Mrs. Aeneas Gunn (1870–1961)

A revealing book about life on an early Australian cattle station.

It's a little confusing at first with the author's referring to places as if they are people and the multitude of nicknames she gives to those who accompany her into the bush, but easier once you get into it.

The author paints some beautiful and poignant pictures of life in the Australian bush. Most moving to me was the description of the postman's determined and dangerous journey along his mail route to the inside. Six times a year he would risk his life to deliver email to remote stations.

This book is however a product of its time. It's disheartening that the author so often places men on pedestals while denigrating her fellow women, and there is some fairly racist content. The author is actually surprised to discover that Chinese men can feel compassion, for instance, and the aboriginals are constantly described as childlike and credulous.

As unappealing as this content is, however, I think it is valuable to anyone seeking an honest picture of early Australia, as it starkly demonstrates the attitude of the white colonists towards the aboriginals and Chinese fellow colonists.… (altro)

Mrs Aeneas Gunn, as she was long known, wrote this pivotal Australian text from the first years of the 20th century, the story of the only white woman on a massive station in the outback. Gunn's writing is engaging and well-versed, and the story rarely lapses into melodrama, if only because we have to keep remembering that this is drawn from life - just on a magnified scale.

Of course, it's easy (and fair) to grimace at Gunn's portrayal of non-white people, not to mention her own less-than-progressive views on her role as a woman. But the lady was born in 1870, and she was content to be a pioneer in her on ways without getting enveloped in the still cloudy issue of feminism. As with many books of this kind, we can't necessarily blame Gunn for all of her stereotyping, we can simply ensure that we read with a critical eye, and treat this book as an important historical and literary piece - especially in terms of what it tells us about the role of women and the approach to the outback.… (altro)

A feel-good recount of a year in the Australian outbush in 1902, it romanticises the tough bush life with its beautiful imagery of the landscape and the optimistic promises of a new home. There's a distinct sly, dry humour underlying the novel where everybody walks around with a twinkle in their eye.The life is painted as one that is almost impossibly perfect and full of humorous, good-hearted people who survive and thrive in an isolation where mail only comes every six weeks. Then this mirage is given a dose of reality with period racism and slurs or with a recount of the fate of the previous postman. Even though current tastes have moved towards more realistic portrayals of the outback, I can't begrudge Jeannie Gunn her charmed and charming year knowing its sad demise.

Aside: Fizzer needs to write his own book.

Update: a fascinating article that contextualises the book.… (altro)