Review of The Real Henry Lawson by Colin Roderick

Abstract

The title of Colin Roderick's book is suggestive in more ways than one; principally, it gives the impression that there are matters concerning the life of Henry Lawson that have not been known or not understood and that a distorted sense of the man has become current which the author will set out to correct. It also implies that there are complexities in the life and character of one of the best known of Australia's writers which need to be delineated and explored. To boldly announce that one is proposing to present reality and explode myths is to arouse considerable expectations. It is more than a little disappointing, therefore, that Dr Roderick's idea of what constitutes reality should prove as threadbare as it does.