| Title | : | The Best Australian Essays 2016 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1863958851 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781863958851 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published November 1, 2016 |
In The Best Australian Essays 2016, Geordie Williamson curates the year’s best non-fiction writing from Australia’s finest writers. The result is a collection that reads as a wake-up call: from Jo Chandler on the devastating bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef and Richard Flanagan on the Syrian exodus to Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani’s inside account of life on Manus Island. There is also space for Bowie, TV box-sets and Aussie rules. Spanning politics, music, literature, art, ecology, linguistics and more, this anthology showcases the nation’s most eloquent and insightful writing.
The Best Australian Essays 2016 Reviews
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Finish date: 12 December 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: B
Review: There are many writers I have yet to discover.
Editor G. Williamson has made some hard decisions and
narrowed his selections to 29 TOP Australian essays 2016.
The essays I liked the most were personal essays.
Essays are more real than fiction….
The personal essay is like an offering, a hand
….reaching out in a gesture of connection.
Last thoughts: This is a perfect Xmas gift for that
person in your life who says: "I just don't have the time for a long book!"
#ReadEssays
GR Review -
I used to read this set of essays each year but had got out of the habit (until a Goodreads friend reminded me about them). I’m not generally a reader of non-fiction but I did appreciate these pieces because they made me think more deeply than usual about current affairs and also explore in a more nuanced and original way enduring issues such as grief, old age and the importance of the natural world. Of course some subjects did not interest me and I happily skipped those and went on to the next essay. Overall, a good change from my usual fictional worlds.
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I always find these collections of essays worthwhile although several were very sombre reading particularly that of American Gun control and the conditions refugees endure in offshore detention.
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It was refreshing to read essays and understand them, not only in terms of the content, in terms of my own, confused, Australian identity.
I was moved by almost every single essay. As I read the essays I felt like fragments of the Australian psyche revealed themselves to me in a visceral way, something that non-Australian essays haven't offered.
Amongst the gold - Julian Burnside, Mireille Juchau, Jennifer Mills, Jo Chandler, Richard Flanagan, Guy Rundle - there were some essays less striking to me.
I was particularly unmoved by Michael Winkler's coupling of Moby Dick and the cultural interface between piranpa and Anangu. I felt that it contributed more to fanciful 'noble savage' concept than to the very real, wretched circumstances of Indigenous communities. The author seemed strangely smug of his interactions with Anangu and dismissive of everyone else's, painting with the broad brush of the social do gooder. These were my initial thoughts, I'll endeavour to give the essay another read and remain open minded.
A solid collection, as always. -
Great collection of essays, definitely recommend. Standout essays were from Ashley Hay, Rebecca Giggs, Fiona Wright, Tegan Bennett Daylight, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Richard Flanagan.
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Excellent selection of essays, the majority of which are very readable even without a familiarity with the topic.
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I gave three of the essays a nine out of ten... so well worth finding these treasures
and who doesn't like a contribution from helen garner
