Nine Days Textual Analysis Thread

[J_Rho]

Nine Days Discussion Thread

A place to discuss anything related to the VCE English text 'Nine Days' by Toni Jordan

Jordan, Toni, Nine Days, Text Publishing, 2012 (A) (2))
Nine Days is the third and most accomplished novel by Melbourne writer Toni Jordan. It won the Independent Booksellers of Australia Award for Best Fiction in 2013 and was shortlisted for a number of other awards. The front cover of Nine Days hosts an archival picture from The Argus newspaper of a troop train leaving a Melbourne railway station during World War II. The picture shows a soldier leaning out of a window for a good-bye kiss from a young woman on the platform, who sits aloft a stranger’s shoulders. A momentous occasion for the central figures is depicted.
Nine Days timeshifts between the eve of the war in 1939 to the early 21st century. The approach Jordan takes to presenting multiple perspectives over time is a non-linear one, held together by the linking of key themes and motifs across chapters. Each of the nine central characters has a day devoted to them, in which pivotal events take place, presented through their eyes and in their voice. Most of the action revolves around three generations of the Westaway family household in the predominantly Catholic, working-class suburb of Richmond. ‘Our part of Richmond, here on the hill, is an island. I can see over the roofs of the rest of it, mismatched shingle and rusty tin held down by lumps of rock and brick and jerry cans.’
The realities of life for the Westaways include such events as young, unmarried Connie’s unwanted pregnancy, leading to a ‘backyard’ termination that ends tragically. Her younger brother Kip has the direction of his life changed by the death of his father, forcing him to leave school and take up work to support his family. There are chapters told from the viewpoint of Kip’s daughters, Stanzi and Charlotte, some 70 years later. These chapters express the kinds of modern sentiments and concerns that are likely to be relatable for today’s readers. [/size]

[ArtyDreams]

Thanks so much for creating this J_Rho!!

These threads will be so useful for English students!!

So...who's doing 9 Days?? I started reading it yesterday 

[DBA-144]

Thanks so much for creating this J_Rho!!

These threads will be so useful for English students!!

So...who's doing 9 Days?? I started reading it yesterday 

I am!
Are you doing it as your creative response or for text response?

If you've finished it, what do you think of the non-chronological structure?

[IThinkIFailed]

Also doing Nine days!

I’m going to be completely honest, the lack of chronological ordering makes analysing this book very annoying. Honestly speaking, I’d rather not do a Text response on this text, and instead do it on Persepolis, but alas.

[ArtyDreams]

Finally finished the book.....the chronological order was kinda annoying at times.

I'm doing it for Creative Response