{"id":16900,"date":"2011-07-25T15:26:58","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T05:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=16900"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:51:08","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:51:08","slug":"paul-daley-author-of-armageddon-two-men-on-an-anzac-trail-answers-ten-terrifying-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2011\/07\/25\/paul-daley-author-of-armageddon-two-men-on-an-anzac-trail-answers-ten-terrifying-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Daley, author of Armageddon: Two Men on an Anzac Trail, answers Ten Terrifying Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Daley<\/h1>\n

author of Armageddon: Two Men on an Anzac Trail<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten Terrifying Questions<\/h2>\n

———————–<\/p>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself \u2013 where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My background is completely unremarkable, especially for a writer. I was born in Melbourne to middle-class parents and I had a fairly cloistered, traditional Catholic upbringing \u2013 parish primary school with nuns (among them Sister Brendan; I kid you not) who were tougher than any trooper I\u2019d ever go on to meet, then private boy\u2019s school. The priests and brothers were a mixed lot: some were incredibly compassionate and dedicated to teaching \u2013 others unthinkably cruel and driven by frustration. I was blessed to receive a free tertiary education. University bought me time \u2013 time to carouse and experiment more energetically than I\u2019d like my kids to. But time also to figure out what I wanted to do with myself when play-time was over.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At twelve I wanted to be a vet. I collected strays and I felt for them. My wife says I still do collect strays \u2013 except these days they\u2019re mostly people. At eighteen I wanted to paint because I could. I got into art school. My father convinced me it wasn\u2019t a good idea. I went to university instead. At thirty I wanted to write. I was already a writer of sorts \u2013 as the national affairs correspondent for a major metropolitan newspaper I was in Canberra covering politics. I got into journalism as a means to becoming a writer. It was always my plan to write beyond journalism. But I got good at the journalism \u2013 covered big stories, travelled widely and won awards. It was a fabulous two-decade diversion. Now I\u2019m close to where I want to be.<\/p>\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That justice prevails and that the good guys mostly win.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>4. <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>What were three big events \u2013 in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading Great Expectations<\/em><\/a> for the first time as a teenager, and then George Johnston\u2019s My Brother Jack<\/em><\/a> trilogy, repeatedly, set me on the course, although I may not have known it at the time. Dickens showed me that writers do more than entertain \u2013 that their job is to actually uncover the truth about humanity, to expose it to us through their characters and to make us ponder those truths. Johnston taught me that it is okay for me to love my country and to hate its excesses and prejudices at the same time. He gave me a yearning for the edge and a burning desire to see the world, while I sat at home in Melbourne\u2019s suburbia with his books. Covering the Bosnia conflict in 1993 indelibly undermined my faith in human nature and made me question whether good \u2013 or God \u2013 existed. I have since had no such doubts about evil. I swore off war and conflict after that. But it took me a few more years to get it out of my system.<\/p>\n

5. Considering the innumerable electronic media avenues open to you \u2013 blogs, online newspapers, TV, radio, etc \u2013 why have you chosen to write a book? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Books aren\u2019t obsolete yet and I think that they will always exist. People like the way they feel and smell. And one gets a sense of ownership with a book that it is perhaps not possible to draw from an e-book, beyond the initial purchase of the e-reader (I don\u2019t yet have one). That said, I\u2019m relaxed about the prospect of my books eventually becoming available primarily (though never strictly) as e-books.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>6. Please tell us about your latest book\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Armageddon: Two Men on an Anzac Trail<\/a><\/em><\/strong> trail is the story in words and pictures of a trip that I undertook with my dear friend, the photographer Mike Bowers. We followed in the footsteps of the men of the Australian Light Horse who traversed Palestine, the Jordan Valley, the Hills of Moab, Syria and Lebanon, spearheading British operations in World War One to end four centuries of Ottoman rule. It is part Gonzo history and part contemporary travelogue that juxtaposes our experiences of the current geo-politics of the region with the experiences of the blokes who were there nearly a century earlier.<\/p>\n

(BBGuru:<\/strong> Publisher synopsis – A unique literary and pictorial portrait of a tumultuous, exciting and enduringly dangerous part of the world.<\/p>\n

Armageddon. Nazareth. Damascus. The names of these places come straight from the Bible. They are the lands of the Pharaohs, the Crusaders, Lawrence of Arabia. But the forbidding deserts and mysterious cities of the Middle East were also the lesser-known backdrop for the battles of the Australian men and boys who served there during the First World War.<\/p>\n

Paul Daley and Michael Bowers follow in the footsteps of the Australian Light Horse divisions, bringing us closer to the realities of those times. As they pick up shrapnel, bullet casings and even the odd human bone, the musings and black humour of these two mates recall the laconic spirit of the diggers.<\/p>\n

Illustrated with both archival photographs and contemporary photography, Armageddon<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is part travelogue, part history \u2013 a compelling story about the tragic road the Australians fought to victory.<\/p>\n

Evocative, sometimes funny, frequently sad and often disturbing, Armageddon<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is two men on a fading Anzac trail.)<\/p>\n

7. If your work could change one thing in this world \u2013 what would it be? \"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

That we, as Australians, become more honest and open about who we are and who we want to be, about how we colonised this country, about how we view outsiders and about how we behave at war. The real stories are always more compelling.<\/p>\n

8. Whom do you most admire and why? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I admire the people who do the work we don\u2019t like to do \u2013 or whose work we don\u2019t know about. When my father was dying, for example, I was in awe of the people who cared for him in the nursing home where he spent his final months. Their compassion was inspiring. Nobody thinks about what they do until they need them. I admire the 2010 Australian Of The Year, Patrick McGorry. Mental illness, which has touched my family, is a great national scourge and he has done more than anyone to de-stigmatise it and to push our politicians to cough up the money to fight it. I admire Hillary Clinton for refusing to buckle under pressure when confronted by the most potent weapon in public life \u2013 shame. I don\u2019t always agree with her. But I admire her resolve.<\/p>\n

9. Many people set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To continue to write passionately about things that engage me and, of course, to keep my readers engaged. For many more peaceful days and nights with my wife and children and dog. To surf in summer and to ski in winter. To keep seeing the world. It goes fast. I want to keep enjoying it.<\/p>\n

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep writing. If it doesn\u2019t work, junk it and start again. That\u2019s what I do. But most of all make the time to write and do it.<\/p>\n

Paul, thank you for playing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Paul Daley author of Armageddon: Two Men on an Anzac Trail Ten Terrifying Questions ———————– 1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself \u2013 where were you born? Raised? Schooled? My background is completely unremarkable, especially for a writer. I was born in Melbourne to middle-class parents and I had a fairly cloistered, traditional Catholic upbringing \u2013 parish primary school with nuns (among them Sister Brendan; I kid you not) who were tougher than any trooper I\u2019d ever go on to meet, then private boy\u2019s school. The priests and brothers were a mixed lot: some were incredibly compassionate and dedicated to teaching \u2013 others unthinkably cruel and driven by frustration. I was blessed to receive a free tertiary education. University bought me time \u2013 time to carouse and experiment more energetically than I\u2019d like my kids to. But time also to figure out what I wanted to do with myself when play-time was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4,118],"tags":[655,3718,4185,5184],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57686,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16900\/revisions\/57686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}