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Bloodfather
Bloodfather
563 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
David Ireland
14 books26 followersDavid Ireland was born in Lakemba in New South Wales in 1927.
Before taking up full-time writing in 1973 he undertook the classic writer's apprenticeship by working in a variety of jobs ranging from greenkeeper to an extended period in an oil refinery.
This latter job provided the inspiration for his second (and best-known) novel, The Unknown Industrial Prisoner, which brought him recognition in the early 1970s and which is still considered by many critics to be one of best and most original Australian novels of the period.
He is one of only four Australian writers to win the Miles Franklin Award more than twice
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1981.
Before taking up full-time writing in 1973 he undertook the classic writer's apprenticeship by working in a variety of jobs ranging from greenkeeper to an extended period in an oil refinery.
This latter job provided the inspiration for his second (and best-known) novel, The Unknown Industrial Prisoner, which brought him recognition in the early 1970s and which is still considered by many critics to be one of best and most original Australian novels of the period.
He is one of only four Australian writers to win the Miles Franklin Award more than twice
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1981.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2020
I am, therefore I will.
As the baby was born on a butchers slab his mother sang religion. He was the leader, she the led. The baby, unless there are exceptional circumstances, is the great dictator in all households. The baby’s aunt Ursala said that when the baby arrived in the house ‘A lord of atmosphere had taken up residence’…. Aunt Mira asked " ‘Who’s a bornless child then? Here’s a fine kettle of kitsch. What’ll he be when he grows up? A gifted bus driver with a stern view of things?' A few Sherries shut her up.” Author David Ireland is an observer of the human condition.
The writer can get the reader hooked by words. The word “God” is one such hook. That one word plays a part in the life of the baby, Davis Blood. From the beginning he is imbued with his mother’s songs of religion, Aunt Ursula through her thoughtful dialog with her gifted young nephew and Aunt Mira with wordplay that challenges him. He listened to them all. This young boy was listening from the time he was a babe through to his endeavour to discover his inner self at the ripe old age of 16.
If one is looking to read a Bildungsroman along the lines of the customary life of a young man then they will be disappointed. Ireland writes of this boy as a sponge of all that is around him. Sport and girls? Yes a little but so tiny as to be almost missed. Learning is beyond important in this Bildungsroman. The reader looking for the predictable should read no further. This is a deep look at the boy as an individual struggling with what makes him what he is and what he intends to be. He is learning from all sources be that physical, scholastic or spiritual. This is a pursuit, a pursuit of a hopeful future.
Hope is the key to what is Ireland's most optimistic of novels. There is a strange uplifting demand of the reader to get inside the boys thoughts and be part of the world around him. From birth to his 16th birthday he is no ordinary child, he is listening and learning. He is both objective and subjective with his thoughts, be that his need for his individuality or his requirements for spirituality. The words of this book demand that the reader take that journey. Read and ponder.
Most of Ireland’s previous novels had the inner city ramparts as a constant. The closed walls of Puroil, Merry Lands and The Southern Cross Hotel were inner city and tribal. This is different; rural with descriptions of an almost homely paradise surrounded by nature. Did his readership want that? Maybe not. He failed to have another book published for nearly 10 year. His readership had passed him by. They had found new literary fashions. So be it.
This is a long read and not for the fainthearted. It will not be for everyone so I do not recommend it. But then who cares, I loved it.
If all David Ireland's novels were one big novel, what a great big novel that would be.
As the baby was born on a butchers slab his mother sang religion. He was the leader, she the led. The baby, unless there are exceptional circumstances, is the great dictator in all households. The baby’s aunt Ursala said that when the baby arrived in the house ‘A lord of atmosphere had taken up residence’…. Aunt Mira asked " ‘Who’s a bornless child then? Here’s a fine kettle of kitsch. What’ll he be when he grows up? A gifted bus driver with a stern view of things?' A few Sherries shut her up.” Author David Ireland is an observer of the human condition.
The writer can get the reader hooked by words. The word “God” is one such hook. That one word plays a part in the life of the baby, Davis Blood. From the beginning he is imbued with his mother’s songs of religion, Aunt Ursula through her thoughtful dialog with her gifted young nephew and Aunt Mira with wordplay that challenges him. He listened to them all. This young boy was listening from the time he was a babe through to his endeavour to discover his inner self at the ripe old age of 16.
If one is looking to read a Bildungsroman along the lines of the customary life of a young man then they will be disappointed. Ireland writes of this boy as a sponge of all that is around him. Sport and girls? Yes a little but so tiny as to be almost missed. Learning is beyond important in this Bildungsroman. The reader looking for the predictable should read no further. This is a deep look at the boy as an individual struggling with what makes him what he is and what he intends to be. He is learning from all sources be that physical, scholastic or spiritual. This is a pursuit, a pursuit of a hopeful future.
Hope is the key to what is Ireland's most optimistic of novels. There is a strange uplifting demand of the reader to get inside the boys thoughts and be part of the world around him. From birth to his 16th birthday he is no ordinary child, he is listening and learning. He is both objective and subjective with his thoughts, be that his need for his individuality or his requirements for spirituality. The words of this book demand that the reader take that journey. Read and ponder.
Most of Ireland’s previous novels had the inner city ramparts as a constant. The closed walls of Puroil, Merry Lands and The Southern Cross Hotel were inner city and tribal. This is different; rural with descriptions of an almost homely paradise surrounded by nature. Did his readership want that? Maybe not. He failed to have another book published for nearly 10 year. His readership had passed him by. They had found new literary fashions. So be it.
This is a long read and not for the fainthearted. It will not be for everyone so I do not recommend it. But then who cares, I loved it.
If all David Ireland's novels were one big novel, what a great big novel that would be.
June 22, 2026
Bloodfather is yet another experimental novel by David Ireland. I previously reviewed his equally experimental (and masterful) The Unknown Industrial Prisoner; his more ‘conventional’ The Glass Canoe; as well as his A Woman of the Future, which was somewhat too experimental, even for my tastes!
If you’re interested at all in Ireland’s work you should read zed‘s review here. Zed is one of my Goodreads friends, who also happens to be a David Ireland aficionado. I read this book at his recommendation and zed’s review sums up Bloodfather far better than I ever could: credit where credit is due.
Verdict: Ireland is an author who seemed to ‘specialise’ in experimental novels! He won the Miles Franklin Literary Award (Australia’s top award for fiction) no fewer than three times in the 1970s. Bloodfather was one of his later novels (first publication in 1987): perhaps not quite in the same league as The Unknown Industrial Prisoner, but still very impressive!
If you’re interested at all in Ireland’s work you should read zed‘s review here. Zed is one of my Goodreads friends, who also happens to be a David Ireland aficionado. I read this book at his recommendation and zed’s review sums up Bloodfather far better than I ever could: credit where credit is due.
Verdict: Ireland is an author who seemed to ‘specialise’ in experimental novels! He won the Miles Franklin Literary Award (Australia’s top award for fiction) no fewer than three times in the 1970s. Bloodfather was one of his later novels (first publication in 1987): perhaps not quite in the same league as The Unknown Industrial Prisoner, but still very impressive!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews