Fortune

by Robert Drewe

Fortune is the story of Don Spargo, a modern explorer who finds a sunken treasure ship off the West Australian coast and becomes a folk hero, a lover, and a hunted and haunted man. Suspenseful, satirical and deeply moving, this novel challenges the nature of reality and legend in those scenes of modern conflict � from the media to art, from politics to crime � that have obsessed the Western individual since World War II.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Robert Drewe is among Australia’s most loved writers – of novels, memoir and short stories. His iconic Australian books include The Shark Net, The Bodysurfers and Our Sunshine. He is also editor of Black Inc.’s Best Australian Stories annual series. Recently, he has revisited the short story himself, with a masterful new collection, The Rip. Jo Case spoke to him for Readings about storytelling.

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling and classically Australian. I loved it even though I couldn't follow the plot. It all makes sense in the last chapter so persevere!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fortune (1986) is one from Robert Drewe's backlist: it's his third novel, coming after The Savage Crows (1976) and A Cry in the Jungle Bar (1979). It's a fascinating book which put me in mind of various (a-hem) rascals from WA Inc in the 1980s... but I couldn't identify anyone in particular.

This is the blurb from Goodreads, but it doesn't really explain what it's about:

Fortune is the story of Don Spargo, a modern explorer who finds a sunken treasure ship off the West Australian coast and becomes a folk hero, a lover, and a hunted and haunted man. Suspenseful, satirical and deeply moving, this novel challenges the nature of reality and legend in those scenes of modern conflict — from the media to art, from politics to crime — that have obsessed the Western individual since World War II.

In 1993 the late Clive James presented a TV series called Fame in the 20th Century , and it was while I was searching for it, that I found on his website an essay called 'Save Us from Celebrity'. Amongst other interesting things, James says this:

It isn’t a matter of celebrity getting out of control. Celebrity is out of control by its nature. Everyone who becomes famous is convinced beforehand that his fame will be different. All of them find out that it is bound to be the same, because no human being is naturally supplied with the defence mechanisms that can ward off universal attention.

But with Fortune, Drewe in 1986 was ahead of the game.  Yes indeed, Spargo thinks he's in control of his own story but he's not. The novel explores the way that celebrity takes on a life of its own, careless of a truth that becomes progressively harder to establish. (Yes, even in courts of law as Spargo challenges the legislation which says that the salvage belongs to the government.  A truth equally elusive when he is pursued from west to east coast by some very dubious policing).  The reader stumbles from one event to the other, backwards and forwards in time and place, led through the maze by a journalist-narrator who is after the truth but struggles with the competing demand to make a story of it.  East Coast journos don't get flights and accommodation in WA unless there's definitely going to be a payoff for the newspaper.  The discovery of a long lost 18th century Dutch East India shipwreck is a great story, made more frustratingly interesting when Spargo, who found the wreck, couldn't find it again until much later, after the media and Japanese investors in a tourist development had got involved.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/12/21/f...

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hard for me to figure out the characters of this book. Some and also some events were real, some never existed except in the imagination of Drewe. Drewe is an ikon in Perth, perhaps because we have so few of them. I know people who knew him and Perth is really really pride to tell the world that he was born here, albeit he lives in NSW now, I hear. I wonder why. Perth is a magical city and we are surely worth more praise than we get. This is what Perth is famous for, according to a local brewery: the referendum on daylight saving, the freeway extensions and the bore-water stained fences. But we still love it to death.
But back to the book. Drewe is a master storyteller. It needs talent to weave an imaginary tale with the actual events and persons and he managed it extremely well. At the end of the book you wished Spargo would be real, or was he?

[Ross O'Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled through this book and would have given up except for an odd loyalty to Drewe. He was a prefect at my school when I started there in year 6. I had previously enjoyed Sharknet. But this book seemed to chop and change between the plot and subplot, although I'm not sure which was which. He has based some details on his journalism experience at the time of the discovery of the treasure ship Gilt Dragon, which he must have covered at the West. But the drama he reveals is tedious and I admit I had to put it down for days at time. So perhaps I missed simething, but to me this is not a good read. Worst I have come across in years

[Gavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderfully written and very Australian "yarn" while also providing insights into class, Perth society, the environment, etc. I love the way the story goes down rabbit holes every now and then into seemingly minor characters backgrounds and events - very much like an investigative journalist would do. I loved this maybe because it is also how my mind sometimes works when doing research. Absolutely loved it.

[cms · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting side stories in this book about Dutch east indies company and efforts to retrieve ship wrecked employees. Sometimes a bit confusing and I didn't get to read the last pages because I had to return the book before leaving hotel.... I'm a Robert Drewe fan and have previously enjoyed The Drowner (something of Peter Carey in this one), Grace (a bit of Winton here) and A Cry in the Jungle Bar.