What do you think?
Rate this book
When Colts Ran
In this sweeping epic of friendship, toil, hope and failed promise, multi-award-winning author Roger McDonald follows the story of Kingsley Colts as he chases the ghost of himself through the decades, and in and out of the lives and affections of the citizens of 'The Isabel', a slice of Australia scattered with prospectors, artists, no-hopers and visionaries. Against this spacious backdrop of sheep stations, timeless landscapes and the Five Alls pub, men play out their fates, conduct their rivalries and hope for the best.
Major Dunc Buckler, 'misplaced genius and authentic ratbag', scours the country for machinery in a World War that will never find him. Wayne Hovell, slave to 'moral duty', carries the physical and emotional scars of Colts's early rebellion, but also finds himself the keeper of his redemption. Normie Powell, son of a rugby-playing minister, finds his own mysticism as a naturalist, while warm-hearted stock dealer Alan Hooke longs for understanding in a house full of women. They are men shaped by the obligations and expectations of a previous generation, all striving to define themselves in their own language, on their own terms.
'When Colts Ran', written in Roger McDonald's rich and piercingly observant style, in turns humorous and hard-bitten, charts the ebb and flow of human fortune, and our fraught desire to leave an indelible mark on society and those closest to us. It shows how loyalties shape us in the most unexpected ways. It is the story of how men 'strike at beauty' as they fall to the earth.
Major Dunc Buckler, 'misplaced genius and authentic ratbag', scours the country for machinery in a World War that will never find him. Wayne Hovell, slave to 'moral duty', carries the physical and emotional scars of Colts's early rebellion, but also finds himself the keeper of his redemption. Normie Powell, son of a rugby-playing minister, finds his own mysticism as a naturalist, while warm-hearted stock dealer Alan Hooke longs for understanding in a house full of women. They are men shaped by the obligations and expectations of a previous generation, all striving to define themselves in their own language, on their own terms.
'When Colts Ran', written in Roger McDonald's rich and piercingly observant style, in turns humorous and hard-bitten, charts the ebb and flow of human fortune, and our fraught desire to leave an indelible mark on society and those closest to us. It shows how loyalties shape us in the most unexpected ways. It is the story of how men 'strike at beauty' as they fall to the earth.
- GenresFiction
343 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
40 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 21, 2011
The last time I lost myself so comprehensively in a book was about 30 years ago when I read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. For three or four days, I didn’t do anything else except read it, completely absorbed by a world utterly unlike my own. Reading When Colts Ran, just shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, hasn’t been quite so all-encompassing, but since I picked it up from the library yesterday I’ve been lost in a rural world of men and boys who live a lifestyle as alien to me as the world of orcs and hobbits.
There’s been a bit of fuss and bother about the female perspective not featuring in the Miles Franklin shortlist and Angela Meyer (who admits to having read only Bereft ) claims that ‘Australian life, according to the Miles Franklin judges, is still represented by the past and the outback, and is written in a male voice. Sheep stations, war, colonisation’. When Colts Ran, however, is not about sheep stations, or even horses; it’s not a blokey book or a paean to the rural lifestyle. It’s about boys and men trying to redefine themselves in the modern world.
To read the rest of my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
There’s been a bit of fuss and bother about the female perspective not featuring in the Miles Franklin shortlist and Angela Meyer (who admits to having read only Bereft ) claims that ‘Australian life, according to the Miles Franklin judges, is still represented by the past and the outback, and is written in a male voice. Sheep stations, war, colonisation’. When Colts Ran, however, is not about sheep stations, or even horses; it’s not a blokey book or a paean to the rural lifestyle. It’s about boys and men trying to redefine themselves in the modern world.
To read the rest of my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
December 10, 2018
Some beautiful prose but agonisingly boring. Sad lives.
November 24, 2010
‘Isabel Junction was a town of rusting metal roofs and termite-eaten verandah posts emblematic of the Australian scene.’
This novel is the story both of Kingsley Colts, and of a part of rural Australia – ‘the Isabel’ - between the early 1940s and the year 2000. There are other main characters as well, but it is Colt’s life we follow most closely from adolescence to old age. Colts is often a spectator rather than a participant, but it is his presence and sometimes the consequences of his actions that shape the lives of others. Kingsley Colts starts running away from the weight of other’s expectations at the age of 16, and his perception of this weight continues to shape his life.
This is a novel of hope and despair, of friendship and hard work shaped by broken promises. People break promises to themselves and each other, but the land itself frequently also promises much and delivers little.
‘Australia was a dry roasting bone of a country tossed away by time.’
How does a story about a runaway boy who seems never to find himself long enough to succeed, who becomes a man lost in drink, who dreams but cannot shape what he wants (if he knows) from what he has – how does this work? Part of the appeal of this novel is the cast of characters, and their ability to be (in different situations) both hero and villain. There are complex relationships woven between characters in this way, and these connections between people, place and events enrich the narrative.
‘A wedge-tailed eagle soared, eyeing the crawling humans.’
What I liked most about this novel was the way in which Mr McDonald created a slice of rural Australia, peopled with three dimensional characters whose lives reflect the times in which they lived. Kingsley Colts’s life – whether actively lived or simply existed - influences many. Kingsley Colts may have been afraid of failure, but no-one can totally avoid some form of success in a long life.
I enjoyed this novel, its language and its characters. It is both simple and complex, linear and layered. Both success and failure are relative rather than absolute.
‘Here were two more strangers to each other in the puzzle of life.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel is the story both of Kingsley Colts, and of a part of rural Australia – ‘the Isabel’ - between the early 1940s and the year 2000. There are other main characters as well, but it is Colt’s life we follow most closely from adolescence to old age. Colts is often a spectator rather than a participant, but it is his presence and sometimes the consequences of his actions that shape the lives of others. Kingsley Colts starts running away from the weight of other’s expectations at the age of 16, and his perception of this weight continues to shape his life.
This is a novel of hope and despair, of friendship and hard work shaped by broken promises. People break promises to themselves and each other, but the land itself frequently also promises much and delivers little.
‘Australia was a dry roasting bone of a country tossed away by time.’
How does a story about a runaway boy who seems never to find himself long enough to succeed, who becomes a man lost in drink, who dreams but cannot shape what he wants (if he knows) from what he has – how does this work? Part of the appeal of this novel is the cast of characters, and their ability to be (in different situations) both hero and villain. There are complex relationships woven between characters in this way, and these connections between people, place and events enrich the narrative.
‘A wedge-tailed eagle soared, eyeing the crawling humans.’
What I liked most about this novel was the way in which Mr McDonald created a slice of rural Australia, peopled with three dimensional characters whose lives reflect the times in which they lived. Kingsley Colts’s life – whether actively lived or simply existed - influences many. Kingsley Colts may have been afraid of failure, but no-one can totally avoid some form of success in a long life.
I enjoyed this novel, its language and its characters. It is both simple and complex, linear and layered. Both success and failure are relative rather than absolute.
‘Here were two more strangers to each other in the puzzle of life.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
couldn-t-finish
November 27, 2011Sadly, I only gave this book to page 12. The writing is very poetic but I just could not get into it. Not sure if it's just bad timing or I was having a brain explosion when I picked up a book about the Australian outback and war.
July 23, 2015
The disjointed style and the lack of a credible conclusion marred my enjoyment of the novel.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews