Seven Poor Men of Sydney
by Christina Stead
On This Page
Description
Seven Poor Men of Sydney is a brilliant portrayal of a group of men and women living in Sydney in the 1920s amid conditions of poverty and social turmoil. Set against the vividly drawn backgrounds of Fisherman's (Watson's) Bay and the innercity slums, the various characters seek to resolve their individual spiritual dilemmas; through politics, religion and philosophy. Their struggles, their pain and their frustrations are portrayed with consummate skill in this memorable evocation of a city show more and an era. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Jonah by Louis Stone
by anonymous user
Member Reviews
As you can see from the lyrical opening lines from her first novel, Seven Poor Men of Sydney, Christina Stead had vivid memories of her favourite places in Sydney, even though she had fled Australian parochialism some years before her final revision of the novel for publication in 1934. But although she came from a middle-class background, she also had vivid memories of the deprivation she had witnessed, and the first chapter paints a poignant picture of childhood poverty with her depiction of the childhood friend of her central character, Michael Baguenault:
These children would be labelled ‘free-range children’ by the disapproving helicopter parents of our time, for they were free to roam around the harbour and to mingle with the fishermen and other working men. Stead does paint a negative portrait of their parents – not as neglectful – but rather as irrelevant. By the time Michael is a teenager he has with considerable hostility rejected his mother’s pious Catholicism, and seems relieved to discover that the man who brought him up is not his father after all. It is his presumed biological father who has lifted the family into middle-class respectability by leaving them a substantial legacy, which enables the two older girls to take up university scholarships, and for Michael and his sister to continue their secondary education.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/09/seven-poor-men-of-sydney-by-christina-stead/ show less
Annie Prendergast lived with her family in part of the house. The little girl was thin, with black eyes and hair. She scratched her head and body all the time, and always smelled ofshow more
ingrained dirt. In the corners of the house bats flew, swallows dropped mud and dung from every beam, and from all the cracks of the great whitewashed stones at the back ran cockroaches, beetles and rats. Cockchafer beetles, cicadas and mosquitoes shouted loudly in summer evenings in the tall trees; large spiders hung in the outhouses, and fearsome-looking, but innocent crickets and slaters dwelt under the bits of wood and sheets of corrugated iron fallen off the roof into the grass. The house attracted Michael and the other children with the same charm as a stagnant gutter. (p.4)
These children would be labelled ‘free-range children’ by the disapproving helicopter parents of our time, for they were free to roam around the harbour and to mingle with the fishermen and other working men. Stead does paint a negative portrait of their parents – not as neglectful – but rather as irrelevant. By the time Michael is a teenager he has with considerable hostility rejected his mother’s pious Catholicism, and seems relieved to discover that the man who brought him up is not his father after all. It is his presumed biological father who has lifted the family into middle-class respectability by leaving them a substantial legacy, which enables the two older girls to take up university scholarships, and for Michael and his sister to continue their secondary education.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/09/seven-poor-men-of-sydney-by-christina-stead/ show less
This is classic Australian literature, full of lush scenery, diverse characters, Depression-era poverty and politics, tangled love interests, complex psyches, ... and I didn't like it. I felt it rambled on and on, with no direction, and there was not enough to keep me interested. I don't know if I'm disappointed in the novel or in myself for giving up after 150 pages.
I think my favourite Stead so far. Stead, in my opinion, is easily one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. She is certainly mine. I've now read The Man Who Loved Children, Seven Poor Men of Sydney, The Beauties and Furies, and For Love Alone. All 5 stars. She talked about things everyone else was too much of dog turd to talk about. On to House of All Nations.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
24+ Works 3,512 Members
Author Christina Stead was born in Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia on July 17, 1902. She left Australia in 1928 and spent time in Europe, England, and the United States before permanently returning in 1974. She wrote fifteen novels and numerous volumes of short stories. She is best known for her novel, The Man Who Loved Children, which was show more based on her childhood. Her novels were unpublished in Australia until 1965 and she was denied the Britannica-Australia award in 1967 on the grounds that she was no longer considered an Australian. In 1974, she won the Patrick White award. While living in the United States during the 1940s, she worked as a Hollywood scriptwriter and contributed to Madame Curie and They Were Expendable. She died on March 31, 1983. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Important places
- Australia; New South Wales, Australia; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- First words
- The hideous low scarred yellow horny and barren headland lies curled like a scorpion in a blinding sea and sky.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And thus he begins:
"We were seven friends, at that time, yes, seven poor men ..."
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 113
- Popularity
- 282,062
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.85)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Norwegian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 4
