AustLit logo
image of person or book cover 7246955164594809191.jpg
This image has been sourced from online.
y separately published work icon The House of Breathing selected work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 The House of Breathing
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The invasion of East Timor, the sinking of the Titanic, Freud's encounter with an "imbecile dwarf," astronomy, pregnancy, Tiananmen Square, a remote Aboriginal community: these historical episodes and narratives inspire the fourteen superb and engaging short stories in The House of Breathing, winner of four major Australian literary prizes. Concerned with the extremes of human experience, Jones's stories give fictional form to a wide range of philosophical concerns: cultural imperialism, political and sexual repression, the impact of modern technology on culture and consciousness.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (US ed.)

Exhibitions

Notes

  • Also available in sound recording format.
  • Some sources mention a Czech translation of this work but none has been traced.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Fremantle, Fremantle area, South West Perth, Perth, Western Australia,:Fremantle Press , 1992 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Modernity, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 11-19)
The Astronomer Tells of Her Love, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 20-27)
Other Places, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 28-51)
The Precision of Angels, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 52-56)
Dark Times, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 57-68)
The Word `Ruby', Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 69-76)
`Life Probably Saved by Imbecile Dwarf', Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 77-84)
Veronica, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 85-93)
Babies, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 94-104)
On the Piteous Death of Mary Wollstonecraft, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 105-120)
Knowledge, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 121-129)
Touching Tiananmen, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 130-139)
These Eyes, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 140-147)
The House of Breathing, Gail Jones , single work short story (p. 148-157)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Fremantle, Fremantle area, South West Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: Fremantle Press , 1992 .
      image of person or book cover 7246955164594809191.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 159p.
      Note/s:
      • Dedication: for Kyra
      ISBN: 1863686306
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      George Braziller ,
      2000 .
      image of person or book cover 4394016077431645930.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Alternative title: The House of Breathing : Stories
      Extent: 159p.
      ISBN: 0807614556 (hbk.)
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Untapped , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 505702196876305077.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781922749239
Alternative title: La casa del respiro
Language: Italian

Works about this Work

From Innocent to Evil: The Representation of the Child in the Works of Gail Jones Fiona Duthie , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , June vol. 58 no. 1 2013; (p. 126-147)
Breathing Under Water : A Ficto-Critical Response to Gail Jones’s “The House of Breathing” Aritha van Herk , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the Short Story in English=Les Cahiers de La Nouvelle , Autumn no. 61 2013; (p. 129-143)

'This ficto-critical response to “The House of Breathing” comprises an exploration of the hyphen between one world and another, and a reading of one writer’s fictional reincarnation of the forever sunken Titanic juxtaposed with my own writerly reading of drowning and its concomitant presence in transatlantic discourse, brought together by the narrative of haunting itself. Australian writer Gail Jones’s short story incites this analysis but also demands that as a Canadian critic/writer investigating Jones’s story, I must provide an inter-textual narrative that takes up the necessity of reincarnating an individual crossing and its private reverberation within the larger metanarrative of immigration. This is not a conventional paper, but a recuperation of haunting, and a re-haunting of migration’s intricate outcome. This ficto-critique partakes of a crossing and hyphenated crossover, and in the process, unpacks how fictions of modernity have learned to breathe under water instead of drowning.' (Introduction)

Gail Jones' "Light Writing": Memory and the Photo-graph Lyn Jacobs , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 5 2006; (p. 192-208)
'This article traces Jones's interest in photography/film and the ways in which metaphors of light, shadow and mirroring shape narratives.' (p.192)
Refabricating the Unfashionable Real Diana Brydon , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 15 no. 1 2001; (p. 48-49)

— Review of The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story
[Review] The House of Breathing David Coad , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: World Literature Today , Spring vol. 75 no. 2 2001; (p. 313)

— Review of The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story
[Review] The House of Breathing Jenny De Garis , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , February/March vol. 8 no. 2 & 3 1993; (p. 15-16)

— Review of The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story
Language, the Instrument of Fiction Nicolette Stasko , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , December vol. 53 no. 4 1993; (p. 174-182)

— Review of The Toucher Dorothy Hewett , 1993 single work novel ; The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story ; The Seal Woman Beverley Farmer , 1992 single work novel
Change of Voice and of Place Cathy Peake , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22 August 1992; (p. 42)

— Review of Passion Nick Earls , 1992 selected work short story ; The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story ; Jumping at the Moon Venero Armanno , 1992 selected work short story ; Australian Short Stories 1982 periodical (67 issues)
Forecasts Claire Mills , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , May vol. 71 no. 1026 1992; (p. 22)

— Review of The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story
Uneven Ground Worth Crossing Andrew Peek , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July no. 142 1992; (p. 16-17)

— Review of The House of Breathing Gail Jones , 1992 selected work short story
Gail Jones' "Light Writing": Memory and the Photo-graph Lyn Jacobs , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 5 2006; (p. 192-208)
'This article traces Jones's interest in photography/film and the ways in which metaphors of light, shadow and mirroring shape narratives.' (p.192)
Taking Breath : Talking with Gail Jones 1993 single work criticism interview
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 149 1993; (p. 28)
Imaginative Excursions Peter Holland , Pippa Tandy , 1993 single work interview
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , December 1992 and vol. 8 no. 1 January vol. 7 no. 12 1993; (p. 4-7)
Warana's Different Direction Christina Thompson , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9-10 October 1993; (p. rev 8)
Jolley's View of Life is a Winner Jennifer Moran , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: The West Australian , 19 November 1993; (p. 1)
Last amended 6 Dec 2021 15:45:36
X