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S'està carregant… Only Killers and Thieves: A Novel (2018 original; edició 2018)de Paul Howarth (Autor)
Informació de l'obraOnly Killers and Thieves de Paul Howarth (2018)
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. Set in Queensland, Australia, in 1885, brothers Billy and Tommy McBride are part of a ranching family struggling to survive in a harsh environment. After a tragic loss, they join the deceitful neighboring landowner on a hunt for those responsible. There is only one problem. The people they are hunting are innocent. The landowner is taking advantage of the situation to conduct a genocide. This novel is a story of brothers driven apart by differing convictions. It is a story of twisting the “law” for nefarious purposes. It is a historic novel based on the Native Police of the time, conducting “dispersal” of native people to accommodate colonial settlers. Unfortunately, frontier Australia was not much different from frontier America in the terrible treatment of the indigenous people. As a warning, this book contains many grisly descriptions of brutality, rape, and murder. Though the protagonist brothers are teens, it is not a young adult novel. The ending includes a small element of redemption. I found it well-crafted and extremely disturbing. It has inspired me to read more about Australian history. Tommy and Billy McBride have grown up on an Australian cattle farm. In 1885, the farm was threatened by severe drought and the ensuing economic hardship. Their father refused help from his former employer John Sullivan, the wealthiest landowner in the district. The small staff of indigenous people left to find better work and escape the tensions of life on a struggling farm. And then one day, traged strikes.. Tommy and Billy are forced to get help from Sullivan, who forms a posse to seek revenge on the indigenous community he unquestionably believes was responsible. The boys join the search, which affects each of them profoundly, but in different ways. As unthinkable acts of violence are committed against indigenous people, Tommy realizes his idea of justice is radically different from Sullivan’s, and he pays a high price to extricate himself from this web of cruelty. On the surface, this novel was a fast-paced story of revenge. But Paul Howarth is going for something deeper here: an indictment of white colonialism through a heartbreaking account of its bigotry-driven violence. Only Killers and Thieves by Paul Howarth is an epic story about the Australian frontier in 1880s. It tells the story of the MacBride family, scratching a living out of raising cattle in the Outback wilderness of Queensland. Australia was finding that as more white people moved into the area with their livestock and fences, the aborigines were being forced off their ancestral lands. With no place for these natives to go, eventually the policy became one of genocide. Ned McBride tries to avoid the racial tensions and hold his ranch together with the help of his two teenage sons. Their rich neighbour, John Sullivan, has become associated with Inspector Edmund Noone, the leader of the Native Mounted Police, and on whose authority the killing of natives becomes one of law rather than murder. One day the boys come home to find their father and mother have been shot dead. They blame the killings on a disgruntled native stock-man and appeal to Sullivan and Noone for their help. What follows is a sickening bloodbath as a small posse is formed to hunt down the killers, or any native they find, and extract revenge. Eventually the real facts of the murders are exposed, leaving the two boys to deal with their consciences as best they can. Only Killers and Thieves takes an unflinching look at the brutality of the genocide that was carried out in the name of progress. And while the author definitely wants to expose this policy, the resulting story is riveting, well written and draws the reader into the Australian outback to experience first hand the reality of the violence and cruelty that was unleashed upon the indigenous population. If you can handle the violence, this is an excellent read. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
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Two brothers are exposed to the brutal realities of life and the seductive cruelty of power in this riveting debut novel a story of savagery and race, injustice and honor, set in the untamed frontier of 1880s Australia reminiscent of Philipp Meyer's "The Son" and the novels of Cormac McCarthy. An epic tale of revenge and survival, "Only Killers and Thieves" is a gripping and utterly transporting debut, bringing to vivid life a colonial Australia that bears a striking resemblance to the American Wild West in its formative years. It is 1885, and a crippling drought threatens to ruin the McBride family. Their land is parched, their cattle starving. When the rain finally comes, it is a miracle that renews their hope for survival. But returning home from an afternoon swimming at a remote waterhole filled by the downpour, fourteen-year-old Tommy and sixteen-year-old Billy meet with a shocking tragedy. Thirsting for vengeance against the man they believe has wronged them their former Aboriginal stockman the distraught brothers turn to the ruthless and cunning John Sullivan, the wealthiest landowner in the region and their father's former employer. Sullivan gathers a posse led by the dangerous and fascinating Inspector Edmund Noone and his Queensland Native Police, an infamous arm of British colonial power charged with the "dispersal" of indigenous Australians to "protect" white settler rights. As they ride across the barren outback in pursuit, their harsh and horrifying journey will have a devastating impact on Tommy, tormenting him for the rest of his life and will hold enduring consequences for a young country struggling to come into its own. Recreating a period of Australian and British history as evocative and violent as the American frontier era, "Only Killers and Thieves" is an unforgettable story of family, guilt, empire, race, manhood, and faith that combines the insightfulness of Philipp Meyer's "The Son", the atmospheric beauty of Amanda Coplin's "The Orchardist", and the raw storytelling power of Ian McGuire's "The North Water". No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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In short, this story, with its startlingly real characters, is an absolutely riveting read. And I discovered I'm not alone in this assessment, as I found over 1,200 reviews of the book on Amazon almost all positive. (And I was also pleased to find there is a sequel.) Well, me too. Bravo, Mr Howarth. My very highest recommendation.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )