- Hardcover: 170 pages
- Publisher: Univ of Queensland Pr (December 1990)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0702209619
- ISBN-13: 978-0702209611
- Product Dimensions: 22.2 x 14 x 1.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,569,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
LJ's reviewer did not find this "wholly successful" but did dub it "a readable, affecting novel" (LJ 10/1/78). Set in Australia in the 1940s and 1950s, Malouf's debut effort follows the life of the ne'er-do-well title character as seen through the eyes of an old friend. Malouf won the first International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996 for Remembering Babylon (LJ 8/93).
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
David Malouf's first novel is an evocation of an Australian boyhood and early adulthood during the 1940s and 1950s. It recreates the sleazy tropical half-city that was wartime Brisbane and captures a generation locked in combat with the elusive Australian dream. By the author of "Antipodes".
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful,
By
This review is from: Johnno (Paperback)
In less than two-hundred pages, Malouf manages to capture the coming-of-age angst of the entire Australian post-war generation. Only Malouf could be telling the story of two youths and, virtually on the same page, effortlessly synthesize the realities of Australian experience with European philosophical themes, and connect them both to the whole tangled mess of our national identity. And yet for all its efficiency and high intent, 'Johnno' still reads like an affectionate and deeply-felt memoir, never shying away from the emotional, physical and sexual confusion of youth, nor from the contradictions inherent in what it means to be an 'Australian man'. But that's the genius of Malouf, and it's something we find him doing again and again: telling an apparently simple story about ordinary people, yet with this richly poetic, philosophical undercurrent which can suddenly reach up and pull you under. For Australian readers, this is a particularly important skill. Not only does Malouf deal with significant human issues, but he brings them home. He takes them out of the realm of abstract philosophy and makes them implicit in this place. This makes his work at once deeply personal and resolutely public in the best sense: he has something to share with all of us, something important, and he shares it beautifully.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slow Moving, but Worth It,
By
This review is from: Johnno (Paperback)
It took me a while to get through Johnno, despite its less than 200 pages, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed each page. The slowness was more a function of my available time than of the novel's quality. Johnno is a little gem, a wonderful chronicling of a young man's coming of age, and his relationship with Johnno, a slightly troubled young man, in Brisbane right after World War II. David Malouf is a wonderful writer. Each sentence is a work of art--but nothing is too precious, too anything. It's an enjoyable book that I highly recommend.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bloody good,
By A Customer
This review is from: Johnno (Paperback)
I read this book in 1997, having avoided studying it a dozen years earlier in school. Since leaving school I had inexplicably held out on reading what is regarded as the best work of fiction set in and about my home town of Brisbane. Once I started reading I could not stop. In amongst the beautiful prose and vivid description lies Johnno, a character we all know, love, loathe, and long for.An excellent book. As it turns out I'm glad I held out until I was old enough to really appreciate David Malouf's style, which is rich, evocative and so very (tempted to say 'real', but this is fiction) believable.
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