When I saw Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang on the shelf at a used book store earlier this week, I immediately thought of my dad. It was the book he was reading the last time I saw him before he died, which was December 2002, the year after it won the Booker Prize. I remember dad telling me how much he liked it, I think I actually bought it for him. For some reason I've never read it, though I really enjoy Carey's other books.
Well, now I can highly recommend it. It's a uniquely told work of historical fiction - made up of the so-called letters from a partially illiterate Ned Kelly to his infant daughter and basically explaining his outlaw existence. The entire tale is told pretty much without the use of commas, which is surprisingly easy to get used to, and the most commonly used word is "adjectival". This is to protect the ears of his young daughter - he uses it to replace the more colourful slang he's grown up amongst. And while there is no doubt Kelly perpetrated many of the crimes he is well-known for, this novel gives us a human view of the man, and a different perspective of him as a tragic martyr. And the language just sucks you in.
1 comment:
Just a note on the chronology. The last time you saw your dad was December 2001. He died five years ago this month. But I can't remember the book nor have I run across it among the hundreds of volumes he had.
Mom
Post a Comment