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Oddfellows
On 1 January 1915, ramifications from the First World War, raging half a world away, were felt in Broken Hill, Australia, when in a guerrilla-style military operation, four citizens were killed and seven wounded.It was the annual picnic day in Broken Hill and a thousand citizens were dressed for fun when the only enemy attack to occur on Australian soil during World War I, took them by surprise. Nicholas Shakespeare has turned this little known piece of Australian history into a story for our time.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Shakespeare
38 books110 followersNicholas William Richmond Shakespeare is a English novelist and biographer.
Born to a diplomat, Nicholas Shakespeare grew up in the Far East and in South America. He was educated at the Dragon School preparatory school in Oxford, then at Winchester College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He worked as a journalist for BBC television and then on The Times as assistant arts and literary editor. From 1988 to 1991 he was literary editor of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.
Since 2000, Shakespeare has been Patron of the Anita Goulden Trust, helping children in the Peruvian city of Piura. The UK-based charity was set up following an article that Shakespeare wrote for the Daily Telegraph magazine, which raised more than £350,000.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He is married with two small boys and currently lives in Oxford.
Born to a diplomat, Nicholas Shakespeare grew up in the Far East and in South America. He was educated at the Dragon School preparatory school in Oxford, then at Winchester College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He worked as a journalist for BBC television and then on The Times as assistant arts and literary editor. From 1988 to 1991 he was literary editor of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.
Since 2000, Shakespeare has been Patron of the Anita Goulden Trust, helping children in the Peruvian city of Piura. The UK-based charity was set up following an article that Shakespeare wrote for the Daily Telegraph magazine, which raised more than £350,000.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He is married with two small boys and currently lives in Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 7, 2015
The story is based on actual events.
It was 10am on New Years Day 1915 in Broken Hill, hundreds of miles from anywhere, when two disenchanted Afghan cameleers decided to execute their secret plans to avenge their pride and their countrymen by taking as many of the towns people's lives as they could.
They dressed themselves in crude homemade Turkish uniforms and armed themselves with whatever they could readily get their hands on, and then lay in wait some 25 kilometers outside of the town for the train that would bring all of the towns people for the annual Independant Order of Oddfellows picnic.
These two men are now known for being responsible for the only known enemy attack to have occurred on Australian soil during WW1, when four citizens were killed by gunshots and seven wounded.
I had never heard of this story until I read this book, and am amazed at that fact. 100 years have passed since this event and still we can see that human behaviour has not changed a great deal.
The writing is beautiful, and if it were not for the ugly realities it could have been a beautiful love story with a very different ending.
A lot of moral lessons can be learned from this story, from all quarters.
A well deserved 4★s I would recommend this as much for its beautiful writing as for its historical value.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.
It was 10am on New Years Day 1915 in Broken Hill, hundreds of miles from anywhere, when two disenchanted Afghan cameleers decided to execute their secret plans to avenge their pride and their countrymen by taking as many of the towns people's lives as they could.
They dressed themselves in crude homemade Turkish uniforms and armed themselves with whatever they could readily get their hands on, and then lay in wait some 25 kilometers outside of the town for the train that would bring all of the towns people for the annual Independant Order of Oddfellows picnic.
These two men are now known for being responsible for the only known enemy attack to have occurred on Australian soil during WW1, when four citizens were killed by gunshots and seven wounded.
I had never heard of this story until I read this book, and am amazed at that fact. 100 years have passed since this event and still we can see that human behaviour has not changed a great deal.
The writing is beautiful, and if it were not for the ugly realities it could have been a beautiful love story with a very different ending.
A lot of moral lessons can be learned from this story, from all quarters.
A well deserved 4★s I would recommend this as much for its beautiful writing as for its historical value.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.
June 18, 2017
The question I asked myself picking up this book, was why - in this, the year of the centenary of Gallipoli - the author had chosen this obscure event from WW1 to write about, rather than something Gallipoli related?
The event the author has focused on was an attack on Australian soil by two so-called 'Turks' during WW1, who happened to be Islamic. The author has attempted to explore what led to those two men who, until that time, had been non-violent members of society to mount an attack. Further, the author explores the inevitable tragedy of those who are innocent being caught in the crossfire.
