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y separately published work icon When Colts Ran single work   novel  
  • Author:agent Roger McDonald http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/mcdonald-roger
Issue Details: First known date: 2010... 2010 When Colts Ran
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In this sweeping epic of friendship, toil, hope and failed promise, multi-award-winning author Roger McDonald follows the story of Kingsley Colts as he chases the ghost of himself through the decades, and in and out of the lives and affections of the citizens of "The Isabel", a slice of Australia scattered with prospectors, artists, no-hopers and visionaries. Against this spacious backdrop of sheep stations, timeless landscapes and the Five Alls pub, men play out their fates, conduct their rivalries and hope for the best.

'Major Dunc Buckler, "misplaced genius and authentic ratbag", scours the country for machinery in a World War that will never find him. Wayne Hovell, slave to "moral duty", carries the physical and emotional scars of Colts's early rebellion, but also finds himself the keeper of his redemption. Normie Powell, son of a rugby-playing minister, finds his own mysticism as a naturalist, while warm-hearted stock dealer Alan Hooke longs for understanding in a house full of women. They are men shaped by the obligations and expectations of a previous generation, all striving to define themselves in their own language, on their own terms.' (From the publisher's website.)

Notes

  • Epigraph:

    Peaseblossom.........Ready.

    Cobweb.......................... And I.

    Moth ......................................And I

    Mustardseed....................................And I.

    All..........................................................Where shall we go?

    - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, Scene I

  • In an author's note, Roger McDonald lists the publications in which 'early parts of this work appeared'. The titles of the earlier parts published in Australia are listed above as related works. An early part was also published in The O. Henry Prize Stories 2008 (New York, 2008).

    Source: Author's Note p. 345

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Vintage Australia , 2010 .
      image of person or book cover 8949966927231449112.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 346p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 1 November 2010.
      • Also available in an electronic version via the Internet.
      ISBN: 9781864710410 (pbk.)
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Random House , 2011 .
      image of person or book cover 5565472876267325044.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 352p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 1 July 2011
      ISBN: 9781864710441

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Braille.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

The Realization of Smallness Paul Plisiewicz , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 26 no. 1 2012; (p. 105-106)

— Review of When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

A Transnational Gallipoli? Roger Hillman , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , November no. 51 2011;
'Roger Hillman's essay adds a transnational dimension to representations of an historical event that has become the preeminent site of national memorialisation. In A Transnational Gallipoli?, Hillman contrasts the masculinist heroics and celebratory nationalism of Peter Weir's iconic film, Gallipoli, and Roger McDonald's 1915, with more recent novels and films produced outside Australia's borders that provide alternative forms of cultural memory. Louis de Bernières' Birds Without Wings and Tolga Örnek's documentary film Gallipoli: The Front Line Experience are significant as texts that 'situate the Gallipoli legend in a transnational rather than a national framework, while providing a fuller understanding of how cultural memory works in relation to the national imaginary'.' (Source: Editor's introduction)
The Year's Work in Fiction : 2010-2011 David Whish-Wilson , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 56 no. 1 2011; (p. 167-188)

— Review of Equator : A Novel Wayne Ashton , 2010 single work novel ; Rocks in the Belly Jon Bauer , 2010 single work novel ; Traitor Stephen Daisley , 2010 single work novel ; The Vintage and the Gleaning Jeremy Chambers , 2008 single work novel ; The Grand Hotel : A Novel Gregory Day , 2010 single work novel ; What Is Left Over, After Natasha Lester , 2008 single work novel ; The Best Australian Stories 2010 2010 anthology short story extract ; Five Bells Gail Jones , 2011 single work novel ; The Mary Smokes Boys Patrick Holland , 2010 single work novel ; Glissando : A Melodrama David Musgrave , 2010 single work novel ; Below the Styx Michael Meehan , 2010 single work novel ; Indelible Ink Fiona McGregor , 2010 single work novel ; When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel ; Bereft Chris Womersley , 2010 single work novel ; Time's Long Ruin : A Novel Stephen Orr , 2008 single work novel ; The Legacy Kirsten Tranter , 2010 single work novel ; That Deadman Dance Kim Scott , 2010 single work novel
Aborigines, Sharks and Australian Accents : On Australian Writing Jo Case , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings , July no. 6 2011; (p. 41-51)

'Jo Case talks to influential writers, publishers and critics about that often frustrating definition of 'Australia' literature.' (Editor's abstract)

[Review] When Colts Ran Paul Landymore , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , October vol. 90 no. 3 2010; (p. 30)

— Review of When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel
Made in Australia Peter Pierce , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 326 2010; (p. 35-36)

— Review of When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel
Heroic Take on Manhood Geordie Williamson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 November 2010; (p. 22-23)

— Review of When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel
Love of an Unforgiving Land Mark Thomas , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 November 2010; (p. 22)

— Review of When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel
Fiction Reviews Mary Philip , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 - 14 November 2010; (p. 22)

— Review of When Colts Ran Roger McDonald , 2010 single work novel
Nature of His Tale Nigel Featherstone , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 November 2010; (p. 21-22)
Roger McDonald Catherine Keenan , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13-14 November 2010; (p. 30-31) The Age , 13 November 2010; (p. 20-21)
Braidwood Author in Line for Prize Gia Metherell , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 March 2011; (p. 3)
Literary 'Sausagefest' Raises Female Hackles Stephen Romei , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 20 April 2011; (p. 5)
Triple Treat for the Nation's Best Novel Deborah Bogle , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 20 April 2011; (p. 17)
Last amended 13 Jul 2021 12:01:52
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