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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
It was interesting to listen to the narrator's Australian accent, but with only 3 hours to go, I decided I didn't care what happened to the gang after all! A whole lotta hiding and escaping over and over...
3.5
2001 Booker Winner
My reading goal this year is to read all of the Booker Winners from 2000-2025. This is 2001’s winner and it tells the true story of a young Irish man in Australia whose poverty and life circumstances turn him into an ‘outlaw’. The author paints a vivid picture of ‘frontier Australia’ and I found the history fascinating. Took me a while to get used to the whole book being written in the style of how the author imagines Ned Kelly would have spoken.
2001 Booker Winner
My reading goal this year is to read all of the Booker Winners from 2000-2025. This is 2001’s winner and it tells the true story of a young Irish man in Australia whose poverty and life circumstances turn him into an ‘outlaw’. The author paints a vivid picture of ‘frontier Australia’ and I found the history fascinating. Took me a while to get used to the whole book being written in the style of how the author imagines Ned Kelly would have spoken.
The style is very Cormac McCarthy (interspersed by newspaper reports) and works quite well. Unfortunately I sort of lost interest as the story ramped up; Kelly's upbringing in poverty and early years caught my attention in a much greater way than he last years as a full time outlaw. I don't know a huge amount about Australian history, and the stuff about the Land Act, squatters and police corruption was new to me.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed that prose, characterisation was great! Really interesting time period to reflect upon.
Had to read for my Australian literature course. Can't say I loved it, although it is a well-written book. It is written as a series of scribbled narratives by Ned Kelly himself telling his life story to his daughter.
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a fictional first-person account of the sympathetically portrayed, real-life bushranger (outlaw) Ned Kelly, from childhood to the final shootout - interesting illustration of the oppression of the Irish selectors by the English squatters in 1800s Australia, and a rip-roaring tale.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I knew nothing of the Kelly Gang and was completely transported into the story. It's beautifully written, exciting, and touching in all the right placed. Definitely recommend reading it!
adventurous
funny
reflective
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:
No