Peter Temple
Peter Temple is a South-African born writer of Australian crime fiction. I’ve now read two books in the Jack Irish series: Bad Debts and Dead Point.
I’ve actually met Peter Temple. He was a lecturer in journalism at RMIT when I started a course there in 1986. My academic career was brief, as I left after a couple of months to begin a cadetship at Bairnsdale.
The RMIT journalism degree at that time was considered prestigious, with only about 35 students and just one other comparable (but inferior) degree in Victoria at Deakin University.
I remember being interviewed by Temple as part of the selection process. I also recall him as an incisive lecturer who impressed upon us the importance of concise writing.
That trait is evident in his fiction. I was attracted to these books because I knew the author and I knew the setting was Fitzroy.
Jack Irish, seemingly like many detective heroes, is a reformed alcoholic. He’s also a gambler and lawyer. He follows Fitzroy before they merge with Brisbane, lives in Fitzroy, haunts local pubs, stumbles through relationships and meets some nasty characters in the course of his work.
I enjoyed these novels, which can genuinely be described as entertaining. The parts of Melbourne that he describes, and the nostalgia for Fitzroy, have meaning for me.
The gambling connections, through an associate who’s an ex-jockey turned professional punter, are amusing and revealing.
It’s one thing to say these books are entertaining, but it would be another entirely to say there are literary masterpieces.
They’re not. They’re well written, but in a simple uncomplicated way. I struggled to find any moral or theme in these stories, except the good guy always wins.
The fictional corruption within government and business was far fetched, in my opinion, and unfair to the vast majority of honest public officials given their freshness in terms of time.
I couldn”t help comparing these novels with James Lee Burke and his Dave Robicheaux character. Robicheaux battles evil within himself as well as on the streets. He knows when he’s crossing the line between good and bad, and grapples internally with the consequences.
Jack Irish lives on the edge of the law, pushes ethics to the limit and lives the lifestyle of a single middle-aged man with an ego.
As mentioned, this can be entertaining, but doesn’t leave the reader with any take-home message or social insight.
I also found the use of dialogue confusing. Bad Debts, in particular, features several long conversations in the opening chapters. It was hard initially to understand their significance. Temple could have used narrative more to set the scene.
Consider these books if you’re looking for a good read with a Melbourne flavor, but don’t expect to be challenged or provoked.
PS: This review was transferred across from my old Blog on April 9, 2004. The old entry had a comment added from someone claiming to be Peter Temple, and I believe it probably was him.
The comment: Dear Michael Gorey: In view of the sentence below, I don’t think you spent long enough at RMIT. It says that the vast majority of honest public officials are fresh in time.
The fictional corruption within government and business was far fetched, in my opinion, and unfair to the vast majority of honest public officials given their freshness in terms of time.
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