30 Days in Sydney

30 Days in Sydney

"30 Days in Sydney" is a book written by Australian novelist Peter Carey. It was published in 2001 and is subtitled "A Wildly Distorted Account".

Superficially a piece of travel writing, "30 Days in Sydney" is perhaps more of a view into the psyche of Carey, an Australian returning home after a 17 year absence, his motley crew of friends and Sydneysiders in general.

Plot overview

The book takes the form of an impressionistic, possibly somewhat fictionalised, account of Carey's brief stay, and of his attempts to gather his required material. During his time in Sydney, around the 2000 Olympic Games, he badgered his friends with a battered tape recorder, in order to get them to give their own stories and impressions of the city. Carey wishes to structure the book around the elements of earth, wind, fire and water, and his friends, sometimes reluctantly, oblige. One tells of his attempts to rescue his home from a bushfire, and another of a near death experience during the disastrous 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Meanwhile Carey's own narrative digresses into history and anecdote, touching on Sydney's uneasy race relations and a horrific recurring dream involving the Harbour Bridge, and culminating in a dramatic late night incident in a rooftop squat.

Carey finishes the book by stating "A metropolis is, by definition, inexhaustible, and by the time I departed, thirty days later, Sydney was as unknowable to me as it had been on that clear April morning when I arrived."


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Days Inn - Sydney, Nova Scotia (Sydney (NS)) — Days Inn Sydney, Nova Scotia country: Canada, city: Sydney (NS) (Sydney) Days Inn Sydney, Nova Scotia Built overlooking the beautiful Sydney Harbour, Days Inn Nova Scotia is located only minutes away from the industrial Cape Bretons Business… …   International hotels

  • Days Inn Sydney — (Сидней,Канада) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 480 Kings Road, B1S 1A8 Сидней …   Каталог отелей

  • Sydney (NS) (Canada) — Hotels: Days Inn Sydney, Nova Scotia (Sydney) …   International hotels

  • Sydney Cricket Ground — Infobox cricket ground ground name = Sydney Cricket Ground nickname = SCG country = Australia location = Moore Park, Sydney establishment = 1848 ground capacity = 48,000 owner = Government of New South Wales operator = Sydney Cricket Ground Trust …   Wikipedia

  • Sydney FC — Football club infobox clubname = Sydney FC fullname = Sydney Football Club founded = 2004 ground = Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney capacity = 45,500 chairman = flagicon|Australia Andrew Kemeny mgrtitle = Coach manager = flagicon|Australia John… …   Wikipedia

  • Sydney Grade Cricket — is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. It has been described as the most competitive form of Cricket in the world outside first class cricket. [http://www.uscricket.com/newsdetail.asp?id=875 news=usnews category=General] The… …   Wikipedia

  • Sydney — • The vast territories formerly known as New Holland and Van Dieman s Island and since 1900 as The Commonwealth of Australia were erected to the Vicariate Apostolic of New Holland in 1834 Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Sydney      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Sydney Pollack — Sydney Pollack, 2006 Sydney Irwin Pollack (* 1. Juli 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana; † 26. Mai 2008 in Los Angeles) war ein US amerikanischer Filmregisseur, produzent und Schauspieler …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sydney Grundy — (March 23 1848 ndash; July 4 1914) was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English speaking world. He is, however, perhaps best remembered today as… …   Wikipedia

  • Sydney Bristow — Alias character Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow First appearance …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”