![]() ![]() Arriving in Australia on the outcome of a tossed coin, Oscar finds that sheer luck has left him a gambler in a gambling colony, a native in a strange land, almost as if the coin’s toss were the instrument of destiny. It seemed to be the chief industry of the colony.” Is Oscar, an Anglican priest, shocked by the unrestrained spectacle of dog-racing, horse-racing, mah-jong, poker, and gin-rummy greeting him in New South Wales? Hardly for the parson is himself a gambler. It was not confined to certain types or classes. It’s something you still see today, and it’s exactly what greeted the Reverend Oscar Hopkins, one half of the central pair of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda when he arrives in Australia in the nineteenth century: “Oscar had never seen such a passion for gambling. ![]() No wonder then, that Aussies are so confident about their little island having struck up a cosy relationship with the governing administration of serendipity.īeing a pragmatic lot, Australians also hit upon the perfect way to harvest all this good luck. The “lucky country” (what the locals call Australia) has watched itself mature from one of Britain’s most marginal colonies into a full-fledged nation, while steering almost entirely clear of the home country’s intractable woes- class divisions, troubles in Ireland, warm beer, soggy weather. It was to enjoy a disproportionately large share of the good luck in the world. ![]() SOMEWHERE IN THE COURSE of their short history as a people, Australians became convinced that they had a manifest destiny. ![]()
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