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True History of the Kelly Gang
'I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silence...'
To the authorities in pursuit of him, outlaw Ned Kelly is a horse thief, bank robber and police-killer. But to his fellow ordinary Australians, Kelly is their own Robin Hood. In a dazzling act of ventriloquism, Peter Carey brings the famous bushranger wildly and passionately to life.
435 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 8, 2000
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About the author
Peter Carey
102 books1,031 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. Not all books on this profile are by the same author. See this thread for more information.
Peter Carey was born in Australia in 1943.
He was educated at the local state school until the age of eleven and then became a boarder at Geelong Grammar School. He was a student there between 1954 and 1960 — after Rupert Murdoch had graduated and before Prince Charles arrived.
In 1961 he studied science for a single unsuccessful year at Monash University. He was then employed by an advertising agency where he began to receive his literary education, meeting Faulkner, Joyce, Kerouac and other writers he had previously been unaware of. He was nineteen.
For the next thirteen years he wrote fiction at night and weekends, working in many advertising agencies in Melbourne, London and Sydney.
After four novels had been written and rejected The Fat Man in History — a short story collection — was published in 1974. This slim book made him an overnight success.
From 1976 Carey worked one week a month for Grey Advertising, then, in 1981 he established a small business where his generous partner required him to work only two afternoons a week. Thus between 1976 and 1990, he was able to pursue literature obsessively. It was during this period that he wrote War Crimes, Bliss, Illywhacker, Oscar and Lucinda. Illywhacker was short listed for the Booker Prize. Oscar and Lucinda won it. Uncomfortable with this success he began work on The Tax Inspector.
In 1990 he moved to New York where he completed The Tax Inspector. He taught at NYU one night a week. Later he would have similar jobs at Princeton, The New School and Barnard College. During these years he wrote The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith, Jack Maggs, and True History of the Kelly Gang for which he won his second Booker Prize.
He collaborated on the screenplay of the film Until the End of the World with Wim Wenders.
In 2003 he joined Hunter College as the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing. In the years since he has written My Life as a Fake, Theft, His Illegal Self and Parrot and Oliver in America (shortlisted for 2010 Man Booker Prize).
Peter Carey was born in Australia in 1943.
He was educated at the local state school until the age of eleven and then became a boarder at Geelong Grammar School. He was a student there between 1954 and 1960 — after Rupert Murdoch had graduated and before Prince Charles arrived.
In 1961 he studied science for a single unsuccessful year at Monash University. He was then employed by an advertising agency where he began to receive his literary education, meeting Faulkner, Joyce, Kerouac and other writers he had previously been unaware of. He was nineteen.
For the next thirteen years he wrote fiction at night and weekends, working in many advertising agencies in Melbourne, London and Sydney.
After four novels had been written and rejected The Fat Man in History — a short story collection — was published in 1974. This slim book made him an overnight success.
From 1976 Carey worked one week a month for Grey Advertising, then, in 1981 he established a small business where his generous partner required him to work only two afternoons a week. Thus between 1976 and 1990, he was able to pursue literature obsessively. It was during this period that he wrote War Crimes, Bliss, Illywhacker, Oscar and Lucinda. Illywhacker was short listed for the Booker Prize. Oscar and Lucinda won it. Uncomfortable with this success he began work on The Tax Inspector.
In 1990 he moved to New York where he completed The Tax Inspector. He taught at NYU one night a week. Later he would have similar jobs at Princeton, The New School and Barnard College. During these years he wrote The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith, Jack Maggs, and True History of the Kelly Gang for which he won his second Booker Prize.
He collaborated on the screenplay of the film Until the End of the World with Wim Wenders.
In 2003 he joined Hunter College as the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing. In the years since he has written My Life as a Fake, Theft, His Illegal Self and Parrot and Oliver in America (shortlisted for 2010 Man Booker Prize).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,558 reviews
August 28, 2022
This book is a wonder. It's interesting that it can be so effective when its artifice is so apparent. No one really writes like this. No one really uses this bizarre amalgam of heightened vocabulary, slang, and understatement; just to read a few pages is proof enough of that. The technique is mostly a kind of enjambed, run-on sentence style with colorful Australian argot. Yet one is completely mesmerized by the book. Its pleasures as a narrative are rich and unrelenting. My heart pounds and a sympathetic vengeance fills me as I read Ned Kelly's account of the injustices done to him and his family by an out of control police force. (This should feel painfully familiar to Americans of color just now.) As if the dreary damp wretched pitiful lives of these people weren't punishment enough. On top of it all they’re persecuted as Irish Catholics by a colonial (Protestant) British establishment. One comes to the book with the expectation that it’s about this out of control killer and his adherents. But halfway through it dawns on you that Ned Kelly as depicted here is a moral hero. It is only when he is pushed into a corner that he kills, and then his acts are in self defense. Ned's claims of being sought by the police solely for purposes of summary execution without trial are incontrovertible. Please look to the many other reviews here for a run-down of the plot points. Highly recommended.
November 2, 2022
Well here I am being a bad person again, I try to be good and I really do like to like things but you all are probably by now getting the strong idea that really I like to dislike things, such as Booker Prize winners and movies with Scarlet Johanssssssen in them. They call me Mr Grumpy, baby, cause baby, that’s my name. No, Otis Redding did not sing that song, I did. Well I did not make it even to the middle of this Kelly Gang saga and the reasons are disturbing – for me, that is, not for you.
Peter Cary can write well, he’s lyrical, and salty, and all that- mmmm, smell that kangaroo, taste that kookaburra. Ned Kelly, whose unlikely autobiography this is, is sweet and pungent and naïve and knowing and really beautiful, everybody says so and everybody is right. You can’t get past Peter Carey’s front door without shoving aside all the awards which have spilled off his shelves, lots of them for this very novel. But when I put this novel down to read a nonfiction zinger about obscure 78 records, and then another nonfiction zinger about the publication history of Ulysses, and then, today, I thought I’d better pick Ned Kelly up again & finish it, I found a new thought lying around in my brain, and the thought was – nah, let’s not.
It wasn’t the fact that this man Ned has perfect recall of every single solitary moment of his life, because that kind of annoying unlikeliness is something I guess you have to go along with because every long first person narrative has a bit of that about it, although it does grate here; it was more the whole illiteratish working class no-good-Irish bushranger-type turns out to be sensitive yet strong courageous yet nice, tough yet tasty, mean yet poetic.... my God the human admirableness of Ned was laid on with a trowel, I could not tell if Ned was totally in love with himself or if Peter Carey was totally in love with Ned his creature. But fatally for me, this whole cool-Ned thing became cute. He was cute. He was romantic. He was like the guy in the Shangri-Las song – “Oh yeah? Well I hear he’s bad” “Mmmm- he’s good-bad, but he’s not evil”. So this was shaping up to be a claustrophobically told cowboy yarn (think The Outlaw Josey Wales or High Plains Drifter with a dash of Unforgiven) and with another 237 pages to go I got off of my roan mare with the splash of silver over its left eye and stuffed a jumbuck in my tucker bag and scrambled over the billabong back to the 21st century.
Peter Cary can write well, he’s lyrical, and salty, and all that- mmmm, smell that kangaroo, taste that kookaburra. Ned Kelly, whose unlikely autobiography this is, is sweet and pungent and naïve and knowing and really beautiful, everybody says so and everybody is right. You can’t get past Peter Carey’s front door without shoving aside all the awards which have spilled off his shelves, lots of them for this very novel. But when I put this novel down to read a nonfiction zinger about obscure 78 records, and then another nonfiction zinger about the publication history of Ulysses, and then, today, I thought I’d better pick Ned Kelly up again & finish it, I found a new thought lying around in my brain, and the thought was – nah, let’s not.
It wasn’t the fact that this man Ned has perfect recall of every single solitary moment of his life, because that kind of annoying unlikeliness is something I guess you have to go along with because every long first person narrative has a bit of that about it, although it does grate here; it was more the whole illiteratish working class no-good-Irish bushranger-type turns out to be sensitive yet strong courageous yet nice, tough yet tasty, mean yet poetic.... my God the human admirableness of Ned was laid on with a trowel, I could not tell if Ned was totally in love with himself or if Peter Carey was totally in love with Ned his creature. But fatally for me, this whole cool-Ned thing became cute. He was cute. He was romantic. He was like the guy in the Shangri-Las song – “Oh yeah? Well I hear he’s bad” “Mmmm- he’s good-bad, but he’s not evil”. So this was shaping up to be a claustrophobically told cowboy yarn (think The Outlaw Josey Wales or High Plains Drifter with a dash of Unforgiven) and with another 237 pages to go I got off of my roan mare with the splash of silver over its left eye and stuffed a jumbuck in my tucker bag and scrambled over the billabong back to the 21st century.
April 1, 2025
Ned Kelly is a man of Australian folklore. Peter Carey gives Kelly a voice beyond the grave in this novel—a voice for his then infant daughter, whom he would never meet. This plot device, unfortunately, is not based on fact, yet it is a useful method to reimagine Kelly's thoughts as he grew up to become a bushranger. Kelly was, and continues to be, considered a noble bandit rebelling against the colonial elite. Kelly asserted as much during his life, and Carey repeats it within this book. There is no doubt he and his family were treated unjustly. However, he killed four policemen in dubious circumstances. I do not think Kelly's venerable reputation is deserved.
February 10, 2017
lmao i definitely didn't read the last 100 pages of this
November 10, 2019
This fascinating novel from Man Booker prize winner Peter Carey explores the story of the deadly Kelly Gang from the perspective of one of the Kellys. The Kelly gang has an interesting role in Australian history as a band of renegades that were treated like shit by society and forced (or not depending on how you view it) to take to a life of brigandry to survive. They were brutally hunted down by the Aussie government but the hunt took years and cost many lives. The book is exciting and very well-written (as well written as Oscar and Lucinda which I adored as well!)
Highly recommended as a portrait of early 20th C badlands in Australia.
Highly recommended as a portrait of early 20th C badlands in Australia.
April 23, 2020
Finally, a true history of the Kelly gang. No doubt, you've long suspected all those other tales about the outlaws who terrorized Australia in the 1870s were infected with English prejudice or Aussie pride. If you want the real scoop, you've got to read Ned Kelly's own words - God's honest truth - as brought to us in Peter Carey's avalanche of a novel.
"I know what it is to be raised on lies and silences," the legendary bushranger writes to a daughter he will never see. "You are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in hell if I speak false."
If that's not a gunshot of dramatic irony, what is? But Ned's breathless testimony quickly submerges all skepticism. You can't help but hope he'll somehow outrun the English landlords, the army of police, and even the record of history that insists he was hung in a Melbourne prison at the age of 26.
With this remarkable novel, Carey has raised a national legend to the level of an international myth. If the world thinks of America through the voice of Huck Finn, from now on they'll think of Australia through the testimony of Ned Kelly.
Born into a large family of Irish immigrants, Ned should have lived a life of quiet contentment. "I once imagined there were never a better place on earth than where I lived at Pleurisy Plains," he writes. "I could not conceive a better soil or prettier view or trees that did not grow crooked in the winds."
But Ned's good nature isn't enough to spare him from the assaults of English injustice. At school, he endures a barrage of dispiriting prejudice. The police harass his family relentlessly. "All my life all I wanted were a home," he sighs, but the authorities are determined to catch his relations stealing or lying or fighting or drinking - anything to put one of them away in the "gaol" and encourage the remaining clan to move out.
Ned struggles to be good, but his mother, a woman of monumental selfishness, apprentices him to a stagecoach thief. With Harry Power, he learns the finer points of robbing, intimidating, and hiding in the outback. "He were a dirty liar," Ned notes with his signature style. "It were his great hobby and profession he done it continuously like another man might pick his nose or carve faces on a bit of mallee root just to pass the time."
Despite his mother's treachery, Ned remains unfailingly committed to her with a kind of devotion even his friends in this pre-Freudian age think is peculiar. He works for her, brings lovers back to her, builds a new house for her, and defends her against a government determined to take her farm and split up her family.
After three years in jail, Ned emerges aflame with Irish pride. "I were already travelling full tilt towards the man I would become.... Injustice put me in a rage nothing would ease it but danger I now craved it like another man might lust for the raw burn of poteen." For 20 months, Ned and a small band of devoted friends manage to rob banks, elude the law, and help the poor a la Robin Hood. It's a series of crises told in a voice so full of passion and anger and innocence that it moves even beyond the boundaries of grammar.
His friends and young wife plead with him to flee to America, but he won't leave his mother in jail. And unlike Huck Finn, poor Ned Kelly can't light out for the territory. He's already there.
Beneath Ned's rousing proclamations of imminent victory, tragedy rises toward a crescendo of blood. Intoxicated by his own invulnerability, he gradually twists into the kind of dictator he once railed against. "I were the terror of the government being brung to life in the cauldron of the night," he writes. "I wished only to be a citizen I had tried to speak but the mongrels stole my tongue when I asked for justice they give me none."
In this bracing narrative, Carey has given Kelly back his tongue with a style that rips like a falling tree. The Australia-born author is something of a genius in these acts of literary ventriloquism. His last novel, "Jack Maggs," raced through the spectacular tale of Pip's benefactor, a minor character from Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations."
There can be no doubt this is the true history of Ned Kelly, but it's more complex than Ned realizes. In one of many moments of painful disillusionment, he writes, "Thus did the truth appear but in a lightning flash like a fish jumping at the evening rise and by the time I saw it there were nothing left but ripples." Carey is a man who isn't afraid to stand in water during lightning and tell us what it's like.
Ron Charles was the Monitor's book editor. Now he's a book critic at The Washington Post.
(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society
https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0118/p...
"I know what it is to be raised on lies and silences," the legendary bushranger writes to a daughter he will never see. "You are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in hell if I speak false."
If that's not a gunshot of dramatic irony, what is? But Ned's breathless testimony quickly submerges all skepticism. You can't help but hope he'll somehow outrun the English landlords, the army of police, and even the record of history that insists he was hung in a Melbourne prison at the age of 26.
With this remarkable novel, Carey has raised a national legend to the level of an international myth. If the world thinks of America through the voice of Huck Finn, from now on they'll think of Australia through the testimony of Ned Kelly.
Born into a large family of Irish immigrants, Ned should have lived a life of quiet contentment. "I once imagined there were never a better place on earth than where I lived at Pleurisy Plains," he writes. "I could not conceive a better soil or prettier view or trees that did not grow crooked in the winds."
But Ned's good nature isn't enough to spare him from the assaults of English injustice. At school, he endures a barrage of dispiriting prejudice. The police harass his family relentlessly. "All my life all I wanted were a home," he sighs, but the authorities are determined to catch his relations stealing or lying or fighting or drinking - anything to put one of them away in the "gaol" and encourage the remaining clan to move out.
Ned struggles to be good, but his mother, a woman of monumental selfishness, apprentices him to a stagecoach thief. With Harry Power, he learns the finer points of robbing, intimidating, and hiding in the outback. "He were a dirty liar," Ned notes with his signature style. "It were his great hobby and profession he done it continuously like another man might pick his nose or carve faces on a bit of mallee root just to pass the time."
Despite his mother's treachery, Ned remains unfailingly committed to her with a kind of devotion even his friends in this pre-Freudian age think is peculiar. He works for her, brings lovers back to her, builds a new house for her, and defends her against a government determined to take her farm and split up her family.
After three years in jail, Ned emerges aflame with Irish pride. "I were already travelling full tilt towards the man I would become.... Injustice put me in a rage nothing would ease it but danger I now craved it like another man might lust for the raw burn of poteen." For 20 months, Ned and a small band of devoted friends manage to rob banks, elude the law, and help the poor a la Robin Hood. It's a series of crises told in a voice so full of passion and anger and innocence that it moves even beyond the boundaries of grammar.
His friends and young wife plead with him to flee to America, but he won't leave his mother in jail. And unlike Huck Finn, poor Ned Kelly can't light out for the territory. He's already there.
Beneath Ned's rousing proclamations of imminent victory, tragedy rises toward a crescendo of blood. Intoxicated by his own invulnerability, he gradually twists into the kind of dictator he once railed against. "I were the terror of the government being brung to life in the cauldron of the night," he writes. "I wished only to be a citizen I had tried to speak but the mongrels stole my tongue when I asked for justice they give me none."
In this bracing narrative, Carey has given Kelly back his tongue with a style that rips like a falling tree. The Australia-born author is something of a genius in these acts of literary ventriloquism. His last novel, "Jack Maggs," raced through the spectacular tale of Pip's benefactor, a minor character from Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations."
There can be no doubt this is the true history of Ned Kelly, but it's more complex than Ned realizes. In one of many moments of painful disillusionment, he writes, "Thus did the truth appear but in a lightning flash like a fish jumping at the evening rise and by the time I saw it there were nothing left but ripples." Carey is a man who isn't afraid to stand in water during lightning and tell us what it's like.
Ron Charles was the Monitor's book editor. Now he's a book critic at The Washington Post.
(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society
https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0118/p...
November 12, 2018
Let’s start at the beginning. At the front cover, in fact. The first thing you notice is that this is not “The True History…”, not even “A True History…”. No, it is simply “True History…”. Even before the reader opens the book to read, there’s the hint of a question, of some ambiguity - what exactly are we reading? In several senses, the title is also misleading: the contents of the book are not all “true” and only about a quarter of the book involves the Kelly Gang (the gang does not form until very late in the book). As I understand the author’s goal, it is in the narrative voice of Ned Kelly that the ambition for truth is found.
And it certainly is a compelling voice. Carey has written something that brings his protagonist to life in the mind of the reader. The narrative contains no punctuation other than full stops (and even many of those are missing if you go by normal grammar standards) and it reads like Ned Kelly talking to directly to you. This is also a consequence of the book’s structure which is framed as a series of parcels of documents written by Kelly directly to his daughter for her to read later in life.
If you know anything about Kelly (I admit to knowing very little), I imagine you are now saying “His daughter? Kelly didn’t have a daughter.” And you are right. None of the parcels, the daughter or the daughter’s mother (Mary Hearn) actually existed. But many of the book’s other characters are real and many of the events of the book did take place. Carey has created a fictionalised version of Kelly’s story that brings his relationship with his mother and with the (fictional) woman he loves to the fore, at least equal with his battles with the police who chase him around the country. In Carey’s story, a lot of Kelly’s motivation, especially towards the end of the book, comes from his desire to see his mother released from prison and re-united with her baby. The overall effect of this is to present us with a far more sympathetic view of Kelly than is, I understand, usual.
Interviewed not long after the book’s publication (2001), Carey was asked about his motivation for writing the book. In one interview, he referred to a need to understand Australia’s convict past being fundamental to its future. And he went on to say (non-italicised words added by me to try to make sense of the sentence):
”It is not just our convict past, but one of the two big issues in our lives is that we began as a convict colony and the other is that we invaded another person’s country and took it from them and then pretended that we didn’t. There is a great tendency to deny both of these things and I feel we can’t grow up as a nation until until we come to grips with these things. Our convict past is a big and traumatic history. I think in the last 10 years we have started to acknowledge these things. It seems to me that the past does matter.”
The book contains several passages the talk about social injustice. At one point, Kelly writes to his daughter
“...but you must also remember your ancestors would not kowtow to no one and this were a fine rare thing in a colony made specifically to have poor men bow down to their gaolers”
And we read a lot about the social conditions that meant law enforcement could easily pervert the course of justice by fabricating charges, bribing witnesses or, sometimes, simply ignoring the truth and putting a man in prison anyway.
As I say, I do not know a lot about Kelly. This book, with its mixture of fact and fiction, is a very engaging book to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it probably should not be the only book a person reads about Kelly if that person wants to know the truth. I imagine that knowing or learning the truth will also increase a reader’s appreciation of how clever Carey has been in the construction of his novel.
And it certainly is a compelling voice. Carey has written something that brings his protagonist to life in the mind of the reader. The narrative contains no punctuation other than full stops (and even many of those are missing if you go by normal grammar standards) and it reads like Ned Kelly talking to directly to you. This is also a consequence of the book’s structure which is framed as a series of parcels of documents written by Kelly directly to his daughter for her to read later in life.
If you know anything about Kelly (I admit to knowing very little), I imagine you are now saying “His daughter? Kelly didn’t have a daughter.” And you are right. None of the parcels, the daughter or the daughter’s mother (Mary Hearn) actually existed. But many of the book’s other characters are real and many of the events of the book did take place. Carey has created a fictionalised version of Kelly’s story that brings his relationship with his mother and with the (fictional) woman he loves to the fore, at least equal with his battles with the police who chase him around the country. In Carey’s story, a lot of Kelly’s motivation, especially towards the end of the book, comes from his desire to see his mother released from prison and re-united with her baby. The overall effect of this is to present us with a far more sympathetic view of Kelly than is, I understand, usual.
Interviewed not long after the book’s publication (2001), Carey was asked about his motivation for writing the book. In one interview, he referred to a need to understand Australia’s convict past being fundamental to its future. And he went on to say (non-italicised words added by me to try to make sense of the sentence):
”It is not just our convict past, but one of the two big issues in our lives is that we began as a convict colony and the other is that we invaded another person’s country and took it from them and then pretended that we didn’t. There is a great tendency to deny both of these things and I feel we can’t grow up as a nation until until we come to grips with these things. Our convict past is a big and traumatic history. I think in the last 10 years we have started to acknowledge these things. It seems to me that the past does matter.”
The book contains several passages the talk about social injustice. At one point, Kelly writes to his daughter
“...but you must also remember your ancestors would not kowtow to no one and this were a fine rare thing in a colony made specifically to have poor men bow down to their gaolers”
And we read a lot about the social conditions that meant law enforcement could easily pervert the course of justice by fabricating charges, bribing witnesses or, sometimes, simply ignoring the truth and putting a man in prison anyway.
As I say, I do not know a lot about Kelly. This book, with its mixture of fact and fiction, is a very engaging book to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it probably should not be the only book a person reads about Kelly if that person wants to know the truth. I imagine that knowing or learning the truth will also increase a reader’s appreciation of how clever Carey has been in the construction of his novel.
June 10, 2007
If, like me, you don't know anything about Ned Kelly when you start this book, don't be scared off by the first two pages with the killer robot. That will all become clear later. Really, between the cover design, the killer robot, and the difficult style, I thought I was going to hate this book. Halfway through it, I realized I was totally in love with it. It was this paragraph that really did it for me:
We thought you doomed and rooned the minute you walked out past the chook house and Wild delivered that great sidearm to your head and you was on the floor before you even stepped up to the scratch. It were a proddy pub so no one give an eff what happened to a mick they planned to drink your blood. Wild had heard you had been mocking Dummy and now he were for the kill. (178)
Awesome.
We thought you doomed and rooned the minute you walked out past the chook house and Wild delivered that great sidearm to your head and you was on the floor before you even stepped up to the scratch. It were a proddy pub so no one give an eff what happened to a mick they planned to drink your blood. Wild had heard you had been mocking Dummy and now he were for the kill. (178)
Awesome.
November 28, 2023
A fascinating look into the history of Australia's most notorious outlaw, the True History of the Kelly Gang is framed as a collection of archival documents containing Ned's autobiography. Ned is either not a reliable narrator or takes no responsibility for his actions, particularly during his apprenticeship with Harry Power. Nevertheless, he paints a vivid portrait of police corruption and abuse in 19th century Australia. Carey does a marvelous job portraying the hardships of the era, but the story can be tedious at times.
January 8, 2019
Beautifully written. I loved this telling of the Ned Kelly/Kelly Gang story, they all felt incredibly alive to me as I read it. I have added two of the biographies on Ned Kelly that Peter Carey mentions in his acknowledgments, and may read the others too. He has inspired me to continue learning about this, though I'll give his novel time to digest first. I had a rough idea of the plot going in, since this is a historical figure I don't think that can be helped, in fact it may even add to the experience, knowing what it is all inevitably building toward.
Peter Carey really captures the harshness of the time, the place and the people. An undeniably fascinating bit of Australian history (told in a fictional format).
Peter Carey really captures the harshness of the time, the place and the people. An undeniably fascinating bit of Australian history (told in a fictional format).
March 19, 2011
The book aint no adjectival ordinary good read it were an Australian bush tale about ole Ned Kelly a real life legendary criminal and hero and how he were forced to become a bushranger by the effing corrupt police and judges and them fellers what owned everything and bent the law to their favor. Ole Ned wrote his story in letter form to his unborn daughter being carried in the belly of his beloved whore Mary Hearn he seen his family treated poorly and himself put in gaol for no good reason. It’s a rip snortin tale what moves at a mighty pace mabe too fast and too many characters and too much geographical disorientation. Ned and his pansy brother Dan and Dan’s pansy friend Hal and opium addict Joe Byrne find thereselves commiten murder and bank robbin and hostage takin cause it forced on them by the ruling classes. It all a big cowboy adventure but if you are one to be turned off by over 300 pages of this sort of no comma bad grammar poor spellin narrative it better to get a real true history of real life Ned Kelly.
October 11, 2018
I loved Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda; wasn't quite so keen on Jack Maggs; this is my favourite to date. Ned Kelly is Australia's version of Jesse James or Billy the Kid. A loveable outlaw fighting against institutional injustice and to feed his family. He tells his story in the first person with wonderful inventive language. He perhaps stretches the truth to flatter his role in it but all of us do this when we tell our own stories and eventually he completely won me over and I was rooting for him. It's an exciting novel with lots of dramatic tension at the same time as being a very literary novel. A wonderful combination for me. Wholly recommended.
May 16, 2021
چیزی كه پیتر كری از ند كِلی و دار و دسته اش عرضه كرده نه آنچنان خیالیست كه در افسانه ها آمده و نه آنچنان واقعی كه تنها در كتاب های تاریخ گنجانده شده. ند كِلی فقط یك قهرمان معمولی مردم استرالیا نیست، بلكه او خودِ استرالیاست: وحشی و بكر، دست خوش دردی جانكاه و انتقامجو. بسیار از خواندن این كتاب لذت بردم
July 15, 2015
Description: In True History of the Kelly Gang," " the legendary Ned Kelly speaks for himself, scribbling his narrative on errant scraps of paper in semiliterate but magically descriptive prose as he flees from the police. To his pursuers, Kelly is nothing but a monstrous criminal, a thief and a murderer. To his own people, the lowly class of ordinary Australians, the bushranger is a hero, defying the authority of the English to direct their lives. Indentured by his bootlegger mother to a famous horse thief (who was also her lover), Ned saw his first prison cell at 15 and by the age of 26 had become the most wanted man in the wild colony of Victoria, taking over whole towns and defying the law until he was finally captured and hanged. Here is a classic outlaw tale, made alive by the skill of a great novelist."
Opening: LOST MY OWN FATHER AT 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false.
God willing I shall live to see you read these words to witness your astonishment and see your dark eyes widen and your jaw drop when you finally comprehend the injustice we poor Irish suffered in this present age. How queer and foreign it must seem to you and all the coarse words and cruelty which I now relate are far away in ancient time.
I seem to like the idea of Peter Carey rather than results, and have some flisters that I'm in awe of who really rate Carey's work.
Mick Jagger - Ned Kelly Fragments
Johnny Cash - Ned Kelly
2* True History of the Kelly Gang
3* Parrot and Olivier in America
2* Jack Maggs
3* Bliss
2* The Chemistry of Tears
TR 30 Days in Sydney
2* The Big Bahzoohley
Opening: LOST MY OWN FATHER AT 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false.
God willing I shall live to see you read these words to witness your astonishment and see your dark eyes widen and your jaw drop when you finally comprehend the injustice we poor Irish suffered in this present age. How queer and foreign it must seem to you and all the coarse words and cruelty which I now relate are far away in ancient time.
I seem to like the idea of Peter Carey rather than results, and have some flisters that I'm in awe of who really rate Carey's work. Mick Jagger - Ned Kelly Fragments
Johnny Cash - Ned Kelly
2* True History of the Kelly Gang
3* Parrot and Olivier in America
2* Jack Maggs
3* Bliss
2* The Chemistry of Tears
TR 30 Days in Sydney
2* The Big Bahzoohley
June 7, 2020
Engaging, colorful, tale of the legendary Aussie bandit Ned Kelly and his outlaw mates. Told mainly in the form of a letter penned by Ned Kelly for his daughter, Ned's slangy Aussie 'semi-literate magically descriptive' dialect took a bit of getting used to, but was the engine that propelled this fictional account to the booker prize podium.
An adjectival damn good read. No effin' doubt about it. 4 1/2 stars"
An adjectival damn good read. No effin' doubt about it. 4 1/2 stars"
September 22, 2011
I 'effing' love Peter Carey's prose. An 'adjectival' masterpiece of historical fiction and myth-making.
May 27, 2014
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper in 2001, Peter Carey stated that the idea for writing a history of Ned Kelly started when he read the so-called Jerilderie Letter in a museum in the 1960s. This 8,000 word, 56-page letter was dictated to fellow gang member Joe Byrne by Ned following the robbery of the Jerilderie bank in 1879. In it Ned explains why he has been driven to lead a life as a bushranger following persecution of his family by a corrupt police force and victimisation of poor Irish families by the wealthy English squatters.In the letter, Ned gives his version of events and gives his account of the killing of three police officers at Stringybark Creek in 1978 saying "... this cannot be called wilful murder for I was compelled to shoot them, or lie down and let them shoot me". Carey describes the letter as uneducated but intelligent, humorous but also angry and says that "His language came in a great, furious rush that could not but remind you of far more literary Irish writers."
In this novel, Carey has recreated Ned's voice as he heard it in the letter and used it to tell the story of the Kelly Gang. The novel is written in the first person using a stream of rich, almost poetic Irish-Australian vernacular from the 1880s. The cast of characters including his mother Ellen, brother Dan and sister Kate, his best friend Joe Byrne,opium-eater Aaron,and the cross-dressing Steve Hart are all colorfully described so that we have a sympathy and understanding of their natures. Wonderfully re-imagined, the novel is as much a comment on the politics of the time and the struggle between the families of poor convicts eking out a living and the wealthier settlers as it is the story of a bushranger.
In this novel, Carey has recreated Ned's voice as he heard it in the letter and used it to tell the story of the Kelly Gang. The novel is written in the first person using a stream of rich, almost poetic Irish-Australian vernacular from the 1880s. The cast of characters including his mother Ellen, brother Dan and sister Kate, his best friend Joe Byrne,opium-eater Aaron,and the cross-dressing Steve Hart are all colorfully described so that we have a sympathy and understanding of their natures. Wonderfully re-imagined, the novel is as much a comment on the politics of the time and the struggle between the families of poor convicts eking out a living and the wealthier settlers as it is the story of a bushranger.
June 6, 2022
Historical fiction about the life of notorious Australian outlaw Ned Kelly (1854-1880). When I first picked it up, I thought it was non-fiction (just reading the title); however, I quickly realized it is a fictitious memoir, with Ned Kelly writing his life story to his infant daughter. Ned Kelly was the eldest son of Ellen and John “Red” Kelly, an Irish transported convict. His father died when he was young, so he and his mother developed a close relationship. He is apprenticed to bushranger Harry Power, where he learns the trade of an “honorable thief.” The storyline follows his increasing level of crime and his motivations.
Carey gets into the head of the protagonist, imagining the majority of the content and wrapping it around the main factual events in Kelly’s life. Since it is written in Ned’s voice, one may expect a sympathetic portrayal. Ned Kelly’s education ended at an early age, so Carey has captured his voice in stream of consciousness with limited punctuation and questionable grammar. After reading about a third of it in hard copy, I switched to audio, which was a good move. The audio is beautifully performed by Gianfranco Negroponte. I find I prefer to listen to dialect as opposed to reading the text.
This story is filled with adventure, conflict, and violence. Ned Kelly becomes a symbol for anti-authoritarianism and the embodiment of the underdog. It examines themes such as justice, colonialism, and class.
Carey gets into the head of the protagonist, imagining the majority of the content and wrapping it around the main factual events in Kelly’s life. Since it is written in Ned’s voice, one may expect a sympathetic portrayal. Ned Kelly’s education ended at an early age, so Carey has captured his voice in stream of consciousness with limited punctuation and questionable grammar. After reading about a third of it in hard copy, I switched to audio, which was a good move. The audio is beautifully performed by Gianfranco Negroponte. I find I prefer to listen to dialect as opposed to reading the text.
This story is filled with adventure, conflict, and violence. Ned Kelly becomes a symbol for anti-authoritarianism and the embodiment of the underdog. It examines themes such as justice, colonialism, and class.
December 14, 2012
This novel won Peter Carey the Booker Prize in 2001, snubbingAtonement, number9dream, Oxygen and Hotel World. He remains one of only three Australian authors to have won the award (the other two being Thomas Keneally andD.B.C. Pierre) and the only Australian author to win the Booker twice - first time in 1988 for his historical novel Oscar and Lucinda. He shares the honor with J.M. Coetzee, J.G. Farrell and Hilary Mantel.
I had little knowledge about Ned Kelly before reading this novel, except for that he was a famous Australian outlaw - Jesse James of the Oz. However, Peter Carey's renowned status as a novelist both in and outside Australia and the Booker made me interested in his work, and this one in particular: I was eager to read a novel set in colonial Australia, with all its turbulence, depravity, injustice and strangeness. This novel delivers: it is set in the colony of Victoria, starting from a small rural settlement of Avenel and culminating in Glenrowan, with lots of wilderness inbetween.
Map of Australia in 1851, three years before Kelly's birth.
Map of the colony of Victoria.
The novel is presented as a series of manuscripts, all claimed to be written by Kelly, and later archived with proper date included - type of paper and its condition, number of pages, and a summary of each section (is it a nod to Victorian novelists, or a nose flick?). There is also a preface and conclusion, also not written by Kelly, which make the reader question the authenticity of these documents - and the reliability of the narrator and his purpoted chronicler, known only by the initials S. C. This gives the new meaning to the Faulkner quote at the beginning - "The past is not dead - it is not even past". How can the past be truly dead, if people will always be digging for skeletons and sometimes looking for means to revive it, creating a state of perpetual present?
“I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false.”
This is the opening sentence of Kelly's narrative, and it marks the style in which his account will be written: the complete lack of punctuation resembling William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, making the writing flow like speech or thought from the author's head, straight the paper.
The memory of the policeman’s words lay inside me like the egg of a liver fluke and while I went about my growing up this slander wormed deeper and deeper into my heart and there grew fat.
The "true history" is of course as true as Ned Kelly chooses to present it - or as we are led to believe he does. Therefore, the possible accuracy of these papers is limited to only a fraction of truth, seen from Kelly's point of view - and of the mysterious S.C. who compiled his papers and wrote the introduction and conclusion. The text is raw both in style and theme, ranging from Kelly and his family being abused for being Irish by the British settlers, his use of the Australian bush as a hiding place to the final and grotesque shooting. We will not see the history as witnessed by Kelly's mother and father, his brothers and sisters. Therefore, the judgement of Kelly's character is a difficult one to make - boundaries between heroes and villains are often thin, and if all we have is a single account - possibly tampered with - what conclusions can we draw?
