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Notes
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The book is divided into the following sections: Introduction (by John Barnes); (1) Such Is Life; (2) Minor Novels; (3) Short Stories and Verse; (4) Journalism; (5) Letters. Each section is introduced by Editor's notes.
Contents
- Introduction, single work criticism (p. xi-xxv)
-
Such Is Life : Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins,
single work
novel
Such is Life: Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins. Joseph Furphy's title gives an indication of the complexity of the narrative that will unravel before a persistent reader. In chapter one, the narrator, Tom Collins, joins a group of bullockies to camp for the night a few miles from Runnymede Station. Their conversations reveal many of the issues that arise throughout the rest of the novel: the ownership of, or control of access to, pasture; ideas of providence, fate and superstition; and a concern for federation that flows into descriptions of the coming Australian in later chapters. Each of the characters provides a portrait of bush types that Furphy uses to measure the qualities of squatters and others against popular ideas of the 'gentleman'. Furphy's choice of a narrative structure to create a 'loosely federated' series of yarns is itself a critique of popular narratives populated by stock characters who are driven by action that leads to predictable and uncomplicated conclusions. Tom Collins, the unreliable narrator, adds further complications by claiming to 'read men like signboards' while all the time being unknowingly contradicted by circumstances that become obvious to the reader.
In each subsequent chapter Tom Collins leads the reader through a series of experiences chosen from his diaries. In chapter two, Collins meets the boundary rider Rory O'Halloran and his daughter, Mary, a symbol of the coming Australian whose devotion to her father will have tragic consequences in chapter five. There are many links between chapters like this one that remain invisible to Collins, despite his attempts to understand the 'controlling alternatives' that affect our lives. In chapter three Tom loses his clothes crossing the Murray River and spends the night wandering naked until he is able to steal a pair of pants after diverting attention by setting fire to a haystack. In chapter four Collins helps an ailing Warrigal Alf by deceiving several boundary riders who have impounded Alf's bullocks. In chapter five, among other yarns of lost children, Thompson completes the tragic tale of Mary O'Halloran, connecting with the events of chapter two. Chapters six and seven take Tom Collins back to Runnymede Station where he attempts to avoid an unwelcome union with Maud Beaudesart. He also meets the disfigured boundary rider, Nosey Alf, whose life story Furphy has threaded throughout the narrative, signs not perceived by Tom Collins. When Collins returns to Runnymede at the end of the novel, Furphy ties up more loose narrative threads, but Tom Collins, the narrator, remains oblivious to the end.
In short, Such Is Life 'reflects the preoccupations of [the 1890s]: contemporary capitalism, ardent Australian nationalism, the difficulties of pioneering pastoralism, and speculation about a future Australian civilization. It was instantly seen as a major example of the "radical nationalism" of the time and praised for its realistic representation of life on the frontier in the 1880s. But it was forty years before many readers realized that the novel was also a subtle comment on fiction itself and that within it were hidden stories that revealed a world of "romance" within its "realist" representation of life. Such Is Life can be read as the first experimental novel in Australian literature and the first Australian literary expression of a twentieth-century sensibility of the provisionality of life and reality.' (Julian Croft, 'Joseph Furphy.' in Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 230.)
Note:'The text of Such is Life reproduced in this volume is a photo-facsimile of the first edition (Sydney: Bulletin Newspaper Co., 1903) - p. ix.
Includes notes on the text by John Barnes - pp. 298-311..
- Lost in the Bush, extract novel (p. 313-316)
- Dixon and the Bible, extract (p. 319-325)
- [Rigby and Thompson on Socialism] from Rigby's Romance, extract (p. 327-341)
- Extract from The Buln-Buln and the Brolga, extract novella (p. 343-363)
- Dad's Artillery, single work short story (p. 367-369)
- High Art, single work short story humour (p. 370-376)
- A Vignette of Port Phillip, single work short story (p. 377-385)
- The Gum-Sucker's Dirgei"Sing the evil days we see, and the worse that are to be,", single work poetry (p. 386-387)
- Are You the Cove?i"'Are you the Cove?' He spoke the words", single work poetry (p. 387-388)
- The Bullfrog Belli"Now the truce of night brings respite to the sordid care of day,", single work poetry (p. 388-389)
- A Psalm of Fortitudei"Are you, like me, a peevish brat,", single work poetry (p. 389-390)
- The Mythical Sundowner, single work single work prose (p. 393-396)
- The Bible, single work essay (p. 397-398)
- The Teaching of Christ, single work essay (p. 399-400)
- Black Australia, single work essay (p. 401-404)
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Untitled,
single work
review
— Review of Such Is Life : Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins 1897 single work novel ; (p. 405-407)Note:With title: Furphy's Review of Such Is Life
Editor's note: 'Furphy's review of Such is Life was written in response to a request from Stephens for "a brief bright synopsis of Such is Life". It was slightly edited and divided between two advertisements in the Bulletin on the publication of the novel. The text given here follows the version printed by Miles Franklin, with the restoration of two brief passages which she chose not to reproduce' (392).
- Letters, single work correspondence (p. 413-435)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
On an Australian Selection
1998
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: UQP : The Writer's Press 1948-1998 1998; (p. 159-170) -
The Portable Furphy
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , September vol. 27 no. 9 1983; (p. 84-85)
— Review of Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
Available at Last
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: The CRNLE Reviews Journal , May no. 1 1982; (p. 28-31)
— Review of Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
Yet Another Letter to Joseph Furphy
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , March vol. 27 no. 1 1982; (p. 85-88)
— Review of Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
Untitled
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 10 no. 4 1982; (p. 541-543)
— Review of Barbara Baynton 1980 selected work novel poetry short story criticism correspondence biography ; Henry Kingsley 1982 selected work novel criticism prose ; Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence
-
Untitled
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 10 no. 4 1982; (p. 541-543)
— Review of Barbara Baynton 1980 selected work novel poetry short story criticism correspondence biography ; Henry Kingsley 1982 selected work novel criticism prose ; Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
Yet Another Letter to Joseph Furphy
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , March vol. 27 no. 1 1982; (p. 85-88)
— Review of Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
The Portable Furphy
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , September vol. 27 no. 9 1983; (p. 84-85)
— Review of Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
Available at Last
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: The CRNLE Reviews Journal , May no. 1 1982; (p. 28-31)
— Review of Joseph Furphy 1981 selected work novel poetry short story correspondence -
On an Australian Selection
1998
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: UQP : The Writer's Press 1948-1998 1998; (p. 159-170)