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y separately published work icon No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours single work   novel   young adult  
Issue Details: First known date: 1991... 1991 No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The title may be a literal translation of "utopia," but the isolated Australian fishing village of New Canaan is anything but–as Rachel and Sarah, two teenaged residents, and Sam, a visiting student, discover. Following a clue uttered by his mother (an aborigine) on her deathbed, Sam has come to track down his father and family; but his inquiries are met with silent suspicion by the twisted, disturbed locals, all white. Crew gradually builds a charged atmosphere lit by signs and portents of what's to come. Led by Sarah's half-deranged mother, Sam and his young friends uncover a mass grave concealed in a thicket of lantana and later find the town's awful secret laid out pictorially in an eerie codex; 20 years ago, in a drunken frenzy, the men captured the last local aborigines in a huge net and drowned them. After this revelation, Crew creates an apocalyptic climax in which a nearby volcano erupts, destroying grave, book, and an enigmatic, white-robed religious leader known only as The Father–a literal title, it turns out, in Sam's case.'

Source: Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gary-crew/no-such-country/). (Sighted: 30/11/2015)

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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Heinemann , 1991 .
      image of person or book cover 7223312731406303850.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 207p.
      ISBN: 0855614366
    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Heinemann , 1992 .
      Extent: 207p.
      ISBN: 1863302050 (pbk.)
    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Mammoth , 1995 .
      image of person or book cover 4711190063282886030.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 207p.
      ISBN: 1863303758 (pbk.)
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Works about this Work

y separately published work icon Death, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Adolescent Literature Kathryn James , New York (City) : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group , 2009 Z1790145 2009 single work criticism
'There's a Black Boy Dead and a Migloo Holding a Gun' : Death, Aboriginality and History in Australian Adolescent Literature Kathryn James , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , vol. 19 no. 1 2009; (p. 5-16) 'In 'Preying on the Past: Contexts of Some Recent Neo-Historical Fiction', Peter Pierce argues that, over the last five or so decades, Australian historical fiction has turned away from 'unconstrained and idealistic affirmations about Australia's future' to empathise instead with those figures in the historical landscape who were previously marginalised: 'victims of imperialism, patriarchy, racism, capitalism' (p.307).
This trend is particularly applicable to historical literature for younger readers, which now often tries to renegotiate history by providing a counterpoint to the metanarratives of the past (Stephens 2003, xii-xiii). Reflecting and responding to developments in the disciplines of historiography and, more generally, the humanities, texts in this genre are representative of the attempt to interrogate monolithic versions of Australian history - often called the 'three cheers' view - in which positivity, achievement and the peaceful settlement of the nation are key themes.
At issue in these novels is thus the redressing of past wrongs, particularly with respects to the violent aspects of colonisation when so many members of the Indigenous population either died or were forcibly displaced. Each of the three adolescent novels I focus upon in this paper - Melissa Lucashenko's Killing Darcy (1998), Gary Crew's No Such Country (1991) and Mark Svendsen's Poison Under Their Lips (2001) - is equally idiosyncratic in its approach to narrativising Australia's problematic colonial past' (Author's abstract).
y separately published work icon New World Orders in Contemporary Children's Literature : Utopian Transformations Clare Bradford , Kerry Mallan , John Stephens , Robyn McCallum , Houndmills : Palgrave Macmillan , 2008 Z1559477 2008 selected work criticism 'New World Orders shows how texts for children and young people have responded to the cultural, economic, and political movements of the last 15 years. With a focus on international children's texts produced between 1988 and 2006, the authors discuss how utopian and dystopian tropes are pressed into service to project possible futures to child readers. The book considers what these texts have to say about globalisation, neocolonialism, environmental issues, pressures on families and communities, and the idea of the posthuman.' - Back cover.
No Such Country-- A Book of Antipodean Hours Bernard McKenna , Sharyn Pearce , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: Strange Journeys : The Works of Gary Crew 1999; (p. 96-127)
Identity in Australian Children's Literature: Perspectives from the Past and Present Maureen Nimon , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Fantastic Self : Essays on the Subject of the Self 1999; (p. 104-110)
Untitled 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 36 no. 2 1992; (p. 27)
— Review of No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours Gary Crew , 1991 single work novel
Forecasts Agnes Nieuwenhuizen , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , August vol. 71 no. 1018 1991; (p. 36)
— Review of No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours Gary Crew , 1991 single work novel
From the Word Go : books for younger readers Meg Sorensen , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 136 1991; (p. 53-55)
— Review of No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours Gary Crew , 1991 single work novel ; Del-Del Victor Kelleher , 1991 single work novel
Adolescents Bring Society to Its Knees Marguerite Johnson , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 18 January 1992; (p. 14)
— Review of No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours Gary Crew , 1991 single work novel
Crisp Writing in a State of Humidity Leonie Tyle , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 9 May 1992; (p. wkd 6)
— Review of A Long Way to Tipperary Sue Gough , 1992 single work novel ; No Such Country : A Book of Antipodean Hours Gary Crew , 1991 single work novel
Know the Author : Gary Crew Joan Zahnleiter , 1991 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 6 no. 4 1991; (p. 17-19)
y separately published work icon New World Orders in Contemporary Children's Literature : Utopian Transformations Clare Bradford , Kerry Mallan , John Stephens , Robyn McCallum , Houndmills : Palgrave Macmillan , 2008 Z1559477 2008 selected work criticism 'New World Orders shows how texts for children and young people have responded to the cultural, economic, and political movements of the last 15 years. With a focus on international children's texts produced between 1988 and 2006, the authors discuss how utopian and dystopian tropes are pressed into service to project possible futures to child readers. The book considers what these texts have to say about globalisation, neocolonialism, environmental issues, pressures on families and communities, and the idea of the posthuman.' - Back cover.
'There's a Black Boy Dead and a Migloo Holding a Gun' : Death, Aboriginality and History in Australian Adolescent Literature Kathryn James , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , vol. 19 no. 1 2009; (p. 5-16) 'In 'Preying on the Past: Contexts of Some Recent Neo-Historical Fiction', Peter Pierce argues that, over the last five or so decades, Australian historical fiction has turned away from 'unconstrained and idealistic affirmations about Australia's future' to empathise instead with those figures in the historical landscape who were previously marginalised: 'victims of imperialism, patriarchy, racism, capitalism' (p.307).
This trend is particularly applicable to historical literature for younger readers, which now often tries to renegotiate history by providing a counterpoint to the metanarratives of the past (Stephens 2003, xii-xiii). Reflecting and responding to developments in the disciplines of historiography and, more generally, the humanities, texts in this genre are representative of the attempt to interrogate monolithic versions of Australian history - often called the 'three cheers' view - in which positivity, achievement and the peaceful settlement of the nation are key themes.
At issue in these novels is thus the redressing of past wrongs, particularly with respects to the violent aspects of colonisation when so many members of the Indigenous population either died or were forcibly displaced. Each of the three adolescent novels I focus upon in this paper - Melissa Lucashenko's Killing Darcy (1998), Gary Crew's No Such Country (1991) and Mark Svendsen's Poison Under Their Lips (2001) - is equally idiosyncratic in its approach to narrativising Australia's problematic colonial past' (Author's abstract).
y separately published work icon Death, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Adolescent Literature Kathryn James , New York (City) : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group , 2009 Z1790145 2009 single work criticism
The Architecture of Memory Gary Crew , 1992 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Australian Author , Autumn vol. 24 no. 1 1992; (p. 24-27) The Written World : Youth and Literature 1994; (p. 147-154)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (24)
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