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y separately published work icon The Shiralee single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1955... 1955 The Shiralee
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Probably no swagman, in life or in fiction, ever had such a strange companion on his wanderings as has Macauley, the central character in D'Arcy Niland's first novel, who tramps through the back towns of New South Wales accompanied by his daughter Buster. Buster, four-year-old bundle of loyalty and fortitude, combines these more adult qualities with a natural childishness...Buster is no joy to Macauley, and he treats her with an uncompromising firmness: she must go on walking when she is nearly exhausted, must stop chattering when he wants to be quiet, must not complain. But Macauley has, too, a certain grudging affection for her, and this affection develops until it is so threatened by circumstances that it must at last be openly admitted.' (Source: dustjacket, 1955 Angus and Robertson edition)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon The Shiralee Leslie Norman , Neil Paterson , ( dir. Leslie Norman ) United Kingdom (UK) : Ealing Studios , 1957 7214135 1957 single work film/TV

'Tale of the wanderings of a Sydney husband who takes to the road with five-year-old daughter after finding his neglected wife living with another man.'

Source: British Film Institute (http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/50475). (Sighted: 7/4/2014)

form y separately published work icon The Shiralee Tony Morphett , ( dir. George Ogilvie ) South Australia : South Australian Film Corporation , 1988 Z1829182 1988 series - publisher film/TV

This 1988 mini-series is based on the novel by D'Arcy Niland, and follows the successful 1957 feature film adaptation, starring Peter Finch (made by Ealing Studios, but filmed in Australia).

The narrative follows Macauley, who tramps through outback Australia looking for work. At first, he's content to leave his daughter Buster with her mother in the city, but when he discovers his wife's infidelity, he takes Buster with him (as the 'shiralee' or 'burden' of the title). As the taciturn Macauley tries to bend Buster to his ways, Buster slowly softens her father's often brutal nature.

Moran notes, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'the series was the hit of 1989. It had excellent ratings of 38 nationally and peaked in Adelaide at 45. On BBC2 it had an audience of fourteen million over two nights.'

Notes

  • Dedication: This book is for my Mother / Barbara Lucy Niland
  • Epigraph: Comprises of an extract from a poem 'The Ballad of the Shiralee', by Ruth Park.
  • In addition to the translations listed herein, Index Translationum (on-line edition) includes a record for a Turkish translation, Sirali (Moscow; AST-Press, 1993). However this may be an erroneous record and is therefore not listed below.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Sydney, New South Wales,: Angus and Robertson ,
      1955 .
      image of person or book cover 2462153905451004120.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 223p.
      Note/s:
      • Copyright date.
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      W. Sloane Associates ,
      1955 .
      image of person or book cover 5707488121970659987.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 250p.
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Angus and Robertson ; The Book Society ,
      1955 .
      image of person or book cover 4117968444876115440.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 223p.
      Note/s:
      • This edition issued on first publication by The Book Society in association with Angus and Robertson, July 1955.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Pan ,
      1958 .
      image of person or book cover 1096001627317312577.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 184p.
      Reprinted: 1958
      Note/s:
      • Australian best-seller that made a famous film (appears on cover).
      • Unabridged (appears on title page).
      Series: Great Pan Pan (publisher), series - publisher Number in series: [G125]
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Horwitz , 1963 .
      image of person or book cover 5135906443103813987.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 226p.
      Series: Name Author Horwitz (publisher), series - publisher novel adventure crime detective romance war literature Number in series: NA58
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Michael Joseph ,
      1965 .
      image of person or book cover 5639508563202552076.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 223p.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Mayflower Books ,
      1965 .
      image of person or book cover 8066409834292902901.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 251p.
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Horwitz , 1969 .
      image of person or book cover 3011421686471561530.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 223p.
      Series: y separately published work icon Horwitz Australian Library Horwitz (publisher), 1959-1970 Z1263913 1959 series - publisher Number in series: HAL33
    • Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin ,
      1977 .
      image of person or book cover 1727667038463724349.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 198p.
      ISBN: 014004082X (pbk)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Penguin Books ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 4689808292282869876.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: x, 187p.p.
      Note/s:
      • This edition includes introduction by Les Murray.
      ISBN: 0141186135
      Series: Penguin Classics Penguin Books (publisher), series - publisher
Alternative title: De molensteen
Language: Dutch
    • Utrecht,
      c
      Netherlands,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      A. W. Bruna ,
      1955 .
      image of person or book cover 6028779153578722519.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 206p.

