oceantomb's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
jasgrace's review against another edition
5.0
Highly recommended the audio book. Such a good listen!
kimswhims's review against another edition
5.0
This is a powerful collection. The writing has the rhythm of a bush ballad, an indigenous insight and some pieces have a vulnerable masculinity. Read some aloud to my husband and we were both blown away. Intense. Loved it.
nimrodgrrrl's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
littleblackduckbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Reaping Seeds of Discontent - "But remember that you can't eat our food if you can't swallow our history."
The Imperial Mind - "It is a common vanity among humans that our assent is an exponential trajectory applauded by God. Abrahamic religions encourage us to believe that God has never seen anything as beautiful, beautiful and intelligent as we. These religions also insist that as the devout are closest to gods hem, all others need assistance to reach that plane. The imperialist mindset, so linked with religion, suggest that realising the true destiny of humans involves reaching a certain level of social and economic, and so spiritual, development. The magnificent vanity to assume that a God had chosen you to rule over all others."
"In 1493, Pope Alexander VI introduced a papa bull, the Doctrine of Discovery, that declared when Christians discovered a new land they had the responsibility to take the land away from those they judged as heathens - that is, those with a different god. If the people resisted, they had the right to take the land by force."
the Christian Right to dispossess Indigenous peoples because they had a divine mandate to care for the world and intervene in secular affairs where they violated natural law (natural law defined by the Church)
Terra Nullius arose directly from the Doctrine as one of the justification in breaking the 10 commandments. Justifying violence and murder that was against their natural law.
2007 UNDRoIP voted 143 to 4. The dissenting nations were US, Canada, NZ and Aus
"My skin is so light I often hear what mainstream Australia really thinks – and it is a scary revelation."
Temper Democratic, Bias Australian - "We love to talk about bush tomato, lemon myrtle and wattle seed because they fit our venal understanding of hunting and gathering, but when asked to consider the virtues of agricultural products grown on field so wide the explorers could see needed that beginning or the end, we become flummoxed and querulous."
Andrew Bolt's Disappointment
Rearranging The Dead Cat
Whale and Serpent - Guruwul (whale): "when the world was new, the lore was created, and the whale and the serpent looked about and saw the ocean. 'I will look after the land because that is my home but who will look after the ocean', said the serpent. 'I will look after all the salt water', said the whale, 'because the fish and the turtles, the crabs and the weeds, the coral and the caves all need care.' 'But you will need to return to the land every now and then to bring back your lore', said the serpent. 'I will', said the whale, 'I will be to myself on the sand I will come back to the land to regurgitate the lore so that the lore can be complete in the land and sea can know each other.'
Dear John
An Enemy Of The People (identifying as Black when you're light-skinned)
The Imperial Mind - "It is a common vanity among humans that our assent is an exponential trajectory applauded by God. Abrahamic religions encourage us to believe that God has never seen anything as beautiful, beautiful and intelligent as we. These religions also insist that as the devout are closest to gods hem, all others need assistance to reach that plane. The imperialist mindset, so linked with religion, suggest that realising the true destiny of humans involves reaching a certain level of social and economic, and so spiritual, development. The magnificent vanity to assume that a God had chosen you to rule over all others."
"In 1493, Pope Alexander VI introduced a papa bull, the Doctrine of Discovery, that declared when Christians discovered a new land they had the responsibility to take the land away from those they judged as heathens - that is, those with a different god. If the people resisted, they had the right to take the land by force."
the Christian Right to dispossess Indigenous peoples because they had a divine mandate to care for the world and intervene in secular affairs where they violated natural law (natural law defined by the Church)
Terra Nullius arose directly from the Doctrine as one of the justification in breaking the 10 commandments. Justifying violence and murder that was against their natural law.
2007 UNDRoIP voted 143 to 4. The dissenting nations were US, Canada, NZ and Aus
"My skin is so light I often hear what mainstream Australia really thinks – and it is a scary revelation."
Temper Democratic, Bias Australian - "We love to talk about bush tomato, lemon myrtle and wattle seed because they fit our venal understanding of hunting and gathering, but when asked to consider the virtues of agricultural products grown on field so wide the explorers could see needed that beginning or the end, we become flummoxed and querulous."
Andrew Bolt's Disappointment
Rearranging The Dead Cat
Whale and Serpent - Guruwul (whale): "when the world was new, the lore was created, and the whale and the serpent looked about and saw the ocean. 'I will look after the land because that is my home but who will look after the ocean', said the serpent. 'I will look after all the salt water', said the whale, 'because the fish and the turtles, the crabs and the weeds, the coral and the caves all need care.' 'But you will need to return to the land every now and then to bring back your lore', said the serpent. 'I will', said the whale, 'I will be to myself on the sand I will come back to the land to regurgitate the lore so that the lore can be complete in the land and sea can know each other.'
Dear John
An Enemy Of The People (identifying as Black when you're light-skinned)
_readamour_'s review against another edition
5.0
Come for the Patrick White shredding, stay for the deeply sensuous fiction. Genius.
lolabrigita's review against another edition
5.0
Fabulous collection of short stories and essays about culture, connection to the land, environment, race, racism, invasion, ignorance, death, place, politics and hard truths (for some maybe) about the true history of Australia.
numbat's review against another edition
I really like Pascoe’s sparse writing style in his short stories. The characters are often laconic but intelligent. The essays are interesting and suggest a few things that are unfortunately controversial in modern interpretations of history. One thing I found particularly interesting was Pascoe suggests farming endemic plants that Aboriginal people farmed. The plants are adapted to Australian conditions and so will require much less water and fertiliser than European plants.