Mere Mortals Book Reviews

"What can we learn from the individual who swam around Great Britain" 'The Art of Resilience' by Ross Edgely walks through the strategies for an unbreakable mind and body - right up the Mere Mortals alley! In summary "Simply written, it ties together Ross's learnings while swimming around Great Britain and brings together information that he has sourced through a lot of his travels as well tribula...

You would have to have a heart of darkness to not feel anything from this tale. 'Heart Of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad is a fictional reworking of Conrad's own journey through the Congolese jungle. Marlow (the narrator) is a new captain that must direct his steamboat through the heart of the jungle to relieve agents of the ivory trader. He tells of his meeting with the almost mythical Kurtz, a chari...

A topic that effects all of us Mere Mortals. 'Mortality' by Christopher Hitchens is brief (& somewhat meandering) reflection on dying. Hitch was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2010 and the disease 'battled him' for a 1.5 years before his death. The book is not focused on death itself, but more the process of dying. This includes his thoughts on being in/out of hospital, deterioration of...

The adolescent Peruvian coming of age story seems a tad more intense than most others. 'Cubs & Other Stories' by Mario Vargas Llosa is a group of 7 fictional (but lifelike) short stories mostly involving young men/boys. The titular story is of a boy who is castrated by a dog and then turns into a wild rebellious teen. All take place in Peru with most of them occurring in the capital of Lima. T...

Lots of mice and lots of men, just what I like in my books! 'Of Mice & Men' by John Steinbeck is a short novella about migrant farm workers set in Soledad, California during the early 20th century. Lennie is a mentally disabled 'gentle giant' who accompanies the quick-witted George in their travels. Lennie inadvertently draws in trouble and relies on George to survive. The core themes explore...

A book where I'm certainly glad the ending got cut short! 'The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea' by Yukio Mishima is a story of 3 characters with romantic notions that crunch up against reality. Set in post WWII Yokohoma, young Noboru struggles to accept the courtship and impending marriage of his widowed mother Fusako with the stoic sailor Ryuji. The themes delve into the sentimental honou...

An absurd, ridiculous tale of dark humour that might just contain some deeper meaning. 'Gould's Book Of Fish' by Richard Flanagan tells the tale of William Buelow Gould, an English convict transported to the penal colony on Sarah's Island and who becomes enamoured with ..... fishes! Whilst it contains elements of real life it is dominated by the fantastical events & insanity of the principal c...

Not sure I've read a book full of more dislikeable characters. 'My Brilliant Career' by Miles Franklin is set in 1890's rural Australia and recounts the maturation of Sybylla Melvyn from age 16-21. Sybylla's ambition is grandiose and she constantly struggles to deal with her immediate circumstances and believes herself above the indigence of her family. The book is notable for the young age of Fra...

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Books Books Books! Want a collection of some of the best Australian books, I got you covered. I read 8 books this month and 5 of these are considered classics while the other 3 are more modern. I had lots of fun diving into the world of Australian literature and found out that we actually have some good authors, both in the past and present. Worth giving them a check out if y...

The best way to describe this book is that it's an academic version of the travel memoirs I wouldn't write. 'Requiem With Yellow Butterflies' by James Halford is an Aussie book that is non-linear and contains a jumpy back and forth structure. It contains his South American travel memoirs from 2007, analysis of various influential authors and their works plus a present day love story alternating be...

It's eerie coming across the literary version of yourself, essentially the same person who lived a different life and made different decisions. 'My Brother Jack' by George Johnston is a classic Aussie story about family relations, cultural snapshots, responsibility and dashed dreams. It is narrated by David Meredith and is mostly an introspective story but with the constant play of the polarity be...

'Innovation in Australia' by Ben Kehoe explores big questions which ultimately land us with a view that we really need a better vision for our future. Can business leaders can play a bigger role? In Innovation in Australia: Creating Prosperity for Future Generations, Ben Kehoe discusses how Australian businesses can improve their rates of collaboration, commercialising our innovative Australian id...

So have you solved the mystery of what actually happened at Hanging Rock? 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' by Joan Lindsay is a fictional mystery that actually occurs at a real place. We follow the ladies from an Australian boarding school as their ideal day takes a tragic turn for the worse. The book is notable for it's rapid character switching and detailed descriptions of the scenery and unfolding even...

Whilst reading this 'true' history I couldn't tell whether I was confused, annoyed, entertained or disappointed. 'True History Of The Kelly Gang' by Peter Carey is a fictional retelling of the famous bushman's life from beginning til end. It's a 1st person narrative told from Ned Kelly's point of view using the medium of letters addressed to his fictional daughter. It tells of his troubled childho...

It's harder to get more Aussie than the poet who created Australia's unofficial 2nd anthem. 'Poems Of The Bush' by Banjo Paterson is a picturesque book that combines his descriptive poetry with the colourful plates of Aussie artists. As the name implies, these are 23 of his over 160+ poems that are centred on the Australian outback and its rugged beauty. Two of his most notable works are not inclu...

What was Aussie bush life like back over 100 years ago? 'We Of The Never Never & The Little Black Princess' by Jeannie Gunn are 2 separate stories (combined into 1 book) of her recollections living in the remote bush at the Elsey Cattle Station in the Northern Territory. The first story is of her maturation into a dependable missus and the characteristics of the people living in the outback. T...

Have you ever wondered why you have heard of the mythical place of Shangri-La? 'Lost Horizon' by James Hilton is a utopian (although arguably dystopian) fictional adventure of 4 Westerners captured and held against their will. They remain in limbo in the Lamasery of Shangri-La high up in the unexplored mountaintops of Tibet. Although on the surface it seems to be an almost ideal existence there is...

Hey yo Mere Mortalites! I'm creating a new series that's an overview of all the books I published a book review of in the previous month. I'm also including some dishonourable mentions (books I started reading but subsequently dropped) and extra notes that I didn't include in the actual book reviews. A list of the books I read can be found in the timestamps below. As always, I hope you have a fant...

How much difference can there be from two translations of the same work? 'Tao Te Ching' by Lao Tzu is the most influential and well known of the Taoist texts. Traditionally it was thought to be written by a single man named Lao Tzu, although modern day scholars believe it was more likely an amalgamation from multiple sources. It contains 81 verses of varying length and is primarily musings/sayings...

"If a man was ever capable of making sweet love to the sea, this is the romantic story he would write." 'The Old Man And The Sea' by Ernest Hemingway is a quite short novella of an old man (Santiago) and his relationship to the sea. Set in the Gulf of Mexico, it tells of his pitched battle with the biggest catch of his life and his eventual tainted victory. The book explores the way that humans co...

"Never were so many facts explained by so few assumptions." 'River Out Of Eden' by Richard Dawkins is a simplified explanation of Darwinian evolutionary theory. It contains 5 sections, all of which provide arguments for why natural selection is true and debunking those of creationists. These arguments are based on the science of DNA (ATCG base pairs), experiments/studies on animals (why bees dance...

What goes through your head when you experience the deepest isolation possible? 'The Story Of A Shipwrecked Sailor' by Gabriel García Márquez is a small book and really the title says it all. It's a true story that occurred when Gabo was a journalist in Bogotá and got the chance to interview Luis Alejandro Velasco. He was the sole survivor of a shipwreck and endured 10 days adrift at sea without h...

Is it worse to die an ignoble death at the hands of your enemy, or those of your 'supposed' friends? 'A Farewell To Arms' by Ernest Hemingway is one of the novels that emerged from WWI. It is the main American book as they joined the war relatively late in comparison to many of the other countries. It is a fictional story that tells of the ambulance driver Frederic Henry as he helps on the front l...

There's a right way and a wrong way to create a compilation book ..... this is the right way. 'Bringing Home The Dharma' by Jack Kornfield is a basic introduction to Buddhism and it's core tenets. It is constructed from Jack's writing taken from essays, publications and other books. Within you'll find Zen quotes, personal anecdotes, stories involving his students and practical advice. There is a s...

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind' by Shunryu Suzuki is a musing on Zen Buddhism, enlightenment and meditation practice. Suzuki Roshi was a populariser of Zen in America and many regard this as one of the finest books on the topic. The core themes centre on the spiritual attainment of Buddha nature and the philosoph...