What we're reading this autumn: Emma Macdonald, Associate Editor | HerCanberra

Everything you need to know about canberra. ONE DESTINATION.

What we’re reading this autumn: Emma Macdonald, Associate Editor

Posted on

Scrounging at the bottom of the bucket of “pleasant” trade-offs for being locked down during a deadly global pandemic, we come up with a scant few. But having more time to read is one of them.

When all else fails, grab a book. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of going live on Instagram for the inaugural (and slightly experimental) HerCanberra Corona-Time Book Chat.

I chose three books that I thought would make pleasurable reading and which may offer a kind distraction from COVID-19. It went better than I thought it would (it’s nerve-wracking chatting engagingly to an empty room, not really know whether anyone’s out there or not). But we received heartening feedback from our loyal tribe and we know, more than ever, that you love to read.

However, not everyone is on social media, of course, so I thought I would commit my recommendations to the written word in the hope that it may inspire you to pick up one of these three brilliant books if you haven’t already.

I chose three autobiographies to kick off the show. Autobiographies impart historical and factual knowledge, so they make great brain food and a good intellectual counterpoint to binging on Tiger King. And just like Tiger King, the fact they are based on fact, quite often makes them stranger than fiction (exhibit A being Elton John, but we’ll get to him shortly).

Autobiographies also often document tremendous personal struggles (the three I have chosen certainly do) and when you are feeling isolated and low, it often helps put things in perspective to consider the mountains others have had to climb.

Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski (2016)

Behind her smiling face (not to mention the faces of some of Australia’s most beloved characters including Sharon Strzelecki from Kath and Kim, and Esme Hoggett from Babe) Magda holds onto a darkness passed down from her father.

The genial and loving Polish immigrant who raised Magda and her siblings in suburban Melbourne was a member of the Polish resistance during World War II and an assassin. Magda’s memoir spends considerable time considering this weight over her life, as she untangles her father’s complex history.

Meanwhile, she has to come to grips with her heritage (finding it difficult to pronounce her own surname throughout primary school) as well as her sexuality (she finds Marcia Brady unspeakably alluring). The book is beautifully composed and full of both humour and despair.

Magda finds her place in the limelight and travels to Poland to confront her heritage. She comes out. She is ultimately triumphant while showing us first-hand the impact of intergenerational trauma.

Me by Elton John (2019)

Nobody needs be an Elton John fan to appreciate the sheer scope of this autobiography. From start to stop it is a rollicking ride through 20th Century celebrity and pop music with a heady truckload of cocaine thrown in to keep things, well, slightly unhinged.

If you’ve seen Rocketman you’ll know the story. Elton’s life is a cautionary tale against the excess that invariable follows success. The funny-looking kid, christened Reginald Dwight from the London suburb of Pinner, ends up rising to global superstardom.

Sadly, he becomes isolated and paranoid, seeking solace in drugs and a seemingly endless stream of young male consorts, many of whom he treats appallingly. Elton is the first to admit, drugs made him a terrible human being. And after reading this book you will never be able to watch the video clip to “I’m Still Standing” without actually considering how this is, in fact, physically possible for Elton, given his excessive consumption of narcotics. Also, that clip leads to one of many hysterical and star-studded anecdotes included in the book –involving an unexpected bar crawl with Duran Duran in Cannes after shooting wrapped up.

Elton gets so wasted he trashes a hotel room and wakes up the next morning in so much pain he wonders if he has a terminal disease. No, just bruising and muscle strain from throwing heavy furniture around.

Like all the best stories, Elton’s life turns around, he meets David Furnish and the couple have two beautiful boys who give him the sense of self and fulfilment he had otherwise been yearning for. This book will have you laughing, crying and cranking out those 70’s tunes with wild abandon. A must-read.

Your Own Kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch (2019)

If we are all feeling anxious and isolated in these wildly unprecedented times, then Bowditch’s book may be salve for our unsettled hearts.

Clare enjoys an otherwise happy early childhood which is shattered by the illness and eventual loss of her older sister Rowie. The impact this leaves on Clare and her family feels palpable as you turn the pages.

Clare focuses inwards and fixates on her body. Bigger than the other children in her Year 4 class, Clare begs her parents to take her to a doctor to put her on a diet. This is the first of a revolving door of diets as Clare seeks to quell her unsettled mind with control of her body.

Things spiral out of control until Clare has a breakdown at 21 in London. She is terrified of loss, of dying, of other people dying and returns home too shattered to even leave the house most days. Then she discovers Dr Claire Weekes, a GP who became a specialist in anxiety treatment and who pioneered her own form of cognitive behaviour therapy.

Clare’s rock bottom becomes a starting point for rebuilding and her brutally honest recounting of how she restores her mental health provides a hopeful and helpful scaffold for any of us who struggle. Ultimately uplifting, often humourous and hugely emotional, this is a big-hearted book.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

© 2024 HerCanberra. All rights reserved. Legal.
Site by Coordinate.