The Far Country (novel)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
Heinemann | |
Publication date | 1952 |
---|---|
Media type | |
Pages | 326 pp. |
Preceded by | Round the Bend |
Followed by | In the Wet |
The Far Country is a novel by Nevil Shute, first published in 1952.[1]
In this novel, Shute has some harsh things to say about the new (British) National Health Service, as well as the socialist Labour government, themes he would later develop more fully in In the Wet. He describes the lot of the 'New Australians'; refugees who are required to work for two years where they are placed, in return for free passage to Australia.
Plot summary
The story takes place partly in London and partly in Australia. It is set in 1950. Jennifer Morton, a young girl from
Jennifer finds herself falling in love with the new, relatively unspoiled country, though she continues to worry about her parents. She also meets Carl Zlinter, a 'New Australian'; a Czech refugee who is working at the nearby
Jennifer helps Zlinter to trace the history of a man of the same name who lived and died in the district many years before, during a gold rush, and they find the site of his house.
Back in England, Jennifer's mother dies and she is forced to return, but she is now restless and dissatisfied. Zlinter turns up in Leicester; he has found gold dust that the earlier Zlinter earned as a bullock driver and hid beneath a stone. He has used the money from illegally selling the gold to travel to England to ask Jennifer to marry him, and to re-qualify as a medical practitioner.
Inspiration
The character of Carl Zlinter may have been inspired by
The character of Billy Slim was based on Fred Fry, a notable fly fisherman, who constructed several huts along the Howqua River and eked out a quiet existence in the river valley.[2]
Title
The title comes from the 40th poem (in
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
1972 adaptation
1987 adaptation
The novel was adapted for television again in the 1980s. The miniseries screened on the Seven Network in 1987 starring Michael York, Sigrid Thornton, and Maureen Edwards as Mrs Morton. Shooting took place in September and October 1985, and took place entirely in Victoria even though some scenes were set in Britain and Europe.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "Austlit — The Far Country by Nevil Shute". Austlit. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- ^ "Howqua Hills Historic Area Visitors Guide" (PDF), Park Notes, Parks Victoria, May 2008, retrieved 13 September 2010
- ^ XL by A.E. Housman Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970–1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p193
External links
- The Far Country at Faded Page (Canada)