NUMBER: 101

Genre: Non-fiction; Origin: Italy; Pages: 200

Satisfaction rating: 3.0

OVERVIEW:

Relating the facts behind the myth, this eyewitness account tells the vivid and accurate story of the horrific 1854 Eureka Stockade, a revolt against police and soldiers involving 120 miners from the Ballart gold mines in Australia that left 35 dead and a legacy of courage and freedom that has shaped ideas of Australian nationhood ever since.

MATTHEW’S COMMENTS:

Every so often you come across a book that you wished you liked so much more than you did. I had this feeling with the novel I read last, James Joyce’s Ulysses, and again with the one that followed, Raffaello’s The Eureka Stockade.

I enjoy reading Australian history, albeit often told through the prism of fiction. However, on this occasion I was drawn to Raffaello’s work as it is the only first-hand written account of the goldminer’s uprising at Ballarat in 1854. An event of mythical proportions in which workers rose against government oppressors in a bloody battle, often coined as the birth of democracy in this country.

It gets off to a great start. In Raffaello’s opening statement he apologises for a poor command of English. But far from a criticism, I think the Italian immigrant is too hard on himself, it is his passionate prose that I found to be one of the novel’s best features. Well, I say that within reason, as he displays a real gift for a turn of phrase, yet the overall structure is fractured and hard to follow.

Despite it’s flaws in narrative, there is no doubt that this is a vital work for any historian of the period. It includes many invaluable insights to how the diggers united, the charter that underpinned their union and the events that led to the riot and its aftermath (including the trial of Raffaello for treason). It also contains many transcriptions of letters and newspaper articles collected by Raffaello.

My major criticism comes from Raffaello’s inability to articulate descriptions of some people and events which would go a long way to helping the reader build a better understanding of the major characters. This has little to do with language but more to do with his seemingly intense Christian sensibilities. He often claims that he wants to ’spare’ the good reader the sordid details. Who knows if the book would have ever been published is the sordid details were included, probably not, but my reasoning behind reading non-fiction is that I do get to hear all the sordid details.

FURTHER REFERENCES:

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Last Modified :December 11th, 2008 Filed under : The Log: novels Navigate : Previous post / Next post