Last Sunday I was halfway through the book but as happens most weeks, especially this one when I had to go down to NYU x4, there was no time for reading. As a result, I finished the book this afternoon at the gym. It was definitely a journal as I went type of book because I was afraid of losing some of my thoughts. Some times I hate that, I have good thoughts while reading but then when I go to discuss, I draw a blank.
I expected to like it, both from some reviews I read and from others’ journals, but I don’t think I expected to identify with it as much as I did. In a way the transient friendships/relationships that were a fixture of her life were similar to those I experience while travelling. There’s something in the moment that bonds you, but when that common element is gone, I’d find there wasn’t much to the ‘friendship’ after all. Japan was different because these relationships were over a longer term, but I found it very common in Australia.
I found myself trying to relate her Australia of 1990 with the one I saw while traveling, and I found that to be a challenge. I spent my time mostly in the cities and didn’t spent all *that* much time in any one spot. Brisbane was the longest at ~four months but that’s not quite Halls Creek.
In reading through the author’s experiences with the Aboriginal population, I found myself thinking back to my own thoughts. So much of what you feel/think is colored by others’ perceptions and I was glad to see that Pip was able to see through the stereotypes and make her own opinions on who the people were. Looking back at my own post, I see I’d mentioned Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines then too. I just found a copy the other day at Strand and am looking forward to reading it. Might be a good follow up to this book, though I have a few others pending as well.
The short chapters of this book fit their purpose well: short looks into Pip’s life. This wasn’t meant to be a blow by blow account of her life in Halls Creek/Mataranka, and I think it worked well. We got to see brief looks, to get an idea of what life in rural Australia was in 1990. In a way this reminded be of Cold Beer and Crocodiles. An Australia I saw, but in a far different way. That’s why I don’t think I’ll ever agree with people who say “But you’ve read about [X] before…” there are just so many different ways to see a place.
I also agree with her thoughts that in order to fully tell the story, you have to go back. I don’t have as many ‘unanswered questions’ about Australia, but the return to Japan filled some holes for me. Some things came flooding back, but I think some old unanswereds were replaced by new memories. It’s an odd feeling, but one I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’d say it cured me of the ‘need’ to return, but I didn’t have one until I’d made the decision to go. When I left in 2002 I said I would go back to visit but not to work. But then suddenly in Australia, in Perth to be specific when I completed the re-application, I felt the pull. Will I feel it again? Who knows? I already am for Australia, even though I know it will be an abbreviated trip.
This book is also another reason that I love BookCrossing. If not for catsalive’s post on BCAUS, I’d likely never have even known about it!Dark Heart of Outback (The Australian) is an interesting review. I found the author’s MySpae but it’s apparently friends only (? I don’t quite get MySpace) 
I like reading authors’ blogs.
