Gumnut Babies, Gallipoli and reconsidering racism: Essential Aussie reading for 2020
Is there a more Aussie story than Snugglepot and Cuddlepie? Maybe. From multiculturalism and race, to Gallipoli and murder, this is a reading list for Australia 2020.
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This is one of the more important weekends of the year, where intentionally or not, we pause and reflect on what it’s like to be Australian — and, more than likely, have a cracking BBQ on Sunday where someone will inevitably fall through a deckchair after a couple of bevvies.
We have a lot of be proud of as a country this year.
Despite overwhelming disasters, we have once again shown that as a community we will rally to come together, to provide help where it’s needed, no matter the personal cost.
As a country, we can also reflect on things that we shouldn’t be proud of.
And that’s what this weekend is about: thinking about and acting on all these things, so that we can grow and become an even stronger nation, together.
Books are a great instigator of reflection, whether it be on the good times or the bad.
Here is just a tiny sample of some of the very best books that talk to us about what it is to be Australian. Do yourself a favour and peel back the cover of one of these titles (there’s so many more, I could list, so join our Sunday Book Club group on Facebook, where I’ll put some more must-reads up) — with or without a Bunnings sanga in your other hand.
1. I had to read My Brother Jack as part of my uni degree; so the fact that I’m raving about it now says a lot about how wonderful it is, because it had to overcome my steep aversion to anything resembling homework. Set in Melbourne suburbia post-WWI and through to WWII, this a social and cultural commentary told from the eyes of David Meredith. A boy who grows up with a father that will forever carry Gallipoli around him and a mother who masks her suffering with emotional distance. It’s a heavy load for an author to carry but one that George Johnston does with warmth, grace and a uniquely Australian voice.
2. Bruce Pascoe’s 2014 book Dark Emu (which has also recently had a children’s edition released) has rewritten the history of Australia and the land. Selling over 180,000 copies in Australia to date and winning a slew of awards, Dark Emu is essential reading, especially now as we look as to how we can restore our land after centuries of colonial neglect.
3. The adorable story of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie continues to be a mainstay on the bookshelves of children — in fact it has never been out of print since its publication in 1918. The two gumnut babies created by national treasure, May Gibbs, go on bush adventures, all written with delightful whimsy and accompanied by beautiful images that evoke the charm of the Australian outback.
4. From the outback to a coastal town, The Family Law is a hilarious collection of personal essays from Ben Law as he reflects upon growing up as an Asian-Australian on the predominantly white (and tanned) Sunshine Coast. As someone who went to the same school as Ben (in a different year), and has attended the month-long grade ten camp that is the basis for one of the pieces (it still haunts my dreams — honestly, who came up with that idea?!) the humour and heart more than make up for the triggering episodes I encountered while reading. It’s also never a bad thing to be reminded that Australia is always going to be made better by diversity — forgive my sentimentality but we’re only ever improved by opening our minds and hearts to cultures that differ from our own.
5. Talking to my Country by Stan Grant, spawned from his powerful call to arms in response to the horrific comments made to AFL player Adam Goodes in 2015, is a powerful meditation on race, culture and national identity. The book gives a heightened understanding of our shared histories and how indigenous history and culture are fundamental to the development of our Australian identity. It’s a history that has continued to impact government politics, legislation and legal difficulties and continues to deserve our attention.
6. Jane Harper’s The Dry has become a global success, replacing the international perception of Australians that’s been forged in stone since Crocodile Dundee. Now, instead of conversations about kitchen utensils (“That’s not a knife. THIS is a knife...”), people from overseas can associate us with murder. I know which one I’d prefer. In seriousness it’s an immersive mystery, where confronting the past can be the key to a present-day crime; you can positively feel the red dirt settling on your skin as you turn the pages.
I hope you enjoy the long weekend, no matter how you spend it — but remember you can’t go wrong if some of it includes a book.
* Kimberley Allsopp is a Campaign Manager for publishing house HarperCollins Australia. See her other recommendations, have your say and share your favourite Aussie reads at the Sunday Book Club Facebook group.
Here’s our top tip: Australian summers are the background to the tale of passion and betrayal that is our book of the month, Vanessa McCausland’s The Lost Summers Of Driftwood. You can get it for 30 per cent off by using the code DRIFTWOOD at Booktopia.
And as a bonus for anyone who has reached the end of this, here are six more of the best Aussie titles:
Boy Swallows Universe — Trent Dalton
Working Class Boy/Man — Jimmy Barnes
My Brilliant Career — Miles Franklin
Koala Bare — Jackie French, illustrated by Matt Shanks
Olive Cotton — Helen Ennis
Gurrumul — Robert Hillmann
Originally published as Gumnut Babies, Gallipoli and reconsidering racism: Essential Aussie reading for 2020