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The Trout Opera
Book by Matthew Condon
592 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
16 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Condon
40 books47 followersMatthew Steven Condon is a prize-winning Australian author and journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 25, 2021
Setting: Dalgety & Sydney, NSW, Australia; 1906-2000.
When we first meet Wilfred Lampe, he is six years old, living in Dalgety, NSW on the banks of the Snowy River and about to appear in his teacher's re-imagining of the arrival of trout in the rivers of Australia - he is dressed wonderfully as a trout and has his lines word-perfect. But he never gets to say them after a disaster involving his 'leading lady' and his sister, Astrid.
The story then jumps on to 1999 - on the eve of the Sydney Olympics, two men from the Olympic Committee have tracked down 99-year-old Wilfred, still living in his family home on the banks of the Snowy River. He will be 100 years old at the time of the Olympics and they are seeking him out to be part of the opening ceremony as Australia's 'Everyman' - what they find is Wilfred collapsed in his paddock on the verge of death. They rescue him and take him to Sydney to restore him to health and to get his co-operation. But they need his family's permission and the only relative he has is a great-niece Aurora.
We meet Aurora - hooked on drugs and with a waster of a boyfriend, she has just tried to break free from him and has fled to Sydney to get clean and to start a new life. But Wynter, her ex-boyfriend, does not give up easily and goes in search of her....
As the book jumps back and forth in time, we learn the story of the lives of Wilfred, his sister Astrid (forever going missing until finally she goes missing for good), his great-niece Aurora (who he doesn't even know exists) and a cast of multiple characters all involved in their lives, including a journalist looking for his 'big break'.
This was a wonderful story and, even though it was over 700 pages long, I still wanted more! Wilfred inherited his father's love of trout-fishing, told in great detail, and even these sections (for a non-fisherman like myself) were engrossing because the author managed to 'sell' the character's passion and make it natural. I also loved the setting of the book and it certainly brought back memories of my own time living in Australia when we had to learn swathes of Banjo Patterson's 'The Man from Snowy River' at school - still one of my favourite poems of all time.
A wonderful story and I will be looking for more from this author - 10/10.
When we first meet Wilfred Lampe, he is six years old, living in Dalgety, NSW on the banks of the Snowy River and about to appear in his teacher's re-imagining of the arrival of trout in the rivers of Australia - he is dressed wonderfully as a trout and has his lines word-perfect. But he never gets to say them after a disaster involving his 'leading lady' and his sister, Astrid.
The story then jumps on to 1999 - on the eve of the Sydney Olympics, two men from the Olympic Committee have tracked down 99-year-old Wilfred, still living in his family home on the banks of the Snowy River. He will be 100 years old at the time of the Olympics and they are seeking him out to be part of the opening ceremony as Australia's 'Everyman' - what they find is Wilfred collapsed in his paddock on the verge of death. They rescue him and take him to Sydney to restore him to health and to get his co-operation. But they need his family's permission and the only relative he has is a great-niece Aurora.
We meet Aurora - hooked on drugs and with a waster of a boyfriend, she has just tried to break free from him and has fled to Sydney to get clean and to start a new life. But Wynter, her ex-boyfriend, does not give up easily and goes in search of her....
As the book jumps back and forth in time, we learn the story of the lives of Wilfred, his sister Astrid (forever going missing until finally she goes missing for good), his great-niece Aurora (who he doesn't even know exists) and a cast of multiple characters all involved in their lives, including a journalist looking for his 'big break'.
This was a wonderful story and, even though it was over 700 pages long, I still wanted more! Wilfred inherited his father's love of trout-fishing, told in great detail, and even these sections (for a non-fisherman like myself) were engrossing because the author managed to 'sell' the character's passion and make it natural. I also loved the setting of the book and it certainly brought back memories of my own time living in Australia when we had to learn swathes of Banjo Patterson's 'The Man from Snowy River' at school - still one of my favourite poems of all time.
A wonderful story and I will be looking for more from this author - 10/10.
July 20, 2014
Grand in scope, filled with human yearning, arrogance, and development, this 2007 novel captures the long stretch of 100 years in the history of Australia, 1900 to 2000, beginning with the Snowy River flowing free and ending with the staging of the Sydney Olympics.
The boy Wilfred Lampe, the eponymous trout in his scaffolding of wood and wire and his skin of hessian and tin, opens the novel, stumbling about the streets of Dalgety in costume on his way to stage The Trout Opera. The opera never comes off; only later do we realize this is foreshadowing for what is to come to the Snowy River and its ecosystem.¹
“The world’s a stage” for Wilfred as the story progresses, and indeed he is asked to the world stage for the 2000 Olympic Games as the Old Man from Snowy River, a nod to the poem (Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson) that many think represents Australian values and attitudes (e.g., talent, skill, grit, and determination).
But while Wilfred lived his entire life by the Snowy River in the house where he was born in a landscape some considered little changed in one hundred years, the rest of Australia changed unimaginably in that same time. We have glimpses of the lives of others through the voices and experiences of his grand-niece who had so little connection with her family that she felt cast adrift.
In an interview, Condon says that he wrote the book after meeting an eighty-year-old man, Ray Reid, who remembered the great Snowy before the dams were built, which reduced river flow to 1% of its earlier strength. Condon found himself contrasting the beauty of the land with the urban and suburban lives of modern Australians.
The Trout Opera is Condon’s first novel, and he started it without all the skills he needed to finish it. But that very lack of expertise leaves readers with something rare: a story large in scope, size, and heart which encompasses his imaginings about the nature of family, the importance of wealth, indeed, the meaning of life…with Australia and the Snowy Mountains as backdrop. It gives readers glimpses into the national dialogue, the place of Australia in the world, and finally, an understanding of the rich heritage they have to preserve.
One prominent and unforgettable character is Graham Featherstone, nighttime radio host, who listened to the dreams and failures of countless sleepless folks who want to hear the voice of another in the night. Featherstone lets loose one night with his own despair and preoccupations about the state of civility and the loss of a national character, using all the woes he has heard and felt over the years to deliver one long rant. His cynicism and smarts is noted by his listeners, and he is asked to play another role as investigative journalist into the abduction of Old Man Snowy.
That is how he comes to be in the mountains at the source of Snowy, refreshed and relaxed, when the stupendous opening ceremony of the Sydney Games commences. The story has no ending, and indeed, ends with a word that signifies no ending. Life will go on, and it is up to each of us to search for those places and people that make our lives meaningful, wherever we may find them.
¹The Australian Alps in southern Australia, with peaks exceeding 6,600 feet, and are comprised of the Snowy Mountains and the Victoria Alps, and are the only bioregion of Australia where snow falls annually. With the effects of global warming, lower regions are experiencing a change in snowfall. The original damming project began in 1949 and ended in 1974, and decreased flows to the Snowy River by 99%, as measured at Jindabyne. Only later did political opposition and environmental awareness force a reassessment, to increase flows to a target 15% by 2009, and 21% by 2012.
The boy Wilfred Lampe, the eponymous trout in his scaffolding of wood and wire and his skin of hessian and tin, opens the novel, stumbling about the streets of Dalgety in costume on his way to stage The Trout Opera. The opera never comes off; only later do we realize this is foreshadowing for what is to come to the Snowy River and its ecosystem.¹
“The world’s a stage” for Wilfred as the story progresses, and indeed he is asked to the world stage for the 2000 Olympic Games as the Old Man from Snowy River, a nod to the poem (Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson) that many think represents Australian values and attitudes (e.g., talent, skill, grit, and determination).
But while Wilfred lived his entire life by the Snowy River in the house where he was born in a landscape some considered little changed in one hundred years, the rest of Australia changed unimaginably in that same time. We have glimpses of the lives of others through the voices and experiences of his grand-niece who had so little connection with her family that she felt cast adrift.
In an interview, Condon says that he wrote the book after meeting an eighty-year-old man, Ray Reid, who remembered the great Snowy before the dams were built, which reduced river flow to 1% of its earlier strength. Condon found himself contrasting the beauty of the land with the urban and suburban lives of modern Australians.
The Trout Opera is Condon’s first novel, and he started it without all the skills he needed to finish it. But that very lack of expertise leaves readers with something rare: a story large in scope, size, and heart which encompasses his imaginings about the nature of family, the importance of wealth, indeed, the meaning of life…with Australia and the Snowy Mountains as backdrop. It gives readers glimpses into the national dialogue, the place of Australia in the world, and finally, an understanding of the rich heritage they have to preserve.
One prominent and unforgettable character is Graham Featherstone, nighttime radio host, who listened to the dreams and failures of countless sleepless folks who want to hear the voice of another in the night. Featherstone lets loose one night with his own despair and preoccupations about the state of civility and the loss of a national character, using all the woes he has heard and felt over the years to deliver one long rant. His cynicism and smarts is noted by his listeners, and he is asked to play another role as investigative journalist into the abduction of Old Man Snowy.
That is how he comes to be in the mountains at the source of Snowy, refreshed and relaxed, when the stupendous opening ceremony of the Sydney Games commences. The story has no ending, and indeed, ends with a word that signifies no ending. Life will go on, and it is up to each of us to search for those places and people that make our lives meaningful, wherever we may find them.
¹The Australian Alps in southern Australia, with peaks exceeding 6,600 feet, and are comprised of the Snowy Mountains and the Victoria Alps, and are the only bioregion of Australia where snow falls annually. With the effects of global warming, lower regions are experiencing a change in snowfall. The original damming project began in 1949 and ended in 1974, and decreased flows to the Snowy River by 99%, as measured at Jindabyne. Only later did political opposition and environmental awareness force a reassessment, to increase flows to a target 15% by 2009, and 21% by 2012.
August 10, 2019
Loved this novel, a near masterpiece that at its best is reminiscent of Peter Carey. Set partly in and around the tiny town of Dalgety (2016 population: 205) in southern New South Wales, partly in the squalor of Kings Cross in Sydney, and partly in the sugarcane-growing town of Murwillumbah just south of the Queensland border, the story traverses a hundred years of Australian history, from the birth of the central character, Wilfred Lampe, in 1900 to the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Wilfred Lampe grows up fly-fishing for trout in the Snowy River, and fishing serves as an important metaphor throughout the novel: characters feel “the thrill of the lure” and are caught; they struggle to free themselves from the hook “of addiction, of family, of the past” (p. 549). Lampe’s great-niece Aurora, for example:
Most memorable is the extended description of Wilfred’s journey with his father, four other stockmen, and 417 head of cattle on the drovers’ track from Dalgety through the High Country over the mountains and down into Gippsland in Victoria. Everything is beautifully captured—the natural world, the laconic conversation of the men, the child Wilfred’s wonderment and terror.
In the end it is the hilariously failed radio DJ Graham Featherstone who understands that there can be no answer to the question, “What exactly were we now?” (p. 670).
Wilfred Lampe grows up fly-fishing for trout in the Snowy River, and fishing serves as an important metaphor throughout the novel: characters feel “the thrill of the lure” and are caught; they struggle to free themselves from the hook “of addiction, of family, of the past” (p. 549). Lampe’s great-niece Aurora, for example:
was only twenty-six years old and she believed she had lived an entire life. Wynter [her violent drug-addict boyfriend] had removed the middle of it, cut it out of her, and hooked her childhood onto early middle age. She had spent an eternity in motel rooms and in cars and in the unending stupors they had experienced together where it was always dusk or dawn, where there was always new and old light, fresh yellow and old yellow, clear and blurred shadows, but never a moment without a trace of the night. (p. 77)There is some wonderful writing here: Aurora visits the Buckley’s Crossing Hotel in Dalgety and feels that “it had been the epicentre of the dialogue of a town” (p. 544); Wilfred takes a child fishing and recalls fishing with his father: “How relentless, this thing called life. Everything going forward, getting faster. He was glad the boy did not yet know this. That a day still stretched forever” (p. 609); after a bushfire, Wilfred rides through the blackened country where sheep “smouldered like peat bogs” (p. 613).
Most memorable is the extended description of Wilfred’s journey with his father, four other stockmen, and 417 head of cattle on the drovers’ track from Dalgety through the High Country over the mountains and down into Gippsland in Victoria. Everything is beautifully captured—the natural world, the laconic conversation of the men, the child Wilfred’s wonderment and terror.
In the end it is the hilariously failed radio DJ Graham Featherstone who understands that there can be no answer to the question, “What exactly were we now?” (p. 670).
Lives were mercurial. They slipped and shimmered and darted. Then they were different again, in one person’s memory, and then another. And in the next layer, with the stories and memories relayed to another and removed from direct observation and experience, life became something else, part of the life of the person doing the telling, and away it went again… (p. 699).Highly recommended!
August 4, 2011
Of course when one starts (and keeps) reading one has an intimation that eventually all the strands are going to tie up and lead to a point. And so they do -- laboriously, as not all strands are really relevant, and the book ends up with a bit of an anticlimax -- cute, no doubt, but the reader is kept wondering whether it really needed over 550 pages to come to this.
September 9, 2011
A bit plodding in terms of a story. I can't help but feel I kinda missed the point. That sad, there is some lovely actual writing in the book. But as a story ... it didn't do it for me.
May 20, 2012
Didn't do it for me. Some good writing, but too long. I lost interest.
February 1, 2023
The Trout Opera took me a long time to read. I'm not surprised it took Mathew Condon 10 years to write. There is some lovely plot, and terrific characters, Wilfred Lampe, the 100 year old Aussie, and his grand niece Aurora, an ex- junky, and notions of home, family, connection and belonging. But I am a modern reader, so I found myself skimming over lots of description. The 100 year old Scandinavian man's life was three times as racy as Wilfred's (Jonas Jonasson).
Well structured and sentimental, I would have edited out a couple of hundred pages.
Well structured and sentimental, I would have edited out a couple of hundred pages.
October 22, 2018
Unforgettable gentle soul, Wilfred Lampe lives to a hundred years, never leaving his birthplace, never getting married.....this guy is up there with Forest Gump, Owen Meany as
memorable men in literature! Simultaniously, the history of Australia must charm the reader. Graham, who speaks his mind and always gets in trouble for it, is another character worth remembering. In his drunken babbling on radio many a truth is spoken.
memorable men in literature! Simultaniously, the history of Australia must charm the reader. Graham, who speaks his mind and always gets in trouble for it, is another character worth remembering. In his drunken babbling on radio many a truth is spoken.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2017
A conundrum.
The opening and indeed the final 2 or 3 chapters promise so much. The opening draws in the reader to view life through the allegory of the beautiful trout and the imaginative hand-made flies by which they can be caught and landed. The main character for the narrative, Wilfred is indeed 'the trout'.
At the finish we see the over-riding arc of Australia, through a whole century, join the trout to a lure, Wilfred's lost love, Dorothea and so they finally are caught to each other and landed.
In between though, the historical descriptions and imagery are many. Some so apt and evocative and some seem very overworked. A question has been asked about why this novel was overlooked for a Miles Franklin Award. Especially pertinent given its big, majestic trawl through a century of Australian life. And it seems to do that most admirably. I wonder if this disjunctive, lengthy plod is the reason it was not more successful. Trimmed or re-packaged I am sure it should become a classic.
Perhaps, thinking more about this aspect, it is a tad on the Dickensian at its most prosey, its most turgid. A style with which we are lo longer patient.
I actually like this book more now I have finally finished it than I did half way through. When I thought it might be pointless plodding on any further.
However, I plodded on and on. Sometimes enchanted and often-times annoyed or irritated with the over-wrought prose and disjunctive nature of the characters. True they are all 'out there' in real life. Somehow the author didn't seem to meld them adequately.
The novel plot of kidnap and of kidnap and resuscitation of the Centenarian, Wilfred to give meaning to the Olympic opening ceremony seems particularly clever and poignant in that the trite fulfilment of that bureaucratic plan is foiled.
The fish finds his own way through his own stream of life, to finally join with the love of his childhood in a romantically believable manner.
Other characters may well be drawn from real-life. They have that element of truth about them. Some, however, seem to fit the story better than others. Each is rounded as an analytic character and yet the whole doesn't seem to blend.
Joyce might have simply rolled through each character seamlessly blended as an outpouring of 'what is or has been'
Bryce Courtenay or Di Morrissey, Judy Nunn or Evan Green would have somehow melded them more comfortably.
Perhaps 10years and such a long manuscript would have benefitted from becoming a more edited 2 volume effort.
In the end, yes it was informative, educational and enchanting. Somehow, though it misses being 'great'
There are some clever allusions which are delightful. The cameo descriptions of particular historic events are succinctly informative. There is the main 'novel. and then there are interesting sociological or clinical outlines of some characters. Two different methods for one manuscript not fully intermeshed.
A PLUS.....I shall ask for other Matthew Condon books for comparison.
The opening and indeed the final 2 or 3 chapters promise so much. The opening draws in the reader to view life through the allegory of the beautiful trout and the imaginative hand-made flies by which they can be caught and landed. The main character for the narrative, Wilfred is indeed 'the trout'.
At the finish we see the over-riding arc of Australia, through a whole century, join the trout to a lure, Wilfred's lost love, Dorothea and so they finally are caught to each other and landed.
In between though, the historical descriptions and imagery are many. Some so apt and evocative and some seem very overworked. A question has been asked about why this novel was overlooked for a Miles Franklin Award. Especially pertinent given its big, majestic trawl through a century of Australian life. And it seems to do that most admirably. I wonder if this disjunctive, lengthy plod is the reason it was not more successful. Trimmed or re-packaged I am sure it should become a classic.
Perhaps, thinking more about this aspect, it is a tad on the Dickensian at its most prosey, its most turgid. A style with which we are lo longer patient.
I actually like this book more now I have finally finished it than I did half way through. When I thought it might be pointless plodding on any further.
However, I plodded on and on. Sometimes enchanted and often-times annoyed or irritated with the over-wrought prose and disjunctive nature of the characters. True they are all 'out there' in real life. Somehow the author didn't seem to meld them adequately.
The novel plot of kidnap and of kidnap and resuscitation of the Centenarian, Wilfred to give meaning to the Olympic opening ceremony seems particularly clever and poignant in that the trite fulfilment of that bureaucratic plan is foiled.
The fish finds his own way through his own stream of life, to finally join with the love of his childhood in a romantically believable manner.
Other characters may well be drawn from real-life. They have that element of truth about them. Some, however, seem to fit the story better than others. Each is rounded as an analytic character and yet the whole doesn't seem to blend.
Joyce might have simply rolled through each character seamlessly blended as an outpouring of 'what is or has been'
Bryce Courtenay or Di Morrissey, Judy Nunn or Evan Green would have somehow melded them more comfortably.
Perhaps 10years and such a long manuscript would have benefitted from becoming a more edited 2 volume effort.
In the end, yes it was informative, educational and enchanting. Somehow, though it misses being 'great'
There are some clever allusions which are delightful. The cameo descriptions of particular historic events are succinctly informative. There is the main 'novel. and then there are interesting sociological or clinical outlines of some characters. Two different methods for one manuscript not fully intermeshed.
A PLUS.....I shall ask for other Matthew Condon books for comparison.
July 5, 2015
Because I read it on my Kindle I had no idea that it was such a long book although I did seem to be plodding along really slowly. Now that I know it's over 500 pages I understand why it took so long! However it does have a slow pace and covers a 100 year period 1900 to the Sydney Olympics. The story of Wilfred over this time living with the Snowy river is beautifully told, unfolding from his past to his present day and introducing modern day characters important to his story in roughly alternate chapters. Definitely a book for a holiday read so that you can immerse yourself and enjoy the prose.
October 19, 2025
It was a book I enjoyed taking my time reading. Some may find it slow at times.and it was a different type of story to what I've been reading lately it was just what I needed.
February 28, 2011
The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon – this is a brilliant book and I don’t understand why it wasn’t nominated for the MF shortlist. It has an engaging plot, memorable characters and a vivid Australian setting, bringing to life the Snowy River in a moving portrait of Australian country life.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/200...
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/200...
January 6, 2012
Whimsical and fascinating book. Very clever, and a great read. But the writer is curiously ignorant of the outside world. Matthew, it’s water, not air-conditioning fluid, that drips from a car’s air-conditioning after a hot run. If someone shoots you, it’s the lead bullet that kills you, not the spinning brass jacket. And centrifuges throw things outwards, not suck things in (p.102). Duh...
July 8, 2014
A great read! Some fantastic characters, though I wanted to shake the Wilfred character and say 'Don't just let life happen to you!' Wondered if the end was tied up a bit neatly, but that's quite nice in some ways.
December 29, 2022
Citaat : Lampe zag stukjes blauwe lucht en voelde een sterke trilling door zijn lichaam gaan, maar hij hoorde niets. Hij had het heel koud. Hij rees omhoog. Hij keek, zoals forellen doen, door het wateroppervlak naar de buitenwereld. En tegelijkertijd zag hij de stenen in de rivier, de rietstengels, de boomstammen onder water en zelfs een helder beeld van zichzelf, weerkaatst in de onderkant van het rivieroppervlak.
Review : De Australische auteur Matthew Condon schreef een vuistdikke roman De forellenopera over honderd jaar uit de Australische geschiedenis.
De forellenopera draait rond een man van de Snowy Mountains, Wilfred Lampe, een heel gewone man, een soort cowboy die leefde van visvangst, klusjes opknappen en soms wat veedrijven. Hij trouwde nooit, verrichtte geen heldendaden en bleef het liefst zo veel mogelijk in zijn eigen streek rond Dalgety en langs de Snowy River. De toon van zijn leven wordt al vroeg gezet: als kind mag Wilfred meespelen in De Forellenopera. Hij is apetrots op zijn forellenkostuum en zijn rol, maar voordat hij op moet komen, is de opera al afgeblazen en Wilfreds droom niet verwezenlijkt. Wilfred was geen man van veel dromen. Hij had er maar één, en dat is de bron van de Snowy River vinden. Toen hij een keer meende vlakbij de bron te zijn, werd hij afgeleid door de liefde van zijn leven en kreeg er zo een onvervulde droom bij.
De forellenopera, die door de Duitse leraar van Wilfred werd georganiseerd in plaats van het jaarlijkse Kerstspel, zet voor een stuk de toon van het boek: het is een stukje geschiedenis van Australië en de Snowy River. De opera waarin Wilfred zou spelen, vertelt het historische verhaal van James Youl die in 1864 forelleneitjes heelhuids wist over te brengen van Engeland naar Australië. En zo kwamen er forellen naar de Snowy River. Maar over Wilfreds bijna honderdjarige bestaan valt niet meer spannends te schrijven, het is enkel de grote, rode meanderende lijn die als de Snowy River door het boek loopt, want boek begint in 2000, het jaar dat De Olympische Zomerspelen van de XXVIIe olympiade in Sydney werden georganiseerd. Het Olympisch Comité ontdekt dat de negenennegentigjarige Wilfred Lampe nog op zichzelf woont en ze sturen twee mannen om hem te halen. Ze hebben bedacht dat het mooi is als een honderdjarige als symbool de Olympische Spelen in 2000 in Sydney bijwoont. Maar de mannen vinden Wilfred in zijn tuin op de grond. Ze aarzelen niet hem per helikopter naar het ziekenhuis te laten brengen. Wilfred waant er zich in de hemel en overdenkt zijn leven vanaf het magische moment dat hij in 1906 de hoofdrol speelde in De forellenopera.
