The Irishman

Winner of the 1960 Miles Franklin award. With that I have enjoyed this coming of age tale but do have some thoughts that it may not have made the long list let alone won in this more enlightened age.

There are several themes running through this book. The aforementioned coming of age. Changing technology. Alcoholism and how it effects ones relationship with one's family, friends and work colleagues. There is also racism and racist language.

The changing of technology, the coming of age, alcoholism and the effect on family and friends is woven into the story in a seamless manner that makes this generally dialog driven book an easy read. When Teamsters are replaced by the motor vehicle, an already heavy drinking teamster is driven further into the depths of his despair by leaving the town and his family to live a past life. The youngest son goes on a search for him that takes many years. With that we see the son grow from a school boy to a man. With that come the various trials and tribulations that he has to deal with. In truth a story from any age.

The racist language in the book. This language was the language of the times. In this case the gulf country of north Queensland circa 1920's. I have had a discussion with my wife. She is of the opinion that modern readers should not let themselves get too uncomfortable and accept that language for what it was, rural Australia in the 1920's. But I admit I just struggled. The use of terms such as nigger and gin had me squirming, by nature I would never use these terms to describe Australian indigenous people let alone anyone else. Language such as that goes against the grain. I can hardly be too critical of my wife for her opinion. She escaped a very small country town in Queensland during the mid-1980's, one reason being the inherent racism. But as she told me the term gin was used in everyday talk with hardly a murmur. I still feel uncomfortable with those terms nonetheless. At one point in the story an indigenous girl commits suicide after being rejected by the boy who has got her pregnant. After only a small feeling of guilt the boy involved moves on so rapidly to not caring it is a shock to me as the reader. The racist language and the racist attitude! Just part of life. As one reads the book further the day to day racism appears as naturally as the sun rising each day. Indigenous people are used as cheap labour and generalised as no hopers.


I found this book hard to find initially but finally found a battered copy in thrift shop. I see that it has not been republished since the late 1970's. In my opinion that is a pity. It deserves a modern Australian reader to read about the issues of the past that are not that far removed from those of the present. It may also need a new reader to understand that the changes that have occurred to Australian language since this books release in 1960. The author Elizabeth O'Conner according to her wiki lived on a cattle station in Queensland's gulf country in 1942 were she raised four children. I have no doubt she has articulated gulf country attitudes in her story, natural racism, heavy drinking and innate conservatism. Times have changed and for the better in my opinion.

Recommended for those with an interest in Australian literature.