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The Factory
Hilda has travelled to Japan to research The Factory, a controversial arts community that formed then collapsed twenty years earlier. When The Factory is re-formed by old members driven by motives she is unable to uncover, Hilda is drawn into a complex intrigue of love, betrayal and revenge.
- GenresAustralia
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
28 people want to read
About the author
Paddy O'Reilly
19 books27 followersPaddy O'Reilly is a writer from Victoria, Australia. Her work has been published and broadcast widely both in Australia and internationally.
Paddy's short story collection, The End of the World (University of Queensland Press) was released to critical acclaim in April, 2007. The stories in the collection have won a number of national and international story awards including 'The Age', the 'Judah Waten', 'Zoetrope All-Story' (USA) and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (UK).
The End of the World was chosen as one of the year's best books in various publications from Australian Book Review to The Financial Review. It was shortlisted in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.
Paddy's debut novel, The Factory, was also in the best books of the year lists in Australian Book Review and the Sydney Morning Herald and was Highly Commended in the FAW Christina Stead Award for Fiction. It was broadcast in fifteen episodes as the ABC Radio National Book Reading during July 2009.
Her novella 'Deep Water' was published in 2007 as one of four in the novella anthology, Love and Desire (The Five Mile Press).
contact
Contact my agent:
Sophie Hicks at edvictor.co.uk
Email Paddy
news, events, new stories, stuff, click here
She has also written screenplays and worked as additional screenwriter for films which have been nominated for AFI awards and screened nationally and internationally.
Paddy has been Asialink writer-in-residence in Japan, a fellow at Varuna: the Writers' House, writer-in-residence at Kelly Steps Cottage, Tasmania, and The Lockup, Newcastle, presenter and reader at the International Conference on the Short Story in Toronto and a full fellow at the Vermont Studio Center, USA.
Paddy has spent several years living in Japan, working as a copywriter and translator.
Paddy's short story collection, The End of the World (University of Queensland Press) was released to critical acclaim in April, 2007. The stories in the collection have won a number of national and international story awards including 'The Age', the 'Judah Waten', 'Zoetrope All-Story' (USA) and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (UK).
The End of the World was chosen as one of the year's best books in various publications from Australian Book Review to The Financial Review. It was shortlisted in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.
Paddy's debut novel, The Factory, was also in the best books of the year lists in Australian Book Review and the Sydney Morning Herald and was Highly Commended in the FAW Christina Stead Award for Fiction. It was broadcast in fifteen episodes as the ABC Radio National Book Reading during July 2009.
Her novella 'Deep Water' was published in 2007 as one of four in the novella anthology, Love and Desire (The Five Mile Press).
contact
Contact my agent:
Sophie Hicks at edvictor.co.uk
Email Paddy
news, events, new stories, stuff, click here
She has also written screenplays and worked as additional screenwriter for films which have been nominated for AFI awards and screened nationally and internationally.
Paddy has been Asialink writer-in-residence in Japan, a fellow at Varuna: the Writers' House, writer-in-residence at Kelly Steps Cottage, Tasmania, and The Lockup, Newcastle, presenter and reader at the International Conference on the Short Story in Toronto and a full fellow at the Vermont Studio Center, USA.
Paddy has spent several years living in Japan, working as a copywriter and translator.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 10, 2014
Love this book: "A capacity to love when you have been hurt is the most important thing, don't you think?"
June 11, 2019
An engaging read about an unusual topic, The Factory, an arty commune that formed in Japan in 1970s. Very well written and realistic with credible and informing dialogue, the story of how the group tried to resurrect Japanese dance, theatre and culture is told through the eyes of Phd student Hilda.
The satisfying action is via group dynamic and this probably contributed to my enjoyment because it is so real. Paddy O'Reilly's knowledge of Japan is felt in every breath the characters take. A rewarding read.
The satisfying action is via group dynamic and this probably contributed to my enjoyment because it is so real. Paddy O'Reilly's knowledge of Japan is felt in every breath the characters take. A rewarding read.
October 9, 2012
One of the best books I've read this year.
It’s probably fair to say that most people are fascinated by the break-up of successful groups such the Beatles who went their separate ways at the height of their fame. Paddy O’Reilly has used this fascination as the premise for her character Hilda Moore to undertake research in Japan, finding out the truth of the break-up of Koba, a theatre group which resurrected the cultural heritage of Japan with song, dance and Noh theatre. In the 1970s, when Japan was a hotbed of dissent, the group was formed as a cooperative that valued traditional culture but within two years it fell apart after the death of one of its members. When twenty-odd years later the founder Yasuda founds a revival, Hilda sets off to investigate the individuals who were behind such events.
For her PhD, Hilda’s project is to interview the surviving members, and to offer her own interpretation of their narratives. Hilda is a quiet, submissive character who speaks Japanese fluently and is familiar with Japanese mores but she travels there with Eloise, a character so exuberant that we know she is destined to fail the conformity test from the outset. Paddy O’Reilly has apparently knows Japan well and she has used her familiarity with the country to depict Eloise’s blunders in a droll way without overdoing it.
However, it’s not Eloise who gets into major trouble...
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/10/14/th...
It’s probably fair to say that most people are fascinated by the break-up of successful groups such the Beatles who went their separate ways at the height of their fame. Paddy O’Reilly has used this fascination as the premise for her character Hilda Moore to undertake research in Japan, finding out the truth of the break-up of Koba, a theatre group which resurrected the cultural heritage of Japan with song, dance and Noh theatre. In the 1970s, when Japan was a hotbed of dissent, the group was formed as a cooperative that valued traditional culture but within two years it fell apart after the death of one of its members. When twenty-odd years later the founder Yasuda founds a revival, Hilda sets off to investigate the individuals who were behind such events.
For her PhD, Hilda’s project is to interview the surviving members, and to offer her own interpretation of their narratives. Hilda is a quiet, submissive character who speaks Japanese fluently and is familiar with Japanese mores but she travels there with Eloise, a character so exuberant that we know she is destined to fail the conformity test from the outset. Paddy O’Reilly has apparently knows Japan well and she has used her familiarity with the country to depict Eloise’s blunders in a droll way without overdoing it.
However, it’s not Eloise who gets into major trouble...
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/10/14/th...
May 25, 2016
Hilda, an Australian in Japan, undertakes research into a cult-like arts community – Koba – dedicated to recovering traditional Japanese arts and culture. Her research into Koba's past, however, coincides with its revival in the present that brings with it a renewed focus on the events that led to the demise of the original Koba (particularly the death of one its members).
This is a novel of conflicting perceptions and interpretations, as Hilda attempts to build a multifaceted picture of the community's origins and life, in the face of obstruction and misdirection on the part of Koba's disturbing, yet charismatic, founder – Yasuda. It resonantly probes the tensions between conformity, constraint, creativity and freedom, skilfully setting Hilda's reserve and constraint (both metaphorical and disturbingly literal) against the attractional exuberance of Eloise, the friend she invites along to her time with the renewed Koba.
The Factory is also written with a gentle intensity that carries the reader along fairly effortlessly, although the novel consists of little beyond dialogue. Subtle and subdued, sure, but satisfying.
This is a novel of conflicting perceptions and interpretations, as Hilda attempts to build a multifaceted picture of the community's origins and life, in the face of obstruction and misdirection on the part of Koba's disturbing, yet charismatic, founder – Yasuda. It resonantly probes the tensions between conformity, constraint, creativity and freedom, skilfully setting Hilda's reserve and constraint (both metaphorical and disturbingly literal) against the attractional exuberance of Eloise, the friend she invites along to her time with the renewed Koba.
The Factory is also written with a gentle intensity that carries the reader along fairly effortlessly, although the novel consists of little beyond dialogue. Subtle and subdued, sure, but satisfying.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews