Culture

Documentary (103 minutes) Flying Carpet Films 2007 Seven years ago 400 people set out on a boat bound for the Australian coast but only seven made it. Steve Thomas’ moving documentary Hope is the story of asylum seeker Amal Basry. Amal had watched The Titanic at a cinema in Baghdad the night before she fled Iraq. 18 months later the ...

Rated M, 103 minutes Written and directed by Thomas McCarthy (who also did the excellent 2003 film, The Station Agent), The Visitor explores the questions of who belongs and where does my world begin and end. The story is about a bereaved academic called Walter (played by Richard Jenkins) who visits New York to present a conference paper he has ...

Strand Publishing 2005 RRP: $19.95 I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just a little Unwell is the poignant story of one man’s agonizing journey through Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Leigh Hatcher, a well-known television journalist, likened this life-changing interval to groping in a hostile wilderness. He was dealing with a two-headed monster: the debilitating physical symptoms forced him to face his own mortality, ...

Musical (2008) Not all readers will be familiar with the Indooroopilly Uniting Church congregation’s reputation for staging original musicals. The tradition dates back decades, at least as far as Noah, Build a Boat! The Call is the latest production, written and directed by Tony Pitman. The musical director was Rev David MacGregor who wrote the songs along with Naomi Matheson, ...

Simon & Schuster (2008) RRP $29.95 If the title gets you in, you won’t be disappointed. Joe Bennett is a travel writer from New Zealand and a very clever bloke. His previous books include Love, Death, Washing-Up, etc and Fun Run and Other Oxymorons. Mr Bennett always chooses interesting destinations, in this case China, but the hook is how he ...

Seabury books (2007) RRP $24.95 Organic prayer is defined by the author as “a metaphor both for my contemplation of God and for my attempt to live in harmony with God’s creation”. Living in harmony with God’s creation proved to be the author’s attempt to listen, feel, touch, see the rhythm of an aspect of creation, learn from it, and, ...

(CD) Sony BMG / Essential Records (2008) RRP $21.95 Third Day is one of seemingly few American Christian bands trying to explore the eddies and edges of mainstream Christian faith expression. Musically Revelation is largely what you’d expect from Third Day: thought provoking lyrics and punchy rock and roll typified in ‘Slow Down’. This reviewer thought he heard the band ...

Monarch Books USA (2008) RRP $21.95 This well-known author gives us another glimpse into her own spiritual journey, this time through the books of Lamentations and Jeremiah the prophet. Sometimes called “the weeping prophet”, Ms Briscoe relates for us how Jeremiah’s words of faith help us to face tough times such as bereavement, retirement, redundancy or any other tragedy which ...

Text Publishing (2008) RRP $29.95   The Spare Room is quite unforgettable. Described as Helen Garner’s ‘first work of fiction in 15 years’, The Spare Room is part memoir, part psychological thriller. It describes three weeks in Helen’s life in suburban Melbourne, during which she takes in her Sydney friend Nicola who is dying from cancer. Nicola seems to be ...

Authentic Media RRP $13.95 It is always good to read a book that demands we ‘walk the talk’. The hard part is what follows; the application bit. Dave Andrews’ authority comes from years of walking the talk both locally and internationally. It’s why his new book Plan Be on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) rings so true. It’s why his thoughts ...