A short autobiography that felt like a very long boring rant

• Published: 2018
• Completed: 11/12/2024
• Pages: 191

“One Hundred Years of Dirt” by Rick Morton is an auto biographical novel about Morton’s largely fatherless, poor and difficult life to date. It is only a short book but felt like a really long and unenjoyable rant. The dry writing style, characteristic of Morton’s background in journalism, further made this a difficult read for me and had me ironically wishing the book had been more fiercely edited for clarity and succinctness.

From the opening pages, this book felt disjointed, rambling and unnecessarily over worked. Morton often draws analogies that are either overly complex (comparing the disadvantage of poverty to the discovery of the Higgs boson) or are a completely unintelligible word salad:

“Marcia, was one of those perfectly affable professionals who manage the dual sensory inputs of both your own personal despair and an astonishing temporal awareness with remarkable ease.” P140

Given Morton’s eventful life, this novel also seemed strangely plotless as he attempts to string anecdotes, statistics and resentful reflection into a cohesive work. I think this was because Morton spends more time discussing how he is perceived and how we should feel about it rather than what he actually does or experience.

When Morton approaches his past more plainly, without the largely unrevealing woe-is-me commentary, his autobiography is more engaging, allowing us to feel empathy for the hardships he has objectively experienced.

Despite all my gripes about this book, I appreciate its view into the world of rural, poor and gay Australia. In this, Morton often talks about feeling like and being alien in his surroundings. Knowing this is motivation for me to try harder to be more understanding and inclusive, despite how uncomfortable or comfortable someone might appear.

Quotes

“What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.” Seneca, P24

“She had never done anything but try to love out the dark in him.” P82

“The interior remains a mystery, compounded under the creaking stress of insanity.” P146

New Words

• Succour
• Agistment
• Troika

Ratings

• Ailsa: 6
• Hayley: 4
• Sarah: 4
• Sally: 3
• Steph: 5
• Thành: 3

Restaurant

The Shed Marion