Clean Straw for Nothing & A Cartload of Clay (Angus & Robertson Classics) [Paperback]

George Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Series: Angus & Robertson Classics | Publication Date: March 1, 2002

These two classic tales of identity and exile by award winning author George Johnston focus on David, a successful war correspondent, as he attempts to find his place in the world.

George Johnston, born 1912, launched his journalistic career at the age of 16. He became Australia's first official war correspondent in WWII and wrote for Time magazine. He spent a number of years in Greece.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George Johnston was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1912. At the age of 16 his career as a journalist was launched and by the time WW11 broke out he was firmly established. He became Australia's first official war correspondent and wrote for TIME magazine. He married accomplished author Charmian Clift. Along with their two children they were later to settle in Greece where he began writing full-time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers PTY Limited (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0207197482
• ISBN-13: 978-0207197482
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,070,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desolation and disenchantment miles from home., May 25, 2002

By 

"paulhampson1" (Mont Albert, VIC. Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clean Straw for Nothing & A Cartload of Clay (Angus & Robertson Classics) (Paperback)

George Johnston published a number of novels, many of them "pulpy" in nature to earn a living, before he turned the subject of his writing to something closer to home: his own life. And in doing so, he not only gained incredible fame and adoration, but also reserved himself a place in Australia's Literature canon. The strength of George's writing lies partly in the attention to detail and his beautiful evocation of parts local and foreign (local: Melbourne, foreign: Hydra, Greece) but it is marked also by the honestly which pervades all his work. "Clean Straw for Nothing", I believe, is his masterpiece - an intensely personal exploration of ex-patriation, poverty, the nature of success, illness and sexual jealousy. All these conflicting emotions are heartbreakingly rendered such as few Australian writers have ever dared to do, let alone so well. His alter-ego, David Meredith, speaks volumes in the way he conducts his life, about the journey of life and career, and the extent we can push ourselves in one direction which may not necessarily be the best for us. David, like Johnston himself, is driven, passionate and yearning, but also flawed in his insecurity, stubborness and self-centredness. Nevertheless, Meredith is indelible and moving because of this.
I read "Clean Straw for Nothing" when I was twenty-one, and credit it with changing so much about life and my attitude towards it. This is a neglected classic, deserving to be better recognised. In my eyes, Johnston was leagues ahead of his contemporaries.

5.0 out of 5 stars George Johnston's Two of a Trilogy, January 3, 2007

By 

Mickey Raton "Mike" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Clean Straw for Nothing & A Cartload of Clay (Angus & Robertson Classics) (Paperback)

This author is really worth reading for his exceptionally communicative passages in not only these two stories, but also My Brother Jack - the first of the Trilogy.