Attempts to Draw Jesus

by Stephen Orr

Set against a red desert landscape, this novel is the wry, powerful story of two teenagers in unfamiliar surroundings. Jack Alber and Clive "Rolly" Rollins are both stuck in dead-end lives. Jack is trapped in a small town with no opportunity for excitement or even a job; Rolly is wasting his life away in a big city, with few prospects and more of an interest in observing life than living it. The lives of both these imaginative, quirky characters change forever when they apply to work as jackaroos, or livestock workers, for a remote outback station. Out in the Simpson Desert, Jack and Rolly experience adventure and the opportunity to prove themselves to their friends and family. This novel features themes of independence, self-discovery, and wanderlust.

372 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

Stephen Orr is an Australian writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction. His works are set in uniquely Australian settings, including coastal towns, outback regions and the Australian suburbs. His fiction explores the dynamics of Australian families and communities.

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attempts To Draw Jesus is the first novel by award-winning South Australian author, Stephen Orr. In a dodgy second-hand ute bought with the assistance of his mum’s lodger, dedicated dole bludger Clive (Rolly) Rollins arrives in Alice Springs from Adelaide. At the Del Rae hotel, booked for him by the Rural Employment Agency, Rolly meets up with Jack Alber: they’re both headed northwest, towards Hall’s Creek, for Ningunna Station, to become jackaroos, no experience required. To Jack, ex BP servo in Jamestown, it sounded better than anything else on offer at the CES.

Their journey to Ningunna is not quite trouble-free (carby spat the dummy), and when they arrive, they realise their expectations of the cattle station were more than a little lofty. Sid Smith (the boss) is disappointed by their lack of experience and delegates their training to his son, Egg. While Rolly has instantly attracted the attention of the boss’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Elly, it seems Jack has found extreme, if inexplicable, disfavour with Egg.

They learn some stuff: post-hole digging, fencing, servicing bores, but before the muster even begins, they’ve earned themselves isolation at two outstations. Boredom leads to extreme dissatisfaction and a realisation that proving oneself need not involve quite so much discomfort and poor treatment. They make new grand plans.

As with several of Orr’s later novels, the story is loosely based on fact, in this case the disappearance of two young jackaroos (Simon Amos and James Annetts) from remote stations in Western Australia in 1986. Before they meet, he alternates the narrative between Jack and Rolly; thereafter, the narrative is switches between characters as convenient for the story. Many of the characters, (and as an aspiring writer, Rolly in particular) are given to the imagination of elaborate scenarios that are quite often (and sometimes, darkly) comical. Dreams and reminiscences also contribute to the story.

As Orr paints it, Jamestown is the quintessentially Australian small country town of the 1990s, while Rolly’s corner of Adelaide has some small-town qualities of its own. His descriptions of Ningunna station are evocative: the pervasive red dust and the heat are palpable. While Jack and Rolly are fully explored, even the most minor characters get vignettes that evoke something more than a bare sketch. His take on events is a plausible rendering of this tragedy. A powerful debut novel.

[Stephen Orr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel. a good solid scrambling aussie yarn.
two interesting protagonists set across a diverse range of backdrops.
the story did bounce around a bit and I found myself rereading on occasion to see where the story had diverted. dream sequences and the like made for quite focused reading at times, but worth it.
a really good ending drew the story together well.
(and love the authors name. probably deserves another star just for that)

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed all of Stephen Orr's books for a range of reasons. I like the familiar settings around South Australia, the detailed characters and also the familiarity of his stories, which are generally based on a real event. This book is a fictional account of the disappearances of the young jackaroos, Simon Amos and James Annetts, after they left a remote station in the Kimberley in 1986. Their bodies were eventually discovered about 100kms away in the Great Sandy Desert. They had become confused by a matrix of tracks, taken a wrong turn and died of exposure. An investigation revealed bullying, mistreatment and neglect by the station owners and the families were given the right to sue. The book follows the boys from their homes and into the station life. The names and locations are different, but the circumstances are the same. The final chapters are about their disappearance, but it doesn't cover the investigation.
An enjoyable read, but sometimes a bit too detailed and slow.