It becomes clear that whilst based on real historic events from WW1, this is a story relevant and necessary for the modern age to hear yet again. What are the causes of terrorism? What can we do as a society to combat terrorism? I feel the author is opening up a conversation about modern society, through a historical incident.
I borrowed this from the library, but I think I'll get my own copy. It's a book I'd like to read again and contemplate further.
The event the author has focused on was an attack on Australian soil by two so-called 'Turks' during WW1, who happened to be Islamic. The author has attempted to explore what led to those two men who, until that time, had been non-violent members of society to mount an attack. Further, the author explores the inevitable tragedy of those who are innocent being caught in the crossfire.
It becomes clear that whilst based on real historic events from WW1, this is a story relevant and necessary for the modern age to hear yet again. What are the causes of terrorism? What can we do as a society to combat terrorism? I feel the author is opening up a conversation about modern society, through a historical incident.
I borrowed this from the library, but I think I'll get my own copy. It's a book I'd like to read again and contemplate further.
June 7, 2023
‘It’s a little before 10am on New Year’s Day 1915, and the sun strikes broadside the picnickers waiting at Sulphide Street station.’
In Broken Hill, Australia, thousands of miles away from World War I, hundreds of people are waiting to join the train for their annual picnic 25 kilometres out of town at a shady creek in Silverton. This had been a town ritual since 1901 when it was established by the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows, a friendly society with its Australian foundation harking back to 1840. The train consists of 40 ore wagons, cleaned out for the occasion, with planks for seating and space underneath to pack blankets, chairs, and hampers with lamb sandwiches and lemonade for the picnic which spectators would eat while watching the races. The train, with its 1200 passengers, pulled slowly away from the station.
‘This is a day to forget absent ones. To set aside unwelcome thoughts of war.’
Two months earlier, on 11 November 1914, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V, and Muslim Caliph, declared a holy war against Great Britain and her allies - enemies against Islam - when he sided with the Central Powers in World War I. This call to arms was mostly ignored by Muslims, but two of the few who did not ignore it were in Broken Hill. Mullah Abdullah and Badsha Mahomed Gül were British passport holders from India’s north-west, and both were on the fringes of Broken Hill society.
‘The cutting is the perfect spot from which to mount a surprise attack, and will be cited as proof of Gül’s military experience.’
When the dust settled, three hours after the first shots were fired, six people were dead and seven were injured.
This novella is the second work of fiction I’ve read about this event (‘The Cleansing of Mohammed’ by Chris McCourt was the first). Before I read Chris McCourt’s novel in 2012, I’d never heard of this ‘New Year’s Day Massacre’. Since 2012 I’ve been unable to forget it: we need no reminder, now, of acts of terrorism.
In this novella, Nicholas Shakespeare takes us back to 1915, to the racialism - both casual and deliberate - that existed then, to the disdain for difference, and to the very real disadvantage that occurs when changing circumstances result in reduced opportunity for employment. I’m left wondering whether Mullah Abdullah would have taken part in this massacre if he’d not been fined £3 for slaughtering sheep at the camel camp, and had not lost his possessions in a fire. Would Badsha Mahomed Gül have been so disaffected if he’d not lost his job, first as a cameleer and then in the silver mine? We’ll never know.
I found this novella thought-provoking, a reminder that events like these should not be forgotten, that instances of terrorism in Australia are not new, and the causes may be complex.
‘As if this strange and tragic event had occurred and then been blown away by the desert winds, until there’s nothing much left or remembered.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In Broken Hill, Australia, thousands of miles away from World War I, hundreds of people are waiting to join the train for their annual picnic 25 kilometres out of town at a shady creek in Silverton. This had been a town ritual since 1901 when it was established by the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows, a friendly society with its Australian foundation harking back to 1840. The train consists of 40 ore wagons, cleaned out for the occasion, with planks for seating and space underneath to pack blankets, chairs, and hampers with lamb sandwiches and lemonade for the picnic which spectators would eat while watching the races. The train, with its 1200 passengers, pulled slowly away from the station.
‘This is a day to forget absent ones. To set aside unwelcome thoughts of war.’
Two months earlier, on 11 November 1914, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V, and Muslim Caliph, declared a holy war against Great Britain and her allies - enemies against Islam - when he sided with the Central Powers in World War I. This call to arms was mostly ignored by Muslims, but two of the few who did not ignore it were in Broken Hill. Mullah Abdullah and Badsha Mahomed Gül were British passport holders from India’s north-west, and both were on the fringes of Broken Hill society.
‘The cutting is the perfect spot from which to mount a surprise attack, and will be cited as proof of Gül’s military experience.’
When the dust settled, three hours after the first shots were fired, six people were dead and seven were injured.
This novella is the second work of fiction I’ve read about this event (‘The Cleansing of Mohammed’ by Chris McCourt was the first). Before I read Chris McCourt’s novel in 2012, I’d never heard of this ‘New Year’s Day Massacre’. Since 2012 I’ve been unable to forget it: we need no reminder, now, of acts of terrorism.
In this novella, Nicholas Shakespeare takes us back to 1915, to the racialism - both casual and deliberate - that existed then, to the disdain for difference, and to the very real disadvantage that occurs when changing circumstances result in reduced opportunity for employment. I’m left wondering whether Mullah Abdullah would have taken part in this massacre if he’d not been fined £3 for slaughtering sheep at the camel camp, and had not lost his possessions in a fire. Would Badsha Mahomed Gül have been so disaffected if he’d not lost his job, first as a cameleer and then in the silver mine? We’ll never know.
I found this novella thought-provoking, a reminder that events like these should not be forgotten, that instances of terrorism in Australia are not new, and the causes may be complex.
‘As if this strange and tragic event had occurred and then been blown away by the desert winds, until there’s nothing much left or remembered.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
December 20, 2015
I picked up this book on a GR friend's recommendation.....thanks Julie. Based on true events that happened in Broken Hill in 1915 it is a small book with quite a message and makes you realise that war and terror are the same no matter when in history they occur. Fanatics have been around since the beginning of time and continue to destroy in the name of God and Country. This was also a timely read as it was based on WWI and Gallipoli, although set in Australia. I realised finishing it last night that the 20th December 1915 was the anniversary date of the evacuation of Australian troops from Gallipoli. So a very timely read. Once again it was an event I knew very little about in Australia's history, which always saddens me a bit. I honestly thought nothing ever happens in Broken Hill.
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February 2, 2015Haven't read this book and I like Nicholas Shakespeare but why is he getting all the glory for a story that is already so well told by a lesser known Australian writer...The Cleansing of Mohammed by Chris McCourt?
May 8, 2016
Die Ausgrenzung von Menschen kann unterschiedlichste Ursachen haben. Innerhalb einer gesellschaftlichen Struktur mit verschiedenen „Schichten“ trifft es allerdings zumeist die Schwächsten, insbesondere Minderheiten sind zuvorderst davon betroffen, ausgegrenzt zu werden. Führt man sich die aktuelle Flüchtlingsdebatte vor Augen, sieht man zahlreiche Versuche, eine Trennung zwischen den bereits hier lebenden sowie den geflüchteten Menschen zu vollziehen – sei es bei der finanziellen Versorgung, der Unterbringung oder der Integration in den Arbeitsmarkt. Doch ist die Diskriminierung von Minderheiten oder neu zu integrierenden Menschengruppen kein Phänomen der heutigen Gesellschaft, sondern zieht sich durch die gesamte Bevölkerungsgeschichte. In seinem Roman Broken Hill zeigt Nicholas Shakespeare dies anhand der Geschichte der Einwanderer der australischen Bergbaustadt Broken Hill, die rund um den Jahreswechsel 1914/1915 im Camel Camp leben, dem von den Ausländern bewohnten Siedlungsgebiet, das unter den Einwohnern nur abfällig Ghantown genannt wird. Der Hass und die Restriktionen zermürben die Ghantown-Bewohner, so dass einige von ihnen irgendwann nur noch einen radikalen Ausweg sehen.
Die vollständige Rezension unter https://buecherherbst.wordpress.com/2...
