Desmond Kale: The Australian Persona
September 13th 2006 22:15
Image: www.abc.net.au
In reading this year’s Miles Franklin winner The Ballad of Desmond Kale, I came to a few conclusions. The first was what a wonderful Australian book this was. It simply resonates with that which is Australian history. Its language, characters, and setting all work together beautifully to bring colonial NSW within reachable grasp. And if you know your history, you can unmistakably recognise certain key figures in the fledgling colony. But I found this book a little more intriguing than the usual early Australian sagas.
True, it takes a little getting used to the language. Much the same struggle as I experienced with Carey’s The True History of the Kelly Gang. But once past that hurdle you can really put your head down and settle in with these characters. And there are some real beauties! Kale himself is quite mysterious and elusive, much to his estranged partner, Matthew Stanton’s utter annoyance, which becomes an obsessive hatred. Then there’s Ugly Tom Rankine, an officer with the NSW Rangers, who ingeniously plays both sides of the fence in a new land of many opportunities.
There are a handful of female characters that become integral to the rounding out of this story, and although McDonald, at times, threatens to bogs us down with the complexities of sheep breeding and wool classing, he expertly moves the story along at just the right pace to keep a reader satisfied.
But what I found extraordinary in this book was the incredibly accurate development of the ‘Australian persona’. Most specifically in Kale, Rankine and the rag-tag bunch of characters that make up the nucleus of this story. Their origins are the mixed bag that made up Australia’s early days – English, Scots, Irish, Spanish, Yiddish and of course Aboriginal. They talk of multiculturalism nowadays! These people found themselves in a new land that had to be forged with massive effort. The ability to integrate and work, if not together, at least grudgingly towards the same means, is what I consider a dominant Australian trait. Couple that with an unbridled sense of larrikin humour and you have an incredibly likeable character. They may seem bull-headed or obstinate at times, but an Australian with an idea and the opportunity to put it to practice is no doubt how this country was built. Just tell them they can’t do it, and watch it get done.
It’s not an easy thing to explain the Australian persona. I’ve tried on a number of occasions to do just that with Canadian relatives, falling rather short I’m afraid – as they still shake their heads in wonder when confronted with it full-force. But after reading Desmond Kale I think I’ve stumbled on the perfect explanation for its foundation.
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