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| 20
Nov. 2003 |
Ordinary
Lives, Everyday People:
Bonding with Boofy by Pat Skinner
Viki Blaik
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Bonding
with Boofy by Pat Skinner. Ginnindera
Press, Charnwood, 2000. ISBN
1 74027 045 2. |
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Bonding
with Boofy is Pat Skinner's first collection of short
stories. There are eleven stories in all, ten of which
have been previously published in various journals, and
all which are written in a clear Australian voice.
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1 |
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Most
of the stories are located within the Sydney basin with
references to suburbs and locations that are easily recognizable
and, indeed, almost iconic. Three of the stories have
a rural setting, allowing the reader to quickly identify
the places, people and problems they contain.
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2 |
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The
themes are issue-driven and contemporary. The title story,
'Bonding with Boofy' will resonate with pet owners, with
such feelings portrayed as the anxiety and loss following
a relationship break-up with the subsequent division of
possessions — including loved pets. The interesting
angle here is the effect of the situation on Boofy's human
father and the emotional pain he suffers.
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3 |
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There
are enmeshed relationships, daughter/mother, husband/wife,
redneck brother-in-law/sibling discord, as well as friendships
and work rivalries. In two of the stories there is both
societal and familial scapegoating of the 'other' and
the reader is left to decide their fate.
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4 |
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Pregnancy
features in two stories from totally different perspectives.
One of these is an unwanted pregnancy for a fortyish,
unmarried, career woman. The reader can easily identify
with her position on three different fronts — the
workplace and her potential loss of job status, her relationships
with childless girlfriends and family relationships, especially
that of a precarious mother/daughter distrust. The second
pregnancy story addresses the male point-of-view following
an abortion due to Down's Syndrome, a termination which
was carried out without his consultation. The reader is
left to ask a series of questions. Why is it that only
women get the majority of support and sympathy? Why do
men have to suffer silently? And who decides that the
father can't care for a disabled child?
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5 |
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'Salt'
revolves around a series of issues of male hegemony, isolation,
female roles, illness, sisterly love, lesbianism and sexual
assault. In this, there is the promise of comeuppance
but the reader is left to decide. Family myth can become
a self-fulfilling prophesy and in 'Compass Rose' the protagonist
is a benign neurotic. Unfortunately neurosis can be life
inhibiting and there is a clear moral to the story with
a feel-good ending. 'Excavating' is a story with an interesting
twist — can a teenage daughter really influence her
mother's love life? There appears to be a generation of
commitment phobes, leaving a younger generation yearning
for security and stability in relationships.
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This
is a collection of very human stories, about everyday
people, no heroics and very little room for escape as
the protagonists have to make clear-cut decisions about
their lives. Pat Skinner writes with knowledge about locations
and the people who inhabit those sites. Her style is easy
to read, capturing human foibles and varied behaviour
with clarity and insight. The characters are people we
know, and thus we can easily empathise with their life
experiences.
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