The Half-Burnt Tree
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The Half-Burnt Tree
''The Half-Burnt Tree'' (1969) is a novel by Australian writer Dymphna Cusack. Plot summary The novel follows the story of three people living in the fictional NSW north-coast town of Doolinba: a man returned from Vietnam, scarred and damaged; the woman in charge of the local post office, embittered by marriage; and an indigenous boy, orphaned and afraid. Reviews Hope Hewitt in ''The Canberra Times'' found the novel a little lacking in parts: "The Australian background is observed with affectionate care, factual and accurate as it should be, for it is important in the process of rehabilitation. The climax, is well prepared and handled with compassion. Yet the book achieves less than its intentions deserve...No doubt the generalisations within which the story works are intentional: the characters are nameless, "the man", "the woman", "the boy". We are intended to read the story as a general criticism of our society. But this undercuts the deep personal involvement with individu ...
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Dymphna Cusack
Ellen Dymphna Cusack AM (21 September 1902 – 19 October 1981) was an Australian writer and playwright. Personal life Born in Wyalong, New South Wales, Cusack was educated at Saint Ursula's College, Armidale, New South Wales and graduated from the University of Sydney with an honours degree in arts and a diploma in Education. She worked as a teacher until she retired in 1944 for health reasons. Her illness was confirmed in 1978 as multiple sclerosis. She died at Manly, New South Wales on 19 October 1981. Career Cusack wrote twelve novels (two of which were collaborations), eleven plays, three travel books, two children's books and one non-fiction book. Her collaborative novels were ''Pioneers on Parade'' (1939) with Miles Franklin, and '' Come In Spinner'' (1951) with Florence James. The play ''Red Sky at Morning'' was filmed in 1944, starring Peter Finch. The biography ''Caddie, the Story of a Barmaid'', to which Cusack wrote an introduction and helped the author write, ...
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English Language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8th and 9th ...
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Heinemann (publisher)
William Heinemann Ltd., with the imprint Heinemann, was a London publisher founded in 1890 by William Heinemann. Their first published book, 1890's ''The Bondman'', was a huge success in the United Kingdom and launched the company. He was joined in 1893 by Sydney Pawling. Heinemann died in 1920 and Pawling sold the company to Doubleday, having worked with them in the past to publish their works in the United States. Pawling died in 1922 and new management took over. Doubleday sold his interest in 1933. Through the 1920s, the company was well known for publishing works by famous authors that had previously been published as serials. Among these were works by H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham, George Moore, Max Beerbohm, and Henry James, among others. This attracted new authors to publish their first editions with the company, including Graham Greene, Edward Upward, J.B. Priestley and Vita Sackville-West. Throughout, the company was also known for its classics an ...
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Hardback
A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occasionally leather). It has a flexible, sewn spine which allows the book to lie flat on a surface when opened. Modern hardcovers may have the pages glued onto the spine in much the same way as paperbacks. Following the ISBN sequence numbers, books of this type may be identified by the abbreviation Hbk. Hardcover books are often printed on acid-free paper, and they are much more durable than paperbacks, which have flexible, easily damaged paper covers. Hardcover books are marginally more costly to manufacture. Hardcovers are frequently protected by artistic dust jackets, but a "jacketless" alternative has increased in popularity: these "paper-over-board" or "jacketless" hardcover bindings forgo the dust jacket in favor of printing the cover ...
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Paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, leather, paper, or plastic. Inexpensive books bound in paper have existed since at least the 19th century in such forms as pamphlets, yellow-backs, yellowbacks, dime novels, and airport novels. Modern paperbacks can be differentiated from one another by size. In the United States, there are "mass-market paperbacks" and larger, more durable "trade paperbacks". In the United Kingdom, there are A-format, B-format, and the largest C-format sizes. Paperback editions of books are issued when a publisher decides to release a book in a low-cost format. Lower-quality paper, glued (rather than stapled or sewn) bindings, and the lack of a hard cover may contribute to the lower cost of paperbacks. Paperb ...
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The Sun Is Not Enough
''The Sun is Not Enough'' (1967) is a novel by Australian writer Dymphna Cusack. Plot summary Martin Belford is a wealthy solicitor who lives with his sister Alice. Their world is disturbed when Carl von Rendt, an escaped Yugoslav war criminal, moves in next door. Carl is kidnapped by the Belford's gardener and charwoman with the intention of returning him to Europe to face justice. Martin and Alice discover the plot and have to decide if the kidnapping is justified or if Carl should be set free. Reviews Helen Brown in ''The Canberra Times'' found much to enjoy in the book but also had reservations: "Miss Cusack's latest novel seems to me one of her best; readable as always and enjoyable because of the human warmth of its author...''The Sun Is Not Enough'' is wholesome fare, a home grown thriller. It would make a good escapist film. But the flavour of truth is almost lost in the chunks of fat and gristle." In a short review in ''The Western Herald'' the reviewer noted the b ...
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1969 In Australian Literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1969. Major publications Books * Mena Calthorpe – ''The Defectors'' * Jon Cleary – ''Remember Jack Hoxie'' * Dymphna Cusack – '' The Half-Burnt Tree'' * Sumner Locke Elliott – ''Edens Lost'' * George Johnston – '' Clean Straw for Nothing'' * Thomas Keneally – '' The Survivor'' * D'Arcy Niland – '' Dead Men Running'' Short stories * Manning Clark – ''Disquiet and Other Stories'' *Lyndall Hadow – ''Full Cycle and Other Stories'' * T. A. G. Hungerford – "Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox" * Frank Moorhouse – ''Futility and Other Animals'' * Dal Stivens – ''Selected Stories 1936-1968'' Children's and Young Adult fiction * Hesba Brinsmead – ''Isle of the Sea Horse'' * Joan Phipson – ''Peter and Butch'' * Ivan Southall – ''Finn's Folly'' * Eleanor Spence – ''Jamberoo Road'' * Colin Thiele – ''Blue Fin'' Poetry * Bruce Beaver – ...
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1969 Australian Novels
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. * January 14 – An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 27 and injures 314. * January 19 – End of the siege of the University of Tokyo, marking the beginning of the end for the 1968–69 Japanese university protests. * January 20 – Richard Nixon is First inauguration of Richard Nixon, sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. * January 22 – Attempted assassination of Leonid Brezhnev, An assassination attempt is carried out on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, several are injured. Leonid Brezhnev, Brezhnev es ...
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