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{{Short description| |
{{Short description|1957 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary}} |
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{{Use Australian English|date=June 2024}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} |
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{{Infobox book | |
{{Infobox book | |
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| name = |
| name = The Green Helmet |
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| title_orig = |
| title_orig = |
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| translator = |
| translator = |
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| image = |
| image = |
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| caption = |
| caption = |
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| author = [[ |
| author = [[Jon Cleary]] |
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| cover_artist = |
| cover_artist = |
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| country = Australia |
| country = Australia |
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| series = |
| series = |
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| genre = Novel |
| genre = Novel |
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| publisher = |
| publisher = [[HarperCollins|Collins]] |
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| release_date = |
| release_date = 1957 |
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| media_type = Print |
| media_type = Print |
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| pages = |
| pages = 266 pp. |
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| isbn = |
| isbn = |
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| preceded_by = |
| preceded_by = [[Justin Bayard]] |
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| followed_by = |
| followed_by = [[Back of Sunset]] |
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| awards = |
| awards = |
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}} |
}} |
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''''' |
'''''The Green Helmet''''' is a 1957 novel by the Australian author [[Jon Cleary]].<ref name="NLA">{{cite web|title= ''The Green Helmet'' by Jon Cleary (Collins, 1957)|publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2379811|access-date= 3 June 2024}}</ref> It was the author's eighth novel. |
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==Synopsis== |
==Synopsis== |
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Brothers Ham and Taz Rafferty are professional race car drivers whose father was killed during the [[Mille Miglia]], a 1000-mile endurance race through Italy. The boys' mother extracts a promise from Taz that he will allow Ham to drive while he bides his time. But tension builds between the two when Ham refuses to retire after a near-disaster. An American tire manufacturer contracts Ham to race on his tires and a romance ensues between Ham and the American's daughter. |
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During the [[Boer War]], a secret council of men succeeds in blowing up the Woolwich arsenal, assassinating the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and causing the disappearance of two British Cabinet Ministers, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army along with the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa. |
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==Background== |
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Cleary had written a book about Australian politics, ''The Mayor's Nest'', but his English publisher was worried it would not appeal to an international audience, and suggested a book on motor racing.<ref name="Vagg"/> |
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Cleary and his wife had lived in Italy for a year and became familiar with the motor races there such as the [[Mille Miglia]]. He had not written in six months, so moved to Valencia, a small town in Spain where he rented a villa. He wrote the novel in twenty days at a chapter a day.<ref>MYSTERY MAN; JON CLEARY / WRITER Features: [Late Edition] |
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Stephens, Tony. Sydney Morning Herald; 15 Nov 1997: 3.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122481661/?terms=%22jon%2Bcleary%22%2B%22green%2Bhelmet%22|date=31 December 1960|page=10|title=Jon Cleary - Worth a Couple of Brigades to Authors|first=John|last=Hetherington}}</ref> |
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==Publishing history== |
==Publishing history== |
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After its initial publication in UK by |
After its initial publication in UK by Collins in 1957,<ref name="NLA" /> it was reprinted as follows: |
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* 1901, UK, F. V. White<ref name="Austlit" /> |
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* |
* 1970, UK, [[HarperCollins|Collins]]<ref name="Austlit" /> |
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==Critical reception== |
==Critical reception== |
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A reviewer in the Sydney ''Evening News'' was not impressed with the work: "He is not a great novelist, far from it. He has never given us characters which will endure in popular memory, whose sayings will pass into literature, and who will become ascharacter subjects for the painter...But ''A Cabinet Secret'', interesting as it undoubtedly is to those who read for sensation alone, is very far from the level on which Mr. Boothby had established."<ref>{{cite web|title="Recent Publications" |publisher= Evening News, 9 March 1901, p1|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article114015788|access-date= 30 May 2024}}</ref> |
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The book became a best seller on its publication in 1957. Cleary says Reader's Digest paid an advance of 20,000 pounds for their editions.<ref name="Vagg">[http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=vagg%20cleary;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 Jon Cleary Interviewed by Stephen Vagg: Oral History] at [[National Film and Sound Archive]]</ref> |