I believe that Peter Carey did his best to capture Kelly's voice and intentions in his writing. The text is raw and unpolished, but this only strenghtens the impression that we are reading an authentic document, not something written as fiction. I was sold from the moment I read this paragraph, which is the end of the first section and Kelly's despair after the death of his father, his struggling to cope with a great loss at such a young age.
I were 12 yr. and 3 wk. old that day and if my feet were callused one inch thick and my hands hard and my labourer’s knees cut and scabbed and stained with dirt no soap could reach yet did I not still have a heart and were this not he who give me life now all dead and ruined? Father son of my heart are you dead from me are you dead from me my father?
To sum up: A good novel which deservedly won the Booker, exploring the period of history which is not often mentioned and discussed, written by a talented stylist.
I had little knowledge about Ned Kelly before reading this novel, except for that he was a famous Australian outlaw - Jesse James of the Oz. However, Peter Carey's renowned status as a novelist both in and outside Australia and the Booker made me interested in his work, and this one in particular: I was eager to read a novel set in colonial Australia, with all its turbulence, depravity, injustice and strangeness. This novel delivers: it is set in the colony of Victoria, starting from a small rural settlement of Avenel and culminating in Glenrowan, with lots of wilderness inbetween.
Map of Australia in 1851, three years before Kelly's birth.
Map of the colony of Victoria.
The novel is presented as a series of manuscripts, all claimed to be written by Kelly, and later archived with proper date included - type of paper and its condition, number of pages, and a summary of each section (is it a nod to Victorian novelists, or a nose flick?). There is also a preface and conclusion, also not written by Kelly, which make the reader question the authenticity of these documents - and the reliability of the narrator and his purpoted chronicler, known only by the initials S. C. This gives the new meaning to the Faulkner quote at the beginning - "The past is not dead - it is not even past". How can the past be truly dead, if people will always be digging for skeletons and sometimes looking for means to revive it, creating a state of perpetual present?
“I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false.”
This is the opening sentence of Kelly's narrative, and it marks the style in which his account will be written: the complete lack of punctuation resembling William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, making the writing flow like speech or thought from the author's head, straight the paper.
The memory of the policeman’s words lay inside me like the egg of a liver fluke and while I went about my growing up this slander wormed deeper and deeper into my heart and there grew fat.
The "true history" is of course as true as Ned Kelly chooses to present it - or as we are led to believe he does. Therefore, the possible accuracy of these papers is limited to only a fraction of truth, seen from Kelly's point of view - and of the mysterious S.C. who compiled his papers and wrote the introduction and conclusion. The text is raw both in style and theme, ranging from Kelly and his family being abused for being Irish by the British settlers, his use of the Australian bush as a hiding place to the final and grotesque shooting. We will not see the history as witnessed by Kelly's mother and father, his brothers and sisters. Therefore, the judgement of Kelly's character is a difficult one to make - boundaries between heroes and villains are often thin, and if all we have is a single account - possibly tampered with - what conclusions can we draw?
I believe that Peter Carey did his best to capture Kelly's voice and intentions in his writing. The text is raw and unpolished, but this only strenghtens the impression that we are reading an authentic document, not something written as fiction. I was sold from the moment I read this paragraph, which is the end of the first section and Kelly's despair after the death of his father, his struggling to cope with a great loss at such a young age.
I were 12 yr. and 3 wk. old that day and if my feet were callused one inch thick and my hands hard and my labourer’s knees cut and scabbed and stained with dirt no soap could reach yet did I not still have a heart and were this not he who give me life now all dead and ruined? Father son of my heart are you dead from me are you dead from me my father?
To sum up: A good novel which deservedly won the Booker, exploring the period of history which is not often mentioned and discussed, written by a talented stylist.
January 20, 2018
This historical novel set in Australia won the Man Booker Prize in 2001 and truly is a great read despite a slow start. The wild west narrative builds steam as the main character, Ned Kelly, and his hardscrabble Irish family deal with the corrupt law enforcement in the Australian bush of the 1870’s. As the story follows Ned as a teenager and then into young adulthood, Ned and the Kelly family act on different grievances, the stakes become escalated as they perpetuate numerous crimes. Eventually the Kelly’s gain their share of local support which leads to the ultimate showdown.
This story is ultimately a lesson on the folly of vengeance but the author deftly maintains a neutral view throughout. At times there is real empathy for the Kelly forces and at times for the establishment. Not surprisingly there are numerous innocents who are caught in the various conflicts.
Ned Kelly was indeed a real Australian outlaw or bushranger in the local vernacular. While the historical facts known about Kelly are mostly preserved in this novel, most of the dialogue is manufactured. The genius of the author is that with the prose, at times quite beautiful, there is a good deal of visual imagery and humanity presented that would be lacking in a straight history book.
I think this novel is probably best if read without knowing the true story of Ned Kelly. If you know the real story or head to Wikipedia first you are still left with the great writing but it may not measure up to its accolades.
I liken this book to William Styron’s historical fiction novel The Confessions of Nat Turner as there are obvious similarities between the two books. Although I have a much greater level of empathy for Nat Turner’s plight, I would give the nod to The True History of the Kelly Gang as the better and more well researched novel.
This story is ultimately a lesson on the folly of vengeance but the author deftly maintains a neutral view throughout. At times there is real empathy for the Kelly forces and at times for the establishment. Not surprisingly there are numerous innocents who are caught in the various conflicts.
Ned Kelly was indeed a real Australian outlaw or bushranger in the local vernacular. While the historical facts known about Kelly are mostly preserved in this novel, most of the dialogue is manufactured. The genius of the author is that with the prose, at times quite beautiful, there is a good deal of visual imagery and humanity presented that would be lacking in a straight history book.
I think this novel is probably best if read without knowing the true story of Ned Kelly. If you know the real story or head to Wikipedia first you are still left with the great writing but it may not measure up to its accolades.
I liken this book to William Styron’s historical fiction novel The Confessions of Nat Turner as there are obvious similarities between the two books. Although I have a much greater level of empathy for Nat Turner’s plight, I would give the nod to The True History of the Kelly Gang as the better and more well researched novel.
April 12, 2009
I fell in love with the voice of Ned Kelly. I can't make judgement on Ned Kelly, but I loved the character as told over to us by Peter Carey. I was simply quite taken. When I first started the book I felt that a little punctuation wouldn't be amiss but as the story continued I started to think in that voice, to hear it in my head and roll the sounds of it around in my mouth. This is the line where I realized that I loved this book, "He were as lazy as the dog that rests its head against the wall to bark but I didn't grudge him so at different times I fed him Murray cod or yabbies or a snake." Another quote I loved, "They arrived in broken cart & drays they was of that type THE BENALLA ENSIGN named the most frightful class of people they couldn't afford to leave their cows & pigs but they done so because we was them and they was us and we had showed the world what convict blood could do. We proved there were no taint we was of true bone blood and beauty born."
August 30, 2019
loved it
July 1, 2013
Talk about total immersion!
Reading this was like being dunked and held under in the inhospitable waters of hardtack bush life in the 19th century, and no, Carey is not letting you up for air! The language and style -a torrential outpouring of unpunctuated vernacular- does take some getting used to, and can be potentially confusing at first (and even later)but I think it's part of what gives this novel such a strong faculty for transporting the reader to another time and place. (I were there with the b----rs in the adjectival hut! It'll take a while for it to fade...)
Feisty adventures aside, there are other, more complex themes flowing through this novel, notably a running commentary on the veritable caste system between the English and Irish settlers; forced destinies and almost obligatory criminality (OK, they'll hang you for stealing a saddle, you might as well steal some horses!)and the ambiguous and binding ties betweeen a mother and son. And some magical transvestism and rat charming but that's just icing on the cake...
There's no doubt as to Carey's talent; he's one of those authors who can change his style and voice to adapt to any literary project.
I first read Carey's Illywhacker, which I loved, back in the 80's; then on to
The Unusual Life Of Tristan Smith, (an interesting but unsatisfying "weirdosity") as well as the fun but flawed Jack Maggs. The True History..., for me, comes in at 2d place out of 4. So far!
Reading this was like being dunked and held under in the inhospitable waters of hardtack bush life in the 19th century, and no, Carey is not letting you up for air! The language and style -a torrential outpouring of unpunctuated vernacular- does take some getting used to, and can be potentially confusing at first (and even later)but I think it's part of what gives this novel such a strong faculty for transporting the reader to another time and place. (I were there with the b----rs in the adjectival hut! It'll take a while for it to fade...)
Feisty adventures aside, there are other, more complex themes flowing through this novel, notably a running commentary on the veritable caste system between the English and Irish settlers; forced destinies and almost obligatory criminality (OK, they'll hang you for stealing a saddle, you might as well steal some horses!)and the ambiguous and binding ties betweeen a mother and son. And some magical transvestism and rat charming but that's just icing on the cake...
There's no doubt as to Carey's talent; he's one of those authors who can change his style and voice to adapt to any literary project.
I first read Carey's Illywhacker, which I loved, back in the 80's; then on to
The Unusual Life Of Tristan Smith, (an interesting but unsatisfying "weirdosity") as well as the fun but flawed Jack Maggs. The True History..., for me, comes in at 2d place out of 4. So far!
December 10, 2018
Peter Carey has reimagined the brief but eventful life of the notorious Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly, in a manner both cinematic and intimate. Using historical documents to challenge the commonly accepted legend - and deftly creating narrative to cover the many gaps of objective history - his story is vivid, touching, and plausible. This is literary historical fiction of the first order and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
January 16, 2020
The title says it all – the TRUE History. The adage is – history is told from the viewpoint of the victors. If this is the case, then the Kellys of Benalla should not be the mythologised folk that they are. Their story is a complicated one, and one that has been very much forgotten in recent decades: the denigration of Irish Catholics in Australia. I also suspect it was by these same Irish Catholic immigrants and descendants that helped create the myths. The myth however, particularly up to the 1980s has Kelly as a misguided and wronged hero fighting the system. I have always argued that point being quite romantic and not honest to the complex man.
Carey uses this very famous story and tells it from the point of view of Ned Kelly. It is described as various notebooks, exercise books, loose leaf sheets, and deliciously, the letterhead paper from the Bank of New South Wales in Jerilderie. It is Ned’s memoir and confession – although that word is being used in a rather cavalier way.
The major theme here is the poor treatment of the Irish Catholics by the English, and for me, worst still, by those Irish that have come to a position of power or wealth. It is easy to forget the prejudices that British migrants brought with them to Australia, but it was very real. Ruth Park’s Harp in the South deals with poverty in inner Sydney and being poor Irish Catholic. Other places where it is still observable is the resultant different gauges of rail network between the colonies/ states; and all due to the engineers coming from separate countries and having biases towards nationality. In Carey’s novel we observe police brutality and abuse of power. Ugliest of all is the disregard of the virtue of the young women: Ned’s sisters are exposed to revolting sexual advances from the men. Being Irish and Catholic, these women are regarded as little more than free whores, and with all the consequences of the result of what one would regard as the fallen woman of the Victorian period. Carey explores the essence of family, and of friendships of young men. This is quite important, and it is good to remember that the prison system at that time was full of Irish men. Essentially, it was a breeding ground for dissent and alliances; probably not quite what the English had in mind when they locked them up.
In truth, the pressures put upon the poor Irish Catholics such as the bigotry, the difficulty in advancing out of poverty, and the resentment that built up, it isn’t surprising that Ned Kelly, a fiery hothead, would take to petty crime. It is very important to see who the Kellys targeted: people who they felt wronged them, the establishment ie: Bank of New South Wales, and the police. How they treat people during the siege at Jerilderie shows they were not completely ruthless. I suspect it was the tales told after here & in Euroa that their support base developed.
I don’t romanticise Kelly’s actions, and neither does Carey. There is wit, and humour throughout the novel, along with well thought out humanity. None of the characters are cardboard figures; all are well fleshed, and even our narrator, Kelly himself, manages to give us an insight into his vitality, humour, and humanity. It’s what I liked most about this novel, and this is Carey’s strength in that he was able to create and develop this based on his reading of the Jerilderie Letter. Carey records and comments on the pettiness and gossip associated with regional centres and towns; I’ve noted in previous novels that he does this well (ie Illywacker).
The clever aspect of this novel is the lacunae in the narrative. Carey does this well implying sheets or books are missing. Conveniently, of course, they are at moments in the Kelly history when Kelly’s actions are not chivalric or laudable. For example, as when Kelly stole horses as part of the Greta mob, or later with the assassination of Aaron Sherritt. Although we do see the kind and loving side of Kelly, he is also a product of a series of incidents and actions of outsiders, including his father being a convict (and thus “obvious” going to produce troublesome children), that lead to him being angry and petulant about his lot in life; how he is downtrodden and hard done by. These periods of the book definitely do not make the reader love the narrator/ hero. Again, I feel Carey carries this out well, honestly, and makes for a better reading experience.
Carey has lots of clever moments that makes the informed reader smile, but which would make the novice completely gloss over or ignore. For me, that would be a shame, as these “easter eggs” made the reading so much more enjoyable. The best example is the use of Bank of New South Wales letterhead with the word Jerilderie on it. Of course, Carey is making a nod to the important Jerilderie Letter that Kelly dictated – all 50 odd pages. Carey read this, and used this as the basis for the novel; he was able to read the voice and use it expertly in the drawing and creating of his own character, and in the style of the whole novel. It is touches like this that reveal the expertise and calibre of Carey’s skill as a novelist.
Thus, Yes! I would recommend this to others, but I would be wary to do so to any that aren’t familiar with the Kelly story. For those, go read the Wikipedia synopsis and then read this book with delight.
Carey uses this very famous story and tells it from the point of view of Ned Kelly. It is described as various notebooks, exercise books, loose leaf sheets, and deliciously, the letterhead paper from the Bank of New South Wales in Jerilderie. It is Ned’s memoir and confession – although that word is being used in a rather cavalier way.
The major theme here is the poor treatment of the Irish Catholics by the English, and for me, worst still, by those Irish that have come to a position of power or wealth. It is easy to forget the prejudices that British migrants brought with them to Australia, but it was very real. Ruth Park’s Harp in the South deals with poverty in inner Sydney and being poor Irish Catholic. Other places where it is still observable is the resultant different gauges of rail network between the colonies/ states; and all due to the engineers coming from separate countries and having biases towards nationality. In Carey’s novel we observe police brutality and abuse of power. Ugliest of all is the disregard of the virtue of the young women: Ned’s sisters are exposed to revolting sexual advances from the men. Being Irish and Catholic, these women are regarded as little more than free whores, and with all the consequences of the result of what one would regard as the fallen woman of the Victorian period. Carey explores the essence of family, and of friendships of young men. This is quite important, and it is good to remember that the prison system at that time was full of Irish men. Essentially, it was a breeding ground for dissent and alliances; probably not quite what the English had in mind when they locked them up.
In truth, the pressures put upon the poor Irish Catholics such as the bigotry, the difficulty in advancing out of poverty, and the resentment that built up, it isn’t surprising that Ned Kelly, a fiery hothead, would take to petty crime. It is very important to see who the Kellys targeted: people who they felt wronged them, the establishment ie: Bank of New South Wales, and the police. How they treat people during the siege at Jerilderie shows they were not completely ruthless. I suspect it was the tales told after here & in Euroa that their support base developed.
I don’t romanticise Kelly’s actions, and neither does Carey. There is wit, and humour throughout the novel, along with well thought out humanity. None of the characters are cardboard figures; all are well fleshed, and even our narrator, Kelly himself, manages to give us an insight into his vitality, humour, and humanity. It’s what I liked most about this novel, and this is Carey’s strength in that he was able to create and develop this based on his reading of the Jerilderie Letter. Carey records and comments on the pettiness and gossip associated with regional centres and towns; I’ve noted in previous novels that he does this well (ie Illywacker).
The clever aspect of this novel is the lacunae in the narrative. Carey does this well implying sheets or books are missing. Conveniently, of course, they are at moments in the Kelly history when Kelly’s actions are not chivalric or laudable. For example, as when Kelly stole horses as part of the Greta mob, or later with the assassination of Aaron Sherritt. Although we do see the kind and loving side of Kelly, he is also a product of a series of incidents and actions of outsiders, including his father being a convict (and thus “obvious” going to produce troublesome children), that lead to him being angry and petulant about his lot in life; how he is downtrodden and hard done by. These periods of the book definitely do not make the reader love the narrator/ hero. Again, I feel Carey carries this out well, honestly, and makes for a better reading experience.
Carey has lots of clever moments that makes the informed reader smile, but which would make the novice completely gloss over or ignore. For me, that would be a shame, as these “easter eggs” made the reading so much more enjoyable. The best example is the use of Bank of New South Wales letterhead with the word Jerilderie on it. Of course, Carey is making a nod to the important Jerilderie Letter that Kelly dictated – all 50 odd pages. Carey read this, and used this as the basis for the novel; he was able to read the voice and use it expertly in the drawing and creating of his own character, and in the style of the whole novel. It is touches like this that reveal the expertise and calibre of Carey’s skill as a novelist.
Thus, Yes! I would recommend this to others, but I would be wary to do so to any that aren’t familiar with the Kelly story. For those, go read the Wikipedia synopsis and then read this book with delight.
September 9, 2019
My new word for the week is adjectival. A good novel from the perspective of Ned Kelly. The outlining of us against them or the poor Irish Catholic against the English descended colonists and their persecution is historical fact.
The description of the bush reminds me of my time in Australia. The gum trees, smell of eucalyptus in the air and the raucous squawking of the parakeets, cockatoo and kookaburra bring back memories. A friend of mine years ago took me to the pub which supposedly Ned visited. I also visited the Melbourne Gaol where he was hanged. Well worth a visit if your in Melbourne.
I enjoyed the story and the slang used as well as the social history. The police or wraps come off in a bad light as corrupt, incompetent and abusing the power of their office. Of course this is a story with no actual diary written to his daughter but the words ‘’Such is life.’’ Are a fine epitaph.
The description of the bush reminds me of my time in Australia. The gum trees, smell of eucalyptus in the air and the raucous squawking of the parakeets, cockatoo and kookaburra bring back memories. A friend of mine years ago took me to the pub which supposedly Ned visited. I also visited the Melbourne Gaol where he was hanged. Well worth a visit if your in Melbourne.
I enjoyed the story and the slang used as well as the social history. The police or wraps come off in a bad light as corrupt, incompetent and abusing the power of their office. Of course this is a story with no actual diary written to his daughter but the words ‘’Such is life.’’ Are a fine epitaph.
July 30, 2021
Ho visto questa sera il film "The Kelly gang" del 2019. Ero curiosa di vedere il confronto con il romanzo di Carey che avevo letto anni fa.
La figura di Ned Kelly è controversa sul suolo australiano: per alcuni difensore degli oppressi, soprattutto la minoranza irlandese attirata dalla corsa all'oro, ma anche oriundi e aborigeni autoctoni contro le ingiustizie perpetrate dalla polizia britannica nella colonia di Victoria, per altri, Ned era un feroce bandito razziatore di cavalli e violento omicida.
Il romanzo si ispira alla vita di Ned, Edward Kelly, figlio di un galeotto irlandese deportato in Australia.
Il periodo storico è il 1867 e Carey immagina un'autobiografia scritta per mano dello stesso Ned ad uso di lascito testamentario per il figlio.
Crudo, violento e appassionante, un affresco storico del grande paese australiano.
La figura di Ned Kelly è controversa sul suolo australiano: per alcuni difensore degli oppressi, soprattutto la minoranza irlandese attirata dalla corsa all'oro, ma anche oriundi e aborigeni autoctoni contro le ingiustizie perpetrate dalla polizia britannica nella colonia di Victoria, per altri, Ned era un feroce bandito razziatore di cavalli e violento omicida.
Il romanzo si ispira alla vita di Ned, Edward Kelly, figlio di un galeotto irlandese deportato in Australia.
Il periodo storico è il 1867 e Carey immagina un'autobiografia scritta per mano dello stesso Ned ad uso di lascito testamentario per il figlio.
Crudo, violento e appassionante, un affresco storico del grande paese australiano.
April 16, 2023
How could I resist a book with this title? A fictional recounting of the most famous Kelly, which I couldn't quite bring myself to love in the end. Written as though by Ned Kelly himself, the authentic voice and style of writing is effective, but ultimately makes it a discomforting read. Other things added don't work for me - a strange fixation on transvestism, an unhealthy fixation on his mother - and the idea that Ned was just a down to earth, misunderstood, unfortunate chap is a bit of a stretch. Glad I read though, and a worthy addition to the oft told story.
January 4, 2011
Peter Carey is an adjectival genius. You coves, when you tell your history to your daughters, tell it true as Ned Kelly did. History has some rough spots. Mates and traitors. For me, the best parts of True History of the Kelly Gang, in no particular order, were: the complex relationship of Kelly and his Ma; the blossoming character of Mary Hearn; and the story of how Whitty got his land with the help of the Devil. There is, it turns out, only one wish the Devil can not grant.
January 12, 2014
This is an 'adjectival' original piece of historical fiction. Carey did a fine job recreating Ned Kelly's voice. A piece of 19th century Australian history come to life through the masterly invented voice of Australia's most famous bushranger.
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