Characters and places in The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce

Paul Torday first captured my reading interest with a marvellous novel: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Salmon Fishing was a first novel – and a very funny novel at that. Salmon Fishing was made into a movie. The movie was most frustrating in its inauthenticity; the movie producer over-played the love story and downplayed on humour. Wilberforce would become the third of Torday’s works that I have enjoyed.

Wilberforce is told in a reverse chronological order in four vintages; 2006, 2004, 2003 and 2002. The story opens with the main character enjoying his destructive hobby. The remainder of the book then creates the backstory. In such instances I find it necessary to record main characters, place names and references as I read through the book. I offer that record here:

Image credit: www.goodreads.com

Main characters

Francis Wilberforce: Alcoholic, although Wilberforce himself cannot tolerate the expression “alcoholic” when used in relation to his hobby of imbibing the finest of wines. Wilberforce is a lost cause post-AA. His doctor’s prognosis is towards a steady and certain death. Raised by foster-parents of which only the foster-mother, named Mary, is alive. Wilberforce is aged 37 at the book’s opening.

Catherine Wilberforce (nee Plender): Former wife of Wilberforce. Their marriage ended tragically in her death in a motor vehicle accident. Catherine was the driver in the accident. Wilberforce incurred minor injuries in the accident.

Francis Black: A friend of Wilberforce who passed away, of cancer, leaving a substantial quantity of fine wine.

Doctor Colin Holman: Wilberforce’s doctor

Nurse Susan: A nurse employed by Doctor Holman to attend Wilberforce following an episode of over-consumption of wine.

Andy: Finance Director of software company – Wilberforce Software Solutions, now Bayleaf UK - that Wilberforce previously owned.

Ed Hartlepool: a gentleman who Wilberforce had once been very close to.

Christopher Templeton: Stockbroker to Wilberforce.

Ed Simmons, Eck Chetwode-Talbot, Annabel Gazebee – former friends of Wilberforce. Eck Chetwode-Tabot and Ed Simmons had appeared in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Catherine had at one point nearly married Ed Simmons. Eck is Francis Black’s godson. Eck is former army.

Places

Les Tripes de Normandie: Restaurant that Wilberforce enters at the start of the novel.

Half Moon Street flat: Wilberforce’s abode. Purchased original for both him and Catherine.

Caerlyon Hall: Formerly Francis Black’s premises. Purchased by Wilberforce from the executors of Black’s estate. Leased partly to Gateshead County Council as a Community Outreach Centre.

References

Alice inWonderland: Wilberforce records sighting Black’s sign – Francis Black: Fine Bordeaux Wines - for the first time and suggests that the sign was a similar temptation as the bottle labelled “DRINK ME” was to Alice.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Book title: The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce, A Novel in Four Vintages, 2008, paperback, 308 pages. Found at a street library in Sydney Town Hall. Dropped to street library with Nibu Cafe, Lane Cove. 

This page links from my Goodreads account.

[443 words] #book #reading #read 

Review, 'The Art of Belonging'

The Art of Belonging was the third of Hugh Mackay's books that I have read.

The Art of Belonging has a focus on people's lives within community. It is a celebration of all things good about community. It also considers some of the traps of living in tightly knitted urban areas.

Image credit: from publisher's website

The book is a mix of fact (statistics) and fictionalised account. The fictionalised account identifies the people of a town and their relationships; the town is called Southwood.

I found the mix of fact and fiction quite annoying at times. Pastor Jim was a particularly annoying character. Pastor Jim almost seemed to have a quality about him that you'd expect of a character in the long-running cartoon; The Simpsons. That Pastor Jim's wife left him to hook-up with a church musician was a tad too ordinary.

The best chapter is the one pertaining to electronic community. I admire Mackay for recognising that the world of social media is one that is yet to mature. It is a world for which we have all grasped the benefits without understanding the costs. I particularly like this quote - it seems reflective of the whole of the chapter on electronic community:

"You have five hundred Facebook 'friends'? 

That simply means you've redefined 'friend'

 to make it something like 'a contact I exchange data with'" 

page 190

This book was among the collection at an aged care facility in Sydney's West. It was a rarity in a library that was dominated by books of Fredrick Forsyth, John Grisham, and Bryce Courtenay. A thrift shop sticker suggested that it last traded at the princely sum of AUD2.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

The book’s full title is: The Art of Belonging; Mackay, Hugh; 2014, Macmillan Education Australia. Paperback, 288 pages

[251 words] #book #reading #read #readAustralian

Lost pet?

We've had a daily visitor since the day of the Federal Election. His preferred treat is a walnut. Very tame and friendly. He is wise to arriving of a morning once our blind has been lifted up.

Dressed fresh each morning in fashionable white. Wears a fascinator that would be the envy of ladies on Melbourne Cup Day. Has a sharp jaw that is capable of breaking human skin.

Is anyone missing a pet?

He is a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

Shalom,
Ozhamada

#cockatoo #ExoticBird #bird #parrot #wildlife #australianwildlife #fauna #nature

Dad joke - sign in bathroom

Do you know? Fifteen hours later I had finished re-tiling:

Shalom,
Ozhamada

#dadjoke

Mindarie Park, Lane Cove North

Be honest now – who is not a sucker for free coffee?

Coffee was on this morning at the opening of Mindarie Park, Lane Cove North.  Mocha was my chosen brew and it was very fine too. And, cupcakes and fruit and the odd speech ado.

The rain held off long enough for a crowd of about 150 people to enjoy the wonderful park and play equipment. It is a credit to all involved in the project in that it is an all-inclusive park suitable to all abilities and all ages.

The parked is fenced and well landscaped. The fencing will make the park a destination of choice for toddler parties. The park includes public bathrooms, an elders set of tactile sporting equipment and an electric barbecue. Two stages of the park are yet to open. The park is a welcome relief from the explosion of high-rise apartment growth that has been a recent feature of the vicinity.

It was an all celebrity affair with the Lane Cove Mayor in attendance, the State Member for Lane Cove and various Lane Cove Council Councillors, manager and staff. I was pleased to see Mrs ITC (visible in the first photograph above) dressed in her finest and sporting a very modern piece of technology that allowed her to film the affair.

All the fine speeches aside, I nonetheless felt that the tall trees and green surrounds called for a different opening speech. The satirical Monty Python crew knew best - this speech would have completed the opening:

"This here's the wattle,

the emblem of our land,

You can stick it in a bottle,

you can hold it in your hand."

The only downside to this park is the amount of available parking. I don’t suspect that such lack will be an issue for immediate locals; however, it may be a hindrance to people attending as party groups.

It is a great pleasure to be part of a municipality that is opening new facilities. I hope that Mindarie Park brings much pleasure to everyone that uses it.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

[330 words] #inthecove #park #opening #anthonyroberts #lanecovecouncil #lanecove

Review of book: Wild at Heart

I had a hard time with this book. On struggling through the early chapters, I was ready to put the book down. It was of risk of addition to those books that I did not finish. In persisting, the book revealed some good elements.

The biggest issue I had with it was a lack of depth of development of the central notion central of the book – that the author had not satisfactorily identified men as ‘wild at heart’.

Then there was the author’s selection of Biblical text – a mix from worthy versions like NIV and NKJV and then from the paraphrased work of The Message. Why can’t a single Bible version be chosen? On choosing a Bible version could it be used consistently?

I felt that the author did some discredit to his argument that men were wild at heart. It is one thing to build the argument using positive measures (which included some good Biblical exposition) yet it is another to try to build the argument in the negative – by making some glib references to men’s dissatisfaction of being tied daily to a work desk. 

The book does have some very worthy parts. In Chapter Nine, set well within an structured argument, is this gem:

“Against the flesh, the traitor within, a warrior uses discipline. We have a two-dimensional version of this now, which we call a “quiet time”. But most men have a hard time sustaining any sort of devotional life because it has no vital connection to recovering and protecting their strength; it feels about as important as flossing. But if you saw your life as a great battle and you knew you needed time with God for your very survival, you would do it.”

That quote is a gem in that it aptly uses analogy and in its recognition of the Christian walk as a spiritual battle. The analogy matches “quiet time” to flossing – men need complete both and yet they both seem laborious. The general perception is that they both pay poorly on the effort/reward spectrum. The spiritual battle identifies with God’s daily provision to a Christian to allow endurance in the battle. And, note how the author identifies “quiet time” as two-dimensional as a means of alluding to the day when Christian comes into Christ’s glory to enjoy devotional time of three or four or more dimensions.

In developing the argument through to the quote listed above, I appreciate how the author recognised the distinction between justification and sanctification. On receiving Christ into your life justification is offered fully. Sanctification is not offered fully at first. Where justification is instant and complete, sanctification is gradual and never fulfilled in this life. The author identifies the gradualness of sanctification to the Old Testament – a parallel to the story of taking the promised land and sustaining control of it. So, Joshua’s conquest of Jericho is likened to sanctification in that God had required that the people fight for possession of their land. King David’s reign is likened to  sanctification in that David had to exercise, and maintain, disciplined systems (systems of justice and economics and security).

Overall, I was glad I persisted through the whole of the book.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

The book’s full title is: Wild at Heart; Discovering the secret of a man’s soul; Elderedge, John; 2001, Thomson Nelson, Inc. Paperback, 220 pages

[532 words] #jesus #heisrisen #book #reading #read #wildatheart #bible #life