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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The invasion of East Timor, the sinking of the Titanic, Freud's encounter with an "imbecile dwarf," astronomy, pregnancy, Tiananmen Square, a remote Aboriginal community: these historical episodes and narratives inspire the fourteen superb and engaging short stories in The House of Breathing, winner of four major Australian literary prizes. Concerned with the extremes of human experience, Jones's stories give fictional form to a wide range of philosophical concerns: cultural imperialism, political and sexual repression, the impact of modern technology on culture and consciousness.'
Source: Publisher's blurb (US ed.)
Notes
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Also available in sound recording format.
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Some sources mention a Czech translation of this work but none has been traced.
Contents
- Modernity, single work short story (p. 11-19)
- The Astronomer Tells of Her Love, single work short story (p. 20-27)
- Other Places, single work short story (p. 28-51)
- The Precision of Angels, single work short story (p. 52-56)
- Dark Times, single work short story (p. 57-68)
- The Word `Ruby', single work short story (p. 69-76)
- `Life Probably Saved by Imbecile Dwarf', single work short story (p. 77-84)
- Veronica, single work short story (p. 85-93)
- Babies, single work short story (p. 94-104)
- On the Piteous Death of Mary Wollstonecraft, single work short story (p. 105-120)
- Knowledge, single work short story (p. 121-129)
- Touching Tiananmen, single work short story (p. 130-139)
- These Eyes, single work short story (p. 140-147)
- The House of Breathing, single work short story (p. 148-157)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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From Innocent to Evil: The Representation of the Child in the Works of Gail Jones
2013
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , June vol. 58 no. 1 2013; (p. 126-147) -
Breathing Under Water : A Ficto-Critical Response to Gail Jones’s “The House of Breathing”
2013
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the Short Story in English=Les Cahiers de La Nouvelle , Autumn no. 61 2013; (p. 129-143)'This ficto-critical response to “The House of Breathing” comprises an exploration of the hyphen between one world and another, and a reading of one writer’s fictional reincarnation of the forever sunken Titanic juxtaposed with my own writerly reading of drowning and its concomitant presence in transatlantic discourse, brought together by the narrative of haunting itself. Australian writer Gail Jones’s short story incites this analysis but also demands that as a Canadian critic/writer investigating Jones’s story, I must provide an inter-textual narrative that takes up the necessity of reincarnating an individual crossing and its private reverberation within the larger metanarrative of immigration. This is not a conventional paper, but a recuperation of haunting, and a re-haunting of migration’s intricate outcome. This ficto-critique partakes of a crossing and hyphenated crossover, and in the process, unpacks how fictions of modernity have learned to breathe under water instead of drowning.' (Introduction)
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Gail Jones' "Light Writing": Memory and the Photo-graph
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 5 2006; (p. 192-208) 'This article traces Jones's interest in photography/film and the ways in which metaphors of light, shadow and mirroring shape narratives.' (p.192) -
Refabricating the Unfashionable Real
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 15 no. 1 2001; (p. 48-49)
— Review of The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story -
[Review] The House of Breathing
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: World Literature Today , Spring vol. 75 no. 2 2001; (p. 313)
— Review of The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story
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[Review] The House of Breathing
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , February/March vol. 8 no. 2 & 3 1993; (p. 15-16)
— Review of The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story -
Language, the Instrument of Fiction
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: Southerly , December vol. 53 no. 4 1993; (p. 174-182)
— Review of The Toucher 1993 single work novel ; The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story ; The Seal Woman 1992 single work novel -
Change of Voice and of Place
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22 August 1992; (p. 42)
— Review of Passion 1992 selected work short story ; The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story ; Jumping at the Moon 1992 selected work short story ; Australian Short Stories 1982 periodical (66 issues) -
Forecasts
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , May vol. 71 no. 1026 1992; (p. 22)
— Review of The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story -
Uneven Ground Worth Crossing
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July no. 142 1992; (p. 16-17)
— Review of The House of Breathing 1992 selected work short story -
Gail Jones' "Light Writing": Memory and the Photo-graph
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 5 2006; (p. 192-208) 'This article traces Jones's interest in photography/film and the ways in which metaphors of light, shadow and mirroring shape narratives.' (p.192) -
Taking Breath : Talking with Gail Jones
1993
single work
criticism
interview
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 149 1993; (p. 28) -
Imaginative Excursions
Peter Holland
,
Pippa Tandy
,
1993
single work
interview
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , December 1992 and vol. 8 no. 1 January vol. 7 no. 12 1993; (p. 4-7) -
Warana's Different Direction
1993
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9-10 October 1993; (p. rev 8) -
Jolley's View of Life is a Winner
1993
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The West Australian , 19 November 1993; (p. 1)
Awards
- 1993 winner Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Fiction Award
- 1993 winner Warana Writers' Awards — Steele Rudd Award
- 1992 joint winner The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — Barbara Ramsden Award
- 1991 winner T. A. G. Hungerford Award