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shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
I started this many months ago and finally picked it up to finish. It's actually pretty good. Alan Marshall was an inspiring person who didn't know the meaning of the word 'adversity.' His description of learning to ride a horse without the use of his legs is amazing.
joshuawalkerauthor's review against another edition
4.0
This book perfectly couples an authentic capturing of Australian outback life at the turn of the century with an intimate insight into a child’s eyes, growing up in a world where adults pity him and children find him to be interesting. The biggest takeaway for me was the idea that people’s opinions of Alan are not reflective of who he is and he does not let opinions shape him. His disability does not control him and the extent of his reach into different avenues of his childhood, and that makes the book very powerful. Not a doubt in my mind as to why this is considered a great Australian classic. Highly recommend.
susan_c's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
A personal story told through the experiences of a young boy. Very positive and enjoyable.
smitchy's review against another edition
3.0
Considered an Aussie classic - life of a boy with polio in country Victoria in the 1910's-20's.
Alan was born in 1902 and this book covers his life from ~8 years to ~18 and finishes with Alan being accepted into a scholarship for accountancy. Snippets of life in a changing time (post WW1 - industrialisation and cars changing the way life works in the country) make for an interesting look at things - interestingly WW1 seems to not have any impression on young Alan. Focusing on Alan's attitude toward his disability (Alan doesn't consider himself "crippled" at all) and his notice of the reactions of adults (who frequently pity or dismiss him as now useless) he frequently causes amazement as he exceeds others expectations.
This is the first in a trilogy Alan wrote about his own life and definitely the best known one of the three.
I had high expectations of this book - mostly because it gets compared to A Fortunate life by AB Facey; a book that totally blew me away - and I was a bit disappointed. This doesn't have the same pace and sense of storytelling Facey's book does. Maybe it would interest boys more, with the discriptions of rabbiting, fights and general adventuring (it is frequently set as a school text in Aus.).
It was still interesting but I did find myself skim-reading occasionally.
Alan was born in 1902 and this book covers his life from ~8 years to ~18 and finishes with Alan being accepted into a scholarship for accountancy. Snippets of life in a changing time (post WW1 - industrialisation and cars changing the way life works in the country) make for an interesting look at things - interestingly WW1 seems to not have any impression on young Alan. Focusing on Alan's attitude toward his disability (Alan doesn't consider himself "crippled" at all) and his notice of the reactions of adults (who frequently pity or dismiss him as now useless) he frequently causes amazement as he exceeds others expectations.
This is the first in a trilogy Alan wrote about his own life and definitely the best known one of the three.
I had high expectations of this book - mostly because it gets compared to A Fortunate life by AB Facey; a book that totally blew me away - and I was a bit disappointed. This doesn't have the same pace and sense of storytelling Facey's book does. Maybe it would interest boys more, with the discriptions of rabbiting, fights and general adventuring (it is frequently set as a school text in Aus.).
It was still interesting but I did find myself skim-reading occasionally.
lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition
3.0
Not nearly enough puddles jumped.
I liked the first half, though some reference to Alan's age would have been helpful. There weren't nearly enough references to the passage of time, so it wasn't clear if Alan was three or five or twelve. Only that he was young.
I'm never quite sure how I feel about the fictionalisation of certain aspects of biographies. Was there a reason Alan changed the setting? He makes reference to combining different people into a single character for ease, but...
Welp. It was pleasant enough.
I liked the first half, though some reference to Alan's age would have been helpful. There weren't nearly enough references to the passage of time, so it wasn't clear if Alan was three or five or twelve. Only that he was young.
I'm never quite sure how I feel about the fictionalisation of certain aspects of biographies. Was there a reason Alan changed the setting? He makes reference to combining different people into a single character for ease, but...
Welp. It was pleasant enough.
diazahra_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
polyhy_14's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0