 Word On Books
with Jeremy Fenton
This week, books that would make good Christmas stocking stuffers...
Nostradamus:
The Evidence
 By Ian Wilson
Published by Orion
Sixteenth century prophet Nostradamus is said to have predicted everything from the rise of Hitler, the death of Princess Diana, through to the destruction of the World Trade Centre. But of course it's all in the translation, if not the outright fabrication!
The man behind the predications was physician and prophet Michel de Nastredame, who was born on the 14 December, 1503, in what we now know as France.
Ian Wilson (author of Jesus: The Man and The Blood and the Shroud) approaches this comprehensive biography from the perspective of neither a believer nor a sceptic and presents a fascinating and well-researched account of the actual man and his times.
Catch Me
If You Can
By Frank Abagnale
(with Stan Redding)
Published by Random House
New York's Frank Abagnale can legitimately lay claim to having led one extraordinary, albeit illegal, life.
At 16, Abagnale embarked on one of the most brazen crime sprees imaginable. Confidence man par excellence, he made an art form from impersonating airline pilots while trading on his innate charm and style. And that was just the beginning of his exploits. Doctors and university lecturers beware.
By the age of 21, he had written over $2.5 million in bad cheques and had the police of over 26 countries hot on his tail.
All told, Abagnale's real life exploits read like a suspend-all-disbelief-if-you-can Hollywood movie. And yes, the movie has been made! Directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks, it's due to hit cinemas shortly.
Despite the fact that it's a co-authored book, Catch Me If You Can is one hell of an entertaining read. Unputdownable in fact.
Eddie Gilbert
By Mike Colman &
Ken Edwards
Published by ABC Books (Available from ABC Shops)
Eddie Gilbert was one hell of a bowler. He was feted by whites as an example of what their 'settlement system' could do, and looked up to by blacks as he went head to head with whites and beat them at their own game (Gilbert played in 23 first class matches and had a bowling average of 28.98).
While Gilbert's story is uplifting in places, it also reeks of injustice. At one point he was able to best the Australian cricketing icon Don Bradman (bowled him for a duck in 1931), but by the time of his death from Alzheimer's disease he was a lonely and sad figure who had been through the worst that life could offer.
This is an essential book for anyone interested in the true story of cricket and race relations in Australia.
(Those interested in an Aboriginal cricket player closer to home should hunt down Maurice Ryan's biography of local Sam Anderson, titled Dusky Legend. Anderson caught Bradman for a duck playing in Lismore in 1928.)
Shadow Puppets
By Orson Scott Card
Published by Orbit
Shadow Puppets begins where previous works Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon left us - deeply involved in the story of Bean and his role in the battle for, literally, Earth. This time around cloning technology has entered the picture and Bean must use his brilliant intelligence to fight Archilles' people lest his own genes are used against him.
If it all sounds a little complicated, rest assured that Card has crafted yet another seemingly effortless story that, underneath its science fiction exterior, plays with the big themes of politics, war, morality and human dignity.
Orson Scott Card is a master storyteller, and, despite approaching mid-life, is still able to bring forth the voices of young people with deftness and authority. Shadow Puppets won't mean much to those who haven't read its precursors, but for those who have been along for the whole ride it is yet another riveting pleasure.
(First time readers of Card should begin with Seventh Son: The Tales of Alvin Maker, also published by Orion.)
High Society
 By Ben Elton
Published by Bantam Press
In Ben Elton's hilarious new novel High Society, the war on drugs has been lost. Comprehensively lost. The world has become a vast network of criminally minded people who indulge their particular passions, often without regard to consequence or the well being of others. And certainly without regard for the law.
But the story is bigger than just being about people, High Society is about nations that actively break the law. They're all doing it, or they at least know someone who's doing it.
Elton brings to his latest work his usual high-energy humour and laugh a minute descriptions. But you would expect nothing less from the man responsible for previous works Dead Famous, Inconceivable and television's Blackadder.
