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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
282 of 368
I was hooked for much of this…until I wasn’t.
Read supersummary.com to catch the ending.
I was hooked for much of this…until I wasn’t.
Read supersummary.com to catch the ending.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Will definitely come back to Carey but I wasn't really in the mood for Joycean lowborn tragedy. If anything I found it too depressing to imagine the bushrangers in Ballara as my train from Melbourne and Sydney churned through endless plains and meadows. I was on holiday! Great prose, though I found it very slow going.
adventurous
dark
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is one of the few books where I should have just read the Italian translation unfortunately.
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
This is the second time I have read this book. The first was for my English Literature A Level, and although this was 10 years ago the voice of Ned Kelly (as channelled through Peter Carey) still rang loud and clear in my memory and was familiar as an old friend when I picked it up again. I remember struggling with the prose when I first started it, since it is written phonetically in Ned’s autodidactically-poor English. By the time I finished though his voice was clear and simple to me. This is how I found it upon picking up the book all these years later.
I reapplied myself to this book because I had bought it for my partner Kirsty for Christmas after we had seen the gaol in which Ned was hung and his actual armour in Melbourne. When she was done I thought it worth another read, especially since we had been to some of the places he visited, including Euroa and Glenrowan, where he made his last stand. My enjoyment of the book was increased this time around by being able to accurately picture the places he went, and have seen the bush environment he describes. The plot is interesting and our knowledge of Ned’s end gives it a fatalistic air. And certainly it evokes a great deal of sympathy for the plight of the Irish immigrants. The greatest thing I can say about this book though is that I feel I truly understand Ned Kelly, in his actions and motivations, and how destiny dragged him through the mud. This interpretation is of course dreamt up by the author, but it gives me a feeling of connection to a remarkable historical figure and I am grateful for that. I even recommended it to my father, who read it next and enjoyed it too. Both he and Kirsty were very surprised to hear that it was a work of fiction, which gives some idea of the power of the voice inside.
I reapplied myself to this book because I had bought it for my partner Kirsty for Christmas after we had seen the gaol in which Ned was hung and his actual armour in Melbourne. When she was done I thought it worth another read, especially since we had been to some of the places he visited, including Euroa and Glenrowan, where he made his last stand. My enjoyment of the book was increased this time around by being able to accurately picture the places he went, and have seen the bush environment he describes. The plot is interesting and our knowledge of Ned’s end gives it a fatalistic air. And certainly it evokes a great deal of sympathy for the plight of the Irish immigrants. The greatest thing I can say about this book though is that I feel I truly understand Ned Kelly, in his actions and motivations, and how destiny dragged him through the mud. This interpretation is of course dreamt up by the author, but it gives me a feeling of connection to a remarkable historical figure and I am grateful for that. I even recommended it to my father, who read it next and enjoyed it too. Both he and Kirsty were very surprised to hear that it was a work of fiction, which gives some idea of the power of the voice inside.
The “True History of the Kelly Gang” is not 100% true, there is much fictional embellishment in this historical novel. Ned Kelly is given a wife and daughter in the book, which he never had in real life. The author puts himself in the mind of Ned Kelly and it is written as though Ned were writing his own story to his (fictitious) daughter. Ned left school at an early age to team up with bushranger Harry Power so the narrative seems at times semi-literate…”I were”, “could of” etc… also to protect his daughter Ned Kelly doesn’t write out the cuss words, using “adjectively” or “b——d” or “b——-rs” or “effing” in their place. There is a lot of Australian and Irish argot, too. The police are “traps”, his ma runs a “shebeen” and of course there are the swagmen.
The Kelly Gang only appear two thirds of the way through the book. The early part of the book is just about Ned Kelly himself and includes his first bushranging connection with Harry Power, who takes him on as an apprentice. The story is a continuation of the historic troubles of the Irish Catholics at the hands of the colonial British establishment. The police, the “traps”, are “proddies”, in league with the squatters, who had taken all the best land for themselves, leaving the poorer plots for the Irish. Ned Kelly’s father was a transported convict from Tipperary, who died shortly after serving a six month prison term, leaving the 12 year old Ned as the oldest male in an evergrowing family. Kelly is a hero of the book, not a cold-hearted murderer, he is shown to have initially killed policemen in self defence and when he later robs a bank, some of the proceeds are distributed to the poor, who need it.
The Kelly Gang only appear two thirds of the way through the book. The early part of the book is just about Ned Kelly himself and includes his first bushranging connection with Harry Power, who takes him on as an apprentice. The story is a continuation of the historic troubles of the Irish Catholics at the hands of the colonial British establishment. The police, the “traps”, are “proddies”, in league with the squatters, who had taken all the best land for themselves, leaving the poorer plots for the Irish. Ned Kelly’s father was a transported convict from Tipperary, who died shortly after serving a six month prison term, leaving the 12 year old Ned as the oldest male in an evergrowing family. Kelly is a hero of the book, not a cold-hearted murderer, he is shown to have initially killed policemen in self defence and when he later robs a bank, some of the proceeds are distributed to the poor, who need it.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated