Literary Christmas presents: Hannah Kent on The Stupid Country
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Version 0 of 1. <strong>Which Australian book would you give as a gift, and to whom?</strong> Given recent events, I would give a copy of The Stupid Country: How Australia Is Dismantling Public Education by Jane Caro and Chris Bonnor to Christopher Pyne. <strong>Why this book?</strong> I was completely dismayed when it looked as though the federal government was going to renege on the Gonski reforms, and it made me think of this book. Most of my family works in education. My mother has been a primary school principal for many years, and growing up I was continually being told why it is important for a country to have a really strong state education system. The Gonski report indicated what people working in public education had known for some time – that the current government funding model is not equitable, and will have quite grievous consequences for Australia: everything from economic to social to class ramifications. The report put into writing things that people – including my family – had been really concerned about. The Stupid Country was published in 2007 – but for Pyne to even consider refuting the Gonski agreement makes me think that he didn’t read this book, and that he probably should. <strong>What was it you enjoyed about the book?</strong> It explains how Australia got into a situation where we have an unfair funding model, how that came about through various political decisions which were always about other issues – largely to secure power and favour with voters – and explores the long-term consequences of an inequitable, “broken” funding system that advantages private schools to the detriment of public schools. I’m very proudly public-school educated. Perhaps because of my age, when I speak at events, people ask me about my childhood and teenage years, and nearly everyone has assumed that I am private-school educated. I think that indicates the sort of lingering prejudices and stereotypes around public education. This book explores those prejudices that Australian society has. <strong>What is the best book you ever received as a gift, and why was it special to you?</strong> I once had a woman give me a whole box of Enid Blyton books, although it wasn’t really a gift. She was going to dump them and I asked if I could have them instead! Some were a bit mouldy because they had been sitting in her garage. I remember walking home with this crate of books, delirious with happiness that these books were all mine and I had saved them from a horrible fate. It led to my huge love of Blyton as a kid. For my 21st birthday, my aunt gave me a first edition 1940 publication of WH Auden’s Some Poems. It’s a slender little volume, very plain looking. Auden is one of my great loves, and to have a book that is so old and so precious is very special. This is a book that I completely revere. Reading it intimidates me slightly, just because – as a first edition – it seems so direct from the author himself. There is a poem in that volume that I found latterly, A Journey to Iceland from his Letters from Iceland. I can’t remember reading it when I was 21 and received the book, but I found it when I started writing Burial Rites. It was lovely to look back and see something was there all along and undoubtedly informed my thinking. • Hannah Kent is the author of Burial Rites, shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |