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In Kocan's latest bleak novel (The Treatment and the Cure, 1985, etc.), a teenager, down and out in Australia, is sustained by his fantasies.Three people arrive at the train station of a large city: The woman, the youth and the boy. We don't know their names, nor that of the city. They are fleeing Vladimir, an abusive husband and father. The 14-year-old youth knows he doesn't have the will to fight him. What inner strength he has derives from Diestl, a German soldier in a war movie. The Germans have lost, and Diestl is on enemy terrain, but he still has his Schweisser sub-machine-gun. Diestl the self-reliant loner consoles the youth through thick and thin. The youth gets a job in the country, on a sheep ranch, while his mother finds work elsewhere upstate. He's a slow learner, and his boss is short-tempered; he's fired. He doesn't fare any better on a wheat farm, or as a cleaner at a movie theater (let go because he smells bad). Daytimes he's in parks or visiting museums; some nights he finds crummy hotels, others he sleeps on the street. His thoughts revolve around Diestl, the Anglo-Saxon King Harold (another outnumbered hero) and pin-up Grace Kelly. He cries a lot - the least thing sets him off - and he's never had a girlfriend. There are opportunities to explore his sexuality (with a girl on the wheat farm, with some gay guys he meets while clipping cotton), but Kocan's not interested in that coming-of-age story. That wouldn't matter if he replaced it with something else, but he doesn't, so we get a slow fizzle. One fellow lodger says the youth is "a young tiger that doesn't know whether to hide or kill," and the youth does buy a rifle, but Kocan, who in 1966 attempted to assassinate an Australian politician and subsequently spent time in a hospital for the criminally insane, must have a problem imagining his crybaby pulling the trigger, for he leaves everything up in the air. The youth doesn't have the spirit to carry this tale of woe. (Kirkus Reviews)
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Arriving in the city with no money, no job, an indifferent mum and brother, and nowhere to stay, a shy 14 year old boy drifts from the city to the bush and back again, doing what work he can, slowly becoming more alienated and distrustful. This book takes the reader down some dangerous turns to the conclusion.
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Fresh Fields (Paperback)
Publicado por
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd, Pymble, NSW, 2004
ISBN 10: 0732279852
ISBN 13: 9780732279851
Nuevo
Paperback
Librería: AussieBookSeller, Truganina, VIC, Australia
Calificación del vendedor: 5 de 5 estrellas
Paperback. Condición: new. Paperback. From one of Australia's most talented writers comes a moving and compelling novel about the loss of innocence and living on the edge. Arriving in the city with little money, no job, an indifferent mother and brother, and nowhere to stay, a shy, awkward 14-year-old boy drifts from the city to the bush and back again, doing what work he can, slowly becoming more alienated and distrustful . With gathering momentum, the narrative takes successively dangerous turns, propelling the reader toward its tragic conclusion. Fresh Fields can be read as the prequel to Peter Kocan's groundbreaking novellas the treatment and the Cure. Its insights into parental neglect, homelessness, mental illness and the trials of adolescence are all too real, but there is also genuine humanity, compassion, sensitivity and humour in the face of adversity, and these qualities leaven the harsh realities and make for an unforgettable literary experience. Arriving in the city with no money, no job, an indifferent mum and brother, and nowhere to stay, a shy 14 year old boy drifts from the city to the bush and back again, doing what work he can, slowly becoming more alienated and distrustful. This book takes the reader down some dangerous turns to the conclusion. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. Nº de ref. del artículo: 9780732279851
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