Showing results by narrator "Sarah Bacaller" in All Categories

Humility gets a bad rap these days, especially when contrasted with philosophies of egoism and self-assertion. But can we see the world as it really is without losing ourselves for a moment to take up the perspective of another?

This essay is one in a series titled The Defendant, first published as a collection in 1901, after the individual essays were published in The Speaker. Here, a selection of these essays has been reissued by Voices of Today for a new generation.

With G. K. C.’s characteristic wit, he explores in this essay the virtues of baby-worship, as adults are invited to see the world anew through the eyes of children. Furthermore, argues G. K. C., an appreciation of our youngest humans “forces us actually to remodel our conduct in accordance with this revolutionary theory of the marvellousness of all things.”

Why do humans have a horror of skeletons? Is this aversion justified? What does it signify? Such are the animating questions of this essay by G. K. Chesterton, who acts as a witty defendant for humanity’s hidden form.

God and the Self in Hegel proposes a reconstruction of Hegel’s conception of God and analyzes the significance of this reading for Hegel’s idealistic metaphysics. Paolo Diego Bubbio argues that in Hegel’s view, subjectivism—the tenet that there is no underlying “true” reality that exists independently of the activity of the cognitive agent—can be avoided, and content can be restored to religion, only to the extent that God is understood in God’s relation to human beings, and human beings are understood in their relation to God.

It’s 1993. Beth McMaugh is eleven years old and about to start Year Six. Her best friend, Ashlee, assures Beth that it is going to be the best year ever, but then why is she sitting with the popular girls? When the new strange, nerdy kid, Jools, befriends Beth, she is swept up instead into the School Nerd Club. Behind everything is a secret from Beth’s past, a secret so terrible it stays with her, every day. Making the spirals come. And there was that day at the beach. Is that why Ashlee doesn’t want to be friends? Is that why her Mum avoids her? Has Beth ruined everything?

Grace Marshall is eleven years old. She’s curious and creative and dreams of becoming a magician called Grace the Amazing! Grace’s only friend is her art teacher, Pamela. When she discovers that Pamela is ill, the fragile certainties Grace relies on threaten to slip away. On her mission to find a cure for Pamela using miraculous magic, Grace asks the big questions about life, love, and friendship.

The Gallipoli letter is an 8000-word private report written by journalist Keith Arthur Murdoch, with the help of British war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, after visiting the Gallipoli peninsula in September 1915. It describes the organization and conditions of the Gallipoli campaign. It was sent to Andrew Fisher (then-Prime Minister of Australia) and Henry Herbert Asquith (then-Prime Minister of the UK). Murdoch’s twenty-eight-page letter helped to establish the idea of Gallipoli as a military disaster.

Two children embark on an extraordinary and mystical journey to discover their own pathways to peace. For children of all ages, this story invites creativity, imagination, and exploration of the beauty of world and the universe.

Between 1915 and 1921, C. J. Dennis published seven verse novels and two collections of poetry. The first of these was The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, which features Dennis' characteristic use of a distinctive Australian argot and which became an immediate bestseller.

Unlike the other verse novels of C. J. Dennis, this collection of 13 poems is focused on political satire. The action is set in the society of an arboreal race, known as Glugs, and described by the author "stupid race of docile folk". Among the targets of Dennis's mocking scrutiny are free trade, social conformity, and extravagant bureaucracy.

One day, the King and Queen of a fairy kingdom receive an unfamiliar gift. That gift is a little daughter who is unlike anyone else in the kingdom. They all love her and celebrate her arrival. But then, a Shadow crosses the land and places a curse upon the little daughter, causing her to be different, delayed, unable to speak or walk. Three magic fairies try to overcome this curse by giving gifts to the girl. But the curse can only be broken when the girl herself discovers her unique powers.

This collection follows on from Australian Christmas Yarns Volume I and consists of 10 stories by notable Australian author Mary Grant Bruce (1878-1958). These stories sketch challenges of landscape, relationship, loss and hope.

Blinky Bill is a mischievous koala who lives in the Australian bush. Keen for adventure, he sets off to see the world. On his journeys, he makes trouble in Miss Pimm's shop, meets Old Wombo (Mr. Wombat), joins a frog choir, and gets invited to a rabbit's birthday party.

In an old house with "too many windows and women", high in the Indian hills, young Hannah lives with her older sister Gloria; her two older brothers; her mother - the Magician; a colorful assortment of aunts, blow-ins and misfits; and her father - the Historian. It is a world of secrets, jealousies and lies, ruled by the Historian but smoothed over by the Magician, whose kindnesses and wisdom bring homely comfort and all-enveloping love to a ramshackle building that seems destined for chaos.

This short biographical work describes the experiences of Chimezie Ihekuna, a Nigerian man born with a facial deformity. From one scenario to the next, Chimezie encounters ostracisation and indifference from peers and elders alike. He reflects candidly here on the impact this has had on his life. His story is an invitation to empathy for all those who listen.

Hegel in Fragments is a collection of writings in dialogue with the work of German philosopher, G. W. F. Hegel. In bite-sized pieces, Australian academic Stephen Curkpatrick applies Hegelian insights to themes such as contingency, truth, theology, identity, limit, and rhythms. This exploratory collection is informed by Hegel’s concept of spirit as relation and mediation, within which identity is both identity and difference.

Although his output was small, John of the Cross (1542 - 1591) is considered one of the most important figures in Spanish poetry. All his verses explore the same theme: the search of the soul for union with its creator and the glory of the resulting "mystical marriage". This selection of 20 poems opens with his most famous poem, "The Obscure Night of the Soul" and concludes with a free translation of "Psalm 137 (By the Waters of Babylon)".

This book of 13 silly rhymes about strange animals is sure to delight and confuzzle its young listeners. More Beasts for Worse Children, a collection of nonsense verses for children, was written by English-French writer, historian, and satirist, Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953).

Accusation is the unperceived catalyst for this dramatic narrative; Job is framed by the accusation that his self-invested allegiance to God will evaporate if he is exposed to adversity. Job is unaware that this wager against his integrity has taken place. The drama that ensues on an epic scale resonates with universal experiences of human suffering - from Job's searching questions, to the grating interventions of Job's friends, and the sense that human misfortune can seem contingent on the whim of unseen powers.