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| Plot Summary of True History of the Kelly Gang |
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"Ned Kelly is arguably Australia's most famous outlaw. This novelization of his life purports to be his story in his own words in a manuscript written to his daughter, but the book is a fictional novel.
Not surprisingly, Kelly does not see himself as the bloodthirsty killer he has been portrayed to be. He's a hard-working farmer, trying to make a go of a government-granted homestead in a state run by wealthy squatters and the “traps” – Australian for police – who maintain order there. Though Ned puts in long hours of hard work, markets rigged against the small farmer and the criminal reputation of the Quinn branch of his wife's family keep him poor and in trouble with the law. His mother “apprentices” him to a notorious highway robber who is also her lover.
Ned tries to go straight, but when his brother gets into trouble with the law for stealing horses, he's back on the path to crime. The Kelly gang's reputation as horse thieves and outlaws grows. After he shoots a police officer who is trying to force himself on Kelly's mother through the hand, he is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, and his mother is jailed as an accessory.
In a shootout at Stringybark Creek in 1878, the gang kills two police officers. Kelly maintains it was self-defence; hundreds of police were combing the area to kill his gang of four outlaws.
Ned Kelly is probably best known for the armor he fashioned for the siege of the town of Glenrowan. Inspired by the American ironclad ship, The Monitor, the armor was crafted from plow blades. It could not be penetrated by the bullets of the time.
Carey adds two artistic touches to give an impression of authenticity to this fictional novel. First, it is written in the ungrammatical style in which an uneducated farm boy might write. Secondly, each "parcel" (chapter) heading describes the paper this part of the memoir is written on. One “parcel,” for instance, consists of “Bank of New South Wales letterhead, 64 sheets of medium stock (8”x10” approx.).” Another is made of “brown wrapping paper, roughly cut into 30 rough pages (4”x8” approx.).”
This "memoir" is described as having been taken by a local schoolmaster during the seige of Glenrowan and turned over to the library in Melbourne."
David Gordon, Resident Scholar
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"Ned Kelly is the Australian Robin Hood - an underprivileged and unjustly persecuted man forced against the arm of the law due to injustice. Carey's story is set against the backdrop of the rural outback, and is written as the undiscovered memoirs of the great criminal, left for his daughter to hear his testimony. The memoirs tell how his family were harassed by the racist police, and how they attempted to deal with their problems. Tales of his childhood show how he developed as a young man and shaped him into the most wanted and hunted outlaw in the land.
The book is written as one continuous monologue, and incorporates the regional, rough accent that Carey supposes Kelly would have had. "
Mike Harmer, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of True History of the Kelly Gang |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- depressing/sad
Time/era of story:
- 19th century
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is....
- on the run from the law
Crime Thriller
Yes
Mostly a criminal POV story
Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- accused criminal
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental:
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
- wild
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
- a significant amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
Setting
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Forest?
Yes
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
- ranch
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 8 or more
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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