Feb 26, 2009 Posted by booktiger on Feb 26, 2009 in Australia, Autobiography | 0 comments

A Fortunate Life – A.B. Facey

What does it take for us to think that we have a fortunate life? Is it measured by material things? An expensive car, a large house, plenty of overseas holidays? Perhaps it is more emotional for some people. Perhaps some people see themselves as fortunate if they have a happy marriage, or if their children do well at school, or if they have their family near to them. Maybe it is career driven – an opportunity for a job overseas, or a promotion, or a pay rise. To most people today in Britain or Australia, we would agree that we have a fortunate life if we were successful financially, emotionally and professionally.

How about if we had been beaten as a child, sent out to work from the age of 6 years old, abandoned by our mother, never had a place to truly call home and had no schooling at all until we tried to teach ourself to read?. How about then when we were old enough we were sent to war where we saw our family members and friends die horribly, and only came back because we had been badly injured? How about then if we had to suffer through hunger and joblessness? And business failures? And the loss of our own children in war? If you had gone through all this, would you think you had a fortunate life? I can’t imagine anyone who could honestly say yes. Or at least I couldn’t, until I read Albert Facey’s simple, wonderful autobiography about his amazing, but so very normal life.

Albert Facey was born at the end of the nineteenth century in Victoria, Australia. When his mother abandoned her children to live with their grandmother, they were forced to move to Western Australia where there were farming opportunities for new settlers. It was backbreakingly difficult, and Bert was out working by the time he was 6. There was no time for schooling. His life from there was moving from one job to another, never having anywhere to really settle, and rarely experiencing the kind of comforts which we take for granted today.

And yet, the attitude which Albert carried throughout his entire life was so incredibly positive. He taught himself to read and write when he was nearly an adult, and in a wonderful move, his editor retained his writing style for the book. Although he writes in his old age, his language and observations still held the wonder and excitement of a child, irresepective of what he faced and what difficulties he had to overcome.

The incredible thing about this story is that Albert was a child only 100 years ago. It wasn’t that long ago that children knew they  had to work in order to survive. It wasn’t that long ago that Albert was self sufficient, making decisions for his own life by the time he was 10 years old. His maturity was astounding, but perhaps that was endemic of the period and geographic location within which he lived.

This book is an inspiration. I can’t help but look at our society today, and yes, we have come a long way. Yes, people are living comfortable and privileged lives in both Europe and Australia. Yes, we have comforts to hand – supermarkets laden with food, every electrical appliance we could possibly need, easy transport, abundant schooling, comfortable housing. But I detect a boredom and dissatisfaction amongst the societies I know. No matter how big a TV we have, we always want a bigger one. No matter how much we have in the fridge, we always have to go out and get more. No matter how comfortable our lives, we always wish it could be better. I don’t for a moment advocate the kind of hardships that Albert Facey had to go through. Yet, Albert reached the end of his life and knew that what he had experienced was indeed a fortunate one. He wouldn’t have asked for one thing to be different. I wonder how many of us could say the same today?

Perhaps we need to read books such as A Fortunate Life just to make us stop and think for a moment. We have one life and every second we experience is a second that is gone. The more time spent wishing for something more and something better, the less time there is appreciating what is here and what is now. I think that was the lesson that came out of this book. Every life is a fortunate one. It is just your attitude which affects it.

Rating: 10/10
ISBN: 978-0-14-300354-0
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1981
Date Finished: 13 January 2009
Pages: 421