The Mango Tree

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The Mango Tree
TheMangoTree.jpg
First edition
Author Ronald McKie
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Collins, Australia
Publication date
1974
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Pages211
ISBN 0-00-221586-1
OCLC 1120471
823
LC Class PZ4.M15754 Man3 PR9619.3.M256
Preceded byThe Heroes 
Followed byThe Crushing 

The Mango Tree is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Ronald McKie. [1]

Contents

Synopsis

The story follows the childhood of a young man, named Jamie, growing up in a country town in Australia during the early 20th century.

Critical reception

Hope Hewitt in The Canberra Times found the author to be "an excellent reporter, quickly setting scene and then swiftly changing gear and catching the cxcitement of events moving too quickly for words. The climax of this book when the fanatic Preacher Jones goes round the bend and rampages off with a gun is a gripping piece of narrative. But good documentary and good reportage are not the same as good imaginative fiction. Their purposes are different; and in trying to concentrate as we clearly are meant to, on Jamie's development to whatever sort of person he is going to be, there needs to be a much greater selection and a different scale of proportions among the too rich material Mr McKie has to draw upon." [2]

Awards

Film Adaptation

In 1977, it was adapted into a film of the same name, [5] directed by Kevin James Dobson, from a script by Michael Pate, and featuring Gerald Fitzgerald, Robert Helpmann and Christopher Pate in the lead roles. [6]

Related Research Articles

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award. As of 2016, the award is valued at A$60,000.

Ronald Cecil Hamlyn McKie was an Australian novelist. He was born on 11 May 1909 in Toowoomba, Queensland. After receiving his education at the Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, he worked as a journalist on newspapers in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, and China. He served in the AIF during World War II from 1942–1943, following which he served as war correspondent for several Australian and UK newspapers. After the war he worked for Sydney's Daily Telegraph. McKie died from kidney disease on 8 May 1991 in Canterbury, Melbourne, Australia.

The Mango Tree is a 1977 Australian drama film directed by Kevin James Dobson and starring Geraldine Fitzgerald and Sir Robert Helpmann. Lead actor Christopher Pate is the son of actor Michael Pate who also produced and wrote the film. It is based on the book of the same name, by Ronald McKie.

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References

  1. Taylor, Cheryl. McKie, Ronald Cecil (1909–1991). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  2. ""Honest but uneven novel"". The Canberra Times, 7 June 1974, p8. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  3. ""Fiction novice wins top prize"". The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April 1975, p9. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  4. ""Awards by Fellowship of Australian Writers"". The Canberra Times, 5 March 1975, p16. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  5. "Austlit – The Mango Tree – film/TV adapatation". Austlit. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  6. "IMDB – The Mango Tree". IMDb. Retrieved 13 July 2023.

See also