Greetings from steamy Brisvegas! Christmas is just around
the corner and I am in denial when it comes to writing cards and buying
presents. What do I do when I’m in
denial? I read.
Speaking of presents, you could do worse than buy a couple
of copies of Born to Rule by Paddy Manning for all those “difficult-to-buy-for” friends and relations who like to
bury themselves in a good book whilst trying to digest their Christmas
dinner. It was published in late October this year so is still relatively hot off the press.
I leaped at the chance to read another political
biography. The last one I read was
probably The Making of Julia Gillard. I found it fascinating back in 2010 which is such a long time ago, in political terms. We joke in Australia that it is unfair to ask a newbie to our country or a patient in the Emergency
Dept “Who is the Prime Minister?” After all, we’ve had quite a few in the past
five years – four to be precise. Like
Julia Gillard, Malcolm Turnbull was not elected by popular vote.
How long will he last, I wonder?
This
ABC online article asserts there have been no less than 11 Prime
Ministers who came to office other than by popular vote. Malcolm
Turnbull is Australia’s 29th Prime Minister. That’s an average of one in three or even
less, yes? And yet we all get in a bit
of a bother about it, as if it is something extraordinary.
I feel obliged to note that this is an un-authorised
biography. Is that a good or a bad
thing? I wonder to myself. I feel slightly naughty reading it. After all, it might not be true. But, in this day and age of the internet, what
does “authorised” mean??? Does it make
it any less authentic? Or does it just
mean that Mr Turnbull hasn’t put his imprimatur on it? And does that matter? At any rate, I haven’t heard of Paddy Manning
being sued yet, so it mustn’t be too bad.
Or maybe Mr Turnbull is a bit too busy running the country to be bothered
about such things. Good.
Yes, of course, I am being facetious. And yes, this is important to read, don’t you
think? Don’t you want to know who is
running the country? I do.
Some may find Manning’s structure rather old-fashioned. It’s very linear for a start. For an old fashioned girl like me, this is sheer
bliss. Non-linear stories are great for
fiction when you are trying to obfuscate the reader (readers are so damn
sophisticated these days) but for a country bumpkin like me, who has given up
on reading newspapers and nowadays seems to get her news from Facebook (which
is appalling but no more appalling than most of this country’s press), this was
a refreshing digest of all the significant issues/battles that Turnbull has
faced over the years. There was even a
bit of family history thrown in at the beginning which really made my day. If I think about it I am sure my ancestors came out on the Coromandel too…six degrees of separation and all that. At any rate, the author's style is
rather engrossing and I found that I had polished off the book in a matter of
days.
Manning’s credits are exemplary. He obtained first class Honours in History at Sydney University and has written for Crikey.com.au, the ABC, The Australian Financial Review, The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald. The book is well sourced and there are over twenty pages of notes for those that want to check them. The acknowledgements in the Malcolm and Me chapter are well worth reading, particularly the reference to Sydney Grammar Archives which provided this reader with a good giggle if not some consternation.
In closing, I am ashamed to admit how little I knew about Malcolm Turnbull and his many varied careers, causes and contacts over the years. I shall watch his future with great interest. Not to mention, that of Paddy Manning. My thanks again to NetGalley and the Publisher, Melbourne University Publishing for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
