David French | 3/08/2009 10:34:05 AM

This Article was first published in The Morning Bulletin as 'Relevance of Novels' dated 02 August 2009.

I was introduced to Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea by RTQ 7’s re-runs of the 1958 movie. Mum used to wake me up for it, complete with a hot vegemite drink. The book itself is short, contains no chapters, and is probably my all time favourite. Conveying a deep respect for work, nature, dreams, wounds, and the reciprocated love a boy can have for his mentor, it is a brilliantly spare description of man’s purpose. Amongst the sea of tabloid sex-cases, it’s a reminder that such relationships are normal - in fact required - if boys are to reach maturity.

My wife suggested Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch (1962), and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World (1932). The former is a superb study of (hu)man’s adaptability, but Telstra’s use of a beamed human hologram to present its last finance report, touch senses conveyed via computers (as seen on The New Inventors), and latest stem cell research makes Brave New World more a forecast than a novel. Is something stated by a hologram binding? How will Sandra feel if I shag with a hologram of Elle? How will society feel if I do the same with dead diva Marilyn Monroe? What about a Travolta stem cell android? ...Just once, for the experience. Would they want a royalty?

Room 101 at Flinders University was where social science students handed in written work. The main character in George Orwell’s 1984 faces his greatest fears in an identically named room. Interested by Rick Wakeman’s 1981 concept album, I read the book while studying an elective in Contemporary European History. It’s a love story set against an omnipotent fascist regime. Fascism needs war. The war on drugs, the war on terror, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, SARS, Swine Flu, Climate Change and the GFC. Are we not perpetually at war? The bureaucracy pretends to protect. Stupid home ownership policies were undermining the financial system. Not exposed by media, bureaucrats, or corporate executives, financial markets revealed the truth. Despite that and thousands of years of evidence, the administration now claims that markets don’t work. They say more regulation (that they will administer), is required. Be careful. Regulation combined with unaccountability deprives society of liberty. It is a combination at odds with Christian principals which provide for maximum liberty …as long as individuals accept the consequences of their actions.

The Investment Collective (AFSL 471728) is a non-aligned financial planning and investment firm specialising in providing tailored financial and investment advice for individuals and small business. Capricorn Investment Partners Limited's services include financial planning, share trading, portfolio management, insurance broking and self managed super fund administration. Additional information on services provided by The Investment Collective Limited can be found by following this link. Readers are reminded that this document has been prepared for general information purposes only, and any advice contained herein has been prepared without taking into account your financial objectives, situation or needs. Readers are advised to see their financial advisor prior to acting on any general advice.

More articles about business, general.