Reviews for The phone book

The average rating for The phone book based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-05-09 00:00:00 Nick Manning I confess to approaching this book somewhat obligatorily. I would be the first - so to speak- to profess my love for Australia. Though it's an unsavoury label in our unfortunate political landscape, I identify as a nationalist and never allow myself to feel disinterest towards any great work that comes from my country. That being said, I imagined I might get through this volume of short stories with little more than polite indifference. I was totally wrong and blown away. Henry Lawson's work is truly astounding for its stark simplicity, gentle honesty, and heartwarming sense of humour. While I liked some stories more than others, there was not one that felt weak in this book. That has never happened before with me. Even short story books by such masters as Bierce, King and James often contain at least a few weak points. Every story in this book stood out and had at least one powerful moment to win me over. I feel quite sure that I will soon rate this five instead of four stars because the tales in this book have a way of staying with you. I would reccomend this man's literature to anyone who likes classic fiction, but certainly for Australians who are proud of their heritage I think Lawson should be a very important name.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-05-27 00:00:00 Randy Calvert We had to read these stories at school and back then I just didn't get get it. At forty I decided to have another go...Wow what a revelation. Lawson writes with humour and pathos and the stories do not seem dated. As Australians we often look for things that define our culture and we try to capture elements that demonstrate it. These stories are one of the cornerstones of our culture, at least in an artistic sense. If you are an Australian read these stories to make you proud of our culture. If you aren't an Australian read these stories to get a glimpse of what we are about.