Während in Europa der Erste Weltkrieg tobt, sind die Bewohner von Broken Hill am Bahnhof zusammengekommen, um zu Jahresbeginn zum Neujahrspiknik, dem alljährlichen Höhepunkt der Region, aufzubrechen. Shakespeare beginnt dabei in rasanter Erzählweise: Wie in einer filmischen Eröffnung werden die Protagonisten im Sekundentakt eingeführt – man kann sich die Regieanweisung zum Voice-over vorstellen, wie mit schneller Kameraführung nur kurz bei den einzelnen Personen verweilt wird. Gemein ist den meisten die ablehnende Haltung gegenüber den Kriegsgegnern Australiens (unter anderem Deutschland und das Osmanische Reich) – viele ihrer Angehörigen wurden erst kurz zuvor an gleicher Stelle in den Kriegseinsatz verabschiedet -, weshalb sie auch gegenüber den Siedlern aus dem Camel Camp eine Abneigung hegen. Einzig Rosalind Filwell versucht, den Fremden mit Offenheit zu begegnen. Das fällt ihr gar nicht so leicht, immerhin stellt sie sich damit gegen ihre Familie sowie ihren künftigen Verlobten. Selbst Sozialisten wie Ralph Axtell betätigen sich als harsche Gegner der Ansiedlung der Ausländer. Auch er hetzt unerbitterlich sobald sich ihm ein Publikum bietet: „Mit ruhiger, plötzlich einschmeichelnder Stimme versichert Axtell seiner kleinen Zuhörerschaft: »Selbsterhaltung ist das oberste Gesetz der Natur.« Welche Gründe man auch immer gegen den Konflikt in Europa habe […], das ganze Mitgefühl der Nation müsse der Politik des Weißen Australien liegen.“ Solche Aussagen lassen den Leser erschaudern, denn ein Unterschied zu den heutigen rechtspopulistischen Demagogen ist kaum auszumachen. Man könnte sich dieselbe Szenerie auch in vielen Teilen Europas im heutigen 21. Jahrhundert vorstellen.
Nicholas Shakespeares Roman ist trotz der einhundert Jahre zurückliegenden Begebenheit brandaktuell. Es ist eine Parabel über den Umgang mit geflüchteten oder zu integrierenden Menschen, die erschreckende Parallelen zur derzeitigen Flüchtlingssituation aufzeigt und deshalb ein beachtlicher Beitrag zur Debatte ist. Shakespeare schlägt die Brücke zwischen damaliger und heutiger Zeit und beschreibt wirkungsvoll die Normalität der Ausgrenzung. Er zeigt ganz ohne moralisierenden Ton auf, wie durch Ignoranz und Engstirnigkeit lediglich Klischees entstehen. Dabei hält Shakespeare mit Broken Hill auch der heutigen westlichen Gesellschaft gnadenlos den Spiegel vor – und man sieht die Fratze der Intoleranz voll faltiger Vorurteile und abstoßendem Hass.
Die vollständige Rezension unter https://buecherherbst.wordpress.com/2...
Während in Europa der Erste Weltkrieg tobt, sind die Bewohner von Broken Hill am Bahnhof zusammengekommen, um zu Jahresbeginn zum Neujahrspiknik, dem alljährlichen Höhepunkt der Region, aufzubrechen. Shakespeare beginnt dabei in rasanter Erzählweise: Wie in einer filmischen Eröffnung werden die Protagonisten im Sekundentakt eingeführt – man kann sich die Regieanweisung zum Voice-over vorstellen, wie mit schneller Kameraführung nur kurz bei den einzelnen Personen verweilt wird. Gemein ist den meisten die ablehnende Haltung gegenüber den Kriegsgegnern Australiens (unter anderem Deutschland und das Osmanische Reich) – viele ihrer Angehörigen wurden erst kurz zuvor an gleicher Stelle in den Kriegseinsatz verabschiedet -, weshalb sie auch gegenüber den Siedlern aus dem Camel Camp eine Abneigung hegen. Einzig Rosalind Filwell versucht, den Fremden mit Offenheit zu begegnen. Das fällt ihr gar nicht so leicht, immerhin stellt sie sich damit gegen ihre Familie sowie ihren künftigen Verlobten. Selbst Sozialisten wie Ralph Axtell betätigen sich als harsche Gegner der Ansiedlung der Ausländer. Auch er hetzt unerbitterlich sobald sich ihm ein Publikum bietet: „Mit ruhiger, plötzlich einschmeichelnder Stimme versichert Axtell seiner kleinen Zuhörerschaft: »Selbsterhaltung ist das oberste Gesetz der Natur.« Welche Gründe man auch immer gegen den Konflikt in Europa habe […], das ganze Mitgefühl der Nation müsse der Politik des Weißen Australien liegen.“ Solche Aussagen lassen den Leser erschaudern, denn ein Unterschied zu den heutigen rechtspopulistischen Demagogen ist kaum auszumachen. Man könnte sich dieselbe Szenerie auch in vielen Teilen Europas im heutigen 21. Jahrhundert vorstellen.
Nicholas Shakespeares Roman ist trotz der einhundert Jahre zurückliegenden Begebenheit brandaktuell. Es ist eine Parabel über den Umgang mit geflüchteten oder zu integrierenden Menschen, die erschreckende Parallelen zur derzeitigen Flüchtlingssituation aufzeigt und deshalb ein beachtlicher Beitrag zur Debatte ist. Shakespeare schlägt die Brücke zwischen damaliger und heutiger Zeit und beschreibt wirkungsvoll die Normalität der Ausgrenzung. Er zeigt ganz ohne moralisierenden Ton auf, wie durch Ignoranz und Engstirnigkeit lediglich Klischees entstehen. Dabei hält Shakespeare mit Broken Hill auch der heutigen westlichen Gesellschaft gnadenlos den Spiegel vor – und man sieht die Fratze der Intoleranz voll faltiger Vorurteile und abstoßendem Hass.
March 8, 2015
In Broken Hill on New Year's Day 1915, two men dressed as Turks attacked the train taking locals to the annual picnic day organised by the local Independent Order of Oddfellows. The ensuing conflict ended with 4 dead. This book is a fictional account of an actual historic event that was the only enemy attack on Australian soil in WW1. It focuses on three of the people who died, including the two attackers - Afghan cameleers, who have heeded the Turkish Sultan's call to jihad against the British Empire. Given that there is sparse information about the event, and conflicting and inflated eyewitness accounts, the author has produced a good re-imagining of the day and the events leading up to it.
Note: the author talked about the book and the events described therein at Adelaide Writers Week 2015.
Note: the author talked about the book and the events described therein at Adelaide Writers Week 2015.
April 3, 2015
I was inspired to read this book because it appeared in our WWI container on the front page of the MBR catalogue. I'd read and thoroughly enjoyed Nicholas Shakespeare's In Tasmania last year. This is a slim volume...120 pages and ideal for reading when you're way behind in your reading goal as I am and need to play catch up. I was also really interested in reading it because it had Oddfellows in the title. I've just been to the Genealogy Congress in Canberra where I attended a lecture about Friendly Societies of which the Oddfellows are one. I hoped to learn more about them. I hasten to add I didn't. But it is an interesting piece of historical fiction about an incident that took place in Broken Hill on New Year's Day in 1915.
April 10, 2015
Interesting story, but not well told. Read the wikipedia entry on the Battle of Broken Hill instead. It's written better.
December 5, 2018
The first chapter was basically a list of character names that hardly helped me to know them. The one character I felt I most understood was probably one of the least influential of the book. Open reaching chapter two I finally noticed some story-line beginning to form.
I agree with previous reviews; another edit or two would not have gone astray. Paragraphs were clunky with many sentences that could have flowed more easily and been more clear and understandable had they made into one; a number of sentences actually began with 'and'. Also, though written in third person, I sometimes misunderstood from whose perspective I was supposed to be observing.
There was thrice made mention of Rosalin's breasts and once of her periods that seemed to serve no purpose other than to satisfy the writers boyish amusement. I'm no prude, but being so unnecessary within the context I found it uncomfortable, especially knowing this was written by a male. The feeling it gave me was like watching a man look up a woman's skirt. Eek.
Despite all this, I was really drawn in to the action of the last chapter. I just took a while to get there.
I agree with previous reviews; another edit or two would not have gone astray. Paragraphs were clunky with many sentences that could have flowed more easily and been more clear and understandable had they made into one; a number of sentences actually began with 'and'. Also, though written in third person, I sometimes misunderstood from whose perspective I was supposed to be observing.
There was thrice made mention of Rosalin's breasts and once of her periods that seemed to serve no purpose other than to satisfy the writers boyish amusement. I'm no prude, but being so unnecessary within the context I found it uncomfortable, especially knowing this was written by a male. The feeling it gave me was like watching a man look up a woman's skirt. Eek.
Despite all this, I was really drawn in to the action of the last chapter. I just took a while to get there.
February 23, 2017
What a fascinating fictional take on a small event in Broken Hill when two Muslim men went on a rampage, killing two people, in what is regarded as Australia's first terrorist attack. The author has based his characters on people who lived in Broken Hill at the time and were affected by the New Years Day attack. From that base he has created very believable characters whose lives are intertwined around those of the killers. Very topical considering what's happening in the world today with terrorism and racial differences. It shows how a skilled writer can take up such a seemingly insignificant news item and weave it into a charming and thought-provoking novella. I've read it a few others of his books and intend to keep going because I really enjoy his writing.
May 8, 2015
A riveting novella published on the centenary of the event in Broken Hill when two Afghan cameleers, long resident in Australia, decided to stand up for Turkey with whom Australia was soon to be at war, and attack the New Year's Day picnic. This is the author's fictionalised version of the event, in which he describes how "Australians" felt about the long standing Islamic camp that existed in their town, and surmises what pushed the perpetrators to such drastic action.
It is a quick read that gives you a lot to think about.
It is a quick read that gives you a lot to think about.
August 15, 2015
Such a short yet powerful read. I had no knowledge of this historical event and was shocked this should be taught at school. Even though a past event it is still a timely book with current issues prejudices and confusion. This is my first Nicholas Shakespeare book but I may have to read his others now.
December 16, 2016
For an intriguing book I found while reshelving the Australian fiction I was drawn into this short tale of a true event.
What intrigued me the most was the ending....where they ended up....who will ever now.
Well told if a little slow to get off the marks.
What intrigued me the most was the ending....where they ended up....who will ever now.
Well told if a little slow to get off the marks.
June 17, 2017
This was a pretty fun short read.
It started off a little slow but it got much better about 1/3rd of the way through. Though I didn't feel like I got to know the characters too well I quite enjoy getting to watch the story unfold
It started off a little slow but it got much better about 1/3rd of the way through. Though I didn't feel like I got to know the characters too well I quite enjoy getting to watch the story unfold
January 28, 2015
Such a great storyline but so badly written!
February 22, 2015
Certainly a fascinating story based on a real-life event. But the characters are all stereotypes and the fictional aspects of the story seem very forced.
October 15, 2018
Excellent fictional account of the invasion of Broken Hill by two Pakistanis disguised as Turks.
December 23, 2018
An interesting story based on a real piece of Australian history - when a train load of people heading to a New Years Day picnic were ambushed
January 11, 2020
A fiction based on an historical event giving an interesting glimpse at what life may have been like in Broken Hill in 1915. Easy read most suitable for young adult readers.
October 7, 2020
Skillfully brings to life an obscure moment in Australian history. Also captures the weirdness of Broken Hill of the early 20th Century so well.
April 21, 2017
Nicholas Shakespeare (*1957) ist ein hochgelobter britischer Schriftsteller. Broken Hill (im Original Oddfellows, 2015) erzählt die historischen Ereignisse des kleinen, abgelegenen Ortes Broken Hill in Australien. Der Erzbergbau dort ist mit dem Ausbruch des Krieges 1914 ins Stocken geraten, viele junge Männer sind arbeitslos. Am Neujahrstag 1915 überfallen zwei muslimische-türkische Männer einen Ausflugszug, in dem die weißen Bewohner von Broken Hill sitzen.
Der kurze Roman hat zwei große Themen.
Das eine ist die Diskriminierung der muslimischen Einwohner der Stadt, die ghettoartig außerhalb wohnen müssen, in der Ausübung ihrer Religion behindert werden und beschimpft werden. Diese Nichtakzeptanz und Respektlosigkeit führt dazu, dass zwei Männer in Wut und Verzweiflung beschließen, dem Aufruf des türkischen Sultans zu folgen und den heiligen Kampf aufzunehmen.
Dem gegenüber steht das etwas leisere Thema der Perspektivlosigkeit und Unterdrückung der Frauen in dieser Zeit, das am Beispiel von Rosalind aufgezeigt wird. Sie ist weiß, jung und ledig und erwartet den Heiratsantrag eines jungen Mannes, Oliver, für den sie aber nichts empfindet bzw. von dem sie weiß, dass er sie unterdrücken, sie nie nach ihrer Meinung fragen wird. Sie dagegen hat Träume fortzukommen, andere Dinge zu sehen als das trostlose Leben in Broken Hill, sie findet die andersartigen Kameltreiber interessant, denn sie haben Teile der Welt gesehen. Ihr Kontakt zu diesen Menschen erweitert ihren Horizont, besonders Gül, der als Eisverkäufer arbeitet, zieht sie an. Natürlich ist diese Beziehung für sie gesellschaftlich nicht tragbar und sie muss sie verstecken. Dennoch zeigt ihr der zaghafte Kontakt, dass es andere Möglichkeiten gibt.
Die Tragik der Geschichte gipfelt darin, dass Rosalind durch eine von Güls Kugeln stirbt, kurz nachdem sie sich entschieden hat, Oliver nicht zu heiraten.
Broken Hill ist ein interessanter historischer Nebenschauplatz und enthält provokante Themen, die an diesem weltpolitisch kleinen und bizarren Ereignis aufgehängt werden. Ein durchaus relevantes Buch im Hinblick auf die aktuelle Diskussion um Integration, Diskriminierung und Dschihad.
Der kurze Roman hat zwei große Themen.
Das eine ist die Diskriminierung der muslimischen Einwohner der Stadt, die ghettoartig außerhalb wohnen müssen, in der Ausübung ihrer Religion behindert werden und beschimpft werden. Diese Nichtakzeptanz und Respektlosigkeit führt dazu, dass zwei Männer in Wut und Verzweiflung beschließen, dem Aufruf des türkischen Sultans zu folgen und den heiligen Kampf aufzunehmen.
Dem gegenüber steht das etwas leisere Thema der Perspektivlosigkeit und Unterdrückung der Frauen in dieser Zeit, das am Beispiel von Rosalind aufgezeigt wird. Sie ist weiß, jung und ledig und erwartet den Heiratsantrag eines jungen Mannes, Oliver, für den sie aber nichts empfindet bzw. von dem sie weiß, dass er sie unterdrücken, sie nie nach ihrer Meinung fragen wird. Sie dagegen hat Träume fortzukommen, andere Dinge zu sehen als das trostlose Leben in Broken Hill, sie findet die andersartigen Kameltreiber interessant, denn sie haben Teile der Welt gesehen. Ihr Kontakt zu diesen Menschen erweitert ihren Horizont, besonders Gül, der als Eisverkäufer arbeitet, zieht sie an. Natürlich ist diese Beziehung für sie gesellschaftlich nicht tragbar und sie muss sie verstecken. Dennoch zeigt ihr der zaghafte Kontakt, dass es andere Möglichkeiten gibt.
Die Tragik der Geschichte gipfelt darin, dass Rosalind durch eine von Güls Kugeln stirbt, kurz nachdem sie sich entschieden hat, Oliver nicht zu heiraten.
Broken Hill ist ein interessanter historischer Nebenschauplatz und enthält provokante Themen, die an diesem weltpolitisch kleinen und bizarren Ereignis aufgehängt werden. Ein durchaus relevantes Buch im Hinblick auf die aktuelle Diskussion um Integration, Diskriminierung und Dschihad.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews