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dianavickersfan's review against another edition
2.5
This book reminds me that my life is joyous and relatively simple. I enjoyed the childhood fears and trauma but the protagonist is irritating without being compelling. Of course he finds a younger hotter model of boring woman he can patronise by the end. I love being on my phone no way I'm nostalgic for these times. Hilarious to not mention the indigenous people in his long wanks on the Australian man but this is a product of its time the way a smelly thing that you look at politely but without much passion. Rest in peace Charmian Clift
seangc's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ljm57's review against another edition
4.0
This is definitely an Australian classic. It is beautifully written & provides a brilliant insight into the psyche of the characters living in suburban Melbourne at that time. Narrated by bookish & shy David, it is the story of his coming of age & his relationship with his larrikin, extroverted, older brother, Jack. David’s recollections commence during the first World War when he was just a toddler & from there we follow the trials & tribulations of both brothers, together with their families, through the Depression years & on to WWII.
kingarooski's review against another edition
4.0
The book chronicles the lives of two brothers: Jack and David as the grow up in Australia. Their parents both left the brothers and their two daughters to serve in the army and the nurses' corps during World War I. We get the story mainly from David's point of view as he grows up in a house full of violence and discord, he admires his brother Jack. It is a fascinating look at how the lives of both brothers take different paths. It is also an interesting look at life in Australia in the period between the wars. I really enjoyed this book, though it was slow going at first. When I finished, I wished that there was more of it.
worky's review against another edition
4.0
I think I read this in Year 8. I know that Johnstone's star has faded but this is a beaut picture of Aussie life between the wars.
peter_fischer's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the absolute masterpieces of Australian literature. It explores many aspects of the Australian psyche but also touches on universal themes concerned with childhood, adolescence, and finally adulthood, as it follows the life of David Meredith, a ubiquitous (autobiographical ?) figure in Johnston’s writing.
fourtriplezed's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best novels I have ever read.
A roman-à-clef based on the author George Johnston’s life, narrator David Meredith tells his story from his youngest memories of his father coming home from the Great War through to the end of the Second World War when David had become a war correspondence journalist of some repute.
Hugely thematic in delivery covering various issues such as domestic violence be that physical or psychological, family relationships through to the cultural changes that had occurred between the wars. Johnston’s character descriptions are superb and left this reader with an absolute image of the physical and temperaments of all dramatis personae who came into contact with David Meredith no matter how small or large they loomed in his life.
As a thematic work the major theme in my opinion was guilt. David Meredith gave thought to his and his only brothers vastly different attitudes and approaches to their lives with David’s guilt looming large. The brothers vastly different approach to their lives and their consideration as to others had this reader trying to understand and consider from beginning to end my own thought process as to relationships we have with one and all on our life journey. There is no doubt in my mind that George Johnston was a very complex individual, one who was looking for something that he may never have found. I later read about his life and he was indeed just that, complex. Are we as individuals as complex? Do we have the talent to put into coherent thought and words a life not spent as we thought it could have or should be? Do the vast majority of us really care?
Having won the prestigious Miles Franklin Award, My Brother Jack had always been on my radar. Once begun, I could not put it down and read late into the evening. Terms such as classic may be thrown around far too much in the literary world but this is a superlative that My Brother Jack deserves. As to winners of Australia’s highest literary award this is as good as a winner as I have read so far. Deserving of all the praise that it received on publication and any more that has come its way over 50 years since.
Highly recommended!
A roman-à-clef based on the author George Johnston’s life, narrator David Meredith tells his story from his youngest memories of his father coming home from the Great War through to the end of the Second World War when David had become a war correspondence journalist of some repute.
Hugely thematic in delivery covering various issues such as domestic violence be that physical or psychological, family relationships through to the cultural changes that had occurred between the wars. Johnston’s character descriptions are superb and left this reader with an absolute image of the physical and temperaments of all dramatis personae who came into contact with David Meredith no matter how small or large they loomed in his life.
As a thematic work the major theme in my opinion was guilt. David Meredith gave thought to his and his only brothers vastly different attitudes and approaches to their lives with David’s guilt looming large. The brothers vastly different approach to their lives and their consideration as to others had this reader trying to understand and consider from beginning to end my own thought process as to relationships we have with one and all on our life journey. There is no doubt in my mind that George Johnston was a very complex individual, one who was looking for something that he may never have found. I later read about his life and he was indeed just that, complex. Are we as individuals as complex? Do we have the talent to put into coherent thought and words a life not spent as we thought it could have or should be? Do the vast majority of us really care?
Having won the prestigious Miles Franklin Award, My Brother Jack had always been on my radar. Once begun, I could not put it down and read late into the evening. Terms such as classic may be thrown around far too much in the literary world but this is a superlative that My Brother Jack deserves. As to winners of Australia’s highest literary award this is as good as a winner as I have read so far. Deserving of all the praise that it received on publication and any more that has come its way over 50 years since.
Highly recommended!
lecterclarice's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
markhoh's review against another edition
5.0
I’m not actually sure where to start in documenting my thoughts and feelings about My Brother Jack. This book has been on my list for a while now - it was one of those high school required readings here in Australia, although somehow I was always in the other class where we read something else so I missed out. Probably not a bad thing because the book would have been wasted on my 15 year old self. My 52 year old self has been significantly impacted by it however, and I am left quite unsettled and disrupted having come to the end of it just now.
So what is it that has resonated with me? Firstly, the very title of the book... My Brother Jack... yet the majority of the book is actually about David, Jack’s brother, through whom the entire story is narrated. Jack is the shape around which Davy finds some sense of definition. The book is really the story of David’s own self development, a self that exists around Jack, yet a self that is entirely different. A self that is constantly trying to make sense of his environment and where he finds himself.
Secondly, and at risk of self-revelation, I see much of myself in Davy. Someone who merges with others, feels different from those around him, seeks definition from others, conflict avoidant, peace keeping, perhaps somewhat passive-aggressive, unable to truly articulate himself. Enneagram type 9 perhaps with a wing 8.
With Jack, what you see is what you get. He’s the epitome of a true blue Australian man. David on the other hand is different, unsure of himself, full of secrets, deceptions, and thoughts that we are privy to. Kind of like the proverbial black sheep of the family. While he seems to long to give full expression to that difference, something keeps bringing him back to Jack, his honesty, authenticity, suredness, and confidence. With Jack there are guarantees, with David there are no such things.
I loved this book so much. It will stay with me for a long while to come.
So what is it that has resonated with me? Firstly, the very title of the book... My Brother Jack... yet the majority of the book is actually about David, Jack’s brother, through whom the entire story is narrated. Jack is the shape around which Davy finds some sense of definition. The book is really the story of David’s own self development, a self that exists around Jack, yet a self that is entirely different. A self that is constantly trying to make sense of his environment and where he finds himself.
Secondly, and at risk of self-revelation, I see much of myself in Davy. Someone who merges with others, feels different from those around him, seeks definition from others, conflict avoidant, peace keeping, perhaps somewhat passive-aggressive, unable to truly articulate himself. Enneagram type 9 perhaps with a wing 8.
With Jack, what you see is what you get. He’s the epitome of a true blue Australian man. David on the other hand is different, unsure of himself, full of secrets, deceptions, and thoughts that we are privy to. Kind of like the proverbial black sheep of the family. While he seems to long to give full expression to that difference, something keeps bringing him back to Jack, his honesty, authenticity, suredness, and confidence. With Jack there are guarantees, with David there are no such things.
I loved this book so much. It will stay with me for a long while to come.