''The Far Country'' is a novel by

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect h ...

, first published in 1952. In this novel, Shute has some harsh things to say about the new (British)

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

, as well as the socialist Labour government, themes he would later develop more fully in ''

In the Wet IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

''. He describes the lot of the '

New Australians New Australians were non-British migrants to Australia who arrived in the wave of Post-war immigration to Australia, immigration following World War II. The term initially referred to newly arrived immigrants, generally refugees, who were expecte ...

'; refugees who are required to work for two years where they are placed, in return for free passage to Australia.

Plot summary

The story takes place partly in London and partly in Australia. It is set in 1950. Jennifer Morton, a young girl from

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

but living in London, witnesses the death of her grandmother, the widow of a retired Indian civil servant. Her pension has ceased and she has literally starved to death, despite apparent prosperity. Before she dies, she leaves Jennifer a small sum of money sent by a niece in Australia, and asks that Jennifer use the money to visit Jane and Jack Dorman who own a prosperous sheep station in Merrijig

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. She does so. Jennifer finds herself falling in love with the new, relatively unspoiled country, though she continues to worry about her parents. She also meets Carl Zlinter, a 'New Australian'; a Czech refugee who is working at the nearby

lumber camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

of a timber company as a condition of his free passage to Australia. A medical doctor qualified to practise in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, he is not qualified to practise in Australia and only looks after First Aid at the lumber camp but when an accident badly injures two of the workers and no doctor, nurse or medical facilities are available, he is faced with the choice of either watching the workers die or operating on them; he chooses to operate, and Jennifer assists him. The two operations are successful, but one man later gets drunk and dies. Zlinter is initially in potentially serious trouble over the unlicensed operations and death, but he is cleared of responsibility. Jennifer helps Zlinter to trace the history of a man of the same name who lived and died in the district many years before, during a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, and they find the site of his house. Back in England, Jennifer's mother dies and she is forced to return, but she is now restless and dissatisfied. Zlinter turns up in Leicester; he has found gold dust that the earlier Zlinter earned as a bullock driver and hid beneath a stone. He has used the money from illegally selling the gold to travel to England to ask Jennifer to marry him, and to re-qualify as a medical practitioner.

Inspiration

The character of Carl Zlinter may have been inspired by Dr Marcus Clarke, whom Nevil Shute accompanied in 1948 on his rounds as a country doctor in Cairns, Australia. The character of Billy Slim was based on Fred Fry, a notable fly fisherman, who constructed several huts along the

Howqua River The Howqua River, a minor inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine region of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters of the Howqua River rise below Mount Howit ...

and eked out a quiet existence in the river valley.

Title

The title comes from the 40th poem (in

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

''XL'') in A.E. Housman's ''

A Shropshire Lad ''A Shropshire Lad'' is a collection of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman, published in 1896. Selling slowly at first, it then rapidly grew in popularity, particularly among young readers. Composers began setting the ...

''. ::Into my heart an air that kills ::From yon far country blows: ::What are those blue remembered hills, ::What spires, what farms are those? ::That is the land of lost content, ::I see it shining plain, ::The happy highways where I went ::And cannot come again.

1972 adaptation

The novel was adapted for television on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1972. Shooting of the six episode series took place in Orange and Bathurst.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970–1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p193

1987 adaptation

The novel was adapted for television again in the 1980s. Shooting took place in September and October 1985 and took place entirely in Victoria even though some scenes were set in Britain and Europe. The mini-series screened on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

in 1987.''The Far Country''
at

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Far Country, The 1952 British novels Novels by Nevil Shute Novels set in Victoria (Australia) Novels set in London Fiction set in 1950 Heinemann (publisher) books Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 1970s Australian television miniseries 1980s Australian television miniseries English-language television shows British novels adapted into television shows