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One Boy's Journey to Man #3
Return Ticket
It's 1972. When hot-headed, impetuous Jack Muir gets off the ship in Durban, he fails to get back on. Instead, he sails into misadventure, fleeing the stifling town of Genoralup to try to lose himself in South Africa at the height of apartheid. But the past has a way of catching up with you, and soon Jack is running again, this time to a kibbutz in Israel.
In the course of a lifetime, Jack will travel far, always caught between fleeing from and seeking those things he needs: a mother's precious gift, a lover in a time of war, the loss of a child, a kind and steady woman. And, across time and across continents, old Jack Muir will remember those who helped him become a decent man, a better father and a friend.
In the course of a lifetime, Jack will travel far, always caught between fleeing from and seeking those things he needs: a mother's precious gift, a lover in a time of war, the loss of a child, a kind and steady woman. And, across time and across continents, old Jack Muir will remember those who helped him become a decent man, a better father and a friend.
- GenresFiction
265 pages, ebook
First published March 3, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 11, 2020
You can read Return Ticket as the third book in Doust's trilogy or you can read it on its own - but if you enjoy reading, read it... it's very hard to put down. This beautifully crafted novel is both a fast paced and exciting journey through Africa, Israel and the South West of Western Australia and also a profound meditation on what it is to be a man.
January 22, 2020
Return Ticket is the third and final book in Jon Doust's searing trilogy One Boy's Journey to Man. Boy on a Wire (2009) is Book #1 of the series and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin (see my review) and Book #2 is To The Highlands (2012, see my review). The novels are semi-autobiographical, so they have an authentic rawness about them, tracing in Book #1 an unhappy boyhood despite a privileged background, and in Book #2 a disastrous sojourn in Papua Guinea. In this third novel the protagonist Jack Muir goes farther afield, seeking a sense of contentment which seems to elude him wherever he goes.
The story shifts across time frames and countries as Jack takes off on a hippie trail, beginning in South Africa under apartheid in 1972 and then to Israel in 1973, finally coming home in 2018 to Kincannup (the Noongar name for Albany WA). South Africa, not a place I would have associated with the hippie trail in the 1970s, turns out to be a choice more disconcerting than he had expected. The drugs are good, and since his wealthy family are his financial backup, he has no real money worries, but the real life impact of apartheid appals him.
There is a devastating sequence when Jack is chatting with an acquaintance about his schooldays and the multicultural nature of Australian society. He goes on to mention that there was one kid who was Aboriginal but if there were others, they didn't say. His South African companion is gobsmacked:
What makes this book unputdownable is the way despite the risks, Jack refuses to comply with apartheid laws.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/01/22/r...
The story shifts across time frames and countries as Jack takes off on a hippie trail, beginning in South Africa under apartheid in 1972 and then to Israel in 1973, finally coming home in 2018 to Kincannup (the Noongar name for Albany WA). South Africa, not a place I would have associated with the hippie trail in the 1970s, turns out to be a choice more disconcerting than he had expected. The drugs are good, and since his wealthy family are his financial backup, he has no real money worries, but the real life impact of apartheid appals him.
The Jan Smuts International Airport central hall was full of people all colours and shapes. Except, of course, the departure queues — there were no black skins there. All the non-white skins were standing around with brooms and buckets and cleaning, or readying themselves to clean up after the white skins, who made a mess in toilets, dropped lolly wrappers, newspapers, sodden handkerchiefs and even, Muir noticed in one corner, a smelly bundle that looked like a nappy. The whites were flying out and flying in, but the others were staying put, there to tidy up and even if they wanted to fly, there were no queues for them. And air travel was for the wealthy.
Then he remembered he wasn't. Or hadn't been. The difference between him and the handsome young man standing outside the male toilets with a mop, was that all Jack Muir had to do when he ran out of money was to call his father and ask him to send more. (p.51)
There is a devastating sequence when Jack is chatting with an acquaintance about his schooldays and the multicultural nature of Australian society. He goes on to mention that there was one kid who was Aboriginal but if there were others, they didn't say. His South African companion is gobsmacked:
Didn't say? What kind of a country is that? You have to say if you are Aboriginal? Do you have to say if you are Greek?
Yeah, because you could be Italian, or Yugoslav, maybe even Lebanese.
No, no, no, you people have it all wrong. Next you'll be telling me you only knew the Jews were Jews because they said they were Jews,
Of course.
You mean, you don't have race police coming to your house and taking hair samples and telling you who you are or what they want you to be? (p.36)
What makes this book unputdownable is the way despite the risks, Jack refuses to comply with apartheid laws.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/01/22/r...
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September 23, 2020This review was first published on the Underground Writers website: http://underground-writers.org/review...
After reading this line at the conclusion of Return Ticket’s first chapter, I was hooked. Perhaps it is my own ritualistic take on the order and procedure of washing dishes, or perhaps it is because I knew that this book was one of those books that has those lines that make you pause. It makes you think and then, as though startled with the length between your thoughts and reading, you continue on, but that one line sits in your thoughts.
Return Ticket is the third book in Jon Doust’s trilogy, One Boy’s Journey to Man. I must confess, I have not read the first two books. To be more specific, I had no idea this book was part of a trilogy. But to be blatantly honest, I did not feel like I was left out of the inner circle; the novel stands well on its own. But it has made me curious about the first two books … I think I have two new additions to my TBR list.
In Return Ticket, Jack Muir ‘returns’ to us! Jack recalls his youth as a restless wanderer who finds his hometown (WA) to be unfulfilling and dreary. Jack’s wandering finds him in Cape Town during the height of apartheid and so he escapes to a kibbutz in Israel. As we follow Jack on his journey, he recognises and discovers love, friendship, and family across time and continents. Although the story is not linear, the jumps between 2018 Kincannup to 1972 South Africa, and 1973 Israel makes for a compelling read. As Jack navigates both political and personal politics, romances, and family issues, we watch as the boy becomes a man.
Return Ticket does not glamorise youth or war, and its exploration into the issues of drugs and racism is raw and unflattering. The novel is stark and does not paint Jack in a continuously favourable light, but instead, Doust reveals the progress Jack makes to become a better man. Although the novel deals with heavy issues, it is not without its humour and light. While I have not read the previous two books in the trilogy (and have those to look forward to), I could not help but feel sadness when I finished Return Ticket. Sadness because I now know the end of Jack’s journey. I have seen him grow up, fall in love, make economic, political, and social decisions that impacted both his and others’ lives. I know how it ends, but I know that I can look forward to discovering the beginning.
After reading this line at the conclusion of Return Ticket’s first chapter, I was hooked. Perhaps it is my own ritualistic take on the order and procedure of washing dishes, or perhaps it is because I knew that this book was one of those books that has those lines that make you pause. It makes you think and then, as though startled with the length between your thoughts and reading, you continue on, but that one line sits in your thoughts.
Return Ticket is the third book in Jon Doust’s trilogy, One Boy’s Journey to Man. I must confess, I have not read the first two books. To be more specific, I had no idea this book was part of a trilogy. But to be blatantly honest, I did not feel like I was left out of the inner circle; the novel stands well on its own. But it has made me curious about the first two books … I think I have two new additions to my TBR list.
In Return Ticket, Jack Muir ‘returns’ to us! Jack recalls his youth as a restless wanderer who finds his hometown (WA) to be unfulfilling and dreary. Jack’s wandering finds him in Cape Town during the height of apartheid and so he escapes to a kibbutz in Israel. As we follow Jack on his journey, he recognises and discovers love, friendship, and family across time and continents. Although the story is not linear, the jumps between 2018 Kincannup to 1972 South Africa, and 1973 Israel makes for a compelling read. As Jack navigates both political and personal politics, romances, and family issues, we watch as the boy becomes a man.
Return Ticket does not glamorise youth or war, and its exploration into the issues of drugs and racism is raw and unflattering. The novel is stark and does not paint Jack in a continuously favourable light, but instead, Doust reveals the progress Jack makes to become a better man. Although the novel deals with heavy issues, it is not without its humour and light. While I have not read the previous two books in the trilogy (and have those to look forward to), I could not help but feel sadness when I finished Return Ticket. Sadness because I now know the end of Jack’s journey. I have seen him grow up, fall in love, make economic, political, and social decisions that impacted both his and others’ lives. I know how it ends, but I know that I can look forward to discovering the beginning.
January 2, 2022
Towards the end of this book, in a cafe, Jon Doust (as Jack Muir) describes beautifully the ebb and flow of life as reflected by the lunchtime rush and afternoon quiet of a coffee shop. 'After the jumble sale left, the baby boomers headed home for a nap and the working folk were back in their pigeonholes, we sat down...'
And that sums up this book. A world wandering tale that, like the cafe worker above, is difficult to pigeonhole. First or third person? Is it a novel? Is it biography? Should it matter?
Probably not, but I think the theme of humanity, and inhumanity, in all the nonsense things we do under the name of religion or politics and how we identify by the pigeonhole we live in could have been so much more powerfully told if this had been crafted purely as a novel, perhaps reaching a wider audience. Or maybe the biography could have had a bit more anger and emotion and perhaps this lack is because the third person creates distance. It may be that the philosophical point quietly made will give cause to think, but I think most of the readers of this book will be fans of Jon Doust and will read it mostly as autobiographical. Which is a shame.
And that sums up this book. A world wandering tale that, like the cafe worker above, is difficult to pigeonhole. First or third person? Is it a novel? Is it biography? Should it matter?
Probably not, but I think the theme of humanity, and inhumanity, in all the nonsense things we do under the name of religion or politics and how we identify by the pigeonhole we live in could have been so much more powerfully told if this had been crafted purely as a novel, perhaps reaching a wider audience. Or maybe the biography could have had a bit more anger and emotion and perhaps this lack is because the third person creates distance. It may be that the philosophical point quietly made will give cause to think, but I think most of the readers of this book will be fans of Jon Doust and will read it mostly as autobiographical. Which is a shame.
October 3, 2020
I didn't realise this was the final book in a series, but it works as a standalone novel. In his youth, Jack Muir had rejected the limited attitudes of his hometown. His travels, far from home both in time and space, take us also on a learning journey. This is a book to set the reader thinking about the world we live in and how the injustices of the past have shaped today’s conflicts. Why do we see prejudice and hatred dividing peoples who are often not really very different from each other except in a learned hatred? The cries of ancient massacre victims linger in the collective memories of oppressed peoples and the effects of centuries of cruelty, invasion, and murder echo down the ages. A powerful novel.
July 13, 2026
I found this book well browsing in the library. What a lucky find! I found myself being drawn into it because its being situated in 1970s apartheid South Africa and kibbutz Israel, and linking it with the situation at home in Australia and the indigenous people belonging there.
July 19, 2026
3.5 stars. The first in the trilogy hit me like a gut punch. Overall I felt sad his mental health issues went untreated so long but that was the times then? Certainly his inner demons lead him to have a very shocking and surprising path.
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March 27, 2020A very satisfying final book in this powerful series.
April 6, 2020
A very good and interesting read.
May 11, 2020
I didnt realise but this is the final book in a trilogy. I read it as a standalone and thoroughly enjoyed it.
July 18, 2020
3.5 stars
December 25, 2020
I like the way the story progresses as a kind of travel journal into a very personal journey but also keeps things grounded ie dishes hehe
June 19, 2021
Interesting, but the writing was a bit average.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews