Official Review: Adventures of the Louth Park Mob

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 16 Jan 2020, 22:52

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Adventures of the Louth Park Mob" by Mick Fairleigh & Paul Doherty.]

3 out of 4 stars

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The Adventures of the Louth Park Mob is a book of autobiographical short stories by Mick Fairleigh and Paul Doherty, two men who grew up in Maitland, NSW, in the 1960s and 1970s. Between visiting an old convict gaol, playing in an abandoned mineshaft, climbing various buildings, and tempting fate against a wild boar, the boys enjoyed more mild pastimes, like mass movie hysteria during “Beatlemania,” stealing empty bottles for the deposit money, braving a haunted house, and running from an apparently reanimated corpse. These were all just garden variety shenanigans for the “Louth Park Mob.” This entertaining series of stories really captured what boyhood was like in rural Australia back in the “good old days” before smartphones and the Internet sapped our collective sense of adventure.

When I first read these stories, I’ll admit I found a few of them fairly low-key. However, even those that weren't action-packed still had some great snippets of Australian (and world) history included. As I wrote the plot synopsis above, I realised just how entertained I had really been by this great series of boyhood adventures. Through the laughter and mischievous activities of this group of lads ran an amazing thread of nostalgia that “fair dinkum” made me wish I’d been there with these boys, living their adventures along with them. These two Aussie blokes told their stories with genuine humility and integrity, making me wish I’d had the pleasure of knowing them personally.

The rampant “Australianisms” peppering the narrative were excellent, though international readers might find the local slang hard to follow. In the first two pages alone, I saw “kettle of fish,” “baked spuds,” “good on the tooth,” “deadly tread-lies” and “mouthful of cheek.” Clearly these stories were meant mainly for an Australian audience – I can’t help but think the average American reader would be a bit lost reading the previous sentence. However, like Vegemite on toast (and no, you don’t spread it on like peanut butter – it goes on thin with lots of butter!), this Australian flavour teamed beautifully with the nostalgic recollections of decades long past.

There were some nice sentimental moments, such as “Doc” (Paul) carving his name on the wall at the old convict gaol beside his father’s name, which had been carved there 19 years earlier. The “Aussie larrikin” sense of humour pervading each story was fantastic, with quips such as: “Just because you’ve got a head like a sewing machine, doesn’t mean you’re a singer.” Overall, the tales were easy to read and boasted plenty of entertainment value. The last paragraph of each story included a segue into the next one, which helped prime my interest to keep reading.

Some minor negatives about this book included unnecessary spaces being used before exclamation marks and question marks. Apostrophes were occasionally used incorrectly in plurals, and commas used unnecessarily: “...an overjoyed Dennis, replied.” I also saw a few minor grammatical errors, like “man of a 1,000 faces,” which says “man of a one thousand faces” instead of “man of a thousand faces.” Were it not for these errors, I would definitely rate this book 4 stars for its nostalgic, easy-to-read tales packed with wholesome old-fashioned entertainment. Currently, I must rate The Adventures of the Louth Park Mob 3 out of 4 stars. Anyone with an interest in Australian country life in the 1960s and 1970s would find it fascinating, especially those who know our country – and our slang – particularly well. It contained some occasional coarse language, but nothing too strong.

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Adventures of the Louth Park Mob
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Roger Glasgow · Post by **Julius_** » 27 Jan 2020, 03:23

I'm not a fan of biographies and autobiographical writings. I think I'll pass this one, but your review was very well written.

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 27 Jan 2020, 14:38

Julius_ wrote: ↑27 Jan 2020, 03:23 I'm not a fan of biographies and autobiographical writings. I think I'll pass this one, but your review was very well written.

Thanks! I do enjoy biographies and autobiographies when written well, as this one was.