On Both Sides Of The Tracks

An analysis of social mobility in contemporary French literature that offers a new perspective on figures who move between social classes. Social climbers have often been the core characters of novels. Their position between traditional tiers in society makes them touchstones for any political and literary moment, including our own. Morgane Cadieu’s study looks at a certain kind of social climber in contemporary French literature whom she calls the parvenant. Taken from the French term parvenu, which refers to one who is newly arrived, a parvenant is a character who shuttles between social groups. A parvenant may become part of a new social class but devises literary ways to come back, constantly undoing any fixed idea of social affiliation. Focusing on recent French novels and autobiographies, On Both Sides of the Tracks speaks powerfully to issues of emancipation and class. Cadieu offers a fresh critical look at tales of social mobility in the work of Annie Ernaux, Kaoutar Harchi, Michel Houellebecq, Édouard Louis, and Marie NDiaye, among others, shedding fascinating light on upward mobility today as a formal, literary problem.

This is based on the lives of real people and actual events. This remarkable story imagines the life of one young couple in the heady days of the 1880s railway boom, their struggles in the depression of the 1890s, and their rescue from poverty by the Kalgoorlie gold rush. Rob and Mary were both born and raised by the tracks in railway navvy camps, but Rob wants something better for his children and his beloved Mary. In the cold mountain air of Ben Lomond, he promises her she will have a home by the sea. Mary cares more for the people in her family than for houses but follows Rob from colony to colony as he chases opportunities until the day the work runs out, and the lives of their children are in danger. Rob and Marys quest for the great Australian dream parallels the coming together of the colonies to form the nation of Australia. At the start of the new century, it seems they have finally made it, but dreams can be easily shattered. Told with empathy for the characters and an eye for detail for social history, By the Side of the Tracks is a tribute to the thousands of navvies and their families who built the railways, which made it possible for Australia to become one nation.

This guide to Malta, Gozo and Comina includes: topographical walking maps; fold-out touring maps; many short walks and picnic suggestions - suitable for hot summer days and for those with young children; and an update service with specific route-change information.

Tracks and Wheels is the third release from the already famous AK Learning Series. The extremely talented artists within this book, take you on a journey through every aspect of painting and weathering tracks and wheels through their very own words, guiding you through their styles and approaches. Follow along as they teach you the methods and skills they’ve developed over time, by explaining the how and why of weathering and environmetal effects. Also explained is the affect they have on our scale models and perhaps more importantly, the manipulation of the colours used, and the tricks to getting the most out of them in scale model painting.