Scan barcode
ashleymae_'s review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Carpentaria is fascinating, it’s about many things but largely about land rights, environmental concerns (the mining industry), and Aboriginal spirituality. The spiritual / mythical / legendary elements were interesting and would be a great tool for a foreign reader to learn since the author intended for it to go global and so it was translated into French. For me because there was a sort of push and pull between getting to know the characters intimately and the spiritual elements & destruction of land that drive the story means it put me to sleep for half the book. There were many protagonists with their stories interlaced which also added to the disconnect, the quantity of characters. I feel the women could be developed more. The characters are heavily flawed but also very redeemable so that drove me to keep reading apart from it being a required reading for university
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racism, Suicide, and Violence
emeraldgarnet's review against another edition
2.0
Quite meandering and it was hard for me to follow the thread at times.
aydanroger's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
midici's review against another edition
3.0
Carpentaria is set in a small coastal town in Australia, called Desperance. The book follows the people living there, with a focus on the Phantom family, an aboriginal family living on the Westside who is constantly at odds with the Eastside mob (run by Jospeh Midnight), and the white townsmen. There are a lot of things happening in this book, from young men fighting against the mining operations, to the way racism affects investigations in own, to the traditional stories and knowledge that Norm Phantom uses to navigate the sea, and his own life in general.
I'll admit that I had a lot of trouble finishing this book. It's an interesting story, with compelling characters, and complex interactions between the Australian aboriginals and the white Australians. Unfortunately, the writing style did not work for me. I think that's more of a personal issue than an issue with the book in and of itself. I had a hard time following the sort of stream-of-thought way that the book would pass from one topic to another. I enjoyed how the traditional and mythological understanding of the world mixed and changed and adapted to the new, 'scientify' ideas to create a place where both seemed valid, if only to certain characters at any given moment.
I'll admit that I had a lot of trouble finishing this book. It's an interesting story, with compelling characters, and complex interactions between the Australian aboriginals and the white Australians. Unfortunately, the writing style did not work for me. I think that's more of a personal issue than an issue with the book in and of itself. I had a hard time following the sort of stream-of-thought way that the book would pass from one topic to another. I enjoyed how the traditional and mythological understanding of the world mixed and changed and adapted to the new, 'scientify' ideas to create a place where both seemed valid, if only to certain characters at any given moment.
jamskel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mayisfaraway's review against another edition
3.0
I did it!
I truly believe it is a "it's not you, it's me" kind of book.
I think it is trying to tell so much about Australia and Australian society, but I just clearly don't know enough to fully grasp the meaning of this.
My reading experience was a long journey consisting of me going from 'I don't know what's going on' to 'ooh I get it, I know what's going on'. And this did not go well with short attention span.... took me a while to finish this book.
However, I thought that the use of aboriginal legends/stories/myths/religion (?) really poetic and beautiful (at least for the ones that I caught, probably missed a lot of references there). The veil of mystery left on whether supernatural things happen was really intriguing. Just a thought: if the white man's stories (Christianity) can be true, then so can First Nations Australians'. Maybe all this things truly happened to the Phantom family members.
I'm gonna stick to 3 stars review bc again 'it's not you, it's me', and i feel or even I know that there is more to this book that I don't get yet. I read it for uni so maybe I'll get a better understanding of it after studying it.
I truly believe it is a "it's not you, it's me" kind of book.
I think it is trying to tell so much about Australia and Australian society, but I just clearly don't know enough to fully grasp the meaning of this.
My reading experience was a long journey consisting of me going from 'I don't know what's going on' to 'ooh I get it, I know what's going on'. And this did not go well with short attention span.... took me a while to finish this book.
However, I thought that the use of aboriginal legends/stories/myths/religion (?) really poetic and beautiful (at least for the ones that I caught, probably missed a lot of references there). The veil of mystery left on whether supernatural things happen was really intriguing. Just a thought: if the white man's stories (Christianity) can be true, then so can First Nations Australians'. Maybe all this things truly happened to the Phantom family members.
I'm gonna stick to 3 stars review bc again 'it's not you, it's me', and i feel or even I know that there is more to this book that I don't get yet. I read it for uni so maybe I'll get a better understanding of it after studying it.
jon288's review against another edition
2.0
Australia (Aboriginal). A bit of a slog to get through. Hard work and not a very interesting story
moveslikewind's review against another edition
Started when I wasn't in the right headspace for it - still want to read someday