The Green Helmet (novel)
| 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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ 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.