Two books of yearning and desire

Books reviewed:

Hal Porter, The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1984

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003

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I have never read or seen any of Hal Porter’s plays. Even on Amazon they seem difficult to find. Were it not for his 1977 autobiography The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony that had accidentally come my way, I wouldn’t even be familiar with the name.

I can’t say whether his works were emblematic of Australian fiction of the time, nor whether his growing up, as he described it, was in any way typical to that of other young Aussie males in the period between the two World Wars. (Porter was born in 1911, died in 1984.) However, his personal narrative did question some preconceived notions of Australia that I used to have, casting a different light on its Commonwealth cultural baggage, racial injustices that scar the land to this day, and the myth of its rugged machismo. It was very refreshing to read a first-hand account that seemed to have no motive other than to truthfully witness to an era, its people and social mores, from describing odd dining rituals in a lower-middle class family to writing about various unmentionable things that hot-blooded young men feel compelled to do among themselves. Autobiography though it was, it felt like a thorough, well-illustrated lesson in social psychology and cultural history.

Motivated by The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony, I started reading another autobiography, namely Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Living History. These are two very different books to say the least, and not only in the most obvious sense—Porter being a prolific writer and wordsmith, and Clinton a lawyer with a successful political career—circumstances conducive to two dissimilar literary styles. But it goes deeper than that.

Porter’s life, as described in his own words, was one of lustful experimentation and unpremeditated life-altering decisions, bohemian as it were. Clinton’s, the way she writes about herself, has been quite the opposite, with a single focus on public prominence and success in the political arena. Her writing tends to be much more factual: true to its title, it is a history book, albeit personal. We learn who said what to whom on a particular date, what diner she and her colleagues went to after a specific event… Behind all these facts and details (sometimes a bit dull to read through) is the singular drive toward political success and the power it affords, plus the nobility of her objectives in the grand scheme of things. On her linear path to public office, plans do get changed, life gets in the way here and there, but not for long; sooner rather than later she’s back on track. Written at the height of her pre-Obama career (the book was first published in June 2003), one is left with the impression that this was political campaign material; memoirs of prominent politicians often are.

Hal Porter’s deep insights and reminiscences were a joy to read. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoirs were perhaps not as rewarding in a literary sense, but they did manage to drive the intended message home. Both books are a testimony to a zest for life and self-realization.