Friday

I hope to get through a few of the books in the piles growing on our bookshelves.  This morning while on the bus I finished reading The Hunter by Julia Leigh.  It is a remarkable first novel. The subject matter is quite different to what might be expected. I'd be interested in knowing the inspiration for Julia Leigh's choosing the subject. I found out things about the Tasmanian Tiger that intrigued me - things I would not necessarily have sought out about the extinct animal. The Thylacine was a marsupial, the same family as the kangaroo.  Both the male and female had a pouch.  Apparently they did not run at any great speed, but were able to continue moving for a long period of time, exhausting their prey.  Their jaws were elongated with a gape that could crush the skulls of their victims.  They had a jaw span of 120 degrees.  Fascinated?? :) 

And there are rock art paintings of Thylacine in Arnhem Land (where I will be in a couple of weeks).

Amazing that the last known Thylacine only died 70 or 80 years ago.

Leigh's ability to provide just the right amount of detail in such a brief novel was brilliant - whether about the Thylacine, or about hunting or the beautiful landscape of Tasmania.

The main character, the hunter, known as M is not necessarily a likable character but in spite of that I found myself eagerly waiting to see if he redeems himself. I couldn't wait to get to the end of the novel, and arriving there wished there was more to come.

I loved the movie - it was beautifully shot and I'm a great fan of Willem Defoe.  There are two significant differences between the novel and the movie.  I won't give them away here.  I can't say whether I preferred one over the other.


Now. What to read next?