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charmaineclancy's review against another edition
3.0
Australian classic. Good episodic tale of the trials and triumphs of The Darcy's of Surry Hills. There are some very endearing moments in this novel and it inspires nostalgia for those hard times that build the strongest bonds. I did find most of the turns in the story predictable and it left me longing for something to work out as a surprise and not what you would expect.
alexreading's review against another edition
4.0
As Christmas day custom is you spend it reading and lounging around. I finished #ruthpark, her classic from 1948. Based in the suburbs of Sydney, we meet the Darcy family in their poverty ridden home. Even though money is scarce, alcoholism and bed bugs are more common than not they seemed to fend for themselves and find joy. It's not a very dramatic book per say, plot wise, but the families drama is enough to drive the story forward. It's a simple boon but it's well written, tragic, funny and warm all at once and I can easily see why it's a classic. A friend picked it as a summer gift in our bookclub and I found it at a 7eleven in Melbourne so I thought it fitting to read now.
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
I have this impression that books written in the 40s are sunny and light, and don't address the seamier side of life, or if they do, they do it in a delicate way. Therefore, I was surprised at the frankness of this novel about an Irish immigrant family living in a Sydney slum in the early 20th century. More a series of vignettes than a solidified storyline, it was very interesting and eyeopening reading.
tricky's review against another edition
5.0
As soon as I started reading, I realised, yes, I have read these words before. It did not matter because this book is a wonderful look at Australian life.
The Darcy family are the epitome of the Aussie battler as they are poor with little prospect of improving their position in life. They live in the slums of Sydney during the 1940s when sly grog houses, prostitution, razor gangs and drugs where a way of life. You are drawn into this world as the Darcy's face each day with a decision about how to survive. There is a wonderful sense of family and community in this story and you love each and every character in the book.
The issues of family life are tackled from Hugh's drinking, Roe's unwanted pregnancy, Grandma's slip into Alzheimer’s and the loss of their son, Thady. It is the story of Thady that is the most heart wrenching as you feel the pain of a mother continuing looking for a child that disappeared. The supporting characters are well rounded and bring additional life to the story.
What makes this book amazing is that they do not moan or groan about their lot but they manage to face each day with hope. Even when the day is at the blackest the family rallies together and finds the strength to continue on.
The Darcy family are the epitome of the Aussie battler as they are poor with little prospect of improving their position in life. They live in the slums of Sydney during the 1940s when sly grog houses, prostitution, razor gangs and drugs where a way of life. You are drawn into this world as the Darcy's face each day with a decision about how to survive. There is a wonderful sense of family and community in this story and you love each and every character in the book.
The issues of family life are tackled from Hugh's drinking, Roe's unwanted pregnancy, Grandma's slip into Alzheimer’s and the loss of their son, Thady. It is the story of Thady that is the most heart wrenching as you feel the pain of a mother continuing looking for a child that disappeared. The supporting characters are well rounded and bring additional life to the story.
What makes this book amazing is that they do not moan or groan about their lot but they manage to face each day with hope. Even when the day is at the blackest the family rallies together and finds the strength to continue on.
kiwialexa's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
stefhyena's review against another edition
2.0
Beautifully painted details, convincing tragedy- from bedbugs to brothels to little boys that go missing. The trouble is that overall it works to romanticise the domestic violence, alcoholism, abject poverty and loneliness it depicts. In doing this it valorises the gender order. There's also casual racism which I think the author is trying to work to dismantle in a 1940s sort of a way that seems half-hearted now.
But it's not enough because at the end of the book Mumma and Roei and Dolour all turn to their heterosexual dyads and away from each other. And although Roei will never be beaten and economically abused like Mumma has been- that's if anything the least convincingly written detail.
But it's not enough because at the end of the book Mumma and Roei and Dolour all turn to their heterosexual dyads and away from each other. And although Roei will never be beaten and economically abused like Mumma has been- that's if anything the least convincingly written detail.
polyreader's review against another edition
How does one rate a book that is SO of-its-time? There are some aspects of this book that I adored, but I’m not sure this dated well - it’s blatantly racist, and I’m finding it too difficult to see past that.
boyblue's review against another edition
5.0
Told across several generations of the Darcy family. This novel brings Surry Hills to life, in all its boisterous glory. It was a markedly different place from now but Park's incredible descriptive ability will make you feel like you know it better than the Sydney you currently live in. Not just telling you but planting you right there on the kerbside, in the gutter, meeting real people with real flaws and foibles, seeing love blossom, and hearing laughter echo through the cramped terraced houses. There is no better writer of the Eastern Australian city scape (ironic that it took a Kiwi to do that). What sticks out the most though are the characters and Ruth Park's amazing ear for dialogue, you can just hear the Irish accents thick and heavy. If you live in Sydney, Australia, or indeed anywhere, you have to read this!
innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! I've read this so many times I can't remember the first time, it was probably in the mid-90's. Certainly it was before I really got to know Sydney. The longer I live here, the more appreciative I am that Ruth Park had the courage to write this story, and the the Sydney Morning Herald actually chose it to win it's writing competition. It is so sad, so beautiful, and such a shocking portrait of the horrible poverty that was entrenched in the inner city Surry Hills slums. Walking around today, you could hardly credit the way people used to live here.
roie's review against another edition
5.0
My mother named me Rowena after Rowena Darcy in this book, she finally gifted me this book for my 21st birthday and I demolished it. The characters in this are so unequivocally Australian it almost feels like I'm reading a story about my family even though this is set nearly a century ago now.
I think the thing I loved about this is even though it is so of its time and a lot has changed since Ruth Park wrote this, so many of themes are still current issues that resonate so easily with many Australian people. The whole middle section with Roie and her terrible experiences with men and sexuality are so relevant to current social discourse and it really hit hard with me. Then towards the end, after you've been dragged through so many terrible experiences there are some really lovely chapters that are just such a relief to finally reach.
Because this was written just after World War Two, there is quite a lot of uncomfortable language and conversations around race that I found quite hard to read, but although the language is quite old there are really great moments of progressiveness for the time specifically with Roie and Charlie.
Other than that, this is incredible and if it isn't a text in the Australian English Curriculum it definitely should be.
I think the thing I loved about this is even though it is so of its time and a lot has changed since Ruth Park wrote this, so many of themes are still current issues that resonate so easily with many Australian people. The whole middle section with Roie and her terrible experiences with men and sexuality are so relevant to current social discourse and it really hit hard with me. Then towards the end, after you've been dragged through so many terrible experiences there are some really lovely chapters that are just such a relief to finally reach.
Because this was written just after World War Two, there is quite a lot of uncomfortable language and conversations around race that I found quite hard to read, but although the language is quite old there are really great moments of progressiveness for the time specifically with Roie and Charlie.
Other than that, this is incredible and if it isn't a text in the Australian English Curriculum it definitely should be.