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Out of the picture
Out of the Picture is a collection of short stories and essays inspired by photographs from the National Library of Australia's Pictorial Collection.
Marion Halligan, one of Australia's foremost writers, chose the images and lent them these stories - some invented, some found. "I believe that our lives have the potential for a great many stories...and even though most of us will forever live on the edge of them there is nothing to prevent us stepping in our imaginations inside these alternative narratives and trying them out, for a while."
Marion Halligan, one of Australia's foremost writers, chose the images and lent them these stories - some invented, some found. "I believe that our lives have the potential for a great many stories...and even though most of us will forever live on the edge of them there is nothing to prevent us stepping in our imaginations inside these alternative narratives and trying them out, for a while."
132 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Marion Halligan
38 books18 followersMarion Halligan AM was an Australian writer and novelist. Born and educated in Newcastle, New South Wales, she worked as a school teacher and journalist prior to turning to full time writing.
A long time resident of Canberra, she was a member of a group of women writers based in Canberra known as the "Canberra Seven" or "Seven Writers" (1980-1997).
She has won and been shortlisted for numerous significant awards, notably for The Point, Lovers' Knots, Spider Cup and The Golden Dress.
In 2006 Halligan was made a Member in the Order of Australia (AM), General Division, for services to literature and for her work in promoting Australian literature.
A long time resident of Canberra, she was a member of a group of women writers based in Canberra known as the "Canberra Seven" or "Seven Writers" (1980-1997).
She has won and been shortlisted for numerous significant awards, notably for The Point, Lovers' Knots, Spider Cup and The Golden Dress.
In 2006 Halligan was made a Member in the Order of Australia (AM), General Division, for services to literature and for her work in promoting Australian literature.
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September 29, 2015
Marion Halligan has written an unusual book combining fiction and non-fiction, each piece inspired by a photograph from the National Library’s pictorial collection. In her introduction Halligan writes: “This selection of photographs is my arbitrary and eclectic choice, not just of images that appealed to me but ones that gave me stories to tell, stories invented or found. There is a theme, in that what interests me in each is what is happening out of the picture, to the right or the left, round the corner, yesterday or tomorrow, in the past or in people’s heads.”
In the book there are 14 pieces. In the fiction section, Stories Invented, there are eight short stories and in the non-fiction section, Stories Found, there are six essays. I have to say that my favourite in the book is the short story At the Lake. The photograph could nearly be anywhere on Lake Macquarie but it is noted as Carey Bay, Toronto. The story starts, “My dear Flora..., and in the letter that follows the character Maggie becomes, in a few short pages, a real person who is on holiday, recuperating after some sort of illness or minor tragedy.
We get little glimpses of what might have happened to her. “Well, you know, dear Flora, it suits me to leave passion behind for a little while at least, and I am very happy here.” The author skilfully keeps the reader wanting more. I could have happily spent a whole novel with her.
Another favourite story is the intriguing The Fountain. The family in this piece are somehow living unnoticed near a war zone. Quiet and hidden away. “Worst of all, the sounds that people make, their cries and groans, the screams of pain, the murmurs of sadness, the gruff whispers of terror.” I found I was quite tense reading this story, worrying about the family.
In the essay section, Stories Found, my favourites are the four pieces on Merewether, The Beach Part I, II, III and IV. I’m so pleased that Marion has put her memories down. It is so easy for personal memories to be lost. A lot of people think they aren’t important and quite significant pieces of information vanish. Luckily Halligan knows better.
“This is the line that ran past my grandparents’ house, the line of which the story is told that my grandfather borrowed his neighbour’s donkey and, hitching it up to some sort of bogey or trolley that ran on the train line, took the family to the lagoon for a picnic. It’s the line that ran along the street at right angles to the one I lived in, one house down, so the street today is very wide and with two carriageways, using up the old railway space. It ran alongside my primary school too, and past a shed where a man kept horses. Nobody seemed to think it very dangerous to have a train trundling through a suburb like this, probably because it went so slowly that even children could walk faster than it.”
There is much to enjoy in Out of the Picture. Highly recommended.
In the book there are 14 pieces. In the fiction section, Stories Invented, there are eight short stories and in the non-fiction section, Stories Found, there are six essays. I have to say that my favourite in the book is the short story At the Lake. The photograph could nearly be anywhere on Lake Macquarie but it is noted as Carey Bay, Toronto. The story starts, “My dear Flora..., and in the letter that follows the character Maggie becomes, in a few short pages, a real person who is on holiday, recuperating after some sort of illness or minor tragedy.
We get little glimpses of what might have happened to her. “Well, you know, dear Flora, it suits me to leave passion behind for a little while at least, and I am very happy here.” The author skilfully keeps the reader wanting more. I could have happily spent a whole novel with her.
Another favourite story is the intriguing The Fountain. The family in this piece are somehow living unnoticed near a war zone. Quiet and hidden away. “Worst of all, the sounds that people make, their cries and groans, the screams of pain, the murmurs of sadness, the gruff whispers of terror.” I found I was quite tense reading this story, worrying about the family.
In the essay section, Stories Found, my favourites are the four pieces on Merewether, The Beach Part I, II, III and IV. I’m so pleased that Marion has put her memories down. It is so easy for personal memories to be lost. A lot of people think they aren’t important and quite significant pieces of information vanish. Luckily Halligan knows better.
“This is the line that ran past my grandparents’ house, the line of which the story is told that my grandfather borrowed his neighbour’s donkey and, hitching it up to some sort of bogey or trolley that ran on the train line, took the family to the lagoon for a picnic. It’s the line that ran along the street at right angles to the one I lived in, one house down, so the street today is very wide and with two carriageways, using up the old railway space. It ran alongside my primary school too, and past a shed where a man kept horses. Nobody seemed to think it very dangerous to have a train trundling through a suburb like this, probably because it went so slowly that even children could walk faster than it.”
There is much to enjoy in Out of the Picture. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review