My Brother Jack is a classic 1964 Australian novel by writer George Johnston.[3] It is part of a trilogy centering on the character of David Meredith. The other books in the trilogy are Clean Straw for Nothing and A Cartload of Clay.[4] It is commonly studied for English literature subjects in Australia.[5]
This semi-autobiographical novel, definable as a roman à clef, follows the narrator, David Meredith, through his childhood and adolescence in interwarMelbourne through to adulthood and his prominent career as a journalist during World War II, to his life on a Greek island in the 1950s and 60s.
David's childhood and early life are influenced heavily by the destructive presence of his father, psychologically ruined by his experiences in the Great War. His father, cruel, increasingly withdrawn, is a catalyst for the escapes which both David and Jack have to make, each in their own way.
The novel has a central theme using contrasts between David and his older and more "typically Australian", brother, Jack. Where David is tentative, even passive, as a boy, Jack is fearless, engaging head-on with the world around him. "You've got to have a go, nipper," Jack says to David early in the novel.
As they get older, Jack exhibits solid qualities of loyalty and grit while David betrays friendships and family in his progress to success.
David's friend at The Morning Post in Melbourne, Gavin Turley, sums up this aspect of David's character, and indeed the journey the book describes, in Chapter 12.[6] First in a comment to Helen:
One thing you should know and always remember. There is no guarantee in him, my dear. There is no guarantee.
And later in explanation to David himself:
...you will have to go on and on in your own strange solitary way, too far from your own wilderness ever to go back to it, beating and bashing and cheating and striving towards some goal which up to now, I swear, you have never yet glimpsed.
The life of David Meredith has many parallels with the life of his creator, George Johnston. They were contemporaries, both growing up in the interwar years in suburban Melbourne, in families tainted by the horror of war, both finding writing to be their métiers. Both had short first marriages, both fell in love with younger women who became second wives, both had successful careers as war correspondents. Both lived bohemian lives on a Greek island. And of course, both had a brother called Jack.
In reviewing the novel in 2014, fifty years after its original publication, Paul Daley in The Guardian asks the reader to "look beyond the obvious autobiography and the family roman à clef, and discover the novel’s real strength – a daring iconoclasticism that challenges pervasive assumptions about Australian character, values and suburban complacency."[7]
My Brother Jack is nothing if not a powerfully candid post-war cultural and social commentary. But it’s also a timeless allegory about the foibles of selfish ambition and material security and a dissertation on what Johnston saw as the vacuousness of suburban satisfaction. It challenges the “suburban dream”, another of the great cultural pillars – the primary one being the Anzac legend – upon which Australian character supposedly stands.
The series was released on DVD, as a two-part film, by Umbrella Entertainment (DAVID0351), also in a two-disc package with Bad Blood as "Great Aussie Icons: Jack Thompson" (DAVID1019).
Edward Sidney Devereaux, better known professionally as Ed Devereaux, was an Australian actor, director, and scriptwriter who lived in the United Kingdom for many years. He was best known for playing the part of Matt Hammond the head ranger in the Australian television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. He was also involved in the series behind the scenes, Devereaux writing the script and directing the episode The Veteran (1969), for which he received much critical acclaim. Devereaux based the story of the episode "Double Trouble" on an idea conceived by his children, wrote the screenplay of "Summer Storm" and the script for "The Mine". He also played the part of Joe in the Australian 1966 film They’re a Weird Mob. The film was a local success.
Power Without Glory is a 1950 historical novel written by Australian author Frank Hardy, following the life and ambitions of John West, a politician born into a working-class family who rises to prominence in Australian federal politics.
Jack the Ripper, an unidentified serial killer active in and around Whitechapel in 1888, has been featured in works of fiction ranging from gothic novels published at the time of the murders to modern motion pictures, televised dramas and video games.
Charmian Clift was an Australian writer. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston.
Claudia Karvan is an Australian actress and producer. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film Molly (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in High Tide (1987). She portrayed a teacher in The Heartbreak Kid (1993) – the film was spun off into a TV series, Heartbreak High (1994–1999), with her character taken over by Sarah Lambert. Karvan's roles in television series include The Secret Life of Us (2001–2005), Love My Way (2004–2007), Newton's Law (2017) and Halifax: Retribution (2020). She won Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama at the AFI Awards for her appearance in G.P. (1996). She won two similar AFI Awards for her role in Love My Way and in 2014 for her work in The Time of Our Lives (2013–2014). As a co-producer and co-writer on Love My Way, she won three further AFI Awards for Best Drama Series in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Karvan was inducted into the Australian Film Walk of Fame in 2007 in acknowledgment of her contributions to the Australian film and television industry. From 2010 to 2011, she starred in the drama series Spirited, which she co-created and was executive producer. She appeared as Judy Vickers in Puberty Blues. Karvan has co-produced House of Hancock and Doctor Doctor (2016–2021). In 2021 she co-created, co-produced and starred in the TV drama series, Bump.
Paul Collins is an Australian writer and editor who specializes in science fiction and fantasy.
George Henry Johnston OBE was an Australian journalist, war correspondent and novelist, best known for My Brother Jack. He was the husband and literary collaborator of Charmian Clift.
Paperback Hero is a 1999 Australian romantic comedy film starring Claudia Karvan and Hugh Jackman. It was directed by Antony Bowman who also wrote the screenplay. The film was predominantly shot in Queensland including Nindigully.
Kerry Isabelle Greenwood is an Australian author and lawyer. She has written many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She writes mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger.
The Slow Natives (1965) is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
Clean Straw for Nothing (1969) is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author George Johnston. This novel is a sequel to My Brother Jack, and is the second in the Meredith trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Johnston.
Gilbert John Brealey was an Australian television and film director, producer and writer.
Richard Meikle was an Australian actor who worked extensively in film, theatre, and radio. He was the father of writer Sam Meikle.
Pastures of the Blue Crane is an Australian novel by Hesba Fay Brinsmead, published in 1964. The novel won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1965. It was adapted for television in 1969. It has recently been reprinted due to renewed interest by University of Queensland Press in 2018.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1890.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1886.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1885.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1948.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1964.
A Cartload of Clay (1971) is the last and unfinished novel by the Australian author George Johnston. It is a sequel to My Brother Jack and Clean Straw for Nothing, the third in the Meredith trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Johnson.
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