Ned Kelly is a sort of folk hero in Australia. Everyone there know of him, but like many such figures, many of the details of his life remain somewhatNed Kelly is a sort of folk hero in Australia. Everyone there know of him, but like many such figures, many of the details of his life remain somewhat murky. Peter Carey is an esteemed novelist, and took his own crack at telling the man's history. Carey is up front about having fictionalized a lot of Kelly's life, but he did take pains to include the major known events of Kelly's life.
It's a story of someone who grew up in the late 1800's, poor, and for most of his life without his father. He clearly made a lot of bad choices, and was times almost unbelievably naive, but he also cared a lot about his family and friends. Pushed by a not exactly by the book police force, Ned starts pushing back hard, and things go poorly for him and friends.
It reminded me a bit of an Australian version of Young Guns, if anyone remembers that movie.
An interesting story of an outlaw with at least some justification for some of what he did.
I listened to this as an audio book, but didn't seem to be an option among the editions on Goodreads, and I am not feeling up to bringing in another one. ...more
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