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Yarra: A Diverting History of Melbourne's Murky River (2005)

by Kristin Otto

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251911,803 (4.25)None
Erudite, affectionate and witty, with more meanders and diversions than the river itself, Yarra is both a fascinating read and a fitting tribute to the 'noble stream'. In September 1835 surveyor John Wedge misheard the local Kulin identify the river as 'Yarrow Yarrow'. It was only some months later that Wedge discovered they had been referring to the pattern and movement of water over the Falls, not the river itself. And ever since, it has been the Yarra's fate to be misunderstood: maligned for its muddiness, ill-used as sewer and tip; scooped, sculpted, straightened and stressed, 'cleaned up' to the detriment of its natural inhabitants; built-over, under and beside; worked mercilessly and then bridged almost to maritime extinction. In Kristin Otto's superbly entertaining new history, the whole sorry tale is laid bare. From the creation stories of Kulin owners and geologist blow-ins to the twenty-first-century waterside building boom, Otto traces the course of Melbourne's murky river.… (more)
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While the book was interesting and informative it did live up to the subtitle of diverting - something it often did.
It is essentially a social history of the river while I think I would have liked some more detail in the geology and engineering of the river and i suspect it is a book that I would have enjoyed more with a greater number of maps and picture than are in it. Nonetheless is is and easy and engaging read that contains lots of interesting information and will be on interest to anyone with an interest in Melbourne's history. ( )
  mjmorrison1971 | Jan 23, 2011 |
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The shape of this river echoes in its stories. There are meanders in the telling, billabongs, islands, snags, floods...
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Around the same time someone explains the mechanics of an Australian hoop snake to you, you might also hear how the Yarra flows upside down.
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Erudite, affectionate and witty, with more meanders and diversions than the river itself, Yarra is both a fascinating read and a fitting tribute to the 'noble stream'. In September 1835 surveyor John Wedge misheard the local Kulin identify the river as 'Yarrow Yarrow'. It was only some months later that Wedge discovered they had been referring to the pattern and movement of water over the Falls, not the river itself. And ever since, it has been the Yarra's fate to be misunderstood: maligned for its muddiness, ill-used as sewer and tip; scooped, sculpted, straightened and stressed, 'cleaned up' to the detriment of its natural inhabitants; built-over, under and beside; worked mercilessly and then bridged almost to maritime extinction. In Kristin Otto's superbly entertaining new history, the whole sorry tale is laid bare. From the creation stories of Kulin owners and geologist blow-ins to the twenty-first-century waterside building boom, Otto traces the course of Melbourne's murky river.

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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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