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The Ballad of Desmond Kale
Winner of the Miles Franklin Award. In the early 1800s, out of the prison society of governors, redcoats, English gaolers, Irish convicts, and the few free settlers of Botany Bay, no one had ventured much farther inland than a few dozen miles from Sydney. Or so it was believed until the escape of Desmond Kale and the vengeance of his rival, the wildly eccentric parson magistrate Matthew Stanton. The Ballad of Desmond Kale is a broad-sweeping novel of the first days of British settlement in Australia. At the centre is Stanton's pursuit of Kale - an Irish political prisoner and a rebelliously brilliant breeder of sheep. The alchemy of wool fascinates, threatens, and transforms when it is discovered that fine wool thrives in New South Wales as nowhere else in in the world, producing veritable gold on sheep's backs. The Ballad of Desmond Kale is both a love story of unusual interest and an epic novel of greed, ambition, conceit, and redemption. The novel is rich in its characterisations and the rawness of its settings, vigour of language, and vividness of personality. The action moves from the early Australian bush to the halls of Westminster, the mills of Yorkshire, the sierras of Spain, the wilds of the Southern Ocean, and returns at last into the far outback for its finale. Once the ballad is sung, ordinary experience is heightened, the world can never be the same again. A brilliant and inspired recreation of the early days of white Australian settlement by one of Australia's finest writers working at the height of his powers.
638 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 23, 2009
Hmmm, ask yourself "How much do you like sheep?" because there is a lot of sheep talk in this book. I personally have no great love affair with wool or the tasty four legged friends that it grows on...so I felt a wee bit put off by the passion with which it was discussed. This book is epic in scale and setting. I found the syntax and grammar unusual and difficult at times to read. I found myself losing track of the plot as well, perhaps I am just not used to the historical novel genre. In short I found the book "difficult". Roger Mc Donald is certainly a very clever writer...I just found myself losing patience with some of the twistier bits of prose and wished he could have been a bit plainer at times. I found it a hard read, it took a lot of concentration and patience but in the end it was worth it.
October 13, 2020
Roger McDonald is an author whose work straddles the rise of the internet, so it’s his later work which tends to be reviewed online while reviews of his earlier work are hard to find. I’ve been reading his novels for long time, but all I’ve reviewed here is
•1915, A novel (McDonald’s debut novel, 1979)
•The Slap (1996)
•When Colts Ran (2010)
•The Following (2013), and
•Shearers’ Motel (, non-fiction, 1993)
The rest of his oeuvre is part of a mini-project of mine, to review earlier works by favourite authors, so that I will eventually have reviewed them all. And since The Ballad of Desmond Kale (2005) was also the 2006 Miles Franklin winner, it’s part of my challenge to read and review all the MF winners as well. (I’ve got 16 left to read, but 33 to review).
So although re-reading The Ballad of Desmond Kale was triggered by my conversation with Roger McDonald at the Bendigo Writers Festival it was a book I was always going to re-read anyway.
I know I didn’t do this novel justice the first time I read it. It’s such a big, ambitious book, epic in its scope and uncompromising in its style, it’s hard to know where to begin, so I’ve spent some days mulling it over before trying to capture it enough to persuade readers to tackle it. At 638 pages it’s a big book, and, as you can see from the Opening Lines, McDonald’s prose reproduces the style of the period. If you make the mistake of thinking that it’s a book about convicts and settlers and the birth of the wool industry in Australia, you might falter before discovering its magic. And that would be a pity, it really would.
As I said when reviewing Ian Reid’s recent The Mind’s Own Place, Australia’s fledgling colonial society was potentially a place for redemption. It’s a cruel irony of our history that the dispossession of the indigenous people and the near-destruction of their culture led to the birth of an egalitarian society where people could remake themselves in ways that were never possible in England. Penned in by the impenetrable Blue Mountains on one side and the vast oceans that lay beyond Port Jackson and Botany Bay on the other, convict and gaoler alike were imprisoned in a place where old certainties no longer applied. Despite the brutality of the penal settlement, emancipists of energy and ambition could reinvent themselves alongside the officer class as farmers, as merchants, as landowners, as artisans and in time, even as members of the clergy, the magistracy, the government or the bunyip aristocracy.
