Peter Carey: True History Of The Kelly Gang

[Mike]

What an unusual and unique novel this is, based on a true story written as if by Ned Kelly himself in the form of an autobiography. Peter Carey won the 2001 Booker prize for this entertaining work to go with his 1988 Booker prize for Oscar & Lucinda. This is a far more engaging and accessible work if not a little strange in the use of language, written as it is in 19th century Irish/Australian vernacular as if by Ned Kelly. Peter Carey has used the Australian anti hero legend of the outlaw Ned Kelly to write a full, graphic and brutal yet touching account of the hard life of early settlers in Australia with a background of the penal colonies used by the UK to imprison its convicts. Freed from servitude many attempted to scratch a living in the harsh environment and this is the story of a man whose father was such a convict. Ned Kelly's harsh early life and the struggle of his family are portrayed and his rise at an early age to become a rebel against a corrupt and brutal land and judicial system. A legend in Australia he summed up the rough and ready image of Australia, a hard but intrinsically honourable man that challenged the corruption that was rife in Australia at that time - an Australian Robin Hood figure.

Written in the form of a rough autobiography manuscript for his unborn child it uses the language of the time for Kelly wasn't an educated man though he was intelligent. I'm not sure of the historical accuracy, Ned Kelly for me was the character with the steel helmet and body armour played by Mick Jagger in an early 70's film but Carey has certainly researched the period well and the fine detail make the book a joy to read. Harsh farm life, the Australian outback is painted for us in a vivid picture as seen through the eyes of Ned. The struggles of his poor mother and their awful conditions are really brought to life in the way the book is written.

The dialogue it must be said, for all the qualities of description that carry the book, does get sometimes hard to follow - the vernacular style not helping with the flow. Taken as just Ned's voice the narrative breaks when he has to describe things he hasn't seen though this really is a minor point. The careful reader will be rewarded in the text but I found I had to read in long stretches to get "into" the style. Necessarily bleak in places, yet strange and funny - transvestism plays a part and it is not really till the end we find out why as does drug taking. Its hard not to really want a good outcome but based I historical truth there is an almost tedious inevitability to the outcome - even given the stories of the daring raids he and his achieved. Engaging, lively and unique this novel makes a pleasant change from standard novels for its style alone yet it also has an engaging an interesting story too. Well worth a look and I recommend it.

 

[Ashlea]

I think I would be daunted by the language tho the story does intrigue me - I also wonder if the recent movie re: Ned Kelly is any good.

 

[murphyz]

Mike - excellent summary of the book - very well done.

I loved it once I got into the swing of the language, although it did end up taking a little longer to read than a book that size normally does. That in no way distracted from the story though. I often had to remind myself that this is a work of fiction and what happens in it is not set in stone, but Carey did a wonderful job of the narritive.

Here's what I wrote on it last year:

Peter Carey has made a wonderful accomplishment with this book, written as if it were in Ned Kelly's own hand. The novel takes on the form of 13 'packages' of memoirs written by Kelly to his daughter, unborn throughout most of the story, and it's this voice of Ned Kelly which makes the story so fascinating, yet at the same time quite difficult to read. There is a severe lack of punctuation as Kelly is not an author and, in many ways, not an intellectual. The premise of writing wherever he can, hurridly, and to his unborn child of which he knows not when she will read his story means that it is very unformal, and any cursing has been blanked out to read, for example, b----r.

Starting from the youth of Ned Kelly, we follow him throughout his young life, through the training as an apprentice 'bush ranger' with Harry Power, throughout the forming of the Kelly Gang outlaws until the time of his death. I knew little about Ned Kelly at the time of reading this book, and for that reason it is very hard to keep in mind that this is a work of fiction and not the biography written by a close friend, or even the autobiography written by Kelly himself.
I would be interested now in researching more about this historical figure, just to determine how much of the book was based in reality.

Either way, it has provided a challenging read, and a wonderful voice, to a very interesting character of which I was never previously interested in. And, along with all that, it was simply a jolly good 'Western' at the end of the day.


Mike - I assume from what you have written that you have read Oscar & Lucinda? Would you say, or any other Carey books, are worth reading as well?

Cheers

Mxx

 

[Mike]

I have read Oscar & Lucinda but I wasn't that impressed it did lose focus, just as it got going it seemed to stall over and over. It was well written but just lacked something - I was dissappointed.

Off the subject Murphyz I have tried several times to join you cow&chiken site yet when I try to register it says my email addy is already used yet I never recieve the confirmation mails .