AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In this book, Ion Idriess reflects on his life prospecting in far North Queensland from 1912 to 1914, and coincided with his earliest writing as "Gouger" for the Bulletin.
'In Back of Cairns, Jack gives the reader a picture of what life was like when the peninsula jungle was falling under the settler's axe, his own day-to-day experiences, and the district's historical background. The book is peopled by characters given to polite chiacking and the writing of poetry, and the reading of 'pomes' by the evening campfire... Perhaps the most interesting is the 'Jungle Man' who could scent animals and Aborigines in the scrub before they scented him. He also possessed incredible hearing... who took Jack into the rugged mountains and the dense jungle and showed him a primitive world few men have ever seen. Jack was treading in the paths of his heroes - the explorers.' (Publication summary2021)
'In Back of Cairns, Jack gives the reader a picture of what life was like when the peninsula jungle was falling under the settler's axe, his own day-to-day experiences, and the district's historical background. The book is peopled by characters given to polite chiacking and the writing of poetry, and the reading of 'pomes' by the evening campfire... Perhaps the most interesting is the 'Jungle Man' who could scent animals and Aborigines in the scrub before they scented him. He also possessed incredible hearing... who took Jack into the rugged mountains and the dense jungle and showed him a primitive world few men have ever seen. Jack was treading in the paths of his heroes - the explorers.' (Publication summary2021)
Notes
-
Also available in sound recording format.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
The Lonely Places
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14 January 2017; (p. 14) 'The forgotten Australian author Ion Idriess was a bushman and writer who knew there was more to life than we dream of, writes Nicolas Rothwell.' -
Two Old Timers : Idriess and Clune
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: Walkabout , vol. 25 no. 7 1959; (p. 39-40)
— Review of Back o'Cairns 1958 single work autobiography ; Flight to Formosa 1958 single work non-fiction -
Untitled
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: The Cairns Post , 3 January 1959; (p. 4)
— Review of Back o'Cairns 1958 single work autobiography -
Idriess on Tin
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 14 January vol. 79 no. 4118 1959; (p. 59)
— Review of Back o'Cairns 1958 single work autobiography
-
Idriess on Tin
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 14 January vol. 79 no. 4118 1959; (p. 59)
— Review of Back o'Cairns 1958 single work autobiography -
Untitled
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: The Cairns Post , 3 January 1959; (p. 4)
— Review of Back o'Cairns 1958 single work autobiography -
Two Old Timers : Idriess and Clune
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: Walkabout , vol. 25 no. 7 1959; (p. 39-40)
— Review of Back o'Cairns 1958 single work autobiography ; Flight to Formosa 1958 single work non-fiction -
The Lonely Places
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14 January 2017; (p. 14) 'The forgotten Australian author Ion Idriess was a bushman and writer who knew there was more to life than we dream of, writes Nicolas Rothwell.'
Last amended 17 May 2022 13:11:32
Export this record