer. And to anyone who has no trace of a cultural cringe, my issue probably seems pointless. Why not just read whatever I want? Well, when I realised how snobbish I was towards Australia, I suddenly felt that a connection I’d taken for granted, the connection to my own home, had been severed. If I didn’t want Australia, then it didn’t want me. It was a chilling feeling. The Best Australian Essays hasn’t fixed everything, but it felt good putting my ear to the ground again.
July 24, 2016
This was actually a much more compelling read than I expected. I picked it up at a library sale a year or so ago and it finally came up on the list as the next book. Almost all the essays were highly readable and many were compelling for one reason or another. In retrospect, I could have skipped the literary criticism ones but then there was one brief essay that wasn't so much about the poet but rather how we react to a favourite writer that made me think about several things.
Others were more universal (ie the realisation that parents are ageing and mortal), dated but interesting (was Tony Abbott ever a supporter of Freedom! TM), sadly current (aboriginal identities and rights, treatment and circumstances of asylum seekers) and a few sharply relevant (dealing with chronic/terminal disease diagnoses at a young age).
Several books (mostly indigenous history) have been added to my "want to read" list (so crossing this off the list perhaps hasn't reduced the backlog) as a consequence of several of the essays and if I ever spot the 2015 or 2016 versions of the series, I will definitely peruse with an eye to purchase. Even if you don't usually read non-fiction but are interested in socio-political surrounds, I think this could well be an entry point as it's almost a series of well selected magazine feature articles (which is the origin of several pieces.)
Others were more universal (ie the realisation that parents are ageing and mortal), dated but interesting (was Tony Abbott ever a supporter of Freedom! TM), sadly current (aboriginal identities and rights, treatment and circumstances of asylum seekers) and a few sharply relevant (dealing with chronic/terminal disease diagnoses at a young age).
Several books (mostly indigenous history) have been added to my "want to read" list (so crossing this off the list perhaps hasn't reduced the backlog) as a consequence of several of the essays and if I ever spot the 2015 or 2016 versions of the series, I will definitely peruse with an eye to purchase. Even if you don't usually read non-fiction but are interested in socio-political surrounds, I think this could well be an entry point as it's almost a series of well selected magazine feature articles (which is the origin of several pieces.)
January 16, 2016
This is an annual collection I used to dip into for many years but somehow had forgotten about. I'm pleased to have rediscovered the series and will try to put it on my TBR list each year. You don't need to read all the essays - just pick out the titles, subjects and authors that interest you. I dipped into this over a few weeks and found some excellent pieces.
There are some personal essays about the relationships between parent and child. Helen Garner, Rozanna Lilley (daughter of Merv Lilley and Dorothy Hewitt) and Jessica Cole all write fiercely and movingly about issues of parents' ageing, madness and death. There is a smattering of essays about politics (somewhat predictable), literary criticism (interesting enough) and about issues of the day.
The collection ends with a beautiful piece by Tim Winton about why writers and painters are so often compelled to write about Australian landscape and how landscapes define our sensibilities and identity. Winton presented this as a talk to a London audience but it speaks especially powerfully to me as 'country' has always been pivotal to my sense of self. No doubt the piece is linked to his new book, Island Home, which is sitting very temptingly on my bookshelf.
There are some personal essays about the relationships between parent and child. Helen Garner, Rozanna Lilley (daughter of Merv Lilley and Dorothy Hewitt) and Jessica Cole all write fiercely and movingly about issues of parents' ageing, madness and death. There is a smattering of essays about politics (somewhat predictable), literary criticism (interesting enough) and about issues of the day.
The collection ends with a beautiful piece by Tim Winton about why writers and painters are so often compelled to write about Australian landscape and how landscapes define our sensibilities and identity. Winton presented this as a talk to a London audience but it speaks especially powerfully to me as 'country' has always been pivotal to my sense of self. No doubt the piece is linked to his new book, Island Home, which is sitting very temptingly on my bookshelf.
February 16, 2015
beautiful essays. First I thought they will cover political issues but realised at the first story that they are in fact short stories, some political, other social or else. The range of authors is well managed and you will always find something you react to.
February 27, 2016
A great source of non-fiction writing from some of the best Australian authors and writers. I loved this anthology as inspiration for my own writing.
August 19, 2015
I've read a couple of American editions of this kind of collection and I have to say that in comparison with those, this is pretty disappointing. I enjoyed the personal essays that make up the first ~1/3 as well as a couple of the later ones on politics but the whole section of literary reviews was very boring. A lot of the essays are about very current events and don't say much besides the obvious (e.g. current govt are bastards). The American Best Essays aren't always great, there's usually at least 4-5 that are pretty boring, but they're a lot more diverse than this and almost none of the essays require you to read something else (e.g. the book that's being reviewed) in order to get it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews