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Born Into This
The stories in Born Into This throw light on a world of unique cultural practice and perspective, from Indigenous rangers trying to instil some pride in wayward urban teens on the harsh islands off the coast of Tasmania to those scraping by on the margins of white society railroaded into complex and compromised decisions. To this mix Adam Thompson manages to bring humour, pathos and occasionally a sly twist as his characters confront racism, untimely funerals, classroom politics and, overhanging all like a discomforting, burgeoning awareness for both white and black Australia, the inexorable damage and disappearance of the remnant natural world.
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
April 20, 2023
4.5★
“They weren’t locked up. They had the run of the place. It wasn’t security fences that kept them in, it was the sea. ‘Aboriginal Alcatraz’, they called it.”
Some of these stories feature Aboriginal kids in trouble who are being led through a program to reconnect them with the land, with country. Some are groups of men. They range from daytime activities to camping trips in the bush for several days to the Aboriginal Alcatraz above which takes place on an island.
There are many such programs where successive governments throw money at the problem and hope it will go away. Some of the programs are run by proper Elders, men (in these stories they are men) who have earned the right to be called Uncle.
Others are run by whichever Aboriginal man has applied and been thought to be suitable, and the employer may refer to them as Uncle, thinking all men of a certain age are Elders. Even so, they may be accompanied some kind of offsider to protect the image of the government and make sure rules are followed.
It’s not particularly enjoyable, but it’s a job. In ‘The Old Tin Mine’, Ben tries to demonstrate his skills.
“It wasn’t my first survival camp. But when I struck at the damp flint and gouged another piece of flesh out of my knuckle, I swore it would be the last.”
He knows he got the job because they needed someone right away, someone Aboriginal, that is, and at least the grant money is worth the skinned knuckles – almost.
“Aboriginal survival camp – Clarke Island. State government grant from the previous year. With the acquittal looming, they had to roll it out, and they needed someone. Quick.”
An acquittal is a sort of audit report, where an organisation has to account for (acquit) the funds they’ve been given to spend. If it’s not spent by the end of the contract, the money goes back to the government.
Although it isn’t his first camp, he still has a ‘supervisor’.
“‘Occupational health and safety,’ they said. ‘Can’t avoid it nowadays.’ Chris Foster, their man, had all the certification, and a goddamned ‘Working with Children’ card too. I almost pulled out, but jobs like this were my bread and butter – and they were getting more and more infrequent.”
The stories have different narrators and different tones. All feature country, and all take place in Tasmania, the author’s home. Tourists love Tassie and they love the idea of indigenous history and culture. I stress “the idea” rather than the reality, as if the traditions are from ancient Greece, quaint and obsolete. But Australian Aboriginal culture and traditions still survive, and special places and practices are revered.
In a story called “Honey”, a guy named Starkey has hives, and an Aboriginal man, Nathan, has been working with him.
“‘So, Nathan, what IS the Aboriginal word for honey?’ asked Sharkey, as he swung the ute into a sharp right-hand turn . . .
Wanna use the name on me label. Be a good gimmick for selling the honey, I reckon. ‘Specially with the tourists.’”
Nathan has no idea but says he’ll look into it. But after Starkey reveals the following about his family (‘Uncle’ in this case IS his uncle), I doubt Nathan will be investigating anything for him.
“‘Uncle Murray said the blackfellas used the stones to cut things because they weren’t smart enough to invent knives. He said that if Grandad and the other farmers ever found stone tools on their land they would bury ’em or throw ’em in the river so that your mob couldn’t come along and claim land rights.’
But for the tourists? Jars of honey with an indigenous word - a bit of culture, and probably a label in dot designs of black, red, and gold.
In the story “Born Into this” Kara is walking to work. Not her paid work, the work of her heart.
“The landscape was sparse, but far from boring. Mosses of brown, green and white clung to rocky overhangs and jagged branches, reminding her of her grandfather’s wispy beard. Snow gums erupted from the shattered shale, their twisting boughs flexing skyward, like fingers on an upturned hand. From the lookout, Kara could see the track snaking along the side of the ridge. About a hundred metres ahead, unnatural colours flashed through the trees. People.”
People. [Or bl**dy people, as my son would say.] Kara is surreptitiously planting eucalypts, replacing some plantation pines with native eucalypts – her own private protest and a nod to the surviving mother trees from which she propagated her eucalypt seedlings.
“Natural survivors, like her own family, born into a hostile world and expected to thrive. She took in the surrounding devastation and thought again about her own life. Born into this.”
Racism in Australia is about as bad as everywhere else, I’m sorry to say, but more people than ever are proud of their Indigenous heritage, and it does my heart good to see some colonial place names being renamed or reverting to their original Aboriginal names.
There are fifteen stories in this wonderful collection. Some are cynical, some hopeful, and all ring true to me in my experience with Aussie community services, Aboriginal services, government grant programs, and the growing regard for local culture where I live in Gumbaynggirr Country.
Well worth a read if you want to get a first-hand feel for what's going on.
Adam Thompson 'The Examiner' Launceston, TAS
“They weren’t locked up. They had the run of the place. It wasn’t security fences that kept them in, it was the sea. ‘Aboriginal Alcatraz’, they called it.”
Some of these stories feature Aboriginal kids in trouble who are being led through a program to reconnect them with the land, with country. Some are groups of men. They range from daytime activities to camping trips in the bush for several days to the Aboriginal Alcatraz above which takes place on an island.
There are many such programs where successive governments throw money at the problem and hope it will go away. Some of the programs are run by proper Elders, men (in these stories they are men) who have earned the right to be called Uncle.
Others are run by whichever Aboriginal man has applied and been thought to be suitable, and the employer may refer to them as Uncle, thinking all men of a certain age are Elders. Even so, they may be accompanied some kind of offsider to protect the image of the government and make sure rules are followed.
It’s not particularly enjoyable, but it’s a job. In ‘The Old Tin Mine’, Ben tries to demonstrate his skills.
“It wasn’t my first survival camp. But when I struck at the damp flint and gouged another piece of flesh out of my knuckle, I swore it would be the last.”
He knows he got the job because they needed someone right away, someone Aboriginal, that is, and at least the grant money is worth the skinned knuckles – almost.
“Aboriginal survival camp – Clarke Island. State government grant from the previous year. With the acquittal looming, they had to roll it out, and they needed someone. Quick.”
An acquittal is a sort of audit report, where an organisation has to account for (acquit) the funds they’ve been given to spend. If it’s not spent by the end of the contract, the money goes back to the government.
Although it isn’t his first camp, he still has a ‘supervisor’.
“‘Occupational health and safety,’ they said. ‘Can’t avoid it nowadays.’ Chris Foster, their man, had all the certification, and a goddamned ‘Working with Children’ card too. I almost pulled out, but jobs like this were my bread and butter – and they were getting more and more infrequent.”
The stories have different narrators and different tones. All feature country, and all take place in Tasmania, the author’s home. Tourists love Tassie and they love the idea of indigenous history and culture. I stress “the idea” rather than the reality, as if the traditions are from ancient Greece, quaint and obsolete. But Australian Aboriginal culture and traditions still survive, and special places and practices are revered.
In a story called “Honey”, a guy named Starkey has hives, and an Aboriginal man, Nathan, has been working with him.
“‘So, Nathan, what IS the Aboriginal word for honey?’ asked Sharkey, as he swung the ute into a sharp right-hand turn . . .
Wanna use the name on me label. Be a good gimmick for selling the honey, I reckon. ‘Specially with the tourists.’”
Nathan has no idea but says he’ll look into it. But after Starkey reveals the following about his family (‘Uncle’ in this case IS his uncle), I doubt Nathan will be investigating anything for him.
“‘Uncle Murray said the blackfellas used the stones to cut things because they weren’t smart enough to invent knives. He said that if Grandad and the other farmers ever found stone tools on their land they would bury ’em or throw ’em in the river so that your mob couldn’t come along and claim land rights.’
But for the tourists? Jars of honey with an indigenous word - a bit of culture, and probably a label in dot designs of black, red, and gold.
In the story “Born Into this” Kara is walking to work. Not her paid work, the work of her heart.
“The landscape was sparse, but far from boring. Mosses of brown, green and white clung to rocky overhangs and jagged branches, reminding her of her grandfather’s wispy beard. Snow gums erupted from the shattered shale, their twisting boughs flexing skyward, like fingers on an upturned hand. From the lookout, Kara could see the track snaking along the side of the ridge. About a hundred metres ahead, unnatural colours flashed through the trees. People.”
People. [Or bl**dy people, as my son would say.] Kara is surreptitiously planting eucalypts, replacing some plantation pines with native eucalypts – her own private protest and a nod to the surviving mother trees from which she propagated her eucalypt seedlings.
“Natural survivors, like her own family, born into a hostile world and expected to thrive. She took in the surrounding devastation and thought again about her own life. Born into this.”
Racism in Australia is about as bad as everywhere else, I’m sorry to say, but more people than ever are proud of their Indigenous heritage, and it does my heart good to see some colonial place names being renamed or reverting to their original Aboriginal names.
There are fifteen stories in this wonderful collection. Some are cynical, some hopeful, and all ring true to me in my experience with Aussie community services, Aboriginal services, government grant programs, and the growing regard for local culture where I live in Gumbaynggirr Country.
Well worth a read if you want to get a first-hand feel for what's going on.
Adam Thompson 'The Examiner' Launceston, TAS
April 21, 2021
Adam Thompson’s Born Into This provides yet another example of how good, excellent, or in this instance superb fiction sometimes fails to bust out of its original country of publication and hence fails to receive its deserved international popular and critical attention. The sixteen stories in this remarkable debut collection all take place in Tasmania, further linked by their Aboriginal principal characters. Thompson tells his stories in first and third person voices, both equally effectively.
Thompson’s stories move from revenge, as in the beautifully effective “Honey”; to determined cultural endurance, as in “Born Into This” and “Descendant”; to near-term political and social dystopia, as in “Your Own Aborigine”; to the emotional burdens of trying to prosper in Australian society, as in “Sonny” and “Bleak Conditions.” Adam Thompson is an unobtrusive story teller. Unusual for any single author short story collection, and especially for a debut collection of sixteen stories, there’s not a stinker among them. For a debut collection, or for any collection, Thompson writes with remarkable consistency and assurance.
Thompson’s stories move from revenge, as in the beautifully effective “Honey”; to determined cultural endurance, as in “Born Into This” and “Descendant”; to near-term political and social dystopia, as in “Your Own Aborigine”; to the emotional burdens of trying to prosper in Australian society, as in “Sonny” and “Bleak Conditions.” Adam Thompson is an unobtrusive story teller. Unusual for any single author short story collection, and especially for a debut collection of sixteen stories, there’s not a stinker among them. For a debut collection, or for any collection, Thompson writes with remarkable consistency and assurance.
January 27, 2021
These stories are brilliant and I live for debuts like this.
July 12, 2021
BORN INTO THIS by Adam Thompson is a really great short story collection! Thompson is an Aboriginal writer from Tasmania and all these stories revolve around the Aboriginal culture and perspective. It was really interesting to read about these Aboriginal characters in Tasmania and their dealings with racism, colonialism and discrimination. I found I enjoyed all the stories and my fave stories were Descendant and Morpork. I loved being transported to another continent in these stories. I definitely recommend to pick up this book if you’re interested in Aboriginal authors or short story collections! I can’t wait to read more from Thompson!
.
Thank you to Two Dollar Radio for my gifted review copy!
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Thank you to Two Dollar Radio for my gifted review copy!
April 16, 2022
This collection of short stories featuring the lives of Tasmanian Aboriginals (Palawa) pack a punch. Although Palawa author Adam Thompson in this interview says his intended audience is his people, the writing and topics are accessible and highly relevant to non-Indigenous readers. The stories are set in the Tasmanian cities of Launceston and Hobart or the Bass Strait and Tasman Sea Islands (Chappell Island, Big Dog Island, Cape Barren Island, Woody Island, Badger Island) where the Palawa traditionally lived. Although the stories are fairly brief, they are cutting, each encapsulating an aspect of Tasmanian Aboriginal life and nature negatively impacted by colonialism, racism and Australian government policies. The defiant acts of resistance and isolation by those struggling to survive abound with tension.
Two of the stories (Invasion Day, Kite ) deal with 'Invasion Day' that is, Australia Day and I see similarities with the calls for cancellation of Canada Day celebrations this year especially in the wake of mass graves unearthed at Catholic run residential schools. The Blackfellas From Here challenges the meaning of empty aboriginal land acknowledgments without practical action. The Old Tin Mine, Time and Tide examine the impact of climate change on the traditional livelihoods of the Australian Aboriginals, particularly on the aforementioned Islands. Three of the most hard-hitting and memorable stories to me were the titular Born Into This , Honey and Descendant . I think I ended up mentioning most of the stories but the ones not named are not lacking in quality or narrative tension either.
This is an important collection, not least because it captures snippets of lived experience of modern day Tasmanian Aboriginals, yet containing stories of bygone days and erased history/existence, passed down orally by elders. I especially appreciated the stories with elements unique to Palawa culture such as mutton birding, the flora and fauna of the Islands, terms like rayjti and folklore regarding morpork (owl). Adam Thompson does not paint a misty-eyed picture of his people, he addresses head-on problems such as alcoholism, domestic violence and juvenile delinquency. But he also zooms out to show us the institutions, policies and attitudes of the colonialist state that have actively worked to break and destroy them in order to steal the land.
Two of the stories (Invasion Day, Kite ) deal with 'Invasion Day' that is, Australia Day and I see similarities with the calls for cancellation of Canada Day celebrations this year especially in the wake of mass graves unearthed at Catholic run residential schools. The Blackfellas From Here challenges the meaning of empty aboriginal land acknowledgments without practical action. The Old Tin Mine, Time and Tide examine the impact of climate change on the traditional livelihoods of the Australian Aboriginals, particularly on the aforementioned Islands. Three of the most hard-hitting and memorable stories to me were the titular Born Into This , Honey and Descendant . I think I ended up mentioning most of the stories but the ones not named are not lacking in quality or narrative tension either.
This is an important collection, not least because it captures snippets of lived experience of modern day Tasmanian Aboriginals, yet containing stories of bygone days and erased history/existence, passed down orally by elders. I especially appreciated the stories with elements unique to Palawa culture such as mutton birding, the flora and fauna of the Islands, terms like rayjti and folklore regarding morpork (owl). Adam Thompson does not paint a misty-eyed picture of his people, he addresses head-on problems such as alcoholism, domestic violence and juvenile delinquency. But he also zooms out to show us the institutions, policies and attitudes of the colonialist state that have actively worked to break and destroy them in order to steal the land.
June 2, 2022
"We are drawn to the beach, it seems, to that fuzzy boundary at the edge of our world. We're just like the tide, in that way. And I often wonder what force it is that pulls us. My family say it's because we're saltwater people, but I'm almost certain that most humans feel it."
Born Into This is the brilliant debut collection of stories of Tasmanian (pakana) writer Adam Thompson and good god does it slap. I was introduced to the book through fellow bookstagrammers and I was right to trust their opinion. The stories are grounded in Indigenous Australian life, linked to the land that was slowly decimated by colonial forces and continues to be undermined by the neoliberal nation-state. Thompson centers on the Aboriginal connection to nature, their sense of community, their shared traditions and culture, and their gritted survival in the face of their erasure.
The stories dismantle the white gaze and push the white voice away from the limelight. All of them interrogate what it means to belong to a nation and what it means to be both Aboriginal and Australian. The characterization is a really strong aspect here as well with characters that leave their mark. There is not a single dud here, I particularly liked ones that had horror vibes: "Honey" and "Morpork". "Time and Tide", "Kite", "Born Into This", " Descendant", "The Old Tin Mine" and "Bleak Conditions" were some other favourites. I loved this collection on the whole and highly recommend it.
March 27, 2021
This is a superb collection of stories set among Tasmania's Aboriginal and islander communities. Thompson excels at capturing place - whether that is a windswept birding island in the Bass Strait; Tasmania's regions, an oppressively opulent Hobart mansion or a public school. Most impressively, each character is sketched memorably and with nuance and subtlety - and long after I've finished, it is their voices I can still hear - the cocky, furious, clever Kat; the quiet agony of Nathan; the vengefulness of Cindy's husband, the turmoil of Seth's dad. In the end, the voice that rings most clearly to me is that of Dorothy, the proud, assured and capable young woman whose work and intelligence is not enough to defeat institutional backing to her bullies.
Some of the stories are wicked clever - the blackfellas from here slyly upends narratives of alcohol and responsibility, Your own Aborigine manages a frightening vision of the future and a blistering critique of our present in about three pages. Others are longer, (sadder) and more reflective - Sonny is a standout here, as is Bleak Conditions. I could keep going, as there really isn't a dud story in the collection, but I won't cause it is better to just read it.
Some of the stories are wicked clever - the blackfellas from here slyly upends narratives of alcohol and responsibility, Your own Aborigine manages a frightening vision of the future and a blistering critique of our present in about three pages. Others are longer, (sadder) and more reflective - Sonny is a standout here, as is Bleak Conditions. I could keep going, as there really isn't a dud story in the collection, but I won't cause it is better to just read it.
March 31, 2021
These short stories by an emerging Pakana (Tasmanian Indigenous) writer are vivid and mightily powerful, inspired by his life within the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. They have that you-are-here-now urgency, bringing elements of tough conflict and intense yearning together. Scenes of confused masculinity and uncertain identity rub up against the social and environmental destruction wrought by white privilege. There’s humour, there’s tenderness and sadness too; so it is a very rich mix. Adam Thompson has arrived with a clear and significant talent. His sharply drawn descriptions and use of authentic vernacular place you right there. This is real, and it is masterful!
October 14, 2021
4.5 Stars: Overall I loved this short story collection. The characters were all very different and provided a unique perspective of Aboriginal Australia. As with some collections, there were some stories I couldn’t get into but overall they were engaging. A lot of the undertones of racism and colonialism brought about interesting debates and conversations. This is perspective not often heard, and Thompson does a great job expressing it.
December 23, 2021
A really good selection of contemporary Tassie short stories, told from an authentic indigenous voice.
June 23, 2022
Adam Thompson is an Aboriginal writer with an uncompromising voice.
I found some of these stories down-right disturbing, others just a bit destabilising. What I do think is they needed to be written, they are different from anything else I have read and there is a barely contained rage behind some of them (or so it seems when you read them anyway) that I guess we all have to deal with. I found "The blackfellas from here" the most disturbing, wheras I enjoyed ones like "Honey" because one thing I can't stand is a patronising git.
I was also happy that not all the stories were so brutal. "Time and Tide" surprised me.
Adam Thompson writes exceptionally well, he sets a variety of scenes up so that you are caught up in it (even though mostly these were places I have never been) and his characters are all different from each other. He explores a variety of perspectives but more male than female ones.
On the back cover Tara June Winch is quotes as saying this book is "drenched in swagger and originality". Yep. Definitely that.
I found some of these stories down-right disturbing, others just a bit destabilising. What I do think is they needed to be written, they are different from anything else I have read and there is a barely contained rage behind some of them (or so it seems when you read them anyway) that I guess we all have to deal with. I found "The blackfellas from here" the most disturbing, wheras I enjoyed ones like "Honey" because one thing I can't stand is a patronising git.
I was also happy that not all the stories were so brutal. "Time and Tide" surprised me.
Adam Thompson writes exceptionally well, he sets a variety of scenes up so that you are caught up in it (even though mostly these were places I have never been) and his characters are all different from each other. He explores a variety of perspectives but more male than female ones.
On the back cover Tara June Winch is quotes as saying this book is "drenched in swagger and originality". Yep. Definitely that.
March 1, 2021
A great collection of short stories that includes a range of perspectives that get very little air ... so-called Australia as a parallel universe experienced and understood by very few. Each of the featured parables should provide readers with an opportunity to pause and reflect so I'd also recommend taking this slowly and letting these yarns wash over you.
Often buzzy books don't live up to the hype but Born Into This deserves all the praise it is receiving.
If Thompson gets the chance to explore a fuller novel format in the future I'll definitely be at the front of the queue.
Often buzzy books don't live up to the hype but Born Into This deserves all the praise it is receiving.
If Thompson gets the chance to explore a fuller novel format in the future I'll definitely be at the front of the queue.
February 4, 2021
Born Into This
paints a great picture of what it is/was like growing up as an Indigenous Australian through a variety of short stories. Many of them are quite powerful; with the two that resonate in my mind being Descendant (Chapter 8) and Sonny (Chapter 9).
A fantastic read to get an idea of what it is like walking in other people's shoes.
A fantastic read to get an idea of what it is like walking in other people's shoes.
February 13, 2021
A spectacular collection. Each beautifully-written story is grounded, raw and immediate. I love Tara June Winch's cover blurb for Born Into This: "He has the reader in the boat, on the shore and drowning in the sea at once."
March 21, 2021
Every story is riveting, each has a strong and unique voice. These stories allow us as readers to consider the viewpoint of a range of different characters, in such a deep and compelling way. Highly recommended.
April 21, 2021
Adam Thompson’s Born Into This provides yet another example of how good, excellent, or in this instance superb fiction sometimes fails to bust out of its original country of publication and hence fails to receive its deserved international popular and critical attention. The sixteen stories in this remarkable debut collection all take place in Tasmania, further linked by their Aboriginal principal characters. Thompson tells his stories in first and third person voices, both equally effectively.
Thompson’s stories move from revenge, as in the beautifully effective “Honey”; to determined cultural endurance, as in “Born Into This” and “Descendant”; to near-term political and social dystopia, as in “Your Own Aborigine”; to the emotional burdens of trying to prosper in Australian society, as in “Sonny” and “Bleak Conditions.” Adam Thompson is an unobtrusive story teller. Unusual for any single author short story collection, and especially for a debut collection of sixteen stories, there’s not a stinker among them. For a debut collection, or for any collection, Thompson writes with remarkable consistency and assurance.
Thompson’s stories move from revenge, as in the beautifully effective “Honey”; to determined cultural endurance, as in “Born Into This” and “Descendant”; to near-term political and social dystopia, as in “Your Own Aborigine”; to the emotional burdens of trying to prosper in Australian society, as in “Sonny” and “Bleak Conditions.” Adam Thompson is an unobtrusive story teller. Unusual for any single author short story collection, and especially for a debut collection of sixteen stories, there’s not a stinker among them. For a debut collection, or for any collection, Thompson writes with remarkable consistency and assurance.
April 26, 2022
TW: drug use, racism
I normally shy away from short stories, but this book and synopsis grabbed my attention at the library a few weeks ago.
Once I picked up this beautiful book, I didn't stop until I reached the last page. Each individual story was impactful, empowering, poignant and remarkable. I enjoyed the celebration of Aboriginal peoples, especially Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples - Palawa - as my siblings are Palawa and have a strong connection to country and culture.
Brilliantly written, beautiful storytelling, and very enlightening. So glad I picked this up.
I normally shy away from short stories, but this book and synopsis grabbed my attention at the library a few weeks ago.
Once I picked up this beautiful book, I didn't stop until I reached the last page. Each individual story was impactful, empowering, poignant and remarkable. I enjoyed the celebration of Aboriginal peoples, especially Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples - Palawa - as my siblings are Palawa and have a strong connection to country and culture.
Brilliantly written, beautiful storytelling, and very enlightening. So glad I picked this up.
September 9, 2021
A collection of intentionally slight short stories that Mr. Thompson uses to create a pastiche of Aboriginal life in modern Tasmania. The author has a light touch, sometimes so feathery that you barely notice the perception shift that the story delivers. The photographic rather than painterly narrative voice is a good choice, though, since he resorts to some fairly atomic-powered symbolism (the "Kite" story - yikes). It's the difference between a painting of an atrocity and a photograph of an atrocity - one you don't have to believe, one you don't want to believe.
September 11, 2021
I don't read many short story collections but this one was great. Not a single clunker in the bunch. And despite its small size, it's a broadly diverse set of stories and perspectives of Aboriginal Australians, especially Tasmanians.
October 1, 2024
Excellent read; very interesting group of stories, situations and characters and extremely well written. I’ll keep my eyes on this author and look forward to reading whatever is next. Accomplished. Thought provoking and compassionate.
