Thomas Keneally, Australian author

 

In April, the Australian Writers group read books by Thomas Keneally

 

Born in Sydney, 1935, he is a prolific novelist having written over 40 novels, and was the first Australian to win the Booker price for Schindler’s Ark in 1982. In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and he is an Australian Living Treasure, two of Australia’s highest honours. He has won Australia’s highest literary award the Miles Franklin Award twice: for Three Cheers for the Paraclete in 1968 and Bring Larks and Heros in 1987.

 

His biography and novels can be found on these links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Keneally

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/thomas-keneally/

 

The group collectively read these books:

 

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1967)

Bring Larks and Heroes (1967)

Three Cheers for the Paraclete (1968)

Victim of the Aurora (1978)

Schlinder’s Ark (1982)

By the Line (1989)

Homebush Boy: A Memoir (1995)

Searching for Schlinder: A memoir (2007)

The Daughters of Mars (2012)

Blackberries (2012)

A google search on each book’s title will provide a synopsis of the book for you.

The group talked about two key aspects of Keneally’s work. Firstly, he brings Australian perspectives to his work, including Indigenous Australians, penal colonies, farming settlers, immigrants to Australia, racism and Australian history. Secondly, his novels contain well-researched historical facts. These facts make for interesting reading but his characters are often brought in just as an anchor for some historical fact rather than for character development.

Overall, his books are good reads, even if the details are a bit hard to read at times, given human history.