Customer Reviews

THE BONE IS POINTED

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Bone is Pointed"introduces readers to one of the most fascinating detective characters in fiction today. Set in 1940's Australia, Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte presents an interesting and challenging character. The son of a white man and an aboriginal woman,"Bony"brings characteristics of both cultures to his detecting. The story begins when Jeffrey Anderson mysteriously disappears into the bush while out inspecting his employer's cattle station one April morning. Anderson was known around the area as a cruel man with a bad temper, thus his absence is not really mourned. However, a search is begun but yields no results. Five months later Bony is called in to solve this seemingly unsolvable mystery. Using both modern detecting skills and aboriginal intuition and dealing with both English feelings of colonialism and Aboriginal rights, Bony solves the puzzle while narrowly avoiding death himself.
On a deeper level, Upfield presents a political and social critique of the English treatment of Aboriginals in the first half of the 20th century. For the 1940's, Upfield even broaching this topic was radical. Detective fiction provided a way to support civil and social rights for aboriginals in a time when such acts were not accepted. Bony presents a character who combines seemingly "the best of both worlds": a civilized, intelligent, and humorous man who understands the reasons behind both the English treatment of the Aboriginals and the Aboriginals resulting feelings. This book is not only an excellent mystery but also a wonderful look at an often ignored group of people.

It's worth a read! My first contact with protagonist Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, motivates me to read more of Arthur Upfield's literary output.

Gives us some notions about tribal aborigines in Australia half a century, much as a Tony Hillerman novel does for contempary Navajo. (Regretably, I am not competent to evaluate the reliability of these insights.)

Has interesting characterizations of life among squatters in Queensland's outback. Comments on Australia's color line, whose artifacts only recently departed from public policy. Some bits intended to be quite enlightened fifty years ago may strike some readers today as racist. They should press on.

This is brilliant. Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most original and endearing characters in mystery fiction. His mother's Aboriginal, and he solves cases in the Australian outback. This book was published in 1947. Learn about life in old Australia AND sink your teeth into a juicy mystery.

This was the first of Arthur Upfield's books that I read, and then went on to his other books, fortunately a large number, all of them wonderful--plot, characters, but most of all the beautiful evocations of the Aborigines, their philosophy and way of living, and the landscapes. When I read the also terrific books by Tony Hillerman, I wondered if he had been influenced by Upfield, and in an interview he spoke about his admiration of Upfield.

The Bone Is Pointed is my first Napoleon Bonaparte mystery, and it was a most pleasant experience. Taking place in Australia, and written by someone who lived there, gives the reader a taste of what it's like in that world down under. Older mysteries are making a comeback and this series is a good choice for re-issue.

Bony to his friends, the half-caste detective has the self assurance of Holmes and the likeable arrogance of Poirot. Knowing that he is good at his profession does not make him insufferable. He is kind, even though a few others are often goaded to unkindness at best out of fear of his ability to solve cases. His doggedness is nearly legendary, his source of pride and a reputation is fights hard to maintain.

In this case, his susceptibility to the ways of his aboriginal mother come to the fore, yet he is surrounded by people who have liked him from the moment he meets them. Even though one or more of them is a murderer. Of this he is certain. The missing victim, Jeffrey Anderson, was not what he seemed, at least in part. He was well known to be a bully, treating others cruelly, and no one mourns his loss. The only fear is that in death he will bring ruin to those who knew him.

The story drifts a bit and readers looking for fights and bloodletting won't get much in Upfield's novel. Still, it's a quick read and an interesting one that will lead some readers to others in the series. Happy reading.

The Bone is Pointed operates - and operates well - on at least two levels simultaneously. First it functions as a highly successful detective novel. Upfield must have sorted through the various legacies of the detective genre when creating his characters - Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte certainly has reasoning powers that rival those of Sherlock Holmes himself. Moreover, "Bony," as the detective requests to be called, knows Australia like Holmes knows London; he knows its intricacies, its characters. And in the absence of a Watson, the reader is allowed to participate in Bony's thought process, not completely, but enough that by the end of the novel a firm sympathy with its protagonist has been created, reinforced by Upfield's careful narrative style. Secondly, Upfield's novel operates as an insightful look at mid-twentieth century Australia. Some of the tensions in that society are personified by Bony himself, a half-caste Australian who acknowledges that to succeed, he must rely on both of his inherited halves. Ultimately, it is Bony's sensitivity to both his European and Australian that draw him - and the reader - into the landscape and the people of Australia. I will be back to read more of Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte.

Arthur W. Upfield's beautifully crafted protagonist, Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte unravels another mystery, this time exploring the Australian outback. Bony, (as his friends call him, and he hopes you are his friend) is half-aboriginal and half-white. The powers of reason he has cultivated in white schools and the sixth sense of the outback ingrained from his aboriginal side have made him into a sort of Australian Sherlock Holmes. Enchantingly arrogant, and outrageously tenacious, Bony is ready to solve the disappearance of an abusive drunk that has been missing for five months and no one seems eager to find. Upfield masterfully keeps the reader's attention, casting suspicions as fast as Bony's mind can create them. As new clues are discovered, new suspects are created and the old discarded, only to be brought in again. What Bony finds leads him and the reader into a struggle to create an Australian identity in the vast and desolate landscape; a struggle between an aboriginal identity and white. As Bony skates the race line, the tension between the white world and the black becomes greater, and the aborigines "point the bone" at him, a sort of death curse. Racing against his weakening body, Bony struggles to find a culprit, or to discover that whether there is a culprit at all. In a superb finale to a gripping read, Upfield both reaffirms the affable side to Bony"s otherwise obstinate character and comments on the racial divide in Australia.

Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony") is a likeable character. I enjoy the character and the series. However what elevated this book from just another mystery is the Australian and aboriginal element. You will learn about aboriginal mind warfare, the mind telegraph, and the massive rabbit migrations. Don't "point the bone" at me. This is a memorable book.

What a wonderful adventure this one is! Not only is the murder mystery of the outstanding quality of the Upfield novel, but the insights into the great Australian outback and the aboriginal people are impressive. Interspersed with the intriguing actions of Bony, the most endearing of all detectives, are glimpses of unique outback phenomenon and an interesting peek into the lifestyles and customs of the Kalchut tribe of aborigines, a tribe protected from white society.

Jeffrey Anderson, the murder victim, was not missed. No one liked the brutal, sadistic man, but Bony still needed to investigate. When he got too close to the answers for which he was searching, the tribe "boned" him, a certain death sentence for the half-caste. Not only does Bony have to solve this case, but he has to do this before he dies. But Bony never fails to solve a case.

I highly recommend this fascinating book, as well as any other of Bony's adventures.

1. Some very strange comments below, eg,
"a poignant introduction to" and "a stunning commentary about the nature of race and cultural relations in Australia"; "an indictment of the cultural politics of Australia"; "condemnation of the inequality that has embraced Australia for more than a century";
"Detective fiction provided a way to support civil and social rights for aboriginals in a time when such acts were not accepted"; "the racial tensions of this society";
"What Bony finds leads him and the reader into a struggle to create an Australian identity in the vast and desolate landscape; a struggle between an aboriginal identity and white. As Bony skates the race line, the tension between the white world and the black becomes greater..";
"comments on the racial divide in Australia";
"Some of the book could be considered racist by contemporary standards (such as the use of "boss" toward the whites for example), but the overall story seems quite progressive for its time..";
"Comments on Australia's color line"; "Some bits intended to be quite enlightened fifty years ago may strike some readers today as racist"; ETC.

Have we been reading the same book? Arthur Upfield heaps scorn on the _urban_ Australian, ignorant of the outback & therefore dismissive & patronising towards its inhabitants -- white _& especially_ black. Upfield is especially scathing about those urban whites who dismiss Aboriginal culture as 'primitive'. He champions its _age_ & deep knowledge, & the undoubted power & reality of some of its so-called 'magical' practices. The book turns on the latter: Bony is definitely affected by the bone-pointing: the impact is real. And equally it is _only_ the Aboriginal medicine man who can bring Bony back from the point of death. Upfield brilliantly expounds Aboriginal philosophy -- _not_ in "Aboriginal patois" (as one review puts it) but in Aboriginal English --ie, a variety of Pidgin.

Upfield also depicts accurately the relationships between the outback whites & 'their' Aborigines -- the 'station' Aborigines, as distinct from those who are still 'bush'. This relationship is mutual respect & interdependence. The station-owner is called 'boss' precisely because he _is_ that: the _employer_ of _his_ station Aborigines. He supplies food, housing, clothing, etc, _&_ employment: in the running of the station (managing the sheep &/or cattle, the horses, etc; managing the water & the land, etc.)

The outback whites want to preserve Aboriginal _culture_ from destruction by the church & other urban whites. Upfield constantly contrasts the depth of Aboriginal culture -- already old before the whites had even descended from the trees -- & the superficiality of the so-called 'civilisation' with which urban whites want to replace this ancient outlook & way of life. So the tension in Bony is the tension between his ancient roots in the bush -- roots that are millions of years old, & the pull of 'white' _culture_: rational, emotionless, scientific.

2. "the English treatment of the Aboriginals and the Aboriginals resulting feelings...an often ignored group of people"

(a) ignored by whom? Certainly not the Australians (b)'English' & 'Australian' are _not_, repeat not, the same. The Australians are quite distinct, & refer to the English as 'Poms'. What Upfield shows us is (1)how the outback Oz whites interrelate with the Aborigines -- on terms of knowledge & understanding (2)the patronising ignorance of the urban Oz whites.