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One
The last bushrangers in Australian history, James and Patrick Kenniff, were at the height at their horse thieving operation at turn of the 20th century. In One, troops cannot pull the Kenniff Gang out of the ranges and plains of Western Queensland – the brothers know the terrain too well, and the locals are sympathetic to their escapades. When a policeman and a station manager go out on patrol from tiny Upper Warrego Station and disappear, Sergeant Nixon makes it his mission to pursue the gang, especially, Jim Kenniff, who becomes for him an emblem of the violence that resides in the heart of the country. From the award-winning author of The Mary Smokes Boys, One is a novel of minimalist lyrical beauty that traverses the intersections between violence and love. It asks what right one man has to impose his will on another, and whether the written law can ever answer the law of the heart?
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Holland
21 books44 followersPatrick Holland grew up in outback Queensland, Australia. He worked as a stockman until taking up literary studies at Griffith University. He has studied Chinese and Vietnamese at universities in Beijing, Qingdao and Saigon.
His work attempts a strict minimalism inspired by Arvo Pärt and takes up geographical and theological themes, focussing on life’s simplest elements: light and dark; noise, sound and silence; wind and water.
His work attempts a strict minimalism inspired by Arvo Pärt and takes up geographical and theological themes, focussing on life’s simplest elements: light and dark; noise, sound and silence; wind and water.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 14, 2016
One’ is both a number, and a pronoun. It’s not just the lowest cardinal number, alluding perhaps to ‘one against the world’, it’s also half of two. So it can draw attention to duality in an individual – an alter ego, a second self, a Jekyll and Hyde, or good and evil in the same character. ‘One’ can also focus the mind on the interdependence of two characters, being two sides of the one coin. Among numerous other meanings, ‘one’ can also mean ‘the same’, or ‘identical’ (as in ‘there’s only one’), and it can mean ‘one amongst many’ suggesting perhaps that in one gang, there may be only one man that matters). And as a pronoun, again amongst other meanings, it can also refer to a person representing people in general, an impersonal pronoun as used in the last sentence of my previous paragraph. This usage is becoming less common in Australia, and sometimes derided as pretentious, but IMO it’s a handy way to focus away from the individual ‘I’ or ‘you’. Then again, in the context of Holland’s novel, set at the turn of the twentieth century when Australia federated to become one country instead of a jigsaw of squabbling colonies, ‘one’ can have an ironic undertone about the unity – the ‘oneness’ – of the emerging nation: its indigenous people weren’t included in the vote and as shown in this book, they were treated as Other rather than as The First Nations among One. My guess is that book groups could spend quite a bit of time pondering this title!
Ostensibly, Holland’s ‘One’ is a tale about bushrangers. The Kenniff brothers, James and Patrick, were Australia’s last bushrangers, running an extensive horse-stealing operation in outback Queensland at the turn of the twentieth century. But One is less of a ‘chase’ narrative and more of a meditation on law and what it means to us as a society. Nixon, a policeman in pursuit of the Kenniffs, doesn’t get much in the way of support from the sparse communities where the bushrangers operate: some don’t help because they fear reprisals; some don’t help because they don’t share the idea of law and order underpinning societies of any kind, much less theirs; and some don’t help because they would rather turn a blind eye.
To read more of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/04/15/o...
Ostensibly, Holland’s ‘One’ is a tale about bushrangers. The Kenniff brothers, James and Patrick, were Australia’s last bushrangers, running an extensive horse-stealing operation in outback Queensland at the turn of the twentieth century. But One is less of a ‘chase’ narrative and more of a meditation on law and what it means to us as a society. Nixon, a policeman in pursuit of the Kenniffs, doesn’t get much in the way of support from the sparse communities where the bushrangers operate: some don’t help because they fear reprisals; some don’t help because they don’t share the idea of law and order underpinning societies of any kind, much less theirs; and some don’t help because they would rather turn a blind eye.
To read more of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/04/15/o...
December 17, 2016
A fine writer and a great book.
March 12, 2017
A lyrical and haunting tale set in the ranges and plains of western Queensland at the beginning of the 20th century. The dogged pursuit of Australia's last bushrangers has the feel of a western, capturing the schisms within and between men as well as the loves and fears that unite them.
February 25, 2017
Very good! Who doesn't like a good bushranger tale - and this one is powerful, well researched, beautifully written, strongly evocative of the time and place. I really liked it. And happy to see that he has written a number of books, so I'll be tracking down his back catalogue.
July 22, 2021
In an interview, the author said that with his writing, he was “trying to strip out anything the reader can fill in for themselves”, and that is what I really liked about this book. Characters’ actions are not over-explained, and their dialogue is credible. Descriptions are short but powerful.
July 30, 2016
A magnificent, spartan historical novel set in the bush country west and north of Brisbane, Australia. It's the turn of the 20th century and Sergeant Nixon sets out to find and either arrest or kill the bushrangers Paddy and Jim Kenniff. Landscape and memory are as much characters in this novel as any of the people who populate the story. Holland helps the reader feel the lonely, hardscrabble life on this frontier and how it made "the rule of law" far from black and white.
Because of the subject matter, the obvious comparison is to True History of the Kelly Gang, the wonderful novel by Peter Carey. But that is a very different book. The real point of reference for One is the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. Holland's book, intentionally or not, is almost an homage. Told in direct, declarative, plainly written sentences; plot driven by dialog that is easy to understand but hard to decipher; then all of a sudden a long passage of achingly beautiful prose that knocks the reader out; that's One. Holland almost never narrates from inside the characters' minds, yet by the end you understand Nixon and Jim Kenniff inside and out. One is a great accomplishment.
Because of the subject matter, the obvious comparison is to True History of the Kelly Gang, the wonderful novel by Peter Carey. But that is a very different book. The real point of reference for One is the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. Holland's book, intentionally or not, is almost an homage. Told in direct, declarative, plainly written sentences; plot driven by dialog that is easy to understand but hard to decipher; then all of a sudden a long passage of achingly beautiful prose that knocks the reader out; that's One. Holland almost never narrates from inside the characters' minds, yet by the end you understand Nixon and Jim Kenniff inside and out. One is a great accomplishment.
August 21, 2016
Though it's been out for a few months I'd been slow in getting to this one, as I thought Holland had finally hit subject matter I couldn't get interested in - Australian bushrangers. It took me a page.
On the surface of this novel is a deftly handle chase. At the heart is a profound and nuanced ideological battle. But it's at the line level that Holland stands out in Australian literature. Not even Castro or Malouf can be so relied upon to deliver those phrases, sentences, those moments of poetry that open up new vistas of experience, like the first time you tasted a peach, or saw snow, or landed in a foreign country. There are passages in 'One' that will turn your heart upside down and leave you changed.
I'll end with a promise that I don't know whether to call happy or sober, but I can guarantee you that the next winner of the Booker Prize will win it with a book not equal to this one.
On the surface of this novel is a deftly handle chase. At the heart is a profound and nuanced ideological battle. But it's at the line level that Holland stands out in Australian literature. Not even Castro or Malouf can be so relied upon to deliver those phrases, sentences, those moments of poetry that open up new vistas of experience, like the first time you tasted a peach, or saw snow, or landed in a foreign country. There are passages in 'One' that will turn your heart upside down and leave you changed.
I'll end with a promise that I don't know whether to call happy or sober, but I can guarantee you that the next winner of the Booker Prize will win it with a book not equal to this one.
May 8, 2016
I liked this book. Not in the genre that I normally read. The book had the feel of an American western but purely Australian in content. A lot of the bush ranger stories in Australia can be a bit dull. I found this book to be very enjoyable and contained a lot of historical fact.
About the 3/4 way mark it started to get a little slow but then finished well. I found it very interesting how the different nationalities and native Australian people were represented and portrayed at that time in history.
I would recommend this book as a light read and would be of interest to anyone interested in Australian history on that era.
About the 3/4 way mark it started to get a little slow but then finished well. I found it very interesting how the different nationalities and native Australian people were represented and portrayed at that time in history.
I would recommend this book as a light read and would be of interest to anyone interested in Australian history on that era.
August 9, 2016
At the risk of upsetting the natives, I've not been very enthralled with many Aussie novel writers. To the point of being rather put off, to be honest.
So its a real joy to have stumbled across this one. Some great writing that takes the reader along on a wild ride with The Kenniff Brothers, a couple of ruthless bushrangers and the lawmen trying to capture them.
With racial tension simmering in the background and a strong sense of the land, Holland gives such depth to the psyches of these two ruthless killers that it is hard not to feel some empathy and understanding for them.
A great Aussie read ☺
So its a real joy to have stumbled across this one. Some great writing that takes the reader along on a wild ride with The Kenniff Brothers, a couple of ruthless bushrangers and the lawmen trying to capture them.
With racial tension simmering in the background and a strong sense of the land, Holland gives such depth to the psyches of these two ruthless killers that it is hard not to feel some empathy and understanding for them.
A great Aussie read ☺
September 30, 2016
This novel is exquisite. The chase, the violent conflict - physical and moral - at its heart. I'm embarassed to say I've never heard of the Kenniffs, Australia's last bushrangers. But I'll never forget them now. As wonderful as the story and characters are for me, especially the girl, who even without a name impresses herself so forcefully on the story, it's the Australian landscape that is the hero of this novel, so very hard, so very beautiful, burning with gold and vermillion, mysterious in its darknesses; ultimately mysterious. Along with Life of Pi, this is the best novel I've read this year.
June 11, 2016
Beautifully written story about the hunt for the last bushrangers in Australia. It reminded me very much of The Burial by Courtney Collins, a story about a female bushranger. Quite poignant in its portrayal of the policeman Nixon relentlessly pursuing the outlaws and Jim Kenniff the leader of the gang. Who was in the right? Captures the period and the starkness of the landscape really well.
May 30, 2017
Relentless, dry, unforgiving and haunting. When the quest is not only the man we follow- but also the man we are. A country on the cusp of change, yet still so entwined with its vast heritage, its differences of the criminal and the lawman, the need for survival, the need to salvage something that got lost. A gem.
March 29, 2017
Dio Mio, they don't know what you are, signore. This one is brilliante. Exquisite beautiful.
February 27, 2018
Another bushranger story, but Holland masterfully challenges any preconceived ideas the reader may have about the motives of bushrangers and the personality traits of the outlaws and the men who pursue them. A fast-paced story of dastardly deeds in the high country, yet Holland somehow factors in time for the reader to consider and have empathy for both the hunters and the hunted, and the role of women in their lives. Interesting too is the consideration of Nixon the police Constable and his drunken ruminations once his legal obligations have been fulfilled. The dream that we pursue is not necessarily always the choices that are best for us or for those around us.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews