Quill's review
True History of the Kelly Gang: A Novel
by Peter Carey
Quill's review
True History of the Kelly Gang: A Novel by Peter Carey
Quill's review
rating:
recommended for: People who love language.
The story of Ned Kelly and his gang is the stuff of legend, and this book is particularly great at getting to the soul of the legend. I love the language of the book, it's got some downright poetic descriptions. Read it just for the language.
But, I found the story to be kind of personally indulgent and full of excuses. I'm upset to think that way, because I feel a bit of middle-class guilt about being unwilling to forgive the Ned Kelly of this novel for blaming his actions on his extreme poverty and inability to work within the law to support himself or his family. Sitting here writing this review, I find myself more moved by the book than I thought. It seems that this book stuck with me because of the thing that annoyed me most about it. I'm changing my review: this book gets under your skin. Read it, enjoy it, let it fester with you for a while. It will make you realize things about yourself that you weren't aware of- or it did me anyway.
But, I found the story to be kind of personally indulgent and full of excuses. I'm upset to think that way, because I feel a bit of middle-class guilt about being unwilling to forgive the Ned Kelly of this novel for blaming his actions on his extreme poverty and inability to work within the law to support himself or his family. Sitting here writing this review, I find myself more moved by the book than I thought. It seems that this book stuck with me because of the thing that annoyed me most about it. I'm changing my review: this book gets under your skin. Read it, enjoy it, let it fester with you for a while. It will make you realize things about yourself that you weren't aware of- or it did me anyway.