April 30, 2025
A book full of short stories all through First Nations (Australian) lens. The author has some managed to capture many different characters and their stories throughout this book, most based in Tasmania.
I listened as an audiobook.
I listened as an audiobook.
January 8, 2022
Maybe I just wasnt in the right head space, but this book has me lost. I loved the writing, but yearned for some link between the stories. Or even if each story had its own beginning middle and end. But there was nothing to link any chapter to the next. No reason for any of the stories to exist in isolation. No moral. Nothing to learn. I feel sad that I've missed the point on this one.
February 5, 2022
I enjoyed these stories so much and I hope more people read them. One of the best collection of short stories I have read. Highly recommended!
January 20, 2023
This is going to be a tough one to beat
November 21, 2022
This book absolutely ruled, loved it, the imagery was so vivid and so much you could visualise as a Tasmanian.
April 13, 2022
I did not want this collection of short stories to end ... Writing at its very, very best
March 31, 2022
What a beautiful book
March 16, 2024
Finished this on the runway on my flight leaving “Tassie.” Some stories had good concepts but often felt over-explained
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January 29, 2021This review was first published on the Underground Writers website: http://underground-writers.org/review...
Adam Thompson’s debut book Born Into This is a thought-provoking short story collection filled with a mixture of charming, stand-out characters. Set in different parts of Tasmania and the surrounding islands, each story beautifully encapsulates the land and the sea. Readers will be drawn in by Thompson’s short stories that pack a punch with every word.
Born Into This includes a range of stories that highlight the racism and oppression that many different First Nations people face in our current day, while also making the reader pause and think about the reality of these fictional stories. Such a story would be ‘The Blackfellas From Here’ which sees a rich, affluent white man named James Clifford proudly displaying a plaque on his house that acknowledges he has built on Aboriginal land. Kat, a young First Nations woman, seeks to get James to put his money where his mouth is and sign over his house to the Aboriginal community of Tasmania:
What this comes down to is that if this house stands on Aboriginal land – and it was wrongly taken, as you say – then here is your chance. You get to right the wrongs you speak of, and give your house and land back to us: the blackfellas from here.
Each story, just like ‘The Blackfellas From Here’, is sharp and witty and very successfully presents large social questions in small packages. Thompson is not delivering a book which is palatable and comforting. Rather, he is ensuring that each reader is left with an opportunity to challenge their own conceptions of First Nations writing.
The stand-out for me is the complex assortment of characters. Each character is so different from the last and all are remarkable—they are going to be sticking around in my mind for a while. Each of them have different beliefs and different morals. They are all uniquely their own rather than cookie-cutter replicas placed into different plots. Some characters, like Dorothy, are goody-two-shoes, and others, like Ben, have questionable morals. Readers will be kept on their toes throughout the whole collection. I also found it refreshing to see characters who don’t obviously reflect the beliefs of the author. I have no idea whether Thompson sees a little bit of himself in all of the characters or doesn’t relate to any of them—and I enjoy that. Readers will meet them all and take a liking to some, but all of them will leave a mark on you by the time the book is finished.
I encourage people who love well developed characters to give Born Into This a go—readers won’t be disappointed. It is a stunning collection from a talented and compelling debut author. Thompson has given Australia a new voice to listen to and learn from in 2021.
Adam Thompson’s debut book Born Into This is a thought-provoking short story collection filled with a mixture of charming, stand-out characters. Set in different parts of Tasmania and the surrounding islands, each story beautifully encapsulates the land and the sea. Readers will be drawn in by Thompson’s short stories that pack a punch with every word.
Born Into This includes a range of stories that highlight the racism and oppression that many different First Nations people face in our current day, while also making the reader pause and think about the reality of these fictional stories. Such a story would be ‘The Blackfellas From Here’ which sees a rich, affluent white man named James Clifford proudly displaying a plaque on his house that acknowledges he has built on Aboriginal land. Kat, a young First Nations woman, seeks to get James to put his money where his mouth is and sign over his house to the Aboriginal community of Tasmania:
What this comes down to is that if this house stands on Aboriginal land – and it was wrongly taken, as you say – then here is your chance. You get to right the wrongs you speak of, and give your house and land back to us: the blackfellas from here.
