Pierre Ryckmans - also known by his nom-de-plume, Simon Leys - was an inspirational teacher, the bête-noire of sinology and an outspoken public intellectual. A new biography tells his story.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Book reviews
Displaying 461 - 480 of 533 articles
The history of the library is replete with mechanical marvels. More than collections of books, libraries are social, cultural and technological institutions that house the very idea of a society.
Paula Modersohn-Becker painted female nudes unlike anything seen before. A new book brings to life this groundbreaking artist, who died at just 31.
A new book on puberty has explored why we find it so difficult to talk about puberty, and why we need to start talking about it earlier.
Author Kate Cole-Adams delves into fascinating questions about consciousness and self.
What future the Great Barrier Reef? What future energy policy? Two new publications on the ongoing battles of climate politics deserve close attention.
Donald Horne saw Australia as a lucky country that was squandering its luck. His bold ideas captured the nation’s imagination. But being a public intellectual is no longer easy. Who will come up with the next grand ideas?
Tom Nichols’ book The Death of Expertise examines why the relationship between experts and citizens in a democracy is collapsing, and what can be done about it.
There are several ways into the book Shaping the Fractured Self: poetry of chronic illness and pain, edited by Heather Taylor Johnson. And there are many uses it might serve in the multiple worlds of poetry…
Leo Zeilig’s novel features a superbly crafted cast of characters. It’s a page turner for readers interested in the profound questions of radical politics and humanity.
The lovers at the centre of The Green Bell - its author, Paula Keogh, and that passing meteor of Australian poetry, Michael Dransfield - met in the psychiatric unit of Canberra Hospital.
A researcher on sea level rise and climate change impacts reviews Kim Stanley Robinson’s new novel, ‘New York 2140,’ which envisions the city’s future in the face of extreme sea-level rise.
Surely only a weirdo wouldn’t enjoy the smell of flowers and pine forests? But as Kate Grenville writes in her latest book, fragrance causes untold misery to many of us.
Thomas Barlow is more used to writing factual reports on science innovation, so his first novel gives an entertaining insight into the science community.
Even ‘madmen’ have their motives for fighting.
Enough with the charming, naughty funny-guy rants. There are too many in a new anthology of Australian comedy writing – and women display a superior comic imagination.
From poetry to factual narratives and personal memoirs, these books are worth reading.
A new book explores some of the big questions of why the universe exists and why it seems fine-tuned for life.
A tone of bitter disillusionment dominates the book, which combines self-deprecating anecdotes with reflections on the unique strangeness of policing a post-apartheid South African city.
Scorn has a long and humorous history. But a new book on the subject, featuring quotes from Kanye West, Christopher Hitchens and of course, Donald Trump, rather lacks contemporary wit.
Top contributors
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Executive Dean (interim) Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
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Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia
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Professor, Chair of Australian Literature, The University of Western Australia
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Adjunct professor, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Professor of English Literature, University of Southern Queensland
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Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne
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Matthew Ricketson is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Communication, Deakin University
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PhD Candidate, School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Psychology, The University of Melbourne
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Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University
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VC Fellow, La Trobe University
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Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University
