Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: river

  • Everything is Water

    Everything is Water

    Having grown up by a river in Queensland and having spent many happy hours as a boy exploring this environment, it is no wonder that Simon Cleary felt the call of the water. He realizes that his desire is to walk the length of the river from its source to its mouth, to learn all he can and experience its many changes.  The Brisbane River has been in his dreams for a long time, until, after much planning he sets off.

    Because there is no visible path along the length of the River, Simon realises that he will need help to make the walk take shape. He is joined by a Jagera man working to preserve cultural heritage, a professor who specialises in sustainable water, a naturalist brother, his sister and a son.

    He was also joined by a Flood engineer and a journalist. In this way he would gain fresh perspectives about the river and uncover more mysteries about it and the surrounds. Some sections of the river would need to be travelled by canoe.

    Each day at the end of the walk, Simon carefully noted all that he had seen. He also included stories that the Jagera man told him and information from the other members of the group. He describes the wonderful feeling of lying back at night to the sounds of the river and looking at the vast sky above.

    At first the travel is relatively simple, but as the group gets closer to the mouth of the river many obstacles block their path. They backtrack often.

    Everything is Water is a journey of wonder and thrilling moments which concludes with the disappearance of the river into the ocean. This is truly a joyous story and one that will inspire and fascinate lovers of water.

  • Where The River Takes Us

    Where The River Takes Us

    The illustrations on the front cover of Where The River Takes Us are reminiscent of an Enid Blyton novel. Indeed, the characters themselves mention the “Famous Five,” at one place.

    Set in Wales, this story begins by showing two brothers, who have lost their parents, trying to stay together in their home. The younger brother, Jason, knows that Richie, the older sibling is trying his hardest to keep the house and their routine going. Money is very short, and the boys don’t ask for help.

    They have friends who decide to help them go on an adventure to photograph a wild cat which has been spotted in the hills. Richie has become involved with undesirable types to earn some money and so Jason and his friends set off, but sadly their mission fails with the difficulties and troubles begin to pile up.

    Throughout the story a few Welsh words have been included. The theme of friendship is strong throughout the story and brothers supporting each other is noticeable. A fierce loyalty and determination is shown by the children, and surprises continue to confront them.

    Each of the chapters has an illustration at the head of the page with the story an easy read for older children.

  • The Music of the Wounaan

    The Music of the Wounaan

     Music of the Wounaan is a fascinating musical journey back in time and history to the 1970’s when Hoyt Binders father Ron, recorded the melodies and vocals for the music that has been brought into the 21st Century with the skillful addition of guitar, flute, bass, keyboards and percussion to create a delicately poised collection of pieces laced with charm and appeal.

     Introducing both the music and the culture of the Wounaan is This is my path, featuring the tonal voice of a woman as she sings her way through her journey along a pathway. Interesting and definitely different there is an almost multicultural overlay to words and the measured rhythm.

    A delightful instrumental piece The Gathering showcases the soft influence of the modern instruments, when combined with traditional music that stretches back before the 16th Century, seldom herd beyond the area the Wounaan still inhabit today.

    As a tribal culture these semi nomadic people, the Wounaan, live along the waterways, using them as their highways and byways, still living a largely traditional lifestyle. They are recognized by the Government of Panama and live quietly in the Darien rainforests. How long this can continue is unknown, as the sadly modern world encroaches on all aspects of today’s world.

    A Small Rainfall is an up-tempo piece, the original vocal recording interspersed with a strong guitar introduction backed with percussion, once again featuring the tonal vocals of a woman, before the flute joins in adding a delicate melody.  

    Modern and traditional sounds come together seamlessly in Flight of the Vultures creating a rather intriguing combination of sound. Modern in extreme, the eerie sounds of keyboards, flute and guitar brings immediately to mind these large birds of prey circling, watching and waiting.

    Oh Creator, a delicate and beautiful piecebrings a most enjoyable collection to a conclusion with some intricate guitar work, the haunting melodies of the flute, and delicate backing.

    All songs on The Music of the Wounaan are traditional, written by the Wounaan: the melodies have been inspired by the spirit of the river with improvised and traditional lyrics, arranged by Hoyt Binder. This collection has been a work of love from Hoyt Binder; for him also a time of returning to his childhood when he grew up in Panama with the Wounaan people.

  • A River Divided

    A River Divided

    A River Divided is such an unusual story. If you were to compare it to films, it would be a cross between Indiana Jones, the Da Vinci code, The Clones, and a David Attenborough documentary. If you think this sounds bizarre then you have the right image. George Paxinos is a renowned Neuroscientist, who specializes in understanding different areas of the brain. He took twenty-one years to complete this, his first novel. There are many themes and ideas presented here for the reader to ponder over.

    The main characters in the story are Evelyn, a geneticist and amateur archaeologist, and Michael, a gynaecologist, and her lover. The story is told in three parts. The couple are holidaying in Israel when Evelyn makes an extraordinary discovery. She and Michael remove some of the find and bring it home to Australia. Later, a son is born to Evelyn. He has an identical twin who was born in Brazil. Christopher is raised in Sydney in an affluent home, while his brother Jose is raised by a single woman who loves him dearly but struggles to make ends meet.