Each story, just like ‘The Blackfellas From Here’, is sharp and witty and very successfully presents large social questions in small packages. Thompson is not delivering a book which is palatable and comforting. Rather, he is ensuring that each reader is left with an opportunity to challenge their own conceptions of First Nations writing.
The stand-out for me is the complex assortment of characters. Each character is so different from the last and all are remarkable—they are going to be sticking around in my mind for a while. Each of them have different beliefs and different morals. They are all uniquely their own rather than cookie-cutter replicas placed into different plots. Some characters, like Dorothy, are goody-two-shoes, and others, like Ben, have questionable morals. Readers will be kept on their toes throughout the whole collection. I also found it refreshing to see characters who don’t obviously reflect the beliefs of the author. I have no idea whether Thompson sees a little bit of himself in all of the characters or doesn’t relate to any of them—and I enjoy that. Readers will meet them all and take a liking to some, but all of them will leave a mark on you by the time the book is finished.
I encourage people who love well developed characters to give Born Into This a go—readers won’t be disappointed. It is a stunning collection from a talented and compelling debut author. Thompson has given Australia a new voice to listen to and learn from in 2021.
February 13, 2021
Thompson's versatility and ability to distil dozens of feelings and breadth of experience into a single moment is nothing short of spectacular.
Thompson is a Tasmanian Aboriginal writer and in this sharp, clever and compelling collection, his 16 stories explore issues of identity, belonging, connection, nature, racism, colonialism and more, in a unique and refreshing way.
I say time and time again that no culture, no demographic is a monolith. There are hundreds of opinions, perspectives, ideas and experiences among any group of people and Thompson showcases this brilliantly.
Told from varying perspectives and each exploring different issues, Thompson has a real talent for things left unsaid. The strength of his work is in what's left off the page. What happens after the scene ends. What his characters don't say to each other and why. It's not an easy thing to pull off, particularly in short stories where we don't have as much time to get to know a character, but Thompson does it with so much skill it looks easy.
And speaking of the characters, even though we only spend mere moments with them, they're real and full and often work their way under your skin. While I didn't want to leave them behind at the end of each story, Thompson brings the right sense of closure to each one.
The shortness of these stories (one was only 8 pages) shouldn't be mistaken for a lack of depth. Each shed a new light on a different issue for me, and I found the emotion leapt off the page in many of them. I felt the sorrow, the anger, the pride, the love, the hope in each story, with each turn of the page. It also helps that Thompson's writing style is compellingly readable regardless of what he's writing about. I devoured this book in a sitting.
It's hard to pick favourites, but the stories that stayed with me the most were:
- Honey
- Born Into This
- Summer Girl
- Descendant
- The Blackfellas From Here
- Kite
Do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of this gem as soon as you can!
Thompson is a Tasmanian Aboriginal writer and in this sharp, clever and compelling collection, his 16 stories explore issues of identity, belonging, connection, nature, racism, colonialism and more, in a unique and refreshing way.
I say time and time again that no culture, no demographic is a monolith. There are hundreds of opinions, perspectives, ideas and experiences among any group of people and Thompson showcases this brilliantly.
Told from varying perspectives and each exploring different issues, Thompson has a real talent for things left unsaid. The strength of his work is in what's left off the page. What happens after the scene ends. What his characters don't say to each other and why. It's not an easy thing to pull off, particularly in short stories where we don't have as much time to get to know a character, but Thompson does it with so much skill it looks easy.
And speaking of the characters, even though we only spend mere moments with them, they're real and full and often work their way under your skin. While I didn't want to leave them behind at the end of each story, Thompson brings the right sense of closure to each one.
The shortness of these stories (one was only 8 pages) shouldn't be mistaken for a lack of depth. Each shed a new light on a different issue for me, and I found the emotion leapt off the page in many of them. I felt the sorrow, the anger, the pride, the love, the hope in each story, with each turn of the page. It also helps that Thompson's writing style is compellingly readable regardless of what he's writing about. I devoured this book in a sitting.
It's hard to pick favourites, but the stories that stayed with me the most were:
- Honey
- Born Into This
- Summer Girl
- Descendant
- The Blackfellas From Here
- Kite
Do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of this gem as soon as you can!
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