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The Fighter
1950s, WORKING-CLASS CARLTON
A young boy - skinny, wide-eyed and unlikely - knocks on the door of an ex-boxer. And a backyard gym becomes the training ground of a champion fighter.
The boy from Amess Street worked his way up to beat some of the world's best - to find dignity in the brutality of the boxing ring. And to find a world outside the confines of a home where the dark shadow of a tragic past was ever-present.
Now, he's on the docks, loading and unloading, taking shifts as they come up. Always keen to relive the glorious wins and the camaraderie of the boxing fraternity. But never far from the memory of another fighter, his mother—and her devastating decline into madness.
Observed with a novelist's eye, The Fighter is a perceptive and lyrical account of the life of Henry Nissen - moving and poetic portrait of a compassionate man and the forces that shaped him.
A young boy - skinny, wide-eyed and unlikely - knocks on the door of an ex-boxer. And a backyard gym becomes the training ground of a champion fighter.
The boy from Amess Street worked his way up to beat some of the world's best - to find dignity in the brutality of the boxing ring. And to find a world outside the confines of a home where the dark shadow of a tragic past was ever-present.
Now, he's on the docks, loading and unloading, taking shifts as they come up. Always keen to relive the glorious wins and the camaraderie of the boxing fraternity. But never far from the memory of another fighter, his mother—and her devastating decline into madness.
Observed with a novelist's eye, The Fighter is a perceptive and lyrical account of the life of Henry Nissen - moving and poetic portrait of a compassionate man and the forces that shaped him.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
197 pages, Paperback
Published May 2, 2016
3 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Arnold Zable
17 books25 followersZable was born on 10 January 1947 in Wellington, New Zealand to Polish-Jewish refugee parents. They moved early in his life to Australia and he grew up in Carlton, Victoria.
Zable is known as a storyteller - through his memoirs, short stories and novels. Australian critic Susan Varga says that Zable's award-winning memoir, Jewels and Ashes, "was a ground-breaking book in Australia, one of the first of what has since become a distinct auto/biographical genre: a second-generation writer returns to the scene of unspeakable crimes to try to understand a fraught and complex legacy, and, in so doing, embarks on a journey into the self.
In an interview Zable explained that the rights and experiences of refugees and asylum seekers underpins his work:
"The current generation of refugees are experiencing the intense challenges faced by previous generations. We tend to forget, or fail to imagine, how difficult it is to start life anew far from the homeland. We forget also that nostalgia, the longing for the return to homeland, is a deep and enduring aspect of the refugee experience."
In the same interview he said about his language that "I am drawn to the quirky sayings and observations that define a person or a culture".
Zable is known as a storyteller - through his memoirs, short stories and novels. Australian critic Susan Varga says that Zable's award-winning memoir, Jewels and Ashes, "was a ground-breaking book in Australia, one of the first of what has since become a distinct auto/biographical genre: a second-generation writer returns to the scene of unspeakable crimes to try to understand a fraught and complex legacy, and, in so doing, embarks on a journey into the self.
In an interview Zable explained that the rights and experiences of refugees and asylum seekers underpins his work:
"The current generation of refugees are experiencing the intense challenges faced by previous generations. We tend to forget, or fail to imagine, how difficult it is to start life anew far from the homeland. We forget also that nostalgia, the longing for the return to homeland, is a deep and enduring aspect of the refugee experience."
In the same interview he said about his language that "I am drawn to the quirky sayings and observations that define a person or a culture".
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 24, 2016
“All you need to do is call and he’ll be in your corner, tending your wounds with affection, sponging you down, administering advice, urging you to keep going. Then propelling you back into the ring, back into life, and yet another chance at redemption”
The Fighter is a non-fiction book by Australian novelist, Arnold Zable. Amongst the boxing fraternity, the name Henry Nissen is well known. Nissen is an Australian Jewish amateur flyweight and professional fly/bantam/featherweight boxer of the 1960s and '70s. But in his seventh decade, Nissen is known in Melbourne for his youth social work.
He may be a dock worker, but he is also a founder of the Emerald Hill Mission. He is “the boy from the block who has remained on the block, friend to the down-and-out, the bewildered and unwanted, who would do anything for a mate, or a stranger. Who would lift you out of the gutter, no questions asked, no reward expected”
Zable uses a number of different sources to relate the story of Nissen’s life: Nissen himself provided much information; his twin brother Leon (also a well-known boxer) and his younger siblings; Nissen’s colleagues in the boxing fraternity; his social work contacts; childhood neighbours and friends; and, of course, media reports and historical documents.
Anecdotes about Nissen’s present day life alternate with stories from his past: his childhood and his boxing career. Nissen’s mother, Sonia, (“Mum, poor girl. She taught us compassion. She made us grow up quickly. And made us able to take on the world”) looms large in his life: her children were always vigilant for signs of her mental illness.
