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The lives of the saints

David McBride’s ethic of self-interest
by
January-February 2024, no. 461

The Nature of Honour: Son, duty-bound soldier, military lawyer, truth-teller, father by David McBride

Viking, $36.99 pb, 288 pp

The lives of the saints

David McBride’s ethic of self-interest
by
January-February 2024, no. 461

Sometimes, for the faithful, it doesn’t do to look too closely into the life of your chosen idol. Saul of Tarsus had been an enthusiastic persecutor of Christians before his spiritual detour en route to Damascus. St Camillus de Lellis, patron saint of nurses and the sick, to whom we owe the symbol of the red cross, spent his early life as a con man, a mercenary, and a compulsive gambler – little wonder he went far in the Church. Where our secular martyrs are concerned, matters become still murkier. Mahatma Gandhi tested his chastity by sleeping naked with nubile young women and girls – one of whom was his grand-niece. And as for Julian Assange ...

The Nature of Honour: Son, duty-bound soldier, military lawyer, truth-teller, father

The Nature of Honour: Son, duty-bound soldier, military lawyer, truth-teller, father

by David McBride

Viking, $36.99 pb, 288 pp

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Comments (24)

  • I thought it was a good and insightful review of the book. Surely a reviewer has an obligation to try and understand the motives and intent of the author, especially in an autobiography? I believe Kevin Foster has done just that. I actually found the book appallingly superficial, but for some strange reason I felt compelled to finish it. Having read Foster's review, I believe that he has accurately and succinctly articulated what I was actually feeling.
    Posted by Peter Gerard Kelly
    09 January 2024
  • I can understand the reaction here, but it betrays a deliberate ignorance of the opening lines of the review. Don't idolise your 'heroes'. They are all flawed. This was the message that David McBride was sending while broadcasting his own flaws. He was part of the culture that he found distasteful to the values that he assumed as a privileged elitist. McBride discovered that error. We see exposed the class assumptions of McBride's cultural milieu. He does not do it as a class warrior. For that he deserves the respect that the reviewer affords. He should not be hailed as (nor does he claim to be) another working-class hero, and for headlining that, the reviewer should be congratulated.
    Posted by Warwick Fry
    08 January 2024
  • Do you have anything to say about the actual book? As it is, it just reads as sour grapes about something unstated. If you don't like the guy, the readers of your review probably don't care.

    ABR should ask you (again) to provide a review of the book.
    Posted by S Kelly
    08 January 2024
  • Nice hit piece.

    Let us know when you do a review of the book.
    Posted by Harry
    07 January 2024
  • This is a personal attack on the author and not a book review.
    Posted by robshaw
    07 January 2024
  • Seems to me this review is more about stopping people from buying David McBride's book, rather than people knowing the truth about Australia's subservience machinations and inhumane crimes. What a strange world we do live in!
    Posted by Colin Mirgis
    07 January 2024
  • Come on, this isn’t a book review!
    Posted by Sandy Yeomans
    07 January 2024
  • This is not a review. It is personal vendetta writ large.
    Posted by Mark Fletcher
    07 January 2024
  • I thought this was going to be a review of David McBride's book. However it reads like an personal opinion of his career and character.

    I fail to see how this text can be classified as a review
    Posted by Sharon Luhr
    07 January 2024
  • Is there a book review hidden anywhere in this diatribe?
    Posted by Lothar
    07 January 2024

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