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178th out of 235 books
—
274 voters
Wrack
by
James Bradley (Goodreads Author)
Archaeologist David Norfolk is searching for a 400-year-old Portuguese shipwreck off the coast of New South Wales. Such a find would rewrite the history of the discovery of Australia. But instead he unearths the body of a man murdered fifty years earlier, and begins to unravel a more personal kind of history.
An elderly recluse, dying in a nearby shack, seems to know someth...more
An elderly recluse, dying in a nearby shack, seems to know someth...more
Paperback, 305 pages
Published
May 1st 2000
by Henry Holt and Co.
(first published 1997)
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Perante a sinopse deste livro pensei que iria que o autor iria, de facto, centrar-se mais no naufrágio da caravela portuguesa do século XVI na costa australiana, mas tal não foi o facto, o que me decepcionou um bocadinho. A estória centra-se sobretudo na investigação de David Norfolk, um arqueólogo que procura encontrar certezas absolutas em que foram os portugueses o primeiro povo a descobrir a Austrália e que na sua procura incessante encontra sepultado na areia de uma praia praticamente deser...more
Read with with my Sunday bookclub, most of whom did not like it. I was slow to warm to it, but ended up really liking the story and style. Having said that, it was an ambitous first novel and it perhaps doesn't quite pull it off. At times Bradley's writing is very wordy and over the top but at others, it is mesmerising.
The basic story is quite conventional: a love triangle set againt a backdrop of professional jealousies and obsession. Bradley takes the possibility of a lost Portuguese ship bur...more
The basic story is quite conventional: a love triangle set againt a backdrop of professional jealousies and obsession. Bradley takes the possibility of a lost Portuguese ship bur...more
A man searches for the Portuguese ship that theoretically discovered Australia and finds himself sucked into a dying man's sadistic flashback. Bradley blends academic and theoretical history with archaeology, high angst, and wartime drama. The writing style jars and is generally discordant - it's hard to read. The words cut and rub sand in the wounds, and tell a story of the hardest love and the perpetuity of the disappointing politics of academia. Its emotions run high and hard and well-express...more
This book was incredibly interesting it is difficult to define what genre this book falls into. It has elements of of a number of genre's but they mesh together quite well. This book follows the story of David Norfolk, archaeologist searching for proof that Australia was discovered earlier than previously thought. While searching for the shipwreck which could provide the evidence David needs, he finds a body. An old man in a shack by the dig site may be able to provide the answers David needs. W...more
David, an Australian archeologist, is searching for evidence of a Portuguese ship that was rumored to have been lost centuries earlier on a quest to discover Australia. What he finds is the remains of a body over 50 years old. He later meets Kurt, an old man, suffering in the final stages of cancer. Believing that this man holds the secret to the body and knows about the ship as well, he convinces a friend, Claire, to help him care for the dying man. While probing for information, he learns that...more
Wrack was a wreck. The only moderately interesting bits were stolen directly from The English Patient (and he even quotes Ondaatje, in case you were confused about his source). It's a cruel book: just as the male lead is put on hold, strung along, and left with nothing - we are strung along, left with nothing, thinking, "wow, that's 4 hours I'll never get back."
I had a hard the first time I went to read this book. I don't think I was in the right frame of mind, but then I went and picked it up again 6 months to a year later and loved it. I always tell my kids to always try a book again, because sometimes we are are just not in the mood.
Tedious story involving miserable and unlikeable characters.
Did someone read Oondatje before they decided to write a novel?
This book was wonderfully read by Humphrey Bower on Audible; I enjoyed the reading more than the book, however.
so - so . predictable .
Great Read
An engaging story, I liked the aspects of history and expectation. The writing style of no quotation markes drove me up a wall, though, and the fact that the supposedly incoherent murmerings of an old man are written in beautifully poignant prose.
A bit odd, a bit sad but there was something catching.
I was hoping this was going to be about 19th century ships and fun. Instead it's an archeologist trying to find a 15th century ship. Sometimes the first chapter can be misleading. An easy 1-day beach read: typical floaty prose, love interest, etc. Standard average novel
Aug 23, 2008
bluetyson
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Apr 25, 2013
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James has authored three novels: The Resurrectionist (Picador 2006), dealing with the murky world of underground anatomists in Victorian England; Wrack (Vintage 1997) set on the southern coast of New South Wales; and The Deep Field (Hodder Headline 2000), the story of a wo...more
More about James Bradley...
James has authored three novels: The Resurrectionist (Picador 2006), dealing with the murky world of underground anatomists in Victorian England; Wrack (Vintage 1997) set on the southern coast of New South Wales; and The Deep Field (Hodder Headline 2000), the story of a wo...more
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Nov 21, 2007 08:25am