The funniest thing about Ben Elton's High Society is that in this case he may just be right!
The Hobbit: Graphic Novel
By Dixon, Deming & Wenzel
Published by Harper Collins
It has been over 60 years since the publication of JRR Tolkien's extraordinary work of fantasy fiction, The Hobbit. An instant classic of its kind, it was the lively and original archetype for fantasy across the board.
If further recommendation is needed, it suffers from none of The Lord of the Rings trilogy's pomposity and verbosity (even though it acts as the first scene of the longer, later works). This is the simply the charming story of a little person and his magical quest.
This adaptation stays true to the original work for the most part, with the art by David Wenzel echoing Tolkien's own drawings. Overall the story is well suited to a visual medium (as Peter Jackson's film has already proven).
This adaptation would make an ideal entry to Tolkien's world for reluctant teenage readers or for those who just like storytelling through the pleasing combination of words and pictures.
The Carnivorous Carnival
By Lemony Snicket
Published by Harper Collins
Lemony Snicket writes horrible little books for horrible little children (and I suspect a large proportion of horrible adults). They're brilliant in that they resemble nothing else published.
There's nothing saccharine or nice about the world Snicket has created in his "Series of Unfortunate Events" saga. It's a world of conniving adults, lost orphans, murder and other deep, dark themes.
Thankfully it's a world also brimming with black humour and un-politically correct plotlines.
The Carnivorous Carnival is the ninth in the series and contains the following "unnerving ingredients" - a confusing map, an ambidextrous person, an unruly crowd, a wooden plank and Chabo the Wolf Baby. Oh, and of course the heroes of the story, the Baudelaire orphans.
As Snicket himself writes of reading his works: Your time might be better filled with something more palatable, such as eating your vegetables, or feeding them to someone else.
Matthew Flinders' Cat
 By Bryce Courtenay
Published by Penguin/Viking
Matthew Flinders' Cat is, to put it succinctly, the story of "a drunk, a boy and a cat". The drunk is Bill O'Shannessy, a former barrister who now sleeps on the streets, while the boy is 10-year-old Ryan who is headed, in some ways, towards a similar end. O'Shannessy shares with Ryan the story of Trim, Matthew Flinders' famous cat that undertook the circumnavigation voyage of Australia.
Together they move towards redemption, but not before being drawn through the underworld of Sydney and its murky perversions.
Former advertising executive Courtenay has earned himself a place in the hearts and minds of many Australian readers (with works such as The Power of One, The Potato Factory and Four Fires), and Matthew Flinders' Cat will not disappoint his devoted following.
The Other Side
of Dawn
By John Marsden
Published by Pan
It doesn't seem possible that it has been nearly three years since the publication of John Marsden's The Other Side of Dawn, but it (and the rest of the series) are still in heavy demand so it seems an appropriate read for this time of year.
This is the ninth (and concluding) book in the series that explores the lives of a group of teenagers in an Australia invaded by unspecified enemies. Once again Ellie is at the heart of things, as the war finally draws to a close.
The Other Side has all the nail-biting suspense and action of the earlier books and is a welcome close to what has been arguably the best series of books for teens ever published in Australia.
The Tomorrow When the War Began saga by John Marsden is a remarkable accomplishment on many levels. Not only is the series compulsively readable, but Marsden's exploration of teenage issues through the extraordinarily involving plotline is spot on.
The Magic Hat
By Mem Fox and Tricia Tusa
Published by
Scholastic Australia
Newly released in the lead up to Christmas is The Magic Hat written by Australian Children's book stalwart Mem Fox (author of the perennial favourite Possum Magic) and illustrated by Tricia Tusa.
The Magic Hat in question blows through this rhyming story alighting on different heads. Each person then gets transformed into an animal that in some way approximates their actions or looks.
It's a light read aimed at very young readers (or those being read to) who will appreciate its simple rhymes and mildly cheeky humour (and the ending contains a lovely twist).
- Thank you to Book Warehouse in Keen Street, Lismore, for support of this column.
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