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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
The stories chosen chart the emotions and the experiences of human beings living at particular times and in particular places. Collected as the landmark of a new millennium approached, the stories represent an interest at that time in past and future.
Notes
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All of the collections from which these stories have been taken have been published since 1980. All contain strong autobiographical elements. Each section is followed by exercises and questions designed to stimulate thought and discussion.
Contents
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The Bodysurfers,
single work
short story
'Haunted by the brutal murder of a local couple, David heads to his weekend shack with his new lover, Lydia, and his children from his recently crumbled marriage. Together they find escape, if only briefly, in the ocean and the bush.
'"The Bodysurfers", the title story of Robert Drewe's classic first collection, is a vivid evocation of love, passion, terror and the beauty of the beach.' (From the publisher's website, 2012 Penguin publication.)
Note: Brief explanation of story's meaning by Robert Drewe, p3. - The Needle `Story', single work short story (p. 20-29)
- Sister, single work short story (p. 30-31)
- Stingray, single work short story (p. 32-38)
- Ismini, single work short story (p. 44-52)
- A Man in the Laundrette, single work short story (p. 53-62)
- At the Airport, single work short story (p. 63-72)
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Market Day,
single work
short story
In "Market Day" a blind woman discovers accidentally that she is now grey and old, but this woman transcends her tragic past and self-interest to serve the cause of her niece's love. This little brown Aunt who has patiently endured physical and emotional suffering is almost deified because of her capacity to love a world she cannot see. She accommodates the loss of her own youth, and by the end of the story her hair is no longer the focus of her despair but, appropriately, has the appearance of a bronze crown. This narrative is also interesting in that Farmer recreates the particular textures and sounds of Elpida's environment as the reader shares the blind woman's dependence upon aural or mnemonic experience.
(Source: 'Against the Grain: Beverley Farmer's Writing')
- Little Helen's Sunday Afternoon, single work short story (p. 86-94)
- The Dark, the Light, single work short story (p. 95-97)
- The Life of Art, single work short story (p. 98-104)
- Postcards from Surfers Postcards from Surfers' Paradise, single work short story (p. 105-116)
- You Gave Me Hyacinths, single work short story (p. 122-129)
- Moving Out, single work short story (p. 130-141)
- The Bloody Past, the Wandering Future, single work short story (p. 142-149)
- Dear Amnesty, single work short story (p. 150-158)
- Dead Dingo, single work short story Indigenous story (p. 164-172)
- Herbie, single work short story (p. 173-179)
- Ghosts of a Form Present, single work short story (p. 180-188)
- One Hot Night, single work short story (p. 189-207)