What is tragedy and how does it work? These are questions you will understand better after reading this book. Set sometime in the second half of the 19th century, the story concerns the fortunes of the Gourlay family in the small Scottish town of Barbie. John Gourlay, a big, domineering, but intellectualy challenged man dominates the local economy and has a monopoly of the carrying trade. He is harsh and powerful, of bull-like stature, and famous for his glower. On a brae overlooking Barbie he has built the House wIth the Green Shutters. This house is both the symbol of his dominance and an object of hatred and envy to the townsfolk.

Aristotle defined tragedy as a story depicting the downfall of a great man. At first it is hard to see this stupid, cruel, and grasping merchant as a great man, but The House With the Green Shutters will also improve your notions of what greatness is. John Gourlay is great because there is no fear or compromise in him. Although he may wish to be well thought of by the small-minded, two-faced gossips of the town, he is not prepared to go one inch out of his way for them, scorning even the banal pleasantries of small talk or phatic communication. He wants only their respect not their love, and respect him they do even though they also hate him.

With all true tragedy the tragic element comes directly from the greatness. It is his greatness that destroys John Gourlay. His stubborn pride and unflinching courage are qualities more suited to some heroic age of battles and revolutions. They do not fit into the petty, hypocritical world of 19th century Scotland. In this unheroic world his heroic qualities can only work towards his downfall. The thought constantly in one's mind as you read this novel is, 'If only he were a lesser man . . .' His inability to compromise by lowering himself to the same level as his fellow citizens, works to his disadvantage. Unable to plot, maneuver, and dissemble, his little empire is soon undermined by the arrival in town of Wilson, a glib self-seeking nobody with no real passion, but a much abler businessman in tune with the times. Affable and manipulative, false and corrupt he starts to squeeze Gourlay out of one thing after another. This is ,in effect, the triumph of style over substance that so bedevils our modern age. Although grim, proud and dour, Gourlay is an honest man, inept at chicanery, and unable to bend to suit the occasion.

The House With the Green Shutters is a tragedy in the full classical Greek sense of the word; the preordained fall of a hero who doesn't fit into an unheroic world; a great bull sacrificed to appease the Gods for human hubris. It is even more poignant from the fact that its keynote of tragedy was reflected in the life of its young author who had the misfortune to die only one year after writing such a masterpiece.

What is tragedy and how does it work? These are questions you will understand better after reading this book. Set sometime in the second half of the 19th century, the story concerns the fortunes of the Gourlay family in the small Scottish town of Barbie. John Gourlay, a big, domineering, but intellectualy challenged man dominates the local economy and has a monopoly of the carrying trade. He is harsh and powerful, of bull-like stature, and famous for his glower. On a brae overlooking Barbie he has built the House wIth the Green Shutters. This house is both the symbol of his dominance and an object of hatred and envy to the townsfolk.

Aristotle defined tragedy as a story depicting the downfall of a great man. At first it is hard to see this stupid, cruel, and grasping merchant as a great man, but The House With the Green Shutters will also improve your notions of what greatness is. John Gourlay is great because there is no fear or compromise in him. Although he may wish to be well thought of by the small-minded, two-faced gossips of the town, he is not prepared to go one inch out of his way for them, scorning even the banal pleasantries of small talk or phatic communication. He wants only their respect not their love, and respect him they do even though they also hate him.

With all true tragedy the tragic element comes directly from the greatness. It is his greatness that destroys John Gourlay. His stubborn pride and unflinching courage are qualities more suited to some heroic age of battles and revolutions. They do not fit into the petty, hypocritical world of 19th century Scotland. In this unheroic world his heroic qualities can only work towards his downfall. The thought constantly in one's mind as you read this novel is, 'If only he were a lesser man . . .' His inability to compromise by lowering himself to the same level as his fellow citizens, works to his disadvantage. Unable to plot, maneuver, and dissemble, his little empire is soon undermined by the arrival in town of Wilson, a glib self-seeking nobody with no real passion, but a much abler businessman in tune with the times. Affable and manipulative, false and corrupt he starts to squeeze Gourlay out of one thing after another. This is ,in effect, the triumph of style over substance that so bedevils our modern age. Although grim, proud and dour, Gourlay is an honest man, inept at chicanery, and unable to bend to suit the occasion.

The House With the Green Shutters is a tragedy in the full classical Greek sense of the word; the preordained fall of a hero who doesn't fit into an unheroic world; a great bull sacrificed to appease the Gods for human hubris. It is even more poignant from the fact that its keynote of tragedy was reflected in the life of its young author who had the misfortune to die only one year after writing such a masterpiece.

In his story of the downfall of an arrogant and essentially stupid man, George Douglas Brown is relentlessly unsentimental. His portrait of life in a tiny Scottish town in the late 1800's leaves the reader with no illusions about the narrow-mindedness of the inhabitants. Bleak as their existence is, the novel is not depressing, but fascinating. While many readers will have trouble with the dialect of the speakers (the narration is standard English), the effort required to "translate" is well rewarded.

