Cat S. (catscritch) reviewed True History of the Kelly Gang : A Novel (Vintage International) on + 158 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This book is fascinating as written as the discovered "first hand account" of Ned Kelly. The author has filled the pages with all the flavor, pain, sorrow, confusion and simple daily delights of a back woods boy who grew to become the leader of the infamous Kelly Gang. The words fairly drip with sweat as the dread Ned Kelly goes from a hard working son to a bonded out side kick of the local Robin Hood. Life is never the same, but perhaps for the Kelly's it never was meant to be.
How I wish these were the words from the man himself, but these words certainly capture all the drama and joys that are so foreign to our current world.
Like time travel, ever so bitter-sweet.
How I wish these were the words from the man himself, but these words certainly capture all the drama and joys that are so foreign to our current world.
Like time travel, ever so bitter-sweet.
Karen N. (alicesprings) reviewed True History of the Kelly Gang : A Novel (Vintage International) on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
the colloquial and "uneducated" style in which the book is written is disconcerting at the beginning but once you fall under the sway of the story it becomes much less noticeable except as a reminder and reinforcer of the time/place/situation.
i enjoyed it very much and would go out of my way to read other novels by peter carey on the basis of this experience.
i enjoyed it very much and would go out of my way to read other novels by peter carey on the basis of this experience.
Melissa F. (MissyRose) reviewed True History of the Kelly Gang : A Novel (Vintage International) on + 32 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed the story-line of this novel, but found the local language of the characters to be wearing after a while.
Cheryl (boomerbooklover) -
I enjoyed this account of the most notorious outlaw in Australian history, a 'Robin Hood'-type character named Ned Kelly. Presented as the near-illiterate Kelly's 'memoir/autobiography' it is sometimes a little difficult to read at first, but gets easier as the action moves along.
Christine D. (christylisty) -
This Booker Prize winner is truly a great tale of early Australia and the poverty that leads people into crime. It is replete with horse thievery, highway banditry, and motherly love. Still, it is the first Booker Prize selection that I could not read to its completion -- perhaps because I am American, and not British. The author's use of anachronistic language and the phrasing of this time period renders the book simultaneously a masterpiece and incredibly difficult to follow. It requires the reader to keep reading without trying to understand content, trusting that everything will ultimately make sense. It also requires reading without interruption or delays. I was three-quarters of the way through the book when it came time to take a week off. I didn't want to bring the book on vacation, and after vacation I knew I would be totally lost if I tried to pick it up once again. So, it's one of a handful of books I've failed to complete during my life.
Paul D. reviewed True History of the Kelly Gang : A Novel (Vintage International) on + 20 more book reviews
Terrific!
Melanie M. reviewed True History of the Kelly Gang : A Novel (Vintage International) on + 7 more book reviews
Winner of the Booker Prize.