“She wears a floral dress, evoking summer, and she looks directly at the camera. She is beautiful… There are no inklings of the demons that would come to possess her. There is no hint of the pale tormented being she would become. No indication of the voices that would hold her hostage in a distant continent”
As a novelist, Zable treats the reader to some lovely descriptive prose: “The house at 212 is cast in afternoon sunlight. The west-facing bay window glints, and the tiles glow orange. Patches of moss shade the bricks with jade and silver. The breeze has dropped. The clouds are motionless. Time is temporarily halted. The past slips in like a sidling huntsman”
Also “Henry pauses on the way and glances at the weed-flowers and thistles on the embankment above a ribbon of water. A cormorant alights on a wooden pylon. Mosses and shrubs and swathes of long grass disappear in the falling darkness. A patch of daisies grows beneath the creek bridge, beside a row of lights switching on at nightfall” Zable’s portrait of this amazing and compassionate man is an interesting and uplifting read.
The Fighter is a non-fiction book by Australian novelist, Arnold Zable. Amongst the boxing fraternity, the name Henry Nissen is well known. Nissen is an Australian Jewish amateur flyweight and professional fly/bantam/featherweight boxer of the 1960s and '70s. But in his seventh decade, Nissen is known in Melbourne for his youth social work.
He may be a dock worker, but he is also a founder of the Emerald Hill Mission. He is “the boy from the block who has remained on the block, friend to the down-and-out, the bewildered and unwanted, who would do anything for a mate, or a stranger. Who would lift you out of the gutter, no questions asked, no reward expected”
Zable uses a number of different sources to relate the story of Nissen’s life: Nissen himself provided much information; his twin brother Leon (also a well-known boxer) and his younger siblings; Nissen’s colleagues in the boxing fraternity; his social work contacts; childhood neighbours and friends; and, of course, media reports and historical documents.
Anecdotes about Nissen’s present day life alternate with stories from his past: his childhood and his boxing career. Nissen’s mother, Sonia, (“Mum, poor girl. She taught us compassion. She made us grow up quickly. And made us able to take on the world”) looms large in his life: her children were always vigilant for signs of her mental illness.
“She wears a floral dress, evoking summer, and she looks directly at the camera. She is beautiful… There are no inklings of the demons that would come to possess her. There is no hint of the pale tormented being she would become. No indication of the voices that would hold her hostage in a distant continent”
As a novelist, Zable treats the reader to some lovely descriptive prose: “The house at 212 is cast in afternoon sunlight. The west-facing bay window glints, and the tiles glow orange. Patches of moss shade the bricks with jade and silver. The breeze has dropped. The clouds are motionless. Time is temporarily halted. The past slips in like a sidling huntsman”
Also “Henry pauses on the way and glances at the weed-flowers and thistles on the embankment above a ribbon of water. A cormorant alights on a wooden pylon. Mosses and shrubs and swathes of long grass disappear in the falling darkness. A patch of daisies grows beneath the creek bridge, beside a row of lights switching on at nightfall” Zable’s portrait of this amazing and compassionate man is an interesting and uplifting read.
December 8, 2017
The very finest Australian nonfiction book I've read this year. A beautifully written history of people and place, weaving seamlessly in and out of time. Zable's research and writing feels effortless and understated. He is a masterful storyteller with perfectly pitched narration. He tells this story with such gentle empathy and sharp eyes that you truly feel that you have walked in his subject's shoes.
November 12, 2017
I loved this book for many reasons. It's set in Melbourne, Australia, my favorite city in the world (where I lived for eight years). It's a second generation immigrant story: the son of Jewish immigrants, fleeing the Holocaust, makes a name for himself as a boxing champion (and then continues to thrive and do good as a champion of struggling kids and adults on the streets of Melbourne). Also, I know one of the brothers of the main character (I'd heard stories of the title character, but had never gotten the detail that Zable provides). And finally I loved it because the prose was heartfelt, gentle, yet powerful. It's a biography that reads like a novel.
February 20, 2024
Again wishing for .5 stars so I could give 3.5⭐️ interesting local story with unique style (didn’t always love). But Henry seems like a cool guy.
February 17, 2017
Perhaps I'm too young, but I had not heard of Henry Nissen. I should have with all his work in the present, helping the down and out, mixing with the homeless, the people on the streets. And as a boxer, there are no bells ringing.
Henry Nissan and his twin brother Leon, boxers in the 70s in Melbourne. This story, The Fighter by Arnold Zable touches the heart of the city, brings to life the migrant experience and the demons that followed many of the Jews after fleeing their countries and attempting to establish new lives in this city. The chapters depicting the histories of Henry's parents are compelling. The boys' determination and grit as they refined their boxing skills makes for a remarkable and heart warming story.
Congratulations Henry.
Henry Nissan and his twin brother Leon, boxers in the 70s in Melbourne. This story, The Fighter by Arnold Zable touches the heart of the city, brings to life the migrant experience and the demons that followed many of the Jews after fleeing their countries and attempting to establish new lives in this city. The chapters depicting the histories of Henry's parents are compelling. The boys' determination and grit as they refined their boxing skills makes for a remarkable and heart warming story.
Congratulations Henry.
July 20, 2016
In a word, exhausting.
Amazing story of a person who gives so much. A brilliant insight into his family life, his upbringing and his boxing career. All of which made him who he is.
The descriptions of his childhood neighborhood were particularly well written.
I just wish he got some sleep!
Amazing story of a person who gives so much. A brilliant insight into his family life, his upbringing and his boxing career. All of which made him who he is.
The descriptions of his childhood neighborhood were particularly well written.
I just wish he got some sleep!
October 12, 2016
skim read the book - did not like the writing style and found the boxing side of the story really really boring
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews