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Three Thousand
A young crackpot, homeless, unemployed and poverty-stricken, spends an afternoon and evening wandering about Melbourne, and finds a city whose history is catching up with it. In the streets and down the lanes he meets the people who the streets and lanes were named after – the explorers, soldiers, sailors, graziers, shopkeepers and publicans who built the city. He discusses his problems with them – his worries about his health, and his appearance, and an improbable love affair – and they offer him the benefit of their experience; but in almost every case their advice only makes things worse.
338 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 of 2 reviews
November 18, 2020
The perfect blend of fiction and fact as we journey with the protagonist through the streets of Melbourne. The jigsaw pieces fit together as we read. We meet many historical figure whom the Melbourne streets and laneways are named after.
We meet Matthew Flinders first who guides our hero towards his love lost journey of self discovery searching for the elusive Chloe the barmaid.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey being taken around Melbourne and some of the inner suburbs. Whilst being given a history lesson, I am encouraged to keep reading because I want to know what happens to our crackpot!
It reminds me of Enid Blighton’s Far Away Tree because I had the sense that we were entering different lands on alternate planes.
The characters’ descriptions are almost as entertaining as the events that unfold within the pages.
I especially liked the description of Chloe in the Brights Place section, two thirds of the way through. The author describes what it would be like as an artist, painting Chloe. To me, it sounds like the ultimate charade in which he couldn’t see her and she couldn’t hear him.
Further along in the book; Lonsdale’s position as commandant and police magistrate gave him the right to give away portions of land and highlights the ongoing demise of Victoria’s Djadjawurrung people. Lonsdale was no visionary and so the killing and dispossession continued with no fair plan or compromise for Australia’s original owners of the land.
My only criticism is the lack of an index to find and reread certain sections later.
We meet Matthew Flinders first who guides our hero towards his love lost journey of self discovery searching for the elusive Chloe the barmaid.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey being taken around Melbourne and some of the inner suburbs. Whilst being given a history lesson, I am encouraged to keep reading because I want to know what happens to our crackpot!
It reminds me of Enid Blighton’s Far Away Tree because I had the sense that we were entering different lands on alternate planes.
The characters’ descriptions are almost as entertaining as the events that unfold within the pages.
I especially liked the description of Chloe in the Brights Place section, two thirds of the way through. The author describes what it would be like as an artist, painting Chloe. To me, it sounds like the ultimate charade in which he couldn’t see her and she couldn’t hear him.
Further along in the book; Lonsdale’s position as commandant and police magistrate gave him the right to give away portions of land and highlights the ongoing demise of Victoria’s Djadjawurrung people. Lonsdale was no visionary and so the killing and dispossession continued with no fair plan or compromise for Australia’s original owners of the land.
My only criticism is the lack of an index to find and reread certain sections later.
Displaying 1 of 2 reviews