Crocodile Country - Barry Crump

Published by Barry Crump Associates: Opotiki, NZ, 1990.
First published as 'Gulf', in 1964.

Most of Barry Crump's books are set in rural New Zealand; this one, as the title might suggest, is set in rural Australia. We follow our nameless protagonist and his wife Fiff, who, bored of their current lives, decide to travel north and become crocodile hunters. They encounter various characters, eventually joining up with renounced crocodile hunter Darcy (and his dog Pruszkowic), from whom they learn the trade.

As with most Crump books, there is not much more to the plot as a whole than what I have already described. We get all kinds of yarns based around this theme, with trips to pubs, encounters with eccentric locals, and numerous stories of individual crocodile hunts to pad out the run time, until it is time for the book to end with an event that gives a vague sense of closure to at least one part of the plot. Yet, as is also the case with most Crump books, the stories are interesting and keep you reading.

The fact that Crump had lived as a crocodile hunter himself for a few years shows in the detailed accounts of crocodile hunting, and Crump's own demons (particularly his strained romantic relationships) also shine through in the dysfunctional relationship the protagonist has with Fiff.

Maybe not my favourite Crump book, but still an interesting look at a very different type of lifestyle to mine!

Completed 30 August 2024.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

In a Free State - VS Naipaul

Image
Published by Picador: London, UK, 2001. First published 1971. An odd book, containing three different narratives (along with separate prologue and epilogue narratives) all on the theme of feeling displaced in a different culture and environment.  The first main story is told from the perspective of Santosh, an Indian servant who moves to America, only to find himself questioning his life choices. The next story follows a West Indian man who travels to England to support his brother, only to become disillusioned and eventually murder someone.  The third main narrative - which is the longest and also the titular 'In a Free State' - follows follows two English expats - Bobby and Linda - as they road trip south through a progressively more war-torn African nation. On the way we learn a lot about each character - mostly through their conversations - and witness their interactions with each other and those around them. As with many of the  Booker books I have read, there is an occasi
Read more