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The Best Australian Stories
The Best Australian Stories: A Ten-Year Collection
The best of the best . . .
This essential book takes a decade of Best Australian Stories and selects the most outstanding short fiction by the country's finest writers. These stories range widely in style and subject: there is drama and comedy, subtlety and extravagance, tales of suspense, love, fantasy, grief and revenge. Together they showcase the strength and diversity of Australian fiction at its very best.
Contributors include KATE GRENVILLE, TIM WINTON, NAM LE, MURRAY BAIL, JANETTE TURNER HOSPITAL, ROBERT DREWE AND CATE KENNEDY.
This essential book takes a decade of Best Australian Stories and selects the most outstanding short fiction by the country's finest writers. These stories range widely in style and subject: there is drama and comedy, subtlety and extravagance, tales of suspense, love, fantasy, grief and revenge. Together they showcase the strength and diversity of Australian fiction at its very best.
Contributors include KATE GRENVILLE, TIM WINTON, NAM LE, MURRAY BAIL, JANETTE TURNER HOSPITAL, ROBERT DREWE AND CATE KENNEDY.
422 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 28, 2024
I am not a connoisseur of short stories, but there is something in this anthology to please everybody, and it's certainly packed with the big names of Australian literature, as you'd expect when it showcases the best of the best from a ten year period.
The stories range from straightforward narrative to the experimental, and for me, inexplicable, but I'm a bit conservative in what I like in a short story.
My favourite was Tim Winton's Aquifer, which is from his collection The Turning which I own and love. A brilliant example of what Winton can do on many levels.
The collection also delivered a few confronting/thought-provoking stories and the standout here was The Enemies of Happiness by Tim Richards dating from 2002. In this tale we hear about a progressive school that funds its students to be their true selves, which involves removing their enemies of happiness, whether that be their leg, tongue or genitals. Given where things are going with gender re-assignment and other such issues for younger people, this story comes across as uncomfortably prescient.
The stories range from straightforward narrative to the experimental, and for me, inexplicable, but I'm a bit conservative in what I like in a short story.
My favourite was Tim Winton's Aquifer, which is from his collection The Turning which I own and love. A brilliant example of what Winton can do on many levels.
The collection also delivered a few confronting/thought-provoking stories and the standout here was The Enemies of Happiness by Tim Richards dating from 2002. In this tale we hear about a progressive school that funds its students to be their true selves, which involves removing their enemies of happiness, whether that be their leg, tongue or genitals. Given where things are going with gender re-assignment and other such issues for younger people, this story comes across as uncomfortably prescient.
March 20, 2021
Published in 2011. Some great stories in this collection - I enjoyed Cloud Busting by Tara June Winch, Reading Madame Bovary by Amanda Lohrey, The New Dark age by Joan London about surviving cancer, The Intimacy of the Table by Delia Falconer. Aquifer by Tim Winton, Mate by Kate Grenville and The Meaning of Life by Mandy Sayer. Also Murray Bail’s Camouflage & Nam Le’s story about his father, Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice.
May 18, 2014
Thank the Lord Ryan O'Neill was the second last story, or else this would've earned one star.
Quite frankly, if this is Australia's best literature, I'm embarrassed.
The storylines (one might ask, WHAT storylines) are lacking.
The prose (one might ask, WHAT prose) is also lacking.
The character development (most of the time, one might ask, WHAT character development) is lacking.
There were a few stories that spurred me on to finish this text - 'Still Here' by Anna Krien, which must be commended for its tender depiction of that brief story line; 'Cold Snap' by Cate Kennedy; 'The Intimacy of the Table' by Delia Falconer; 'Possessed by the God' by Marion Halligan and 'The Eunuch of the Harem' by Ryan O'Neill. They at least were not painful.
However, back to the overall summary, this (politely put) is pointless. It was realistic at many times, perhaps, but not interesting. I swear this beautiful country of ours is better. Yet it is a realistic portrait of our landscape - it is seriously, phenomenally, dry.
I do not see what anybody else sees in this.
So do what the Dutch did, and pass it by. At least until contemporary writing is overhauled.
Quite frankly, if this is Australia's best literature, I'm embarrassed.
The storylines (one might ask, WHAT storylines) are lacking.
The prose (one might ask, WHAT prose) is also lacking.
The character development (most of the time, one might ask, WHAT character development) is lacking.
There were a few stories that spurred me on to finish this text - 'Still Here' by Anna Krien, which must be commended for its tender depiction of that brief story line; 'Cold Snap' by Cate Kennedy; 'The Intimacy of the Table' by Delia Falconer; 'Possessed by the God' by Marion Halligan and 'The Eunuch of the Harem' by Ryan O'Neill. They at least were not painful.
However, back to the overall summary, this (politely put) is pointless. It was realistic at many times, perhaps, but not interesting. I swear this beautiful country of ours is better. Yet it is a realistic portrait of our landscape - it is seriously, phenomenally, dry.
I do not see what anybody else sees in this.
So do what the Dutch did, and pass it by. At least until contemporary writing is overhauled.
May 14, 2016
This is quite a varied collection. Initially I thought I would give it a lower rating, but as I progressed through the book, I found it increasingly appealing. If you pick this up and struggle with it a bit, keep going, gems await you.
All the stories demonstrate good writing. They paint vivid pictures and characters. What I found disenchanting at first was that some stories seemed to lack purpose. They have no resolution or revelation. Good writing is nice, but I like for there to be an engaging story. As I made my way through the collection, I found stories that grabbed me. They might have been quirky, or romantic, or just plain entertaining.
This is a good resource for writers wanting to see a large collection of good writing, or for anyone wanting to discover Australian writers they might not otherwise encounter.
All the stories demonstrate good writing. They paint vivid pictures and characters. What I found disenchanting at first was that some stories seemed to lack purpose. They have no resolution or revelation. Good writing is nice, but I like for there to be an engaging story. As I made my way through the collection, I found stories that grabbed me. They might have been quirky, or romantic, or just plain entertaining.
This is a good resource for writers wanting to see a large collection of good writing, or for anyone wanting to discover Australian writers they might not otherwise encounter.
July 5, 2015
Some great stories to be found within the collection such as The Meaning of Life by Mandy Sayer (which strongly reminded me of the novel The dead I know by Scot Gardner) and Hurricane Season by Janette Turner Hospital but other pieces I could not bear to finish as they were almost painful to read, they were so boring! Realistic yes, Interesting not so much... I'll give it a few stars for the true standout stories but I think it is a collection that could use some improvement.
January 26, 2015
My review is the little progress up dates I left along the way.
Not the greatest set of short stories. Some were pointless, other strange, some had hidden meaning that I couldn't see but I liked 3 out of the 8 I read for school. So, it was meh...
Not the greatest set of short stories. Some were pointless, other strange, some had hidden meaning that I couldn't see but I liked 3 out of the 8 I read for school. So, it was meh...
did-not-finish
October 17, 2023The publisher's pump these out every year, so you might wonder how many bad stories were in the 10 years worth that this edition is collected from.
There is some good in here, but there is some dull stuff too. There a few too many authors here who stopped being inspired after reading Hemingway, leaving out lots of details for you to fill in for yourself. Even til the end. Is that something quintessentially Australian? I don't think so.
There is some good in here, but there is some dull stuff too. There a few too many authors here who stopped being inspired after reading Hemingway, leaving out lots of details for you to fill in for yourself. Even til the end. Is that something quintessentially Australian? I don't think so.
February 9, 2024
Superb collection from Australia's best writers.
April 21, 2022
I borrowed this book simply to read Luke Davies' short story (which individually I'd give 3.5 stars, similarities to 'god of Speed') and I read a few of the others and tried to get into more but they just weren't my thing so, I'm cheating a little saying I finished it but I did read what I set out to read from it!
June 19, 2012
Standout story by Mandy Sayer.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews