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Dec 16, 2009

Sarah rated it:

If, like me, you don't know anything about Ned Kelly when you start this book, don't be scared off by the first two pages with the killer robot. That will all become clear later. Really, between the cover design, the killer robot, and the difficult style, I thought I was going to hate this book. Halfway through it, I realized I was totally in love with it. It was this paragraph that really did it for me:

We thought you doomed and rooned the minute you walked out past the chook hou More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2008

Christy rated it:

Written in the words of the infamous bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly – Australia’s Jesse James/ Robin Hood – the True History of the Kelly Gang is a novel which accounts Kelly’s life from impoverished childhood to inevitable capture and execution. Kelly’s story centers on the unfairness and corruption of the nineteenth century Australian legal system, and the discriminations against the poor and the Irish (of which Kelly was both). Through it all, Ned Kelly’s motivations are for justice, family More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2008

Leif Erik rated it:

This is written as an memoir (difference between an autobiography & a memoir; memoirs don't have indexes) Ned Kelly is setting down for an infant daughter he will never see. Kind of poignant actually. Carey wrote this in a nineteenth century Australian vernacular. Kind of like Trainspotting. Not for everyone. Normally I'd find it annoying and pretentious, but Carey makes it work. That alone probably merits his Booker. The story by itself is amazing. Even in his own words Kelly clearly i More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2009

Chana rated it:

I fell in love with the voice of Ned Kelly. I can't make judgement on Ned Kelly, but I loved the character as told over to us by Peter Carey. I was simply quite taken. When I first started the book I felt that a little punctuation wouldn't be amiss but as the story continued I started to think in that voice, to hear it in my head and roll the sounds of it around in my mouth. This is the line where I realized that I loved this book, "He were as lazy as the dog that rests its head against More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2009

Neibaur rated it:

I was moved by the end of the story. Even though I didn't give it five stars, I would describe it as a beautiful story. Though the story takes place in Australia at the end of the 19th century, I couldn't help but think of all of the young people that I've known over the past 4 years who were involved in gangs or on the verge of joining gangs. Carey does a great job of putting a very human face to the leader of the Kelly gang (fictional as far as I know), telling his story from childhood, and More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Visha rated it:

This is the second book I have read from Australian author Peter Carey. He is only the second writer to have won the prestigious Booker Prize twice (the first is another favorite writer of mine, JM Coetzee of South Africa). Carey won his Bookers for this book and for Oscar and Lucinda, the first of his books I've read.

What distinguishes each book is the unique voice and writing style Carey uses for each story. While the language of Oscar and Lucinda is sumptuous - almost to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 23, 2009

letterbyletter rated it:

Crafting a confessionary tale in the persona of Ned Kelly, the Australian outlaw and bushranger, Peter Carey tells a terrific tale, one that is not quite a “true history,” but is all the same compelling. In a story that feels like an Irish folktale, a late 19th-century memoir and a western swashbuckler, Carey creates an alternate Kelly—-a flawed, but earnest folk hero, fighting against colonial oppression.

Setting up a narrative frame of a manuscript that never was, we are told Kell More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2010

Rachel rated it:

I think I actually clapped my hands with delight when I picked this one up -- it's a truly strange narrative, which is always a huge plus in the Book-of-Rachel. It's been a while since I picked up anything quite this satisfyingly weird.

I didn't know anything about the historic Ned Kelly going into this, but it turned out to be in many ways just a good old fashioned outlaw story, where the outlaw is a hero -- stealing from the rich to feed the poor. Peter Carey is a genius, rendering More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 28, 2008

Nick rated it:

I love a good Peter Carey book: original and fascinating stories, lusciously descriptive prose and characters bursting with wit, drive and vitality. This, I felt, was not one. Okay, by most people's standards it is excellent. My copy tells me that it won the 2001 Booker Prize, so they all thought it was great. Perhaps my expectations are too high. Oscar and Lucinda was fantastic, but not as good as Illywacker. Similarly, 'Kelly Gang' is good, but not as good as 'My Life as a Fake' - to my mind More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 30, 2008

Debbie rated it:

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book; in fact, I was pretty sure I was going to hate it. I flipped through it before sitting down to read it and noticed the lack of punctuation and the weak grammar. Then, I actually started reading it and could barely put the book down. While the "True History" is anything but, Carey does a magnificent job capturing the voice of Ned Kelly, the Australian bushranger who later on became a national hero despite his criminal leanings. Kelly is depic More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 09, 2011

Jay rated it:

I knew nothing about Ned Kelly and meeting him in this fictionalized account was certainly not painful. Carey’s writing was solid: he had an ear for what appears as the authentic language of the period and was able to sustain that language to the story’s end. The characters also were well enough drawn. And the novel’s conceit—that we were reading thirteen parcels of multiple sheets of paper handwritten by Kelley to his fictional daughter chronicling his life and time—was effective. My probl More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2010

Erin rated it:

This book tells the story of infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly (sort of the Australian Jesse James, for comparison's sake).

