This House of Grief
Melbourne
:
Text Publishing
,
2014
7674634
2014
single work
non-fiction
(taught in 3 units)
'Anyone can see the place where the children died. You take the Princes Highway past Geelong, and keep going west in the direction of Colac. Late in August 2006, soon after I had watched a magistrate commit Robert Farquharson to stand trial before a jury on three charges of murder, I headed out that way on a Sunday morning, across the great volcanic plain.
'On the evening of 4 September 2005, Father’s Day, Robert Farquharson, a separated husband, was driving his three sons home to their mother, Cindy, when his car left the road and plunged into a dam. The boys, aged ten, seven and two, drowned. Was this an act of revenge or a tragic accident? The court case became Helen Garner’s obsession. She followed it on its protracted course until the final verdict.
'In this utterly compelling book, Helen Garner tells the story of a man and his broken life. She presents the theatre of the courtroom with its actors and audience, all gathered for the purpose of bearing witness to the truth, players in the extraordinary and unpredictable drama of the quest for justice.
'This House of Grief is a heartbreaking and unputdownable book by one of Australia’s most admired writers.' (Publication summary)
Telling True Stories : Navigating the Challenges of Writing Narrative Non-fiction
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2014
8006976
2014
selected work
criticism
(taught in 1 units)
'It's etched into our neurological pathways; we can't live without it. Telling true stories is one of the things that makes us human, and a strong narrative has the power to profoundly change the way we think.
'Truman Capote's ground breaking In Cold Blood set the tone and narrative non-fiction now appears in print and online journalism as well as in books. Capote's work is also a classic case study of the thorny issues arising in telling true stories: how to maintain editorial independence while becoming close to your subject; how far to take the narrative when reporting on real events; whether an 'omniscient narrative voice' is appropriate for non fiction; and what kind of relationship to create with the reader.
'The stakes are high: true stories deal with real people, often at turning points in their lives. Matthew Ricketson uncovers the techniques of some of the best international practitioners from America, Australia and Britain, and shows how to produce authentic, vibrant and memorable writing. ' (Publication summary)
Around the World in Seventy-Two Days: And Other Writings
Newjack
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
One of Us
How do we know whether the book we are reading is true or invented? Is it only because the dust-jacket tells us so? What if the label is playfully or deliberately misleading? Novels can be written that include actual figures, and journalists can write in ways that we usually associate with fiction. This can be confusing for readers. If the act of representing actual people and events in narrative form throws up complex issues, it also makes for compelling reading, and allows writers to explore issues in greater depth than can daily journalism. In this unit, students will examine what happens when writers, whether journalists, novelists or others, tell true stories in books. Works of pioneers of book length journalism are examined as well as contemporary examples.
