Clare O'Farrell

Clare O’Farrell teaches literary theory, creative writing, film studies and human geography to Education students at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. She has written two books on the French philosopher Michel Foucault: Foucault Historian or Philosopher (Macmillan Press, 1989) and Michel Foucault (Sage, 2005). She has also translated a collection of Foucault’s writings on film Foucault at the Movies (Columbia University Press, 2018).

Clare O’Farrell reviews 'Coda' by Thea Astley

February–March 1994, no. 158 • 01 February 1994

Each of the three parts that make up Thea Astley’s new novel, Coda, is prefaced by a newspaper report, real or imaginary, detailing cases of ‘granny-dumping’, the ruthless abandonment of old, frail, and disoriented people by their unidentified children. This sets the scene for a reflection on old age and the rejection of those whose physical and mental capacities no longer meet the stringent ... (read more)