THE FAR COUNTