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y separately published work icon True History of the Kelly Gang single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2000... 2000 True History of the Kelly Gang
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'"I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false."

'In TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG, the legendary Ned Kelly speaks for himself, scribbling his narrative on errant scraps of paper in semi-literate but magically descriptive prose as he flees from the police. To his pursuers, Kelly is nothing but a monstrous criminal, a thief and a murderer. To his own people, the lowly class of ordinary Australians, the bushranger is a hero, defying the authority of the English to direct their lives. Indentured by his bootlegger mother to a famous horse thief (who was also her lover), Ned saw his first prison cell at 15 and by the age of 26 had become the most wanted man in the wild colony of Victoria, taking over whole towns and defying the law until he was finally captured and hanged. Here is a classic outlaw tale, made alive by the skill of a great novelist.' (From the publisher's website.)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon True History of the Kelly Gang Shaun Grant , ( dir. Justin Kurzel ) Australia : Film4 Screen Australia Film Victoria Porchlight Films , 2018 12236444 2018 single work film/TV

'Outlaw Ned Kelly lived only 25 years, but it was enough to write his story into Australian legend. The subject of countless books, songs, and other lore, he has become a near-mythical figure in the mould of Jesse James or even Robin Hood. Adapting the Booker Prize–winning novel by Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang stars George MacKay, Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult, Essie Davis, and Charlie Hunnam in a gloriously fictionalized tale of a true-life renegade.

'Kelly (MacKay) grows up in an already rebellious Irish immigrant family, regularly bristling against the outback justice imposed by local police. Over time, he falls under the influence of Harry Power (Crowe), a true bush-ranger with little regard for colonial authority over the wild territory where he operates. Each encounter with the law pushes Kelly further and further into a dedicated life of crime. Soon enough, he's gathered a gang around him to help with the horse thieving and shootouts, and many Australian settlers are applauding his exploits. It all builds to an epic final showdown.'

Source: Toronto International Film Festival.

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For

AC: Year 11 (English Unit 2)

Themes

19th-century Australia, Australian identity, English–Irish tensions and conflict, folklore, heroes, lawlessness, loyalty, Oppression and victimisation, policing and the law, rebellion, villains, violence

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Information and communication technology, Intercultural understanding, Literacy

Affiliation Notes

  • This work has been affiliated with the Irishness in Australian Literature dataset because it contains Irish characters, settings, tropes or themes.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • St Lucia, Indooroopilly - St Lucia area, Brisbane - North West, Brisbane, Queensland,: University of Queensland Press , 2000 .
      image of person or book cover 8667390300905502295.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: [viii], 401p.p.
      Description: illus., map.
      ISBN: 0702231886 (pbk.), 0702231673
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Knopf ,
      2000 .
      image of person or book cover 4956260980257685618.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Web
      Extent: 349, [3] p.p.
      Edition info: 1st American ed.
      Description: illus., maps.
      ISBN: 0375410848 (alk. paper)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Faber ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 2151366586228923375.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 349p.
      Description: illus.
      ISBN: 0571204082(pbk.), 0571192165(cased)
    • Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Random House Canada ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 1592261684062928816.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 368p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 9 January 2001
      ISBN: 0679310797
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Turtleback Books ,
      2001 .
      Extent: 384p.p.
      Edition info: Hardback: library ed.
      ISBN: 9780613458443, 0613458443
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Vintage ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 3149092139890444457.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 368p.p.
      ISBN: 9780375724671, 0375724672
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Faber ,
      2002 .
      image of person or book cover 2277364518613845753.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 424p.
      Description: illus., map.
      ISBN: 0571209874 (pbk.)
    • c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Vintage UK ,
      2002 .
      image of person or book cover 3359726140141899087.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 368p.p.
      ISBN: 9780613458443, 0613458443
    • Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Vintage Canada ,
      2002 .
      image of person or book cover 8723200379609583617.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 368p.p.
      ISBN: 9780679311270, 0679311270
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 3223814138843279090.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 496p.
      Note/s:
      ISBN: 9780143571209
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Penguin , 2019 .
      image of person or book cover 8944349616902592385.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 496p.
      Note/s:
      • Published December 2019
      ISBN: 9781760897963
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2020 .
      image of person or book cover 3583231104180308407.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 496p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 3 March 2020
      ISBN: 9781760896430
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Faber ,
      2020 .
      image of person or book cover 2923208543857536122.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      Description: Film tie-in ed.
      Note/s:
      • Published 20 February 2020.
      ISBN: 9780571362783
Alternative title: Prawdziwa historia Neda Kelly'ego
Language: Polish
    • Warsaw,
      c
      Poland,
      c
      Eastern Europe, Europe,
      :
      Proszynski i Ska ,
      2000 .
      image of person or book cover 285267991683266354.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 376p.
      Reprinted: 2005
      ISBN: 9788373375987, 8373375988
    • Warsaw,
      c
      Poland,
      c
      Eastern Europe, Europe,
      :
      Wielka Litera ,
      2016 .
      image of person or book cover 3052412502721371467.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 461p.p.
      ISBN: 9788380320819, 8380320816

Other Formats

  • Large print.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

The Archive and the Canon Keyvan Allahyari , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: Peter Carey : The Making of a Global Novelist 2023; (p. 107-132)

'The purchase of the documents relating to True History of the Kelly Gang (2000) by the State Library of Victoria amounts to a significant moment in his career. This collection, catalogued as “The Papers and Drafts of Peter Carey,” marks the convergence of canonicity, the literary market, and the materiality of the cultural artefact. This archive adds a new facet to Carey’s image as an Australian author in the public domain, creating a sense of the continuous relevance of Carey’s work to the canon of Australian literature. I demonstrate how the archive is built via the collective recognition of the economic and cultural capital of Carey’s manuscripts and paraphernalia. Through the case study of an agent in constructing the archive, I investigate the stakes invested in Carey’s ongoing dominant position in the Australian literary field into the twenty-first century. This chapter also examines the ways in which agents augment their volume of literary and economic capital through engaging with what I call Carey’s “archival capital.”' (Publication abstract)

The Novel Road to the Global South : Australian Fiction, International Exposure and the Transnational Politics of Disadvantage Sascha Morrell , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge History of the Australian Novel 2023;
y separately published work icon On Peter Carey : Writers on Writers Sarah Krasnostein , Collingwood : Black Inc. , 2023 25775533 2023 single work biography

'Exploring dislocation and longing, Sarah Krasnostein dives into Peter Carey's literary tour de force, True History of the Kelly Gang, in this latest offering from the stunning Writers on Writers essay series.

'Award-winning writer Sarah Krasnostein shines new light on the impossibly vulnerable Ned Kelly of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang. Carey, who moved from Australia to America, conjured Kelly after seeing Sidney Nolan's paintings of the bushranger at the Met. In this moving essay Krasnostein, who moved from America to Australia, interrogates notions of home, history, distance and identity in Peter Carey's Booker Prize-winning novel.

'In the Writers on Writers series, leading writers reflect on another Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work.

'Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.' (Publication summary)

Backwards to Bourke : Bulldust about Gays in the Bush Michael Burge , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 46 no. 3 2022; (p. 307-320)

'In his 2006 thesis, “‘Staying Bush’ – A Study of Gay Men Living in Rural Areas”, author Edward Green described his subject as the “largely hidden and untold story of gay men living in rural areas”. That was a pivotal year for gay men living in the bush, with Australian television broadcasters platforming two of their stories. In the space of one 12-month period, this cohort went from “hidden and untold” to prime time. From as early as 1989, rural politician Bob Katter had been declaring that he would “walk to Bourke backwards if the poof population of North Queensland is any more than 0.001 per cent”. Analysing media and popular culture, this article explores the visibility and portrayal of rural gay men in Australia prior to and after 2006. In spite of Katter’s minuscule population estimates, the rural gay cohort continues to defy assumptions.' (Publication abstract)

Unsettling Australia : Disturbing White Settler Homemaking in Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang Sarah Heinz , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: Humanities , vol. 9 no. 4 2020;

'Proceeding from Australia’s specific situation as a settler colony, this article discusses how the ambivalences and fissures of settler subjectivity shape processes of homemaking. Settler homemaking depends on the disturbance of Indigenous Australians’ homelands via dispossession, exclusion, and genocide, but it equally depends upon the creation of a white settler subject as innocent, entitled, and belonging to what has been called ‘white indigeneity’. The article traces this double disturbance in Peter Carey’s novel True History of the Kelly Gang (2000). Carey’s rewriting of the iconic Kelly legend uncovers the dangers of a possessive, male, white indigeneity based on effacement and exclusion. The novel’s critical staging of Ned Kelly’s construction of Australia as a home for a new class of ‘natives’ challenges an essentialist white Australianness and its narratives of embattled settlement, independence, mateship, and the Bush. The novel shows that the creation of this national character is based on the denial of Aboriginal ownership and agency. Ned’s narrative of Irish victimhood and his formation of a new sense of Australianness is therefore doomed to repeat the violence, discrimination, and exclusion of colonialism that he seems to decry.'

Source: Abstract.

[Review] True History of the Kelly Gang Lyn Jacobs , 2002 single work review
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 1 no. 2002; (p. 96-101)

— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey , 2000 single work novel
Two Sides to the Story : For Malcolm Knox , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7-8 June 2003; (p. 16)

— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey , 2000 single work novel
Two Sides to the Story : Against Megan Gressor , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7-8 June 2003; (p. 16)

— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey , 2000 single work novel
Wild Colonial Boy John Banville , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The New York Review of Books , 29 March vol. 48 no. 5 2001; (p. 15-16)

— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey , 2000 single work novel
Immediately Engaging Donna Lee Brien , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Dotlit : The Online Journal of Creative Writing , August vol. 4 no. 1 2003;

— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey , 2000 single work novel
Turning the Publishing Page Sandra McLean , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 25 January 2003; (p. 8)
Running in the Family : Novels, Films and Nations Andrea Stretton (interviewer), 2002 single work interview
— Appears in: The Sydney Papers , Autumn vol. 14 no. 2 2002; (p. 9-23)
Discussion between Thomas Keneally and Michael Ondaatje, held at the Sydney Institute 8 March 2002 and moderated by Andrea Stretton.
Hunting Ned Sandra McLean , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 1 March 2003; (p. 5)
Ned's Full Metal Jacket Fits Heath Garry Maddox , 2002 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 June 2002;
The Voice of the Teller: A Conversation with Peter Carey Nathanael O'Reilly (interviewer), 2002 single work interview
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 16 no. 2 2002; (p. 164-167)
Last amended 5 Nov 2024 11:33:35
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