The Secret River
Registered by Molyneux of Oxford, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on 7/13/2009
This book is in a Controlled Release!
This book is in a Controlled Release!
3 journalers for this copy...
I hope whoever finds this book enjoys it!
Click here to find out more about BookCrossing in the Oxford/Berkshire area
Click here to find out more about BookCrossing in the Oxford/Berkshire area
Just about to take it to meet up at The Mitre; only to find i hadn't journalled it,sorry. Haven't read it,but it sounds good.
Picked it up at random to take to meet.
Picked up at yesterday's Mitre meetup. Looks interesting ;-)
Journal Entry 5 by darkhorse4460 at East Hagbourne, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, September 8, 2014
A beautifully written novel that is thought provoking and challenging at times.
We follow the tough life journey of William Thornhill in late C18/early C19 London as he rises from extreme poverty to some success as a Waterman on the Thames, only to fall again and to find himself being transported to Australia with his wife and young children.
We see him earn his freedom there and attempt to forge a future with his family on a piece of wilderness land, his relationship with a dubious bunch of other colonists and the inevitable conflict with the aboriginal people who inhabit the land.
What is so painfully obvious and undoubtedly very real is the total lack of communication and understanding between the white settlers and the ‘blacks’ or ‘savages’ as they are generally referred to. The aboriginals live off the land, but they do not farm and work and own it in the European sense– so they are considered to be lazy. Their lack of clothing makes them seem shameless and their rituals appear threatening even when they are not. There is no meeting point of language or culture. It is a situation that is bound to end badly, and it does.
The author’s style is such that although highly descriptive, detailed and vivid, maintains an objective distance allowing the reader to make their own opinion when it comes to the characters, their behaviour and motivation and allows us to understand how much a product of their time and society they are.
Grim in places in its description of hardship, cruelty and extreme violence. It does have moments of uplift and humour, but these are few and far between.
An insight into Australian history – good, bad and ugly!
We follow the tough life journey of William Thornhill in late C18/early C19 London as he rises from extreme poverty to some success as a Waterman on the Thames, only to fall again and to find himself being transported to Australia with his wife and young children.
We see him earn his freedom there and attempt to forge a future with his family on a piece of wilderness land, his relationship with a dubious bunch of other colonists and the inevitable conflict with the aboriginal people who inhabit the land.
What is so painfully obvious and undoubtedly very real is the total lack of communication and understanding between the white settlers and the ‘blacks’ or ‘savages’ as they are generally referred to. The aboriginals live off the land, but they do not farm and work and own it in the European sense– so they are considered to be lazy. Their lack of clothing makes them seem shameless and their rituals appear threatening even when they are not. There is no meeting point of language or culture. It is a situation that is bound to end badly, and it does.
The author’s style is such that although highly descriptive, detailed and vivid, maintains an objective distance allowing the reader to make their own opinion when it comes to the characters, their behaviour and motivation and allows us to understand how much a product of their time and society they are.
Grim in places in its description of hardship, cruelty and extreme violence. It does have moments of uplift and humour, but these are few and far between.
An insight into Australian history – good, bad and ugly!
Journal Entry 6 by darkhorse4460 at Abingdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Friday, September 7, 2018
Going to meetup at Nag's Head Abingdon on Saturday
