Thursday 16 February 2012

Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge: Review One

Today for my first review entry to the Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading Challenge, I bring to you ...

Black CowBlack Cow by Magdalena Ball
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Magdalena Ball is a remarkable wordsmith. Her prose hovers above your skin like ‘need’ and never drifts away. Her latest novel, Black Cow, is yet another masterpiece which I will keep treasured on my bookshelf. The characters in this story are on the hunt for happiness, for refuge, clawing their way through the stark reality of unfulfilling wealth, corporate hierarchies, fatigue, stress-related illnesses, and family neglect. Ball’s seamless exploration of the faulty human-condition and the urgent notion that money means success is brilliantly interwoven with the gentle quietness of unconditional love, invoking sighs and gasps and the sudden realization that life is so much more than what we are conditioned to expect. Life is precious, and small enough to cradle in the palm of a baby’s hand.

View all my reviews

I'm also going to add that last year I reviewed her debut novel Sleep Before Evening, which is also absolutely brilliant. You can check that out HERE.

10 comments:

  1. I am fascinated by your remarks concerning this book. Carole.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your comments have me intrigued. I'll be checking it out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. But what's it about? Just kidding. You make it sound great, Jess.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, sounds like a great book! Fits my value system anyway, and oddly enough reminds me a little of the ideas behind Bonfire of the Vanities (which was good, but could have used a female lens)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jessica, life is precious. I love the babys hand analogy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL on Matt's comment. :)

    Sounds like a great read!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This sounds so intriguing, I'm definitely going to have a peek!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This sounds like one really special book. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. :-(

    Not on Kindle.... will have to waite or find a book store with it in stock. No instant gradification.

    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jessica you're amazing and your review is so beautifully written that it deserves a review of its own. Book is now on Kindle:
    http://www.amazon.com/Black-Cow-ebook/dp/B007BRFNAW/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_2
    (for those who want instant gratification - who am I to deny them!). THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete

“I'm using my art to comment on what I see. You don't have to agree with it.” ~John Mellencamp

“Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace” ~Judith S. Marin

“I don't ever try to make a serious social comment.” ~Paul McCartney

“I'd make a comment at a meeting and nobody would even acknowledge me. Then some man would say the same thing and they'd all nod.” ~Charlotte Bunch

“Probably what my comment meant was that I don't care about the circumstances if I can tell the truth.” ~Sally Kirkland

“We're not going to pay attention to the silliness and the petty comments. And quite frankly, women have joined me in this effort, and so it's not about appearances. It's about effectiveness.” ~Katherine Harris