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Sound recording.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

A Home Built on Words and Work Helen Trinca , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23-24 May 2015; (p. 7)
Readers' Choice : Tales of War, Convicts and the Deep Blue Sea 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 13 May 2012; (p. 17)
Charmain Clift Kay Saunders , 2011 single work biography
— Appears in: Notorious Australian Women 2011; (p. 232-245)
TV Nation or TV City? Albert Moran , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 24 no. 3 2010; (p. 343 - 356)
'For much of its history in the twentieth century, television was conceived mostly in national terms. American television, British television, Australian television and so on were thought of as distinct systems, even if they frequently displayed significant degrees of overlap. Such a notion has always been a convenient simplification. Television exists at a series of different spatial levels and the nationwide tier is only one of these. Recent interest in the notion of media capital draws attention to the role played by broadcasting hubs in larger television formations, not only in the industrial sense of resource accumulation and density but also in terms of colonizing larger media environments. This paper addresses this matter in terms of the role that a Sydney metropolitan television service has played in the life of the Australian nation. It surveys the material and ideological dimension of this service as a means of further problematizing the connection of television and nation' (Author's abstract)
North and North-West : Beloved Novels and Tales Set in Further/Northern New England J. S. Ryan , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Tales from New England 2008; (p. 165-194)
A Distinct Way of Life Shane Strange , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 22 - 23 July 2006; (p. 22)

— Review of The Shiralee D'Arcy Niland , 1955 single work novel
Untitled 1955 single work review
— Appears in: The Cairns Post , 24 September 1955; (p. 4)

— Review of The Shiralee D'Arcy Niland , 1955 single work novel
Untitled Brian Elliott , 1955 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 14 no. 4 1955; (p. 577-582)

— Review of The Sun in Exile : A Novel Dymphna Cusack , 1955 single work novel ; The Shiralee D'Arcy Niland , 1955 single work novel ; White Topee Eve Langley , 1954 single work novel ; Keep Him My Country Mary Durack , 1955 single work novel ; The Mudflat Million Ronald Campbell , S. H. Courtier , 1955 single work novel ; The Careless People 1955 single work novel ; The Fury E. V. Timms , 1954 single work novel ; Sowers of the Wind : A Novel of the Occupation of Japan T. A. G. Hungerford , 1954 single work novel ; Pink Flannel Ruth Park , 1955 single work novel ; The Mirage F. B. Vickers , 1955 single work novel ; Undercurrent Barbara Jefferis , 1953 single work novel ; The Long Beat Home Peter Gladwin , 1954 single work novel
Three Australian Novels 1955 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 5 October vol. 76 no. 3947 1955; (p. 2)

— Review of The Shiralee D'Arcy Niland , 1955 single work novel
Untitled Don Edwards , 1955 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15 October 1955; (p. 10)

— Review of The Shiralee D'Arcy Niland , 1955 single work novel
North and North-West : Beloved Novels and Tales Set in Further/Northern New England J. S. Ryan , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Tales from New England 2008; (p. 165-194)
TV Nation or TV City? Albert Moran , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 24 no. 3 2010; (p. 343 - 356)
'For much of its history in the twentieth century, television was conceived mostly in national terms. American television, British television, Australian television and so on were thought of as distinct systems, even if they frequently displayed significant degrees of overlap. Such a notion has always been a convenient simplification. Television exists at a series of different spatial levels and the nationwide tier is only one of these. Recent interest in the notion of media capital draws attention to the role played by broadcasting hubs in larger television formations, not only in the industrial sense of resource accumulation and density but also in terms of colonizing larger media environments. This paper addresses this matter in terms of the role that a Sydney metropolitan television service has played in the life of the Australian nation. It surveys the material and ideological dimension of this service as a means of further problematizing the connection of television and nation' (Author's abstract)
Charmain Clift Kay Saunders , 2011 single work biography
— Appears in: Notorious Australian Women 2011; (p. 232-245)
Readers' Choice : Tales of War, Convicts and the Deep Blue Sea 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 13 May 2012; (p. 17)
y separately published work icon Fishing in the Styx Ruth Park , Ringwood : Viking , 1993 Z378816 1993 single work autobiography
Last amended 17 Jun 2021 16:12:49
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