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Stephen Hawke

Forfatter af Noonkanbah : whose land, whose law

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Includes the name: Steve Hawke

Værker af Stephen Hawke

Noonkanbah : whose land, whose law (1989) 28 eksemplarer
The Valley (2018) 18 eksemplarer
Polly Farmer: A biography (1994) 14 eksemplarer
Barefoot kids (2007) 11 eksemplarer
A Town Is Born (2013) 6 eksemplarer
Out of Time (2019) 3 eksemplarer
Jandamarra (2014) 2 eksemplarer
The Brothers wolfe, (2023) 1 eksemplar

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Right on cue, the exact same week that That Awful Man in America goes on trial for Civil Fraud, I read a book about the same thing happening in Australia in the 1980s. The book even quotes him:
Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully or write poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks. (Twitter, 2014)

Steve Hawke is a playwright, children's author, biographer and novelist from WA. I was impressed by his debut novel The Valley, (see my review) and am now even more so by his third novel The Brothers Wolfe. Set amid what came to be the political scandal known as WA Inc, it's an illuminating exploration of the psychology of financial risk-taking and greed.

WA Inc is usefully summarised at Wikipedia like this:
WA Inc was the name for a set of public-private partnerships in Western Australia in the 1980s associated with the Western Australian Development Corporation, which became a political scandal. The state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie Connell, Dallas Dempster, John Roberts, and Warren Anderson. These dealings resulted in a loss of public money, estimated at a minimum of $600 million and the insolvency of several large corporations.

Hawke's novel contrasts the behaviour and motivations of two brothers. What is it that makes some people into shysters who get a kick out of making more and more money with bigger, riskier and more dubious deals? And how can it be that from the same family comes a person with no initiative, no ambition and no idea of what he wants to do with his life?

The story moves backwards and forwards across time, beginning in 2009 when Elliot's whereabouts are unknown, and his lover Mitzi is musing on the past with Athol. The back story emerges as we learn how Mitzi and Elliot made a prudent departure from France back in 1979, in time for Elliot to take advantage of a dubious inheritance and the political winds of change in WA. Athol is much younger than Elliot, and he defers to his brother not only on business matters that he doesn't understand, but also on family matters. His mother Cynthia is disagreeably partisan towards Elliot, and Athol has learned the hard way that he may as well give in rather than have a fight he will inevitably lose. That appears to include acquiescing to his father's expectation that his sons will one day take over Wolfe's Menswear, and worse, going along with Elliott's plans for the family trust (in which Athol has a share).

Neither of them want to work in retail menswear. Elliot, just back from dealing drugs in Marseille, wants something more exciting, and Athol, just about to start Year 12 next year, is enervated by the mere idea of work.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/10/04/the-brothers-wolfe-2023-by-steve-hawke/
… (mere)
 
Markeret
anzlitlovers | Oct 3, 2023 |
Previously published in 1994 by Fremantle Arts Centre Press. The extent of the revision is not clear for this edition as there are only 5 additional pages. This is a masterly biography of one of the game's greatest players and innovators. Probably the only difference between the two editions is the 2014 edition has a Forward by John 'Sam' Newman, one of Farmer's team mates at Geelong. See the 1994 edition for a more complete review.
 
Markeret
Readingthegame | 1 anden anmeldelse | Jun 7, 2020 |
I bought The Valley on a whim, lured partly by a cover promising a masterfully told epic of the Kimberley and partly because Hawke was an Australian author who'd fallen under my radar.

Though the novel tells the story of successive generations (and includes a family tree), it's a misnomer to call it a family saga. It's structured in a more imaginative way, travelling backwards and forwards across a century that began at a time when the Kimberley was a lawless place and still operated by its own rules in the middle of the 20th century:

"Two Bob's annual pilgrimage always started with a visit to Bertie Ahmad's camp in Derby. Bertie had closed down his trading post that catered to the drovers and prospectors and other battlers of an era that had all but disappeared. But the shopfront had only ever been a part of his business. He was a go-to man for the bushmen of the Kimberley hinterland with goods of dubious provenance—a station manager doing a little business on the side, or a countryman who had mysteriously come into possession of some item of value.

Billy was no longer up to the trek through the Leopolds to Halls Creek, but still managed to coax a little gold from his secret reef. Bertie, in retirement on his block behind the meatworks, was happy to receive a visitor like Two Bob, and exchange a stack of grubby notes for some gold flakes. Money in hand, Two Bob would head up to Elders at a quiet time the next day, load up with stores then head back up the Gibb River Road". (p.96)


You can tell from that excerpt that Two Bob doesn't want to draw any attention to his journey back to his father Billy Noakes' refuge in a secret valley. Billy and Bessie fled there in 1916 after a murder, and they've never left. While their sons Bob (a.k.a Janga and Hamlet) and Two Bob (a.k.a Wajarri and Othello) left as adolescents to make their way in the wider world, their daughter Sarah is too spooked ever to leave. Billy and Bessie don't even see their grandchild Milly until Two Bob's wife Marj is in hospital with diabetes, so Two Bob grasps the opportunity to take her to the valley. Even Marj doesn't know of its existence.

Decades later Milly's adolescent son Dancer falls foul of a bikie gang, and needs to scarper from Broome. At the same time, his uncle's funeral brings an ageing Two Bob into town after years with no contact. He needs help back at Highlands Station, which is in danger of going under. As Dancer sets off with his father Andy to Highlands station in the back of beyond, he feels uneasy because he has so many unanswered questions about his family, especially the disappearance of his mother when he was only a year old. But the outback begins to work its magic:
"There's something about the sensation of rolling like a road train down this thin strip of bitumen that helps him deal with the unease that he feels.

The bush is changing. There are more boabs on either side of the road. Then they float down a gentle descent and plough along the road's furrow through what seems a limitless, almost treeless plain dotted with a city of dun-brown anthills. There is a faint shimmer of the ranges ahead. It's a landscape too old and wondrous to concern itself with his problems". (p71)


To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/10/02/the-valley-by-steve-hawke/
… (mere)
 
Markeret
anzlitlovers | Oct 1, 2019 |
This high standard biography of one of the game's greatest and most influential players covers all phases of Farmer's life and career from his earliest days in Perth, his years with Geelong in the VFL, his return to Western Australia, a coaching stint at Geelong, interstate football and his final active involvement in football in Western Australia during the late 1980s. A feature of this scholarly yet readable book is the unified theme, with the author continually examining Farmer’s unique contribution to the game's evolution. This book set a new standard in football biographies. Index and reference list included. A revised edition was published by Slattery Media in 2014.… (mere)
 
Markeret
Readingthegame | 1 anden anmeldelse | Nov 4, 2013 |

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Værker
8
Medlemmer
83
Popularitet
#218,811
Vurdering
4.1
Anmeldelser
5
ISBN
26

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