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Reviewed
by Julia Bohanna
Emerge is a book
that made me think of a glistening newborn creature, damp diaphanous
wings drying in buttery sunshine. It was all the more exciting for that
fledging status.
What are the
defining qualities of an Australian voice? If Peter Carey and Germaine
Greer are good examples, I expected boldness, earthiness and verve. On
the whole, this was the case. The editors admitted that the quality
varies, but that each story merits its inclusion in the book. It is
true that the writer’s Holy Grail – the power to create resonance – is
absent in some of the stories. Some do not quite satisfy, being more
like glimpses through an open window, or portfolio character studies.
There is also a reliance on using the death of a character as the big
pay off, or drugs to make the story edgy and modern.
Despite some
common themes, there is enough diversity of subject matter and strong
narrative to make the book compelling. One of the most tender is
Jasmine Marie Adam’s A
Complete Breakfast, where a gay Anglo-Indian girl avoids
"coming out" to her parents. It is exquisitely and sensitively
constructed: as the parents welcome their daughter’s "friend," we see
the sensual layered details of the two girls’ intense passion for one
another. This echo of forbidden sex trapped with its heart beating in
this quiet domestic setting is fascinating.
Emmett
Stinson’s Laughing at
the Holocaust is the stand out story of the collection:
after a provocative title and equally challenging first paragraph, the
story swerves into dark territory as we are taken deep into the tragedy
of a young man’s terror, isolation and dysfunctionality in an
increasingly hostile world. I reread this story several times with huge
admiration for the courageous intellect of the writer and I was not
surprised to learn that he has won awards. This is how to achieve
resonance.
All the writers
had something interesting to say: although Angela Trevithick’s This House is not
quite as sinister as it might have been, there is a touch of the Angela
Carter to the tale that makes it attractive. Alvin Bautista’s Reciprocal Hatred
is short but fluent in its message of bile and justified fury.
I thought that
the editors had made an error by putting two very similar stories side
by side. Calling Back
and Moving On
seem superficially to both be about loving an addict – one a relative
of an alcoholic, the other an admirer of a glamorous junkie. But the
second story takes us on a very different journey and the neighbouring
of the two works well. In fact, the editing of the book – that
invisible skill which generally receives few plaudits – was admirable
in its clarity and the choices made. I was marginally less
keen on some of the poetry included but a warm portrait of feisty
Australian life was captured by Heather Taylor Johnson’s The Fourth Thursday
in November. Ouranita Karadimas’s For Her Koumbara was also engaging
and intelligent.
Emerge is honest,
unpretentious and gutsy. It is a classic example of why the short story
should be applauded and respected.
Julia
Bohanna has been published in Mslexia and been placed in short story
competitions including The National Galleries of Scotland Story
Competition 2008 (Highly Commended), The Lancet’s Fact to Fiction
Competition 2007 (joint winner), The Guardian/Virgin Trains Story
Competition 2007 (runner up) and Woman and Home Short Story Competition
2006 (winner).
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Publisher: Wet Ink
Publication
Date:
2006
Paperback/Hardback?
Paperback
First
collection?: Yes
Editors: Philip Edmonds, Dominique Wilson
Buy this book (used or
new) from:
The
Publisher's Website: Wet Ink
AbeBooks
Gleebooks
And...don't
forget your local booksellers and independent book shops! Visit IndieBound.org to find an independent bookstore near
you in the US
If
you liked this book you might also like....
Peter Carey "The True History of
the Kelly Gang"
What
other reviewers thought:
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