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In in ''Examiner'' (Launceston, Tasmania) the reviewer was rather more enthusiastic: "Mr. Boothby is never at a loss for something original in the way of plot or something exciting in the matter of detail, and he has combined both in this work. It deals with a supposed danger to which Great Britain was exposed at the opening of the Boer war from the plots of a crew of conspirators who kidnap or assassinate the principal members of the Cabinet and the leading generals. The story is told in terse style, situations following each other in rapid succession, and to those who like that class of work the 'Cabinet Secret' will be full of interest."<ref>{{cite web|title="Notes on New Books" |publisher= Examiner, 1 April 1901, p3|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35394460|access-date= 30 May 2024}}</ref> |
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''Kirkus Reviews'' was not impressed with the work: "Superb suspense in the racing aspects; the romance is contrived and two-dimensional."<ref>{{cite web|title="The Green Helmet by Jon Cleary" |publisher= Kirkus Reviews, 1 January 1957|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/jon-cleary-3/the-green-helmet/|access-date= 3 June 2024}}</ref> |
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A reviewer in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' found a lot more to like about the author's "swift and clear presentations of scenes in high-class English pubs, New York pent-house apartments, American factories, English country places! Writers with more to say, or less, might well admire the hard-gained discipline of his writing."<ref>{{cite web|title="Four Australian novels" |publisher= The Bulletin, 29 January 1958, p58|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-679493066|access-date= 3 June 2024}}</ref> |
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==Film adaptation== |
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The novel was adapted as a film of [[The Green Helmet|the same name]] in 1961, directed by Michael Forlong with a screenplay by Jon Cleary.<ref name="IMDB">{{cite web|title= The Green Helmet (1961) |publisher= IDMB|url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054943/|access-date= 3 June 2024}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[ |
* [[1957 in Australian literature]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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{{Jon Cleary}} |
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[[: Category:Novels by Jon Cleary]] |
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Revision as of 00:05, 3 June 2024
Not finished.
| Author | Jon Cleary |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Collins |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 266 pp. |
| Preceded by | Justin Bayard |
| Followed by | Back of Sunset |
The Green Helmet is a 1957 novel by the Australian author Jon Cleary.[1] It was the author's eighth novel.
Synopsis
Brothers Ham and Taz Rafferty are professional race car drivers whose father was killed during the Mille Miglia, a 1000-mile endurance race through Italy. The boys' mother extracts a promise from Taz that he will allow Ham to drive while he bides his time. But tension builds between the two when Ham refuses to retire after a near-disaster. An American tire manufacturer contracts Ham to race on his tires and a romance ensues between Ham and the American's daughter.
Background
Cleary had written a book about Australian politics, The Mayor's Nest, but his English publisher was worried it would not appeal to an international audience, and suggested a book on motor racing.[2]
Cleary and his wife had lived in Italy for a year and became familiar with the motor races there such as the Mille Miglia. He had not written in six months, so moved to Valencia, a small town in Spain where he rented a villa. He wrote the novel in twenty days at a chapter a day.[3][4]
Publishing history
After its initial publication in UK by Collins in 1957,[1] it was reprinted as follows:
- 1958, USA, William Morrow and Company[5]
- 1963, Australia, Howitz[6]
- 1970, UK, Collins[6]
- 1988, UK, Fontana[6]
Critical reception
The book became a best seller on its publication in 1957. Cleary says Reader's Digest paid an advance of 20,000 pounds for their editions.[2]
Kirkus Reviews was not impressed with the work: "Superb suspense in the racing aspects; the romance is contrived and two-dimensional."[7]
A reviewer in The Bulletin found a lot more to like about the author's "swift and clear presentations of scenes in high-class English pubs, New York pent-house apartments, American factories, English country places! Writers with more to say, or less, might well admire the hard-gained discipline of his writing."[8]
Film adaptation
The novel was adapted as a film of the same name in 1961, directed by Michael Forlong with a screenplay by Jon Cleary.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b "The Green Helmet by Jon Cleary (Collins, 1957)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ a b Jon Cleary Interviewed by Stephen Vagg: Oral History at National Film and Sound Archive
- ^ MYSTERY MAN; JON CLEARY / WRITER Features: [Late Edition] Stephens, Tony. Sydney Morning Herald; 15 Nov 1997: 3.
- ^ Hetherington, John (31 December 1960). "Jon Cleary - Worth a Couple of Brigades to Authors". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 10.
- ^ "The Green Helmet by Jon Cleary (William Morrow, 1958)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ a b c "Austlit — The Green Helmet by Jon Cleary". Austlit. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ ""The Green Helmet by Jon Cleary"". Kirkus Reviews, 1 January 1957. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ ""Four Australian novels"". The Bulletin, 29 January 1958, p58. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ "The Green Helmet (1961)". IDMB. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
Category:1957 Australian novels
Category:Novels by Jon Cleary