Condon slaagt er wonderwel in om in De forellenopera de hele geschiedenis van Australië te behandelen op een uiterst geloofwaardige manier. Van de immigranten uit Engeland over de wereldoorlogen tot drugsverslaafden in het hedendaagse Sydney. Meesterlijk, bijna opera-achtig en van tijd tot tijd hilarisch toont De forellenopera ons een krankzinnige wereld vol geschiedenis, oorlog, romantiek, moord, bosbranden, drugs en de kwetsbaarheid en de veerkracht van de alomtegenwoordige natuur. Een heerlijk en super boeiend boek.
Review : De Australische auteur Matthew Condon schreef een vuistdikke roman De forellenopera over honderd jaar uit de Australische geschiedenis.
De forellenopera draait rond een man van de Snowy Mountains, Wilfred Lampe, een heel gewone man, een soort cowboy die leefde van visvangst, klusjes opknappen en soms wat veedrijven. Hij trouwde nooit, verrichtte geen heldendaden en bleef het liefst zo veel mogelijk in zijn eigen streek rond Dalgety en langs de Snowy River. De toon van zijn leven wordt al vroeg gezet: als kind mag Wilfred meespelen in De Forellenopera. Hij is apetrots op zijn forellenkostuum en zijn rol, maar voordat hij op moet komen, is de opera al afgeblazen en Wilfreds droom niet verwezenlijkt. Wilfred was geen man van veel dromen. Hij had er maar één, en dat is de bron van de Snowy River vinden. Toen hij een keer meende vlakbij de bron te zijn, werd hij afgeleid door de liefde van zijn leven en kreeg er zo een onvervulde droom bij.
De forellenopera, die door de Duitse leraar van Wilfred werd georganiseerd in plaats van het jaarlijkse Kerstspel, zet voor een stuk de toon van het boek: het is een stukje geschiedenis van Australië en de Snowy River. De opera waarin Wilfred zou spelen, vertelt het historische verhaal van James Youl die in 1864 forelleneitjes heelhuids wist over te brengen van Engeland naar Australië. En zo kwamen er forellen naar de Snowy River. Maar over Wilfreds bijna honderdjarige bestaan valt niet meer spannends te schrijven, het is enkel de grote, rode meanderende lijn die als de Snowy River door het boek loopt, want boek begint in 2000, het jaar dat De Olympische Zomerspelen van de XXVIIe olympiade in Sydney werden georganiseerd. Het Olympisch Comité ontdekt dat de negenennegentigjarige Wilfred Lampe nog op zichzelf woont en ze sturen twee mannen om hem te halen. Ze hebben bedacht dat het mooi is als een honderdjarige als symbool de Olympische Spelen in 2000 in Sydney bijwoont. Maar de mannen vinden Wilfred in zijn tuin op de grond. Ze aarzelen niet hem per helikopter naar het ziekenhuis te laten brengen. Wilfred waant er zich in de hemel en overdenkt zijn leven vanaf het magische moment dat hij in 1906 de hoofdrol speelde in De forellenopera.
Condon slaagt er wonderwel in om in De forellenopera de hele geschiedenis van Australië te behandelen op een uiterst geloofwaardige manier. Van de immigranten uit Engeland over de wereldoorlogen tot drugsverslaafden in het hedendaagse Sydney. Meesterlijk, bijna opera-achtig en van tijd tot tijd hilarisch toont De forellenopera ons een krankzinnige wereld vol geschiedenis, oorlog, romantiek, moord, bosbranden, drugs en de kwetsbaarheid en de veerkracht van de alomtegenwoordige natuur. Een heerlijk en super boeiend boek.
June 29, 2020
A masterpiece. An entertaining sweep through several generations, focusing on two main protagonists who are two generations apart. I loved the way Matthew Condon brought in additional characters along the journey without making it a confusing mess, partly because the arc was really simply getting Wilfred and Aurora connected. Beautifully crafted literature with evocative descriptions of Australia from the Monaro high country to Kings Cross to Mullumbimby. Written with great affection for the characters. Lots to think about - the business of sport marketing (Olympics), family connections, love and regret, the environment, first nations people, drugs, and much more. Highly recommended
November 23, 2024
I had a really hard time with this book and I'm not really sure why. It seemed endless. Some of the stories, especially the development of the Snowy River scheme were quite interesting. I found the main character a little unbelievable in his naivety but I am quite sure folks like this existed, given the time frame of the book. I also found the ending a massive anticlimax.
My husband on the other hand thought the book was "brilliant," although he agrees with me about the ending being too trite and a bit fairy tale.
My husband on the other hand thought the book was "brilliant," although he agrees with me about the ending being too trite and a bit fairy tale.
June 6, 2024
This book took some effort to read due to the numerous characters and long winded descriptions. Half way through i wondered whether to persist. However, after reading some GR reviews I continued, and was glad I did. The historical threads woven through and the descriptions of the Snowy River area were fascinating, plus the story came to a neat end. But I agree with others who suggest it might have been a better book if it was slimmed down.
April 13, 2023
THE TROUT OPERA
Wow. What a magnificent journey through the life of Wilfred Lampe. A simple man. Good ethics. An inbuilt honesty and acceptance, running concurrently and unbeknownst to him, with the changing face of Australia. Only heightening the absurdity that progress can become, when compared to what once was.
Wow. What a magnificent journey through the life of Wilfred Lampe. A simple man. Good ethics. An inbuilt honesty and acceptance, running concurrently and unbeknownst to him, with the changing face of Australia. Only heightening the absurdity that progress can become, when compared to what once was.
October 13, 2018
I loved the opening of this book, but I had to persevere to keep reading it as at times there was just too much detail that didn’t necessarily contribute to the story. I enjoyed the diversity of characters and the description of Dalgety and the Monaro.
October 18, 2017
An interesting story.
June 28, 2020
I really enjoyed this one. A seriously good yarn.
December 31, 2022
an epic Australian yarn set in the Monaro, Murwillumbah and Sydney over the course of a century. Well written with a lot of wisdom. A big book 580 pages, but woven beautifully.
April 14, 2023
Set against an unforgiving landscape, this book is glorious and epic and heart-breaking, a story of love and loss and second chances, at any age.
November 6, 2024
This is a new epic novel that will probably end up on a list of some kind.
Slowed a little in the middle but so much richness that you push through.
Slowed a little in the middle but so much richness that you push through.
December 9, 2024
A great read, reminded me a bit of Peter Carey.
July 30, 2011
OK, I admit, I picked this novel up in the bookstore because of the title and the cover...and I liked the opening paragraph. About 10 pages in I thought I may have made a mistake. I was wrong, however. It is wonderful. It has the solemn tone of so many Australian novels, but you cannot help but be drawn in by the characters - and the setting. Having lived in Potts Point and spent the best times of my life in the Snowy Mountains, I loved the descriptions of place and time...they are spot on. The author thanks Meg Stewart in the credits and the homage to the late great Douglas Stewart is evident throughout the story and most welcome. The novel is about fly fishing, as I had hoped. But it is about so much more and I am really glad somebody has captured this moment of Australia in such an eloquent fashion.
August 31, 2016
I enjoyed the sweeping story that covered the 100 year life span of the protagonist, Wilfred, and the events that surrounded the latter years of his life. As a representation of the Australian archetype 'man from Snowy River', his life highlights the differences between reality and myth. The other characters are even more confronting representations of other Australian stereotypes with different life paths. While there was an interesting juxtaposition between the various characters, I think the book suffered from being a bit too long and drawn out with whole chapters of lyrical prose (rather than pages or paragraphs) that did not significantly contribute to the story. So, on balance, I could only give it a 3.
December 21, 2016
Being born and raised in the Snowies/Monaro and knowing all of the areas described in the book makes reviewing this book somewhat difficult. Matthew has described the region so beautifully that I felt I was once again in the region I grew up. However the wonderfully descriptive settings and well fleshed out characters doesnt hide the fact that the book meanders along a little and seems to fade away at the end, as if the writer was struggling to figure out how exactly to tie everything together?
Over all it was a fine read, especially for one searching for some well written imagery of the Australian high country.
Over all it was a fine read, especially for one searching for some well written imagery of the Australian high country.
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