But as author Jane Rawson recently said in a completely different context at the Bendigo Writers Festival, it’s one thing to predict what will happen in any given circumstance, and another thing entirely to predict how people will behave. In Roger McDonald’s early 1800s, an Irish convict called Desmond Kale has charisma. He is a natural leader (which is why the Brits transported him as a political prisoner) and his obsessed foe Stanton fears his de facto power. (Which Kale exerts through rumour and the ballads that are sung about him. He is hardly ever actually present in the tale).
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/08/18/th...
•1915, A novel (McDonald’s debut novel, 1979)
•The Slap (1996)
•When Colts Ran (2010)
•The Following (2013), and
•Shearers’ Motel (, non-fiction, 1993)
The rest of his oeuvre is part of a mini-project of mine, to review earlier works by favourite authors, so that I will eventually have reviewed them all. And since The Ballad of Desmond Kale (2005) was also the 2006 Miles Franklin winner, it’s part of my challenge to read and review all the MF winners as well. (I’ve got 16 left to read, but 33 to review).
So although re-reading The Ballad of Desmond Kale was triggered by my conversation with Roger McDonald at the Bendigo Writers Festival it was a book I was always going to re-read anyway.
I know I didn’t do this novel justice the first time I read it. It’s such a big, ambitious book, epic in its scope and uncompromising in its style, it’s hard to know where to begin, so I’ve spent some days mulling it over before trying to capture it enough to persuade readers to tackle it. At 638 pages it’s a big book, and, as you can see from the Opening Lines, McDonald’s prose reproduces the style of the period. If you make the mistake of thinking that it’s a book about convicts and settlers and the birth of the wool industry in Australia, you might falter before discovering its magic. And that would be a pity, it really would.
As I said when reviewing Ian Reid’s recent The Mind’s Own Place, Australia’s fledgling colonial society was potentially a place for redemption. It’s a cruel irony of our history that the dispossession of the indigenous people and the near-destruction of their culture led to the birth of an egalitarian society where people could remake themselves in ways that were never possible in England. Penned in by the impenetrable Blue Mountains on one side and the vast oceans that lay beyond Port Jackson and Botany Bay on the other, convict and gaoler alike were imprisoned in a place where old certainties no longer applied. Despite the brutality of the penal settlement, emancipists of energy and ambition could reinvent themselves alongside the officer class as farmers, as merchants, as landowners, as artisans and in time, even as members of the clergy, the magistracy, the government or the bunyip aristocracy.
But as author Jane Rawson recently said in a completely different context at the Bendigo Writers Festival, it’s one thing to predict what will happen in any given circumstance, and another thing entirely to predict how people will behave. In Roger McDonald’s early 1800s, an Irish convict called Desmond Kale has charisma. He is a natural leader (which is why the Brits transported him as a political prisoner) and his obsessed foe Stanton fears his de facto power. (Which Kale exerts through rumour and the ballads that are sung about him. He is hardly ever actually present in the tale).
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/08/18/th...
April 21, 2019
The Ballad of Desmond Kale by Roger McDonald, winner of the 2006 Miles Franklin Award, is a woolly sheep story. Wool and sheep feature prominently in the 636 pages of this Australian colonial yarn.
Set in the early years of the New South wales penal settlement, the eponymous hero of the story, Desmond Kale, a rogue who is rescued by accomplices following a 50 lash flogging, is something of an expert in breeding sheep that grow the finest quality wool.
His nemesis is the eccentric, cruel and vindictive parson, Matthew Stanton, a married man with many flaws, who is determined to be recognised in mother England as the finest Australian wool producer.
After featuring prominently in the opening 'chorus' of the 'ballad', Kale features very little directly in the body of the story that follows.
