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emilyvandenbroeck's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
wortknistern's review against another edition
1.0
It's not that this is a bad book, but being a white person from Europe who has absolutely no connection to Australian Aboriginal culture and their struggles, I could not connect to this book at all.
gab_rielle's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful and complex narrative that is difficult to get through but worth it!
sarah16's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
curlycurls_'s review against another edition
2.0
One needs to be prepared to read this novel because it's definitely a challenge if you're not familiar with the aboriginal culture. I got trouble understanding what was truly at stake because there is so much information and I kept getting lost while reading.
kris_mccracken's review against another edition
3.0
Carpentaria by Alexis Wright
This sprawling novel encompasses the interconnected stories of multiple inhabitants of a fictional town that sits on Queensland’s remote Gulf of Carpentaria. The book is an allegory that employs fantastical and magical realist elements to explore the realities of Aboriginal life in modern Australia.
I found this a difficult book to engage with. At those points that I started to ease into the narrative progression, the story would take a surreal turn backwards or forwards in time that jolted me out of the story and bewildered by the wrench away from what narrative thread there is.
Perhaps this is the point, like the book. Sometimes it seems to be as much an exploration of Aboriginal masculinity in the context of historical dispossession as it is the battle of a people to survive in the face of a hostile oppressor. At others, it is the intergenerational tale of the struggles of a particular family or the plight of a divided community against the might and money of a multinational mining company.
To achieve this, Wright conjures up an experimental, playful and (at times) incredibly lyrical novel. The book moves in giant leaps from the poetic (hmm) to an argument in pidgin English (delightful) to pseudo-Christian lectures on morality (dull) to moments of intense vulgarity (fun) to extended mediation on the fish found in the far north (okay…). The net effect on this reader was dizzying, but not in a good way.
The novel’s central point (I believe), that white history is a counterfeit construct designed to suit the purpose of the ‘victors’, is a fair one. Alas, like those times that I’ve tried to read Deleuze and Guattari’s Anti-Oedipus, the non-linear and deliberately nonsensical temporal structure makes for awfully hard going.
There is some lovely writing here, consider:
We’re treated to some incredibly memorable characters in the Phantom family, but in the abandonment of chronology, blending of dream and reality, and mischievous deconstruction of European ways of telling stories, I struggled.
This is an important novel but be prepared for heavy going throughout.
⭐ ⭐ 1/2
This sprawling novel encompasses the interconnected stories of multiple inhabitants of a fictional town that sits on Queensland’s remote Gulf of Carpentaria. The book is an allegory that employs fantastical and magical realist elements to explore the realities of Aboriginal life in modern Australia.
I found this a difficult book to engage with. At those points that I started to ease into the narrative progression, the story would take a surreal turn backwards or forwards in time that jolted me out of the story and bewildered by the wrench away from what narrative thread there is.
Perhaps this is the point, like the book. Sometimes it seems to be as much an exploration of Aboriginal masculinity in the context of historical dispossession as it is the battle of a people to survive in the face of a hostile oppressor. At others, it is the intergenerational tale of the struggles of a particular family or the plight of a divided community against the might and money of a multinational mining company.
To achieve this, Wright conjures up an experimental, playful and (at times) incredibly lyrical novel. The book moves in giant leaps from the poetic (hmm) to an argument in pidgin English (delightful) to pseudo-Christian lectures on morality (dull) to moments of intense vulgarity (fun) to extended mediation on the fish found in the far north (okay…). The net effect on this reader was dizzying, but not in a good way.
The novel’s central point (I believe), that white history is a counterfeit construct designed to suit the purpose of the ‘victors’, is a fair one. Alas, like those times that I’ve tried to read Deleuze and Guattari’s Anti-Oedipus, the non-linear and deliberately nonsensical temporal structure makes for awfully hard going.
There is some lovely writing here, consider:
When the policeman came, the Phantom kids cringed like dogs, with their backs flat against the walls, trying to attain a powerless invisibility. Immobilised by fear of being seen, they listened to their thumping hearts race when they watched their father being taken away.
We’re treated to some incredibly memorable characters in the Phantom family, but in the abandonment of chronology, blending of dream and reality, and mischievous deconstruction of European ways of telling stories, I struggled.
This is an important novel but be prepared for heavy going throughout.
⭐ ⭐ 1/2
clapton_pond's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
tapeck24's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
4.0
dawndpt's review against another edition
2.0
There’s a good story in here, but it was so long and so hard to follow that it was difficult to get through.