Ayush wants so much to be a good person that he fails to see how quantifying his virtue perverts it—quantification being, of course, a rather neoliberal term. The parable-like story inspires two more, both of which tackle other thorny ethical questions with disturbing persuasiveness.
The swamps
Tina Makereti, Ultimo, $34.99
Tina Makeretis The swamps Set on the Kāpiti Coast of Aotearoa, New Zealand, the swamp landscape itself speaks to the reader before Makereti switches to closely observed social realism and appears in a nearby apartment block.
The inhabitants are vividly portrayed: single mother Keri and her strangely intense teenage daughter Wairere; Janet, a white woman who has no qualms about voicing her opinion on any topic; and Sera and her family, refugees from a devastated Europe.
When Keri’s son Conor shows up – now a tattooed skinhead – neighborhood tensions escalate, but only Wairere and the swamp seem to know how dangerous and extreme Conor’s views have become.
The swamps has a modest nod to magical realism, but it’s the unflinching attention to reality that grips you. Makereti has a gift for depicting immense social problems – from ecological disasters to the resurgence of extreme right-wing and racist thinking – through the human dimension of domestic life.
The Father’s Fists
Daniel Tamone, Echo, $32.99
Daniel Tamone is set in western Sydney, in the midst of the exciting world of professional boxing. The Father’s Fists doesn’t mince his words when it comes to the realities and risks of the sport, but Ted “Little Boy Blue” Taylor learned to fight outside the ring.
His father, Ron, was a two-time heavyweight champion of the world. He was also a shocking perpetrator of domestic violence (and alcoholism and organized crime were never far away). Teddy learned to fight as a child defending his mother – a loss he still blames himself for – and was coached into a career by his grandfather, a Vietnam veteran, heavy drinker and gambler. Ron is gunning for a comeback and the industry is going crazy for the idea of a father-son showdown.
It seems inevitable, but when an outsider enters Teddy’s life and gives him hope, will he find the courage to leave the ring? Tamone addresses the aftermath of trauma and violence and the emotional toll of hypermasculinity with absolute precision.
Non-fiction selection of the week
Fragile creatures
Khin Myint, Black Inc., $34.99
Attitude, compassion, forbearance. These are just some of the words that come to mind when reading Fragile creaturesan autobiography written with the clarity of perspective and emotional complexity of a fine novel. Growing up, Khin Myint and his sister Theda unsettled those around them simply because they were of mixed race: their father was Burmese, their mother English. Yet even as Myint describes being brutally bullied at school in Perth, he is aware that his tormentors were themselves products of their social milieu.
However, the damage caused by racism, the pressures of conventional masculinity and their own father’s inability to accept them left Myint and Theda with deep feelings of shame. As we watch this play out in their lives, the sadness is contrasted by a quiet sense of hope as Myint draws strength from his own fragility.
traveler
Lauren Fuge, text, $36.99
The restlessness that has driven humanity to spread across the globe is an urge Lauren Fuge knows to her core. As a hiker, she has traveled the world, spent long periods kayaking on the west coast of Canada, hiked in the Flinders Rangers and immersed herself in the rainforests of Tasmania.
In this lyrical, scientifically-informed work, she explores the history of our “drive to find out what’s out there, a drive that has taken us from Africa, across the Pacific, to the moon and beyond.” It’s an ambitious project, driven by an inquiring mind and a deep need to grapple with the ongoing consequences of exploration and exploitation. The epic sea voyages that brought the first humans to the Pacific contrast with the imperialist journeys of the European Enlightenment, as Fuge chronicles the impact on nature and our understanding of our place in it.
Shakespeare is difficult, but so is life
Fintan O’Toole, Head of Zeus, $29.99
As the title of Bootcamp suggests, there is little comfort here as Fintan O’Toole looks into the dark, chaotic and desperate heart of the Bard’s four greatest tragedies. Instead of the comfort and moral instruction bequeathed to us by the Victorians who shaped our modern understanding of these plays, he finds something far more interesting, grim and confronting.
With wit and verve he exposes the cliched and abused concept of the hero undone by his “fatal flaw”, of “imperfect men who cause trouble that is banished by their deserved death”. Much more refreshing and historically aware is O’Toole’s interpretation of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello And King Lear as an expression of the unrest and violence of Shakespeare’s time. The great thing about the plays is that, despite the terror, they still evoke wonder and pity in the face of “the voices of humanity so amazingly articulated.”
Smooth
Royce Kurmelovs, UQP, $34.99
If you are wondering why the government continues to approve new oil and gas exploration projects despite the dire warnings of the IPCC, Smooth offers some disturbing answers. For Royce Kurmelovs, it boils down to “state capture,” where companies exert undue influence on political decisions.
Despite recognising the signs of the times “long before anyone else”, the oil industry played for time, putting pressure on politicians and spreading misinformation in schools, universities, sports clubs and public services. Alongside the companies, we meet those suffering the immediate consequences of climate change and activists trying to prevent further exploitation. Although the story is told in a nuanced way, Kurmelovs pulls no punches when he concludes that the industry has “happily mortgaged our common future” in the name of greed.
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