Christy Collins
Auteur de The End of Seeing
A propos de l'auteur
Christy Collins is the author of The End of Seeing which won one of three 2015 Seizure Viva La Novella competition awards. The monetary award for this distinction is $1,000 each. (Bowker Author Biography)
Œuvres de Christy Collins
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
Il n’existe pas encore de données Common Knowledge pour cet auteur. Vous pouvez aider.
Membres
Critiques
At the end of my review of Christy Collins' prize-winning novella, The End of Seeing, I wrote:
That awareness of our wider world is also woven into Christy Collins' new release, The Price of Two Sparrows. From the migratory birds winging their way across the world to coastal Sydney, to research projects that span the globe, to suburbs comprising people of diverse cultural and ethnic origins, the complexity and inter-relatedness of modern society is the bedrock of a novel which has as its theme, humanity vs the environment.
I liked it because it shows the complexity of conflicts which are often depicted in simplistic ways in the media. I also liked the authenticity of the moment when the reader realises that, no matter how the author resolves the situation, there are no winners. The Judgement of Solomon, remember, still left one mother heartbroken.
Powerful, empathetic characterisation shows that sometimes when people are challenged over issues about which they feel strongly, they react defensively and dig themselves into entrenched positions. It shows that these conflicts generate stress and tension that spill over into other aspects of the participants' lives — marriage, work, social life.
And although there are multiple perspectives about the issue, the narration privileges two voices: one with power because he has authority, knowledge and familiarity with the processes of decision-making; and one who is disempowered because her language difficulties and cultural position prevent her from voicing her perspective in public. The irony is that it's the latter who has certainty about her position, while he is conflicted.
Set in coastal Sydney, the story revolves around a proposed development on land adjacent to a nature reserve for protected birds. Heico Brandsma is a Dutch ornithologist who sees his stand against the development as his one chance to make a difference. Bogged down by bureaucracy in his public service job in conservation, frustrated by the endless reports and funding submissions and office politics, he finds that the only time he feels solace is when he's out in the field with the birds that are the focus of his life's work. He does not want anything to risk their survival. Nobody involved in the interminable council decision-making process seems to understand that birds are not creatures that behave in routine, predictable ways. He's worried that some aspects of the development will compromise the birds' flight paths or breeding habits, enough to affect their ultimate survival as a species.
So when a journalist asks him for comment about the development without mentioning what it is, he provides, on an impulse, a misleading graphic of a data set, so that without a caption, it implies that there are many more migratory birds than there really are. He has no idea that he will soon be enlisted as spokesman in a campaign against the building, the objections masquerading as bird-friendly environmentalism.
Is this morally dubious? Well, if the reader at this stage is like Heico, envisaging an apartment block of questionable architectural or social merit or a commercial building of some sort, it may seem that Heico's deception is for the greater good. But Christy Collins hasn't made it as easy as that.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/01/29/the-price-of-two-sparrows-by-christy-collins...… (plus d'informations)
There is a big picture in this exquisite story, one that shows an author with an all-too-rare awareness of our wider world.
That awareness of our wider world is also woven into Christy Collins' new release, The Price of Two Sparrows. From the migratory birds winging their way across the world to coastal Sydney, to research projects that span the globe, to suburbs comprising people of diverse cultural and ethnic origins, the complexity and inter-relatedness of modern society is the bedrock of a novel which has as its theme, humanity vs the environment.
I liked it because it shows the complexity of conflicts which are often depicted in simplistic ways in the media. I also liked the authenticity of the moment when the reader realises that, no matter how the author resolves the situation, there are no winners. The Judgement of Solomon, remember, still left one mother heartbroken.
Powerful, empathetic characterisation shows that sometimes when people are challenged over issues about which they feel strongly, they react defensively and dig themselves into entrenched positions. It shows that these conflicts generate stress and tension that spill over into other aspects of the participants' lives — marriage, work, social life.
And although there are multiple perspectives about the issue, the narration privileges two voices: one with power because he has authority, knowledge and familiarity with the processes of decision-making; and one who is disempowered because her language difficulties and cultural position prevent her from voicing her perspective in public. The irony is that it's the latter who has certainty about her position, while he is conflicted.
Set in coastal Sydney, the story revolves around a proposed development on land adjacent to a nature reserve for protected birds. Heico Brandsma is a Dutch ornithologist who sees his stand against the development as his one chance to make a difference. Bogged down by bureaucracy in his public service job in conservation, frustrated by the endless reports and funding submissions and office politics, he finds that the only time he feels solace is when he's out in the field with the birds that are the focus of his life's work. He does not want anything to risk their survival. Nobody involved in the interminable council decision-making process seems to understand that birds are not creatures that behave in routine, predictable ways. He's worried that some aspects of the development will compromise the birds' flight paths or breeding habits, enough to affect their ultimate survival as a species.
So when a journalist asks him for comment about the development without mentioning what it is, he provides, on an impulse, a misleading graphic of a data set, so that without a caption, it implies that there are many more migratory birds than there really are. He has no idea that he will soon be enlisted as spokesman in a campaign against the building, the objections masquerading as bird-friendly environmentalism.
Is this morally dubious? Well, if the reader at this stage is like Heico, envisaging an apartment block of questionable architectural or social merit or a commercial building of some sort, it may seem that Heico's deception is for the greater good. But Christy Collins hasn't made it as easy as that.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/01/29/the-price-of-two-sparrows-by-christy-collins...… (plus d'informations)
Prix et récompenses
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 2
- Membres
- 11
- Popularité
- #857,862
- Évaluation
- 4.1
- Critiques
- 2
- ISBN
- 9
In The Price of Two Sparrows, Collins depicts historical (and societal) context and progression with lists of actual news headlines of the time at the start of chapters, and then swiftly eschews these for intimate first-person narrative viewpoints, authentically flawed moments and introspection. The juxtaposition is striking and the opportunity to walk in another’s shoes highly thought-provoking. Continue reading >> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2021/02/the-price-of-two-sparrows-by-christ...… (plus d'informations)