    It is interesting to follow the development of these young men as they pursue their careers. Both are passionate, religious, and caring. When Christopher wins a job which takes him to Brazil, he cannot help but to encounter his identical brother as they both support diametrically opposed attitudes. Jose is desperate to save the Amazon Forest and Christian has joined a company who wish to expand logging there.

    There is a discussion in which Jose suggests that humans have the wrong size brain. If it were larger then we would understand the value of nature, and if it were smaller, we wouldn’t have the technology to destroy it.

    A River Divided is not a light read nor one to read as a sceptic. It is about “This generation creating the conditions for the extinction of its progeny”.

  • Where the River Runs

    Where the River Runs

    If you are looking for the perfect excuse to take a lazy day out, the latest outback fiction from Fleur McDonald, Where the River Runs, is the prefect way to have a heart-warming hour or two to simply recharge before a new week begins.

    Family secrets have a way of eventually resurfacing to confront the present-day members of any family. When a skeleton of a male and small baby is discovered on the family property, Shandona, a property that had been farmed by Chelsea’s family for several generations, questions need to be asked about who they are and how they came to be buried there.

    Chelsea has returned to Shandona after a long absence, to spend the Christmas period with her estranged father, in an attempt to find out what went so terribly wrong after the death of her mother. Her daughter Aria is with her, the light of her life, her anchor when times have been difficult, but a child also needing a stable future, something that is causing Chelsea many worried moments.

    Dave Burrow’s, local copper, had been called in to investigate the cause of the death, or to try and discover at the very least, who these people where. He has just been informed his brother in Perth has been badly injured in a farming accident, a situation which brings a up many bitter memories of his past, which he eventually begins to realise will also need to be faced before time old rifts can be healed.

    Farmhand Cal, the man who her father has come to depend upon to run the property, seems to have already judged Chelsea on the small amount of information available to him, is brusque, unhelpful and remote.

    As Chelsea settles into the slower pace of rural life in a drought stricken, blistering hot South Australian summer, the wounds of the past begin to heal, but not without some serious, honest soul searching from Chelsea as to how her career as a world acclaimed concert pianist, could have crumble and failed so spectacularly.

    Several threads of the story come together to form a common theme and provide a pathway forward as truths, no matter how hurtful need to be faced, and the secrets of the past slowly begin to emerge from the diaries of her beloved grandfather.

    It is not until her father Tom fails to return home on Christmas night, after checking the water bores for the stock, clarity finally emerges to draw a line under the past and begin anew.

    Strong women, rural life and the social cohesiveness of small towns are integral components of Fleur McDonalds rural stories. In Where the River Runs people known and loved by her readers are meet again, continuing a connection with old friends and new.

    Once again, a fantastic, entertaining and enjoyable read.

  • River

    River

    River by Don Latarski is a Suite of pieces that take a River from creation in the clouds above, delivering life giving rain to its journey across the lands to culmination at the ocean; the completion  of the circle, only to be absorbed once again, returned to the beginning.

    Part I of the River Suite, Into the Clouds is a lovely reflective, gentle piece on acoustic guitar that allows the mind and soul to settle into a peaceful place: to begin the journey of reflection and contemplation, of being soothed as is often the case when spending time by the water. Gravity brings the power of the elements into the piece to create the beginning of the water source.

    And so the journey begins; each of the pieces perfectly painting the journey of the stream, which snakes its way in a Serpentine manner towards a creek, eventually forming into a river full of eddy’s,  with an Undercurrent formed on its March to the Sea.

    A period of calm, as created in Eddify, is required, enticing the journeyman into a false sense of placid, but allowing time for Reflections and contemplation, a mood which changes as the flow increases in momentum, as the river moves ever closer to The Falls, a place where the water cascades down in a rich torrent of awe and power to pick up the pace to journeys end; to come Full Circle.

    The River Suite is something very special as the work has been created for solo acoustic guitar which is absolutely fitting and is perfect medium to capture the many and varied moods of a river, which in turn can be peaceful, refreshing, rough, boisterous, fearsome and layered with texture and sound.

    The final three tracks showcase a wider aspect of Latarskis’ style, with Tough By Nature a cheerful, jaunty piece that brings a lovely element of the outdoors within, whereas Fall From Place, a slower far more methodical, finger picking, composition is almost hypnotic in is singular beauty.

    Bently , the longest track, running for 11:49 secs, encapsulates all that is nature, the beauty and the very freedom to be found, drawing to a conclusion a most peaceful and sensuous journey  which gathers a free ranging collection of pieces, as does a river and ushers them into a vibrant, and glorious ‘gift back to nature.’

    Better known for his Jazz and Blues work, Latarski has combined all of his talents in this, his first venture into New Age music, encouraged by his many journeys into nature as a photographer, kayaker and hiker.

    Magnificent and majestic, River is an album that leaves the gentle ambience of the music wafting around the edges of the senses long after the last note has been played.

     

    Don Latarski’s work can also be enjoyed as travelogues on You Tube and Facebook, another of the many talents he offers, which promotes and shares his love of nature, of music and the beauty there to be discovered and enjoyed.