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Jane Sullivan, journalist and author
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What's your favourite work of fiction set in Victoria?
I don’t think I have a favourite work – there are so many I love – but one of the first works of fiction that I read that made a deep impression on me was Monkey Grip. I came to Melbourne from England in 1979, and Helen Garner’s book opened up to me a Melbourne I knew nothing about: Bohemian shared houses, youthful freewheeling lives that seemed attractive and dangerous at the same time. There have been plenty of novels in the same vein since, but Garner’s was the first and the greatest.
Which Victorian writer do you admire the most?
Can I have two? Arnold Zable, because he tells eloquent and true stories of people who have come to Melbourne from elsewhere; and Peter Carey, because he tells the world so beautifully about Australia and put Bacchus Marsh on the world map. And there are lots of others I admire.
Where do you like to do your reading in Victoria?
In bed, mostly. It’s the end or the beginning of the day and for a short time I have nothing else to do or think about. A wonderful luxury.
What do you believe is the best film adaptation of a Victorian book?
Oh, a very hard question, and I haven’t seen all of them. I actually did like the film of Monkey Grip – still remember Noni Hazelhurst in dungarees and Chrissie Amphlett as the singer in the pub who gets furious with her because she was slandered in one of her stories. I hope my memory is correct on that!
What is your most treasured memory of a public library?
When I was a kid, going to the shelves and finding they had a new book I hadn’t read by some author I loved, such as a C.S.Lewis Narnia book. I actually got goosebumps just reading the title on the spine.
What is your best holiday read?
I once tried to read Henry James on holiday and it was a disaster. Holiday reads should be entertaining, above all. I whipped through Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by a swimming pool and The Da Vinci Code on a balcony at the Gold Coast. But I also read and enjoyed Haruki Murakami’s The Wind Up Bird Chronicle on trains around Europe, so I can tackle something more cerebral. It depends on the holiday.
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