Danny Dunn by Bryce Courtenay opened up the raw callous atrocities of war and they wouldn't let me go until I had carved Danny's now pommelled but once handsome face. The mental and physical pain, starvation and inhuman acts of depravation that many prisoners endured is beyond my comprehension. With age I'm sure my visual and emotional ability to understand the sacrifices made will only increase. The hardness of the Pilbara Jade and the variegated greens I saw as symbolic of the physical overpowering qualities of the jungle where he was held captive.