2.5 Shaun Tan, The Red Tree (2001)

2.5 - Shaun Tan, The Red Tree (2001)

The Red Tree won an honourable mention in the Children’s Book Council of Australia. I’d say, though, that it is better for adults. It is a beautifully and subtly illustrated depiction of a bad and depressing day ending in hope.

And, also, Shaun Tan is a lovely person.

19th century book club - Poetry of the Brontes

I read *The Brontes: Selected Poems*, edited by Juliet R.V. Barker (1985). I was given it as a teen and I still really appreciate the work in it, especially Emily Bronte's. (In some ways I think her over the top romanticism works best in the form of poetry rather than the novel).

For the benefit of those who have not had time to find the poetical works of the Brontes, here are some examples:


Charlotte Bronte likes the big, over the top declarations of painful love... Not surprising.

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Poor old Branwell Bronte wrote works which showed off his erudition in the form of classical allusions and which have dated terribly. See if you can read this without snoring...

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Emily Bronte is my favourite. I would probably find her works too over the top if I had come to them as an adult, but I first read them in adolescence so they seem moving to me.

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And this one which came from her imaginary world which she shared with Anne.

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Anne Bronte wrote on a much quieter but still fine scale.

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Some questions to aid discussion.

* What was with the obsession with death? A result of their upbringing or a general nineteenth-century preoccupation? Or a general poetic obssession?

* Does the use of rhyme lead you through the poetry?

* Compare and contrast the siblings.

Our first read of 2011!

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