Richard Neville

It's kind of, no, I mean, in the end, I think you...

possibly think it's going to be that in the beginning.

But I mean, people do die.

They're all these young people just trying to navigate this world.

And the golem will really only face, protect Lee.

So the other kids are going, you know, they join the resistance.

They try to find ways to hide what they're doing.

You know, so it doesn't have that kind of triteness, I suppose, of a Hollywood act in a way, does it?

I think it does end up being an incredibly engaging and powerful character.

because all the other characters are humans in the face of war, and really Lee is the only one who has his protector.

And the golem can do things like, you know, it's born in Germany, created in Germany, but speaks perfect French the moment it arrives in Paris.

And can cook.

Everyone wants a golem.

I mean, basically, they're thinking, my God, this golem can... I could use a golem.

But the humanness, I suppose, isn't lost because the other characters in the novel do have to face the things that they choose to do and the decisions they make about what they're prepared to sacrifice in their lives.

And they all are prepared to make a sacrifice.

And a lot of our job as the maintainers of the colonial archive is to ensure that Aboriginal people have the right to sort of write a reply.

Because most of the material we have is collected by Europeans about Indigenous people.

The Public Library turns 150, yes, 1869.

The Mitchell Library is now... The Mitchell Library was opened in 1910, so if people look at the maths, that's 150.