Apart from Stanton and his family, other key characters include Ugly Tom Rankine, an officer and accomplice of Kale, a Spaniard, Mereno, who knows well the breed of sheep that thrives in dry, harsh Australian conditions, several women love interests and some children of dubious parentage.
In a writing style that does not flow easily and is sometimes difficult to interpret, McDonald nevertheless brings to life the chaotic conditions of Australian colonial life, its roguery and rough justice.
And then, of course, there is the wool! At times, it seems like a text book on ovine husbandry, with detail about the features of fine wool and niceties of selective breeding.
The story flags in pace at times - I didn't so much enjoy the section set in England, when Stanton sails back for self-promotional purposes - but the novel comes to life brilliantly at other times. I particularly enjoyed the adventures of the boys Titus and Warren Inchcape.
A slightly uneven but enjoyable novel that takes on an important element of Australian colonial history. Sheep were, and remain, a notable element in the wealth and culture of Australia.
Set in the early years of the New South wales penal settlement, the eponymous hero of the story, Desmond Kale, a rogue who is rescued by accomplices following a 50 lash flogging, is something of an expert in breeding sheep that grow the finest quality wool.
His nemesis is the eccentric, cruel and vindictive parson, Matthew Stanton, a married man with many flaws, who is determined to be recognised in mother England as the finest Australian wool producer.
After featuring prominently in the opening 'chorus' of the 'ballad', Kale features very little directly in the body of the story that follows.
Apart from Stanton and his family, other key characters include Ugly Tom Rankine, an officer and accomplice of Kale, a Spaniard, Mereno, who knows well the breed of sheep that thrives in dry, harsh Australian conditions, several women love interests and some children of dubious parentage.
In a writing style that does not flow easily and is sometimes difficult to interpret, McDonald nevertheless brings to life the chaotic conditions of Australian colonial life, its roguery and rough justice.
And then, of course, there is the wool! At times, it seems like a text book on ovine husbandry, with detail about the features of fine wool and niceties of selective breeding.
The story flags in pace at times - I didn't so much enjoy the section set in England, when Stanton sails back for self-promotional purposes - but the novel comes to life brilliantly at other times. I particularly enjoyed the adventures of the boys Titus and Warren Inchcape.
A slightly uneven but enjoyable novel that takes on an important element of Australian colonial history. Sheep were, and remain, a notable element in the wealth and culture of Australia.
February 29, 2012
A very slow going book.
This book is taking place in the forming years of the NSW Australian colony when wool was a very important resource, and a harsh competition is ensuing to breed sheeps so as to create a better wool.
As a consequence there is a lot of information in the book about wool and techniques for improving it, which may be interesting in some quirky way. Similarly interesting is the unique or perhaps archaic English language the Author either invented for the purpose or found through historical sources (I don't know which).
Personally, despite all these points of uniqueness I found the book somewhat boring, perhaps also because none of my ancestors (as far as I know) lived in Australia so for me, despite living today in NSW, the whole environment and its workings seem alien and very remote and not perhaps as fascinating as to people who are ancestrally attached to it so to speak.
This book is taking place in the forming years of the NSW Australian colony when wool was a very important resource, and a harsh competition is ensuing to breed sheeps so as to create a better wool.
As a consequence there is a lot of information in the book about wool and techniques for improving it, which may be interesting in some quirky way. Similarly interesting is the unique or perhaps archaic English language the Author either invented for the purpose or found through historical sources (I don't know which).
Personally, despite all these points of uniqueness I found the book somewhat boring, perhaps also because none of my ancestors (as far as I know) lived in Australia so for me, despite living today in NSW, the whole environment and its workings seem alien and very remote and not perhaps as fascinating as to people who are ancestrally attached to it so to speak.
January 2, 2018
A difficult book to read. It wasn’t an enjoyable read, In fact it was quite laborious, hence the time it took me to really plough through it. The storyline had promise but I found the writing style meant it had to be read slowly and there was no real plot, just a long meandering story. I thought the book could be improved if it focused on telling the story of one particular character, whereas the book seemed to be telling the story of several characters but none in particular which resulted in it’s feeling of a lack of direction and purpose.
January 2, 2021
Couldn't get into it - the language was difficult.
September 11, 2021
Lost interest in this one
January 6, 2022
Enormous scope and beautifully drawn. Vast rich landscapes, unfortunately peppered with a number of reasonably unnecessary characters. Triumphant ending.
December 24, 2024
I nearly gave up on this book a couple of times before page 100. However I persevered and glad I did. This is a great Australian novel.
December 14, 2015
What makes this novel is its cast of larger-than-life characters. The obvious standout character is the wildly eccentric 'flogging Parson', Matthew Stanton, whose obsessive pursuit of the titular character, Desmond Kale, is one of the main driver's of the book's overall narrative. Stanton is a fantastic villain, and Roger McDonald has done well to bring him to life. In one scene we see him through the eyes of another character, 'Ugly' Tom Rankin:
"Rankin looked at the bulging eyed Stanton in his frock coat and stockings and saw a dusty frog of a man, moon faced, pot bellied, springy legged, almost as wide as he was tall, with a vital energy so extreme, it almost squeaked his gristle every time he twitched."
Physically repulsive and morally dubious at best, Stanton's obsessive nature affects everything and everyone he comes across. His adopted Aboriginal boy, Titus, and apprenticed shepherd boy, Warren Inchape (grandson of Desmond Kale and step-son of Ugly Tom, both find their lives altered forever on their journey to England with Stanton.
There is something very Dickens-esque about these characters, their convoluted relationships with each other, and the very real impact of these interwoven lives on the final outcome of the story.
The story itself is engaging enough, if you are interested in Australian historical fiction. An interest in sheep might help too. This is a tome of a book, and the language can at times be a bit difficult to navigate. Some reviewers have mentioned that the pacing is not particularly fast, but if you let it, this is a story that unfolds in a way that absorbs you. Following the various characters on their journeys and struggles makes this book a worthwhile read.
"Rankin looked at the bulging eyed Stanton in his frock coat and stockings and saw a dusty frog of a man, moon faced, pot bellied, springy legged, almost as wide as he was tall, with a vital energy so extreme, it almost squeaked his gristle every time he twitched."
Physically repulsive and morally dubious at best, Stanton's obsessive nature affects everything and everyone he comes across. His adopted Aboriginal boy, Titus, and apprenticed shepherd boy, Warren Inchape (grandson of Desmond Kale and step-son of Ugly Tom, both find their lives altered forever on their journey to England with Stanton.
There is something very Dickens-esque about these characters, their convoluted relationships with each other, and the very real impact of these interwoven lives on the final outcome of the story.
The story itself is engaging enough, if you are interested in Australian historical fiction. An interest in sheep might help too. This is a tome of a book, and the language can at times be a bit difficult to navigate. Some reviewers have mentioned that the pacing is not particularly fast, but if you let it, this is a story that unfolds in a way that absorbs you. Following the various characters on their journeys and struggles makes this book a worthwhile read.
July 24, 2014
This is one of the most engaging books I have ever read, with a large cast of gritty, unique characters each engaged in a gripping struggle against authority, dispossession, the environment, inner demons or each other.
The first 60-odd pages were a shock to the system due to the language used, but with the language learned the novel then flowed with a beautiful rhythm which suspended reality and carried me off into the amazing and alien world being depicted.
Historical details about the colony and its brutalised inhabitants (brutalised by isolation, the environment and each other), the down-to-earth reality of the bushrangers, the ghostly presence of non-european inhabitants, the corruption of the military and other local representatives of distant British rule, and the surprising history of the Peninsular origins of the Australian Merino are gems peppered through a rich and complex tale of human survival and obsession.
The first 60-odd pages were a shock to the system due to the language used, but with the language learned the novel then flowed with a beautiful rhythm which suspended reality and carried me off into the amazing and alien world being depicted.
Historical details about the colony and its brutalised inhabitants (brutalised by isolation, the environment and each other), the down-to-earth reality of the bushrangers, the ghostly presence of non-european inhabitants, the corruption of the military and other local representatives of distant British rule, and the surprising history of the Peninsular origins of the Australian Merino are gems peppered through a rich and complex tale of human survival and obsession.
March 22, 2015
Roger McDonald's 2006 Miles Franklin Award-winner certainly takes some getting into - the (faux?) eighteenth century style is initially a challenge but once the reader becomes accustomed to it it really adds to the flavour of the book and even allows for some quite subtle humour; and the pace - contrary to what some of the endorsements on the back cover say - is very slow. But the novel is so rich with character and incident - almost Dickensian in that sense - that the pace scarcely matters as it is a pleasure to spend time in this world of early Australian settlement. A wonderful and rewarding read.
August 25, 2016
Perhaps I just don't "get" some literature.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and really tried but it became a labour which I could not love and has been shelved as an unfinishable.
I really cant be bothered reading paragraphs and then thinking " what has just happened , or what is this or that person actually saying ?
The story synopsis is enticing but the telling of same is all too intricate and convoluted.
One thing though that confused me is his constant reference to the settlement at Botany Bay.
Did Sydney Cove continue to be known as Botany Bay or is this an authors ploy to further confound and obfuscate the reader.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and really tried but it became a labour which I could not love and has been shelved as an unfinishable.
I really cant be bothered reading paragraphs and then thinking " what has just happened , or what is this or that person actually saying ?
The story synopsis is enticing but the telling of same is all too intricate and convoluted.
One thing though that confused me is his constant reference to the settlement at Botany Bay.
Did Sydney Cove continue to be known as Botany Bay or is this an authors ploy to further confound and obfuscate the reader.
March 13, 2015
This is a hard one for me to review.
On the one hand I found the storyline interesting, but on the otherhand I really didn't like the writing style at all and so had to force my way through it somewhat; though it did get easy as I got used to it.
So I give it 3 stars - interesting tale but the style was rather too ponderous. Not bad for $5 in a sale though.
On the one hand I found the storyline interesting, but on the otherhand I really didn't like the writing style at all and so had to force my way through it somewhat; though it did get easy as I got used to it.
So I give it 3 stars - interesting tale but the style was rather too ponderous. Not bad for $5 in a sale though.
September 9, 2013
I loved this book for the connection it made between the Australian landscape of today and the events that changed it during colonisation. Slow maybe but rich in detail putting you right there in the paddock, the cell and the homestead. And now I know there is more to the Golden Fleece than western district petrol stations of yesterday.
February 11, 2008
A great story - gives the reader a real sense of what life was like in the old Sydney colony. Thoughtful consideration is given to what it must have been like bringing European culture and technologies (and sheep!) into an alien environment.
August 1, 2008
This book was a little difficult to get into but one the story emerged it was terrific, and I was sad to finish it. A tale of early settlement in Australia, it provided a real insight into the life and times of colonial settlement. Great read, great story.
October 13, 2014
A rollicking tale of the the early years of the colony and the power of agriculture at that time. The back half of the story is certainly told at a different pace to the front and the author's imagination certainly goes up a notch as well. Overall, a long but enjoyable read.
November 14, 2010
Excellent story of early Sydney highlighting the rivalry betweeb MacArtur and Samuel Marsden
December 28, 2010
I'm not sure I understood it all but I'm sure the concentration I expended was helpful for my brain. Very dense and captivating in the depiction of early Australia.
July 30, 2011
Dont like the style much
March 6, 2012
I can't read on. This book is soooo dull.
Read
December 15, 2013Tried three times with this. Evidently don't like sheep enough to persist.
August 14, 2016
Loved it.
March 30, 2009
Terrific book - 4.5 stars really. Best thing he's written
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews