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Blacksmith


This is the blacksmith's workshop at the State Mine Heritage Park in Lithgow. I enjoyed a photoshoot out there in March 2010. 

I chose this image because of today's book ... which is not about a blacksmith, that was just his surname.

A book I have read recently
The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally, another one from the Australian list.  I have mostly avoided Keneally even though I know he is a good writer because he seems to be a bit of an activist with an Irish chip on his shoulder.  This book fits the mould being about a black man's revenge against a unjust and intolerant society. Jimmy turns into a bushranger and murderer. 

It is well written, quite gruesome in parts but leaves me wondering how true to the aboriginal perspective it is, given he is a white writer.  This is a fairly old book (1970s) and Keneally admits he wouldn't get away with it today.  Not that I prescribe to the notion that authors should only write from their own lived experience.

Comments

  1. I love historic sites like this. It's nice to get a feel for how people lived and worked "back then."

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    1. Not entirely "back then" when it comes to blacksmiths. My Dad was a blacksmith along with his other engineering work. As a child I loved to crouch by his forge and watch him work the iron. It's high drama with red/orange hot metal, lots of hammering (with small hammers and large sledge hammers) then a big hiss when the hot metal object is quenched in water bath as part of the tempering process.

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    2. Oh what lovely memories of watching your Dad. We visited an old forge when I was in France with my daughter. The blacksmiths wife still lived there and made and sold wine. I love the windows in this photo !

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  2. Replies
    1. An anvil always brings back memories of my Dad (see above).

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  3. Thought provoking comments re Keneally's book.

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    1. I am really enjoying widening my reading because it does provoke thoughts.

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  4. Interesting, I love such old places!

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    1. I do too. In this one the smell of the coal/coke brought back many memories for me whereas in other parts of the workshops it was the smell of oil and grease.

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  5. Fascinating and super photogenic equipment Joan Elizabeth, must have been fun watching your dad while he was blacksmithing, is that an actual word 😀

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