A review by transcendent
Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook

5.0

I cannot believe I'm saying this for a book that I read as mandatory for my Aus lit class but....
5 stars!

I absolutely adored this book (maybe to a worrying degree)....
Cook's ability to write about John Grant's descent into madness in the Yabba in this almost circular narrative fuelled by the influence of nicotine, alcohol, gambling culture, and the Aussie idea of mateship was addictive in of itself, and I genuinely could not stop reading.
The two-up game and the rush of the gambling, knowing that Grant was inevitably going to lose, getting lost in the culture of going round for round (which I have unfortunately fallen into the trap of, kangaroo hunting for some reason, and drinking more to forget the horrors of the night before and Doc Tydon, and attempting to escape the Yabba before giving up and spoilers for the end btw
Spoiler attempting to take his life as he believed it was the one true way to leave the Yabba.


tl;dr: wake in fright my beloved! thank you to my Australian Literature class for having the books ever and for having potentially two of the only books I've ever liked in this whole minor unit
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