Mark O'Flynn

Mark O'Flynn writes drama, fiction, memoir and poetry, and is the author of The Last Days of Ava Langdon (2016), a novel I really liked. A fictionalised portrait of the eccentric author Eve Langley, it was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Prime Minister's Literary Award, and it won the Voss Literary Prize in 2017. I wasn't expecting it to have similarities with O'Flynn's new collection of short stories, but it does. Because like the character of Ava Langdon negotiating a mundane world from an off-beat perspective, the characters in these short stories find themselves in situations which seem both bizarre and yet entirely normal...

The one I liked most is called 'White to the End of the World'. A teenage girl who would rather go shopping finds herself taking her grandfather's place on an Antarctic flight with a bunch of geriatric scientists. And even though shopping bores me witless, I identified with this girl because six hours is an awfully long time to sit on a plane, only to find when you get there you have to turn around and come back. To spend all that time in a plane and not be anywhere when you land again seems to me to be utterly pointless, especially since you can see much more of Antarctica with David Attenborough in close-up if you are so minded, (which I am not). But The Spouse (who likes wild-life docos) was ecstatic when I bought him a ticket for one of these flights for one of his Big Birthdays, and even though you can only see properly on one leg of the journey because you have to share the window seat with whoever is next to you, he had a wonderful time and still likes to talk about it and look at his photos. For poor Denise, the trip only livens up when something unexpected happens, but you'll have to read the story for yourself to find out what it is.

The titular story is a cautionary tale. Donald Watkins decides to save money on some expensive dental treatment by having it done in Thailand. His local dentist (as he would, wouldn't he?) talks about the risks — but the disaster that happens has nothing to do with Donald's troublesome teeth. Some readers will remember all that political trouble in Thailand a while back... I remember it well because one of The Spouse's business associates was caught up in it and had to hole up in his hotel room for much longer than he wanted to. This was a surprise to him because he makes regular trips to Lebanon — where one might expect political trouble — but it had never occurred to him that he would be one of hundreds of thousands of stranded passengers in Bangkok and that there would be violence on the streets in the land of smiles. But that's not all that happens to poor Donald. Lone Australian men travel to Thailand for more dubious reasons than having their teeth fixed, and corrupt policemen take advantage of this.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/02/11/dental-tourism-by-mark-oflynn/… (más)

I liked this book very much, in fact I was disappointed when it finished. I love Katoomba (where the story is set), so i could picture with affection all the places mentioned. My great aunt was a similar sort of character to Ava Langdon, so that also provided appeal, coupled with my own decline into aged craziness. Moreover, the subject of family relationships - and what goes wrong with them - is a constant theme in my reading. Actually, that's where the book fell down a little, I think. Why did the Vladimir come looking for his mother? What was really happening between mother and son? I don't need answers, but I would have loved more exploration - even maybe flashbacks to years gone by?… (más)

This fictional biography is based on the last days of novelist Eve Langley. Ava Langdon is an outcast living alone in a small hut near the woods. She is a writer who wears men’s clothes, like to carry a machete and live her life as an isolated eccentric.
Mark has done an amazing job with this book. This intriguing story is both touching and humorous.
Told from Ava’s point of view as she goes about her day in her judgmental Katoomba town. The book is divided into five chapters, taking place at different times in the day. The layout of this book was perfect as it moves between memories, interactions and the different perspectives of the towns people Ava comes across during her daily travels.
Fictional biographies can sometimes get weighed down by history and facts. What Mark has done with this book is bring the warmth of Ava to the forefront and it really pays off. I couldn’t put this book down.
Beautiful, funny, touching and warm. The Last Days Of Ava Langdon is a must read.

Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com… (más)

The Last Days of Ava Langdon is an affectionate homage to the Australian author Eve Langley, (1904-1974), but it’s also an homage to eccentricity.

In this generous and respectful fictionalisation of Langley’s life, there’s a boy who lives near Ava who taunts her each time he sees her. He calls her a nut case. That might also be the judgement of the Blue Mountains town where Ava lives in a hut on its outskirts, but author Mark O’Flynn contests that perspective with a portrait of a rich inner life, even if that life may have been compromised by the rudimentary and sometimes disastrous mental health services of the twentieth century.

The real Eve Langley was a significant Australian novelist and poet but little is known about her. She was born into poverty but used her experiences as an itinerant agricultural labourer as material for her most famous novel The Pea Pickers (1942). Today she might be a member of the LGBTI community, but in the twentieth century her cross-dressing and what may have been intersex confusion was interpreted differently : during her sojourn in New Zealand she married and had three children, but she spent seven years in a mental health institution there. Did Langley’s husband use her gender identity issues to commit her, or was it because of the conflict between her passion for writing and the domestic demands of being a twentieth century wife and mother?

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/06/09/the-last-days-of-ava-langdon-by-mark-oflynn/… (más)