Hi to my favourite bloggers and those who follow me. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the book world and feel bad there is not enough time to read much less comment on blog posts of those I enjoy. So I have deleted many bloggers who never interact. To those lovelies I enjoy but post often I plan on looking through your post but picking one a week upon which to comment. That narrow it down to the Australians one from England, one from Wales and one from South Africa, and my LA blogger friend and her cat. You know who you are.
I am still working my way through Eleanor Catton’s book and I went to a very interesting book launch at Fullers for Martin Flanagan’s book, the empty honour board. Amazon blurb and book blurb describe it as:
In 1966, at the age of 10, Martin Flanagan was sent to a Catholic boarding school in north-west Tasmania. Of the 12 priests on the staff, three have since gone to prison for sexual crimes committed against boys in their care. In 2018 and 2019, a series of disclosures about the school appeared on the ABC Tasmania website. Then came the Pell case. What followed was a frenzy of opinions, none of which represented Flanagan’s view.
The Empty Honour Board is part memoir, a reflection on truth and memory, and what is lost in rushing to judgement.
Flanagan’s school abounds in memorable characters. There’s a kid who escapes and gets as far as Surfers Paradise, and two boys who hold a competition during evening chapel to see who can confess more times. A wild boy receives a ‘Bradmanesque’ 234 strokes of the cane in one year.
It is a lonely and, at times, scary existence – as while the boys are victims of violence, they are also perpetrators. Drawn to neither the school nor its religion, Flanagan discovers himself through sport, later becoming known as one of Australia’s most creative sportswriters.
But his boarding days linger. In his first three years at the school, he’d faced a series of adult moral challenges. Not being an adult, he had failed – in his own estimation. This becomes of great consequence in his 20s when his wife is about to have their first child. A major reckoning with his past, however, leaves him with his ambition as a writer.
A prison diary, a story of brotherly love, a journey of redemption, Flanagan’s book goes inside an experience many have had, but few have talked about.
Three of his brothers, including Richard Flanagan were in the audience including one who was in the school with him. It took him many years of reflection before he put pen to paper. The audience had other friends and supporters and all rallied to encourage him as he delved into his subject. I could tell how difficult this launch may have been as his eye contact seldom left the floor.
I look forward to reading this book.
On a more personal side I have started back to the gym. Yesterday I did a 5 km walk on the treadmill for the first time. My tortoise speed was 58 minutes but I was happy. No 4 minute miles here.
I continue to walk and bus to op shops to thrift items for my eBay store though sales are slow. It is not a large store. 75 items at the moment and have profited enough for a few coffees and admission to the Barbie film with a friend. I enjoyed the choreography, costumes and film sets enormously. The story is the message women can be powerful and do everything. It was a bit of fun with a friend while a big storm raged outdoors with over 100 km per hour gusts of winds. Driving home across the Tasman bridge had the car pulling and shaking and I was glad to get off it. Readers who don’t know this bridge google Tasman Bridge Hobart, Tas. It is often an adventure crossing this, more so in my motorbiking days.
All the best to each if you and I’ll leave you with two of my photo club challenge photos. One category is ‘faces’ and then the other is the ‘open’ category. Faces is a Japanese woman from a 2016 trip to Japan and the other is a Tasmanian waterfall near Cradle Mountain for Open.
I hope the week is going well for you all. Read on……
Travellin' Penguin 