True History of the Kelly Gang (2000), Peter Carey
Peter Carey has written many books and they’ve all sold very well, but to be honest I’ve only ever read this one novel that he has written. It was given to me as a gift from my mum, because she is a Carey fan and wanted to read the book. Little did she know I would move to Japan and take the book with me before she ever had the chance.
I was a little disturbed by the declaration under ‘acknowledgements’ that Carey “laboured for four exhilarating weeks”. It was a shock to me that a book could be written in such a short period of time. However, I think it indicates his interest in the subject and his fervour in writing the book that all Australians should read. Non-Australians should also read it because it is a fabulous insight into the convict history of Australia and dispels many stereotypes and myths that cause misunderstandings about Australia’s history for the rest of the world.
As a historical piece, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. Carey writes in the ‘hand’ of Ned Kelly, and the chapters of the books are separated into bundles of supposed letters written to his daughter. I am certain that Carey researched thoroughly for his novel, as it must have been as important to him to write the truth as it is for us to read it. However, in any piece of creative writing there must always be room for artistic interpretation.
Regardless of how accurate the information is, the story provides a heart-breaking account of the rough life of early settlers, the families of convicts and the poor who were hounded by the police in a country whose law was not bound by established traditions. The local police were the only law that mattered for the people who lived in small rural settlements and were isolated by rugged mountains and swollen rivers from the big cities where the important decisions were made that could ultimately make or break their lives.
The novel is heavily Australian. Jeremy is currently reading it, slowly. He said that he has to read it more carefully than he usually reads a novel because of the odd use of punctuation (the novel uses the writing style of a poorly educated man living in the early 1900s) and the Australian colloquialisms that permeate the pages of the book.
“Come said she lifting the hem of her fancy dress and drawing me out through the steamy slippery kitchen into the hotel veggie garden where my Uncle Wild Pat the Dubliner were lying blotto under the tank stand. Not a glance did my mother give Wild Pat but escorted me down between the dunny and the compost heap and there she asked me bluntly how I liked her dancing partner” (p.65).
Australians know how the story ends, as does anyone who saw the movie staring dreamboats Heath Ledger (Australian export) and Orlando Bloom. This does not detract from the story. Carey shows the history and the reasons why. He takes the myth out of Ned Kelly, the Australian equivalent of England’s Robin Hood and the US’ Billy the Kid, and turns him into a real person and a man who was barely more than a child.
It’s a story that has been told and should be read, not so that we can glorify the memory of our most famous outlaw, but so that we can understand the role that society plays in shaping the future of children and the importance of giving everyone the same opportunities no matter their economic situation or their relationship with people who stand outside the acceptable limits of society’s norms.
Carey shows the history and the reasons why. He takes the myth out of Ned Kelly, the Australian equivalent of England’s Robin Hood and the US’ Billy the Kid, and turns him into a real person and a man who was barely more than a child.
I was a little disturbed by the declaration under ‘acknowledgements’ that Carey “laboured for four exhilarating weeks”. It was a shock to me that a book could be written in such a short period of time. However, I think it indicates his interest in the subject and his fervour in writing the book that all Australians should read. Non-Australians should also read it because it is a fabulous insight into the convict history of Australia and dispels many stereotypes and myths that cause misunderstandings about Australia’s history for the rest of the world.
As a historical piece, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. Carey writes in the ‘hand’ of Ned Kelly, and the chapters of the books are separated into bundles of supposed letters written to his daughter. I am certain that Carey researched thoroughly for his novel, as it must have been as important to him to write the truth as it is for us to read it. However, in any piece of creative writing there must always be room for artistic interpretation.
Regardless of how accurate the information is, the story provides a heart-breaking account of the rough life of early settlers, the families of convicts and the poor who were hounded by the police in a country whose law was not bound by established traditions. The local police were the only law that mattered for the people who lived in small rural settlements and were isolated by rugged mountains and swollen rivers from the big cities where the important decisions were made that could ultimately make or break their lives.
The novel is heavily Australian. Jeremy is currently reading it, slowly. He said that he has to read it more carefully than he usually reads a novel because of the odd use of punctuation (the novel uses the writing style of a poorly educated man living in the early 1900s) and the Australian colloquialisms that permeate the pages of the book.
“Come said she lifting the hem of her fancy dress and drawing me out through the steamy slippery kitchen into the hotel veggie garden where my Uncle Wild Pat the Dubliner were lying blotto under the tank stand. Not a glance did my mother give Wild Pat but escorted me down between the dunny and the compost heap and there she asked me bluntly how I liked her dancing partner” (p.65).
Australians know how the story ends, as does anyone who saw the movie staring dreamboats Heath Ledger (Australian export) and Orlando Bloom. This does not detract from the story. Carey shows the history and the reasons why. He takes the myth out of Ned Kelly, the Australian equivalent of England’s Robin Hood and the US’ Billy the Kid, and turns him into a real person and a man who was barely more than a child.
It’s a story that has been told and should be read, not so that we can glorify the memory of our most famous outlaw, but so that we can understand the role that society plays in shaping the future of children and the importance of giving everyone the same opportunities no matter their economic situation or their relationship with people who stand outside the acceptable limits of society’s norms.
posted by Eliza at
11:01 pm
