''My Brother Jack'' is a classic 1964 Australian novel by writer
George Johnston.
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''.
It is commonly studied for English literature subjects in Australia.
Overview
This semi-autobiographical novel, definable as a
roman à clef
A ''roman à clef'' ( ; ; ) is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people and the "key" is the relationship between the non-fiction and the fiction. This m ...
, follows the narrator, David Meredith, through his childhood and adolescence in
interwar Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
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 His father, cruel, increasingly withdrawn, is a catalyst for the escapes which both David and Jack have to make, each in their own way.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. First in a comment to Helen:
And later in explanation to David himself:
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."
Awards and nominations
''My Brother Jack'' won the
Miles Franklin Award in 1964.
1965 TV series
The book was serialised for
ABC in 1965 by
Charmian Clift, who was Johnston's wife.
It featured actors
Ed Devereaux,
Nick Tate and
Richard Meikle.
It was released on DVD in ABC's 'Classic Drama' series in 2006.
Cast
*
Ed Devereaux as Jack Meredith
*
Nick Tate as David Meredith
*
Richard Meikle as Dud Rosevear
*
Stewart Ginn as Vern
*
Jeanie Drynan
2001 TV series
It was adapted again in 2001 by John Alsop and
Sue Smith.
Ken Cameron
Ken Cameron (born 1946) is an Australian film and television director and writer. Cameron was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia and graduated from Sydney University with BA in 1968. He has won two AACTA Awards, AFI Awards for direc ...
directed, and the cast included
William McInnes,
Angie Milliken,
Claudia Karvan,
Jack Thompson and
Felix Williamson
Felix Williamson (born 29 May 1969) is an Australian actor.
Early life
Williamson is the stepson of playwright David Williamson. From age 13–17, he trained at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, Australia, learning the foundat ...
with
Simon Lyndon and
Matt Day as the brothers.
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).
Cast
*
Simon Lyndon as Jack Meredith
*
Matt Day as David Meredith
*
William McInnes as Mr Meredith
*
Angie Milliken as Minnie Meredith
*
Claudia Karvan as Cressida Morley
*
Jack Thompson as Bernard Brewster
*
Felix Williamson
Felix Williamson (born 29 May 1969) is an Australian actor.
Early life
Williamson is the stepson of playwright David Williamson. From age 13–17, he trained at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, Australia, learning the foundat ...
as Sam Burlington
*
Raelee Hill as Sheila
*
Ellouise Rothwell as Helen Midgeley
*
Robert Menzies as Gavin Turley
*
Sullivan Stapleton as Young Joe
*
Reg Gorman as Clarrie
See also
*
1964 in Australian literature
References
External links
''My Brother Jack'' 2001 mini-seriesat
Australian Screen Online''My Brother Jack'' 1965 seriesat
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
{{Miles Franklin Award
1964 Australian novels
Miles Franklin Award–winning works
Novels about journalists
Novels set in the interwar period
Novels set in Melbourne
William Collins, Sons books
Novels set during World War II
Australian autobiographical novels
1960s Australian mini-series
2000s Australian television miniseries