image of person or book cover 9182426698970681954.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon Carry Me Down single work   novel   thriller  
Issue Details: First known date: 2006... 2006 Carry Me Down
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'John Egan is a misfit — "a twelve year old in the body of a grown man with the voice of a giant" — who diligently keeps a "log of lies." John's been able to detect lies for as long as he can remember, it's a source of power but also great consternation for a boy so young. With an obsession for the Guinness Book of Records, a keenly inquisitive mind, and a kind of faith, John remains hopeful despite the unfavorable cards life deals him.

'This is one year in a boy's life. On the cusp of adolescence, from his changing voice and body, through to his parents’ difficult travails and the near collapse of his sanity, John is like a tuning fork sensitive to the vibrations within himself and the trouble that this creates for he and his family.

'Carry Me Down is a restrained, emotionally taut, and sometimes outrageously funny portrait whose drama drives toward, but narrowly averts, an unthinkable disaster.' (Publication summary)

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For

AC: Year 11 (Literature Unit 1). Year 11 has been chosen as the focus for this unit because it deals with significant themes demanding some maturity with a strong focus on literary technique and analysis appropriate to that year level.

Themes

aspirations, bullying, domestic violence, family, isolation

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Intercultural understanding, Literacy

Notes

  • Dedication: For Stewart Andrew Muir (If only there were more like you.)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2006 .
      image of person or book cover 9182426698970681954.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 313p.
      ISBN: 1921145099
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Canongate ,
      2006 .
      image of person or book cover 2468053598272988428.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 334p.
      ISBN: 9781841957401
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2016 .
      Extent: 336p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 23/03/2016
      ISBN: 9781925355338
      Series: y separately published work icon Text Classics Text Publishing (publisher), Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2012- Z1851461 2012 series - publisher novel 'Great books by great Australian storytellers.' (Text website.)

Works about this Work

[Essay] : Carry Me Down Chris Womersley , 2013 single work essay
— Appears in: Reading Australia 2013-;

'Maria (MJ) Hyland’s extraordinary second novel, Carry Me Down, was published in 2006, two years after her debut, How the Light Gets In (Canongate, 2004). The critical reception for Carry Me Down was almost universally positive, and the novel was shortlisted for both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Told in the first person from a twelve-year-old’s point of view, Carry Me Down is a perceptive and claustrophobic study of a boy who longs to escape the limitations of his family, his country, his life and his class.' (Introduction)

Deep Listening Hilary McPhee , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , July vol. 4 no. 6 2009; (p. 23)

— Review of This Is How M. J. Hyland , 2009 single work novel ; How the Light Gets In M. J. Hyland , 2003 single work novel ; Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
Teenage Wasteland : Adolescents and Adolescence in M. J. Hyland's Novels "Baleiro adolescente" : adolescentes e adolescencia nas novelas de M. J. Hyland David Clark Mitchell , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australia and Galicia : Defeating the Tyranny of Distance 2008; (p. 275-289)
'This paper studies the presentation of adolescence in the two novels written my M.J. Hyland, How the Light Gets In (2003) and Carry Me Down (2006). After commenting on the trans-national basis of much contemporary fiction, and Hyland's relationship to both an Australian and an Irish literary system, we discuss the concept of 'grace' as a term for defining a certain set of perceived human qualities, and how the rupture between adolescent and adult society can be seen as the apparent result of mutually confused interpretations of such qualities. Both novels are examined through the relationship between the adolescent protagonists and the various social levels on which they are seen in the works.' (p. 275)
Tall Tale Hits the Wall Leisa Scott , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 25 - 26 March 2006; (p. 25)

— Review of Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
Strewth! : Writer's Vexed Identity Sian Powell , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 12 October 2006; (p. 12)
Tall Tale Reflects a Big Talent Gregory Day , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 4 March 2006; (p. 26)

— Review of Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
Voice of Troubled Child Evokes Irish Life of Decades Past Cath Kenneally , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 March 2006; (p. 12-13)

— Review of Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
Too Much Too Soon Michelle Griffin , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 279 2006; (p. 60)

— Review of Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
Child's-Eye View of Truth Katharine England , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 11 March 2006; (p. 10)

— Review of Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
The Fork in the Tongue James Ley , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 March 2006; (p. 19)

— Review of Carry Me Down M. J. Hyland , 2006 single work novel
Dangerous Desire: The Truth Will Out Diane Stubbings , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 March 2006; (p. 11-12)
Carey Goes for Booker Threepeat Rosalie Higson , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 16 August 2006; (p. 3)
Tiny Text in Booker List Double Gia Metherell , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 16 September 2006; (p. 1)
Australians Shortlisted for Booker, But Carey Out of the Running Frances Atkinson , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 16 September 2006; (p. 3)
River of Champers for Grenville Opus Susan Wyndham , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16-17 September 2006; (p. 7)
Last amended 23 May 2017 10:16:05
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