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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This was a tough book to read. Ignoring whether or not it was actually true, the story behind it must have a measure of truth. The living conditions and treatment of those without power - brutal.
Written as a series of letters to his daughter, the language doesn't flow well, which makes it difficult to scan. I can truly say this took me over a month to read, with the need to put it down and read something lighter as a break several times in the meantime.
I enjoy books based on Australian history, we have stories written by Australian authors who base their narratives on fact, even through they are producing fiction. Rather than disliking the book, I can say in the end, I appreciated it.
Written as a series of letters to his daughter, the language doesn't flow well, which makes it difficult to scan. I can truly say this took me over a month to read, with the need to put it down and read something lighter as a break several times in the meantime.
I enjoy books based on Australian history, we have stories written by Australian authors who base their narratives on fact, even through they are producing fiction. Rather than disliking the book, I can say in the end, I appreciated it.
Masterful. If you judged this by some of the negative reviews here, you’d think it’s some interminable po-mo claptrap. While playful in structure, it’s actually a rip-roaring adventure that is very hard to put down once you get going. The intermingling of historical record and apocrypha, subtly shifting POV when Kelly couldn’t have told the story, even replacing words (“adjectival”) where Kelly wouldn’t want to curse—Seamless and killer stuff. It’s a hell of a story, and one that’s told with a lot of class consciousness and empathy for it’s outlaw subjects.
“They arrived in broken cart & drays they was of that type THE BENALLA ENSIGN named the most frightful class of people they couldnt afford to leave their cows & pigs but they done so because we was them and they was us and we had showed the world what convict blood could do. We proved there were no taint we was of true bone blood and beauty born.”
“They arrived in broken cart & drays they was of that type THE BENALLA ENSIGN named the most frightful class of people they couldnt afford to leave their cows & pigs but they done so because we was them and they was us and we had showed the world what convict blood could do. We proved there were no taint we was of true bone blood and beauty born.”
This is a book that I appreciated more in retrospect. After listening to an interview with Carey upon finishing the adjectival book, I had a better understanding of what a feat of both research and imagination this was.
Carey evokes such a convincing version of Ned Kelly's emotions, motivations, and interior life that I was surprised to find out how much of it was entirely fabricated: he described his relationship to the story as that of a pitch-black field with spotlights illuminating certain well-known historical points that he knew he had to hit - but the artistry here is in how he filled in the spaces between those spotlighted events.
Carey evokes such a convincing version of Ned Kelly's emotions, motivations, and interior life that I was surprised to find out how much of it was entirely fabricated: he described his relationship to the story as that of a pitch-black field with spotlights illuminating certain well-known historical points that he knew he had to hit - but the artistry here is in how he filled in the spaces between those spotlighted events.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Booker Prize Winner 2001
Struggled to finish this one.
Struggled to finish this one.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is definitely worthy of all the praise it receives.
I listened to the audio version, and the narrator was amazing! His accent, speech patterns and early Aussie language didn't miss a beat.
Written as Ned Kelly's journals and writings while on the road, the book lacks punctuation and the grammar is as it would have been at the time. An absolutely brilliant fictional account of Ned Kelly and his life.
I listened to the audio version, and the narrator was amazing! His accent, speech patterns and early Aussie language didn't miss a beat.
Written as Ned Kelly's journals and writings while on the road, the book lacks punctuation and the grammar is as it would have been at the time. An absolutely brilliant fictional account of Ned Kelly and his life.
This was a fun foray into rich and wild Australian "history" as Ned Kelly transcribes the critical years of his short life. It was great to read this while traveling through Victoria, and I can see why the Kelly Gang have maintained their notoriety.
Great for western lovers, history buffs, or anyone looking for a different perspective of Australia.
Great for western lovers, history buffs, or anyone looking for a different perspective of Australia.