The writing style is indeed challenging, but I think the subject matter really makes up for it. Ned's life is very compelling. He comes across as a mostly decent, good-hearted human being who ends up as an outlaw due to the extreme anti-Irish sentiment in Australia at the time and lack of other opportunity afforded to him as a result.

I actually f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2008

Christie rated it:

This book struck me as hillarious at first. It reads like a novel but it is clearly based in historical fact. The fact that it also reads like a low language proficient diary makes in intriguing to watch the character's language and literacy skills expand over his lifetime. What a challenge to read! And yet, who couldn't love a book that uses the word "adjectival" every other word. Seriously, I think it would have only been a novella if we hadn't had that one word. Three words describe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Edy rated it:

Buku ini merupakan novel yang diangkat dari kisah nyata Ned Kelly (1855-1880), seorang pemuda yang dianggap sebagai perampok dan pembunuh di Negara bagian Victoria – Australia. Dari dokumen yang ditulis oleh Ned Kelly yang ditujukan kepada politisi setempat untuk meminta keadilan, maupun dokumen yang ditulis oleh Ned Kelly untuk anaknya yang tidak pernah dilihat dan ditimangnya, Peter Carey mengembangkannya menjadi sebuah novel.

Ned Kelly dilahirkan tahun 1855 dari keluarga imigran Irla More...

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Jul 13, 2011

Kenneth rated it:

This book is perfect for folks who like Westerns but have a high appreciation for poetic, Romantic prose, and an equally high tolerance for run-on sentences and a turn-of-the-century Australian wilderness dialect. The conceit of the book is that it is a compilation of historical documents relating to the life of Australia's infamous Ned Kelly -- most of the book is told through Ned's diaries, which are presented with bibliographic headers that detail the document's page size, material and proven More...

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Apr 23, 2011

Bill rated it:

Ned Kelly in Australia occupies a standing similar to Jessie James in the U. S., a romanticized 19th Century Outlaw. Carey won his third Booker Prize for the novel in 2001.

Carey brings Ned Kelly to life by using a fictional letter written by Kelly to his infant daughter. Kelly has trouble with grammar and Carey faithfully records his mistakes making the long letter realistic. Kelly also has a fine appreciation for detail adding further realism. He realizes that he is a murderer an More...

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Feb 05, 2011

Peter rated it:

This is a cool book. It looks like it is a biography but it is nothing of the sort. The author has placed himself as the discoverer/collector of a variety of documents written by Ned Kelly. He even gives each of these documents a life by describing their physical state in some detail. In fact only one genuine document written by Ned Kelly exists, the "Jerilderie Letter" (http://www.nedkellysworld.com.au/history...). This alone gives a great insight to the man and I guess it also gave g More...

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Oct 11, 2010

Andy rated it:

I picked this up in Melbourne after learning about Kelly at the old gaol (which is a really great way to spend an afternoon if you're in the neighbourhood). My version has a minimal cover with sandy overlapping cut outs of a head and the armour but unfortunately Goodreads can't find it so I've picked the above.

Told through a series of 'discovered documents' detailing Kelly's life from impoverished youngster right up until his folk-antihero/bushranger death the story moves swiftly. P More...

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Jul 29, 2010

Simon rated it:

As this novel has it, thirteen parcels of Ned Kelly's own writings discovered after his death chart the turbulent life of the famous Australian horse-thief, murderer and folk hero. That the book alleges to contain his voice is quite affecting by the end, as the outlaw is convinced that his words on a page, scrawled or printed, will have the power to save his sorry neck.

Carey clearly put a tremendous amount of research in, and he channels Ned convincingly with his rough, sprawling sen More...

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Jun 19, 2009

Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ rated it:

Bagi para pecinta novel In Cold Blood Blood-nya Truman Capote, pasti bakal juga suka dengan novel ini. Termasuk saya ;)

Soalnya cerita keduanya sangat mirip. Sama-sama diangkat dari kisah nyata, dan menceritakan para pembunuh dan penjahat terkejam. Namun uniknya, para penjahat paling sadis pun bisa ditampilkan dalam sosok yang manusiawi. Istilah Serieus Band-nya, "Pembunuh juga manusia, punya rasa, punya hati."

Soalnya, saat membaca In Cold Blood Blood, sekejam ap More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 05, 2009

Natalia rated it:

Meh.

Maybe this is more of a boy book, but I just couldn't really get into it. That might also have something to do with the fact that it's one of those stories where you already know how it's going to end. I absolutely *loved* Carey's "Oscar and Lucinda," but this one failed to enthrall me. I think one of the principle achievements of this book is Carey's ability to get so deeply into the voice of his character, which is impressive, but also the reason I didn't enjoy it as More...

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Mar 28, 2011

William rated it:

This book is a wonder. It's interesting that it can be so effective when its artifice is so apparent. No one really writes like this. No one really uses this bizarre amalgam of heightened vocabulary, slang, and understatement; just to read a few pages is proof enough of that. The technique is mostly a kind of enjambed, run-on sentence style with colorful Australian argot. Yet one is completely mesmerized by the book. It's pleasures as a narrative are rich and unrelenting. My heart pounds and a s More...

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Nov 24, 2009

Manda rated it:

This book is a first person fictionalised account of the life of Ned Kelly, a child of poor convict settlers in Australia who in the book, and in reality was notorious for his criminal record, for which he was executed.

I struggled with this book as I have difficulty with all books that blur the line between fiction and fact. The title was my first stumbling block, and one I have become increasingly annoyed by. The book is meant to be fiction! I do not understand the thinking behind t More...

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Nov 09, 2010

Garry rated it:

This was one of those novels that I was dreading reading. I did so only because I'm doing the Booker Prize winners, and this was a necessary evil before getting to The Life of Pi.

I knew (or thought I knew!) the story beforehand, and my quick flick when I bought the book a few months ago revealed a style of writing that I thought was going to become very tiresome. How wrong was I!

This was a fantastic book. The writing wasn't hard going at all, which on reflection is kind of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 08, 2009

Gavin rated it:

Once you get used to the style (it's all written as per a letter of Ned Kelly) this is a tremendous read. It concerns an interesting period in Australian history too and realy does give a good idea of what life was like back when Australia was a real frontier.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

S rated it:

This was a very hard book for me to read and I struggled through it only because I had heard about what a great book it was and it won the 2001 Man Booker Prize and I love to read winners of this prestigious literary award but this was a hard read.

This is a historical fictional novel and the narrator is Ned Kelly, the leader of the well known, outlaw gang of Kelly's (Irish immigrants in Australia). They are a family of outlaws with no scruples or morals and evil to the bone, or so you More...

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Mar 19, 2011

Darryl rated it:

The book aint no adjectival ordinary good read it were an Australian bush tale about ole Ned Kelly a real life legendary criminal and hero and how he were forced to become a bushranger by the effing corrupt police and judges and them fellers what owned everything and bent the law to their favor. Ole Ned wrote his story in letter form to his unborn daughter being carried in the belly of his beloved whore Mary Hearn he seen his family treated poorly and himself put in gaol for no good reason. I More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 06, 2012

Rob rated it:

For an American reader such as myself, Ned Kelly is probably not a familiar name -- though to Australians, apparently, he's Jesse James, Billy The Kid, and Robin Hood all rolled into one. Kelly's story is a remarkable one, set in the wilds of southwestern Australia in the latter years of the 19th century. Both in terms of its era and overall setting his tale recalls the American wild west of yore, but punctuated with uniquely Australian quirks of language and culture. Livestock rustling, bank ro More...

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Aug 02, 2010

Becky rated it:

Another Booker Prize winner under my belt. Liked this a fair bit, but didn't love it. It's historical fiction, a retelling of the Ned Kelly tale. Ned Kelly was evidently a real-life Australian outlaw in the late 19th century, held up in legend as both a murderer and a folk hero. This novel seeks to humanize him and paint him as a sympathetic figure, presenting the narrative as if it were told by Kelly himself in a series of documents written while running from the law. Since Kelly was only semi- More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2009

Kris rated it:

I didn't know much about the Ned Kelly upon reading this book, but I did prepare myself a little by watching a documentary online, which is suppose to portray him as both a hero and a cold blooded murderer. I went into this book knowing that it was, despite the name of the book, a fictional tale with some facts thrown in, and man I truly enjoyed this book. It was an adventure from his early childhood up to his untimely death at the age of 26. Peter Carey did a great job on character developme More...

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