My Brother Jack (George Johnston) - Book Review

It's eerie coming across the literary version of yourself, essentially the same person who lived a different life and made different decisions.

'My Brother Jack' by George Johnston is a classic Aussie story about family relations, cultural snapshots, responsibility and dashed dreams. It is narrated by David Meredith and is mostly an introspective story but with the constant play of the polarity between himself and his brother Jack. There are many themes contained within but David's shirking of responsibility and Jack's portrayal as the classic Aussie bloke really jump out.

I summarised the book as follows. "It him home hard and was maybe even too close to home. I saw so much of my innate personality in David, basically an alternate Kyrin living an alternate life (& I didn't like what I saw eeeep). It reveals the cultural feeling in the air between the two world wars and the ending left me reeling. A fantastic book that is very close to being in my top 10!"

As always, I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!

Timeline:
(0:00) - Intro & Synopsis
(4:21) - Shirking: An avoidance of duty &/or responsibility
(9:59) - Old Mate: What makes an Aussie man?
(15:33) - Personal Observations/Takeaways
(21:12) - Summary
(22:16) - Aussie Slang

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