Dorothy Porter Wesley was the force behind many historians - this exhibition catalogue presents a few of the thousands of items in her collection featuring publications from her private library.

Dorothy Porter's research that went into this book was not the slave trade or slave uprisings and the violence that characterized the 1760 (pre-revolutionary) through 1837 (pre-Civil War and Emancipation) period of American/African history although mention is made.

Porter introduces and reproduces significant documents of the period (at least 26 years before the Emancipation Proclamation - June 19th, 1863 - and the end of the Civil War) that tell of the trials, tribulations, day-to-day goings-on and achievements of "free" blacks throughout the period, typically in urban centers such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia, where newspapers and publishing houses were likely to be.

The result in fact closely mirrors the state of black society in urban United States today. Her chapter headings: I. Mutual and Fraternal Organizations -- II. Societies for Educational Improvement -- III. Significant Annual Conferences -- IV. To Emigrate or Remain at Home? -- V. Spokesmen in Behalf of Their "Colored Fellow Citizens" -- VI. Saints and Sinners -- VII. Narratives, Poems and Essays

Porter's book should be required reading if there is any interest in the nascency of the abolition, segregation and women's suffrage movements OR of the impact of the Revolution, changing economic conditions and markets, and burdensome influx of "freed" and "escaped" slaves coming up from the "slave" states on existing black communities in the "free" states.

Dorothy Porter breaks the mold with 'The Monkey's Mask' - a lesbian detective poetry text which questions attitudes towards poetry, detective novels, gender, class and the myths of Australian society.
Interlaced with an investigation into the disappearance and later murder of Mickey, Jill the protagonist enters into unfamiliar terrority with her exploration into the world of poetry. She encounters people and situations which cause her to question her ideas about the identity of art as well as to begin to see beyond the surface in other aspects of life. Mixing Jill with characters of varying classes, Porter also asks the reader to examine their attitudes to the myths of Australian society, in particular the dominance of the idea that Australia is a classless egalitarian society. The much used themes of the Australian character as an unsophisticated, no-nonsense person in a society with limited acceptable roles available to it's people, (particularly in regards to gender)is questioned and the suggestion is that this view (or myth) may be outdated and overrepresented.
This text is a fast-paced, metatextual piece which captures the attention of the reader and takes the reader (well, this reader anyway) willingly along to emerge at the end with new ideas of current society, text genres and characters.
I highly recommend this text to anyone who is interested in delving into something innovative and thought-provoking.

Jill Fitzpatrick is a private investigator hired to find a missing student. When the girl is found murdered, Jill promises the girl's parents that she'll find who did it. The girl's former poetry professor, Diana, weaves an intoxicating spell of seduction that overwhelms Jill. Is Diana just a simple, thoroughly enjoyable distraction to Jill's mission, or is there something darker hiding behind the woman? After another professor is killed, Jill finds that she herself might be next. Porter's saucy thriller, told through a series of poems, electrifies the senses and rockets the reader to its shocking end. Not only is it a spectacular mystery, but it's also a taut, dazzling story of obsessive, flooding desire.

Another must read for poetry fans would have to be the book - The Monkey's Mask, by Dorothy Porter. It's a verse novel and a hybrid genre that is taking off in Australia. Les Murray, Australia's poet laureate, has one and so does Alan Wearne. Porter wrote this detective thriller around the Sydney poetry readings scene. What is remarkable about the book is the interweaving of Porter's poetry on the page, within a sordid scene of a missing angst-ridden, confessional poet. So as the story goes.. the protagonist, Jill Fitzpatrick, is the PI investigating... Mickey's disappearance - (the angst poet). I read the book back in my university days and it was the only book I have ever read in three nights. A sign, that when one sinks into a book so deep, it has achieved and captured the reader's undivided attention. The book's greatest achievement, on the subliminal level, is that not only is it written as poetry, but it incorporates Mickey's love poetry in the narrative. Porter's book, moreover, not only works through its compression of language, but it is power-driven by its structure, characters, plot, storyline and conflict. It's also just been made into a film, which gives much kudos to the book when a director like Samantha Lang (who did Elizabeth Jolley's book - The Well) has given a very close, erotic and visual adaptation of this verse novel. 'The Monkey's Mask' truly has to go down as one of the best reads, not only for its delicate handling of female homosexuality and eroticism, but through its sparcity of language that is, as we know it - accessible poetry. Congratulations to Dorothy Porter for this hybrid literature that is both inspirational and a great work of art.

Dorothy Porter's frank sexual tone works well with this ancient tale of power, mysticism and intrigue. A narrative verse as effective as 'Monkey's Mask,' Porter seduces the readers into a realm of enchanting deities and distant mythology where mummification could almost pass as a kinky sex-play.

Let yourself be drawn in. These poems are some of Porter's most seductive. Historical tones and raw sexuality make this a very satisfying read. If you have read The Monkey's Mask, make this book the next that you read.

I used this book with my co-teacher back in l993. My co-teacher Eric didn't like it but I thought it was ok.

Alson Tsai