Books
The protagonists of Sally Rooney’s debut novel privilege irony over emotion
‘A Legacy of Spies’ brings together two of John le Carré’s greatest characters – but why?
Amal Awad’s book presents Arab women in their own words and in their own right
Beneath the surface comedy of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Watt’ lies a metaphysical quest to know the unknowable
JM Coetzee’s ‘Late Essays: 2006–2017’ shows his deep respect and sympathy for fellow writers
Judith Brett’s ‘The Enigmatic Mr Deakin’ is a skilful portrait of Australia’s second prime minister
Thirty years on, what should we make of Bruce Chatwin’s song to the songlines?
‘Mischka’s War’ is a historian’s honest attempt at preserving both love and objectivity
With ‘Taboo’, Kim Scott sketches out a new way of accepting our histories, and imagining our future.
Joshua Green chronicles Steve Bannon’s rise to prominence – and offers an insight into what he might be capable of now
Alzheimer’s drives the narrative of Rachel Khong’s ‘Goodbye, Vitamin’ but it isn’t the novel’s focus
Australia’s biggest-selling author is largely unknown to contemporary readers – but that’s about to change
Trans. Penny Hueston; Text Publishing; $24.99
Don Winslow’s latest novel transcends the New York cop story clichés
Jock Serong’s ‘On the Java Ridge’ shows us a world our politicians would prefer we didn’t see