Reviews for J. Eden

The average rating for J. Eden based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-02-04 00:00:00 Roberto Cl�udio Duarte Rojo De Lacerda A brilliant, multi-generational portrait of a slightly odd family living in oppressive tropical north queensland. Astley is a clear but exciting stylist, with a sharp turn of phrase and rich, vivid imagery - I was sweating my way through the build-up and hearing the thunk of mangoes on a tin roof as I sank into this. The characters are drawn with such love - these are messy, complex people who make terrible mistakes, but they're human and Astley finds the fundamental decency in them all (at least the main characters - the supporting cast are sometimes broad-brush illustrations of NQ's oppressive conservatism). It's my first Astley, but it definitely won't be my last.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-07-22 00:00:00 Richard Baumgartner A family saga set across generations from the 1860s to the 1980s in a northern Queensland town called Reeftown. I'm not familiar with FNQ, so am not sure which town it might be, but the climate is familiar. There is a lot of fecundity, overgrown weeds, rain, and, of course, flooding, in this slim novel by Thea Astley. In fact, I found myself taking notes at how she was able to cover such ground and expanses of time in so few pages. Each chapter takes the perspective of one of the Laffeys, or their descendants, as well as some Aboriginal characters, the Mumblers, where we also see two generations. I sped through some chapters and immersed myself in others. The problem with devoting so little time to a character of one particular generation, then skipping to another about 60 years later, and back again, is that I did find I forgot who was who and how people were connected at times. Towards the end, Connie sums up this experience of forgetting who's who by declaring that she also had the same issue -- she was all of her ancestors at the same time. Indeed, the cycle starts again and again, with each new generation. Some move away, others go back to where they came from. But something persists.