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Works by Ross McMullin

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This is hardly an objective review of Ross McMullin's second book about love and loss. The first part is about my own family and what can be a more compelling read? It seems appropriate to be writing this on Anzac Day.

Since Brian Pockley's death on the 11th September 1914, the Pockley family has had its own 9/11 subsumed into American cultural hegemony. Such is the power of hegemony that for many Australians WW1 is perceived to have begun with Gallipoli, or another holiday event where wreath-layers stand in silence at dawn around decaying monuments that can be found in the centre of any Australian city or town. The monuments and honour boards at the back of disused halls are usually inscribed with long, alphabetically ordered, lists of the names of the dead.

What is wonderful about Life so Full of Promise is that Ross McMullin quietly, but with the surety of thorough research, builds a sense of intimacy and connectivity as he delves into the lives of families from which the progress of young lives was interrupted. Here are real people suffering the pain of loss as they attempt (often unsuccessfully) to put their lives back together.
It's a peculiar feeling when your own family stories, received as passing remarks or oral fragments, are assembled into a coherent narrative set against nation-building forces. There were some parts I knew very well and others I didn't really know at all and, of course, much that was left out. Most of the time I felt as though Ross was being very careful not to upset anyone. Occasionally the tone of the story is almost plaque-like. That said, I was struck by the scale of interconnection with people and families that continues today - three generations later. The discovery that my own relationships with people whose grandparents knew each other makes me wonder about the extent to which we step through some kind of perpetual and repetitive dance.

While the theft of Brian Pockley's belongings is mentioned, as is his father's frustration when the body is exhumed without notification, no mention is made of the years spent trying to get his name spelt correctly (Brien sic). This and Jack Pockley's unknown grave weighed heavily on his father (my great grandfather) Frank Pockley. But this is nit picking. The reference to the proximity of Lancer wood to the place where Jack Pockley died is mildly disturbing. His descendants and family gathered at Hangard wood (to the west) during a commemorative gathering on the centenary of his death in March 2014. The wrong place?

Reading on, past the Pockleys to the archetypal, muddy death of Norman Callaway in a shell hole at Bullecourt, there are more interconnections despite the lapse into cricket adoration (I loathe sports). But I concede that some of the descriptions of batting and bowling are not just inspiring but poetic:
...he scored most of the runs from cuts and on-side deflections; his eleven fours included several 'very prettily placed leg-glances'. He was in command, but then he was lured forward by a 'coaxer', missed, and was stumped - precisely the kind of dismissal be wanted to avoid. His first error became his last. p.211

This is a sad but important book where Ross McMullin integrates intimate family dynamics with the wider forces of nation building that flowed over and through people who are so cleverly drawn that they become us all. And all of us have, in our particular ways, had our lives shredded by the relentless engines of war. Tears welled.
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simonpockley | Feb 25, 2024 |
Australian history is littered with events that Australians barely remember but which had great repercussions around the world. This includes the rich labour history of Australia, including the creation of the eight hour day, the Sunshine Harvester Case, which legally introduced minimum wages, and the first elected national labour government in the world ("the dawn of government by the common man" as it has been called).

Chris Watson (or John Watson as I have also seen him referred as) was the head of the first elected national labour government in the world, way back in 1904, and "So Monstrous a Travesty" covers the Chilean-born Watson's historic role, what his Government did in their short time in power (not a great deal but not wholly their fault), their fall and the messy aftermath where Watson and other ALP leading lights like Billy Hughes leaving the ALP during WWI over the issue of conscription. Of course, it wouldn't be the Australian Labor Party without recriminations and lifelong hatred between former friends.… (more)
½
 
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MiaCulpa | Dec 9, 2019 |
Covering a century of the Australian Labor Party, from its roots in the strikes of the 1890s to what was then the present day of 1991, "The Light on the hill" is a big book; it has to be to cover the history of the ALP.

In addition to the talk of party greats, including Watson, Scullin, Curtin, Chifley (who coined the term "the light on the hill"), Whitlam et al., there is also mention of the nearly men, including those destined for greatness but for an early death, as well as references to those lost to history, including the only Australian politician to be tarred and feathered.

"The light on the hill" needs an update but until then, this is worth hunting down for a look at Australia's most enduring political party.
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MiaCulpa | Feb 22, 2015 |

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Works
9
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Rating
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ISBNs
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