"Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson

As always Bill Bryson has a unique style of being informative and entertaining at the same time. The extensive coverage of his experiences in Australia is no exception. He devotes notable time to history, politics, geography, topography, plants, animals, reptiles, minerals, travel, cities, towns, life style and culture. Humorous anecdotes about his experiences and his imaginative writing style make this a thoroughly enjoyable book especially for those how have been to the country or plan to go.

"The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson *****

Although there may be various opinions in the reviews about this particular book there is a consistency in recognizing that it is distinctive, original and quite a remarkable read. It opens with a porn star/adult film producer crashing his sports car in a spectacular manner that results in him suffering severe burns all over his body. He will never be the same physically because of his monstrous appearance. One of the aspects of the book that is equally fascinating and repulsive is the explicit detailed descriptions of the medical treatment of burn victims.

Confined to months of rehabilitation in the burn ward the novel takes a dramatic twist with the entrance of Marianne Engel who approaches the victim and claims she first met him and rescued him 700 years earlier. Although she is currently in the psych ward many of the claims she makes appear to be substantiated. She ultimately takes the man to live with her in her home and work studio where as a sculptor she creates “gargoyles” which are highly valued in a global market. As part of her care-giving she relates a number of historic tales that are richly told, diverse in magnitude and congruent in message.

The ultimate impact of this relationship shifts the victim’s attitude from thoroughly planned suicide to a realization that the physical body is only a container for some things that are much more important. The recurring visits to Dante’s Inferno consistently confirm his revelations. In spite of all of this it is fundamentally a romantic novel.

Additional interest is capture by other main characters in the book including the medical doctor, the physiotherapist, a psychiatrist and Marianne Engel’s manager.
As a debut novel by this Winnipeg born, Canadian writer, it is quite an outstanding book. The author’s notes, The Story Behind The Gargoyle (that is included in some special editions) are an interesting after-read.

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak *****

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is a special book with a truly unexpected focus. The format is exceptionally startling as the fundamental narrator is “Death”. In addition to the descriptions of the story line “Death” intermittently inserts its own comments, observations, and reflections. As “death” is infinite, the use of it as the story teller allows the author to occasionally use the technique of “foretelling” and this becomes a magnet for the reader to keep on reading.

The plot revolves around a young girl, Lisa Meminger, who is placed with a foster family at age 9 although the reason for this placement is never made clear. She travels to Molching, Germany with her mother and her brother dies during the trip. At the burial service Lisa accidently discovers a book, The Grave Diggers Handbook that has been lost by one of the burial staff. Instead of returning it she keeps it even though she can’t read; and thus begins the tale of the “book thief”.

The story begins in pre-WWII and continues into the 1940’s. In the years of growing up Lisa’s life is influenced greatly by foster mother whose vocabulary is filled with profanity and insults, but below the surface is deeply caring woman. Her foster father teaches her to read, shelters her, cares for her deeply and plays the accordion in a mediocre manner. Her best childhood friend is Rudy who picks on her, fights for her, entertains her, and loves her but never gets to kiss her. The family shelters a Jewish refuge that puts their safety into severe danger, and Lisa becomes very attached to the man and his safety. She continues to steal books during her early adolescents and many of them from the mayor’s idiosyncratic wife’s extensive library who ultimately facilitates Lisa’s thefts of her books.

Another of the books unique features is it gives some possible revelations about what life in this gruesome period of history must have been like for the German people who did not support the Nazi regime.

Zusak is an Australian writer with an admirable quality of writing secure dialogue with poetic and novel imagery which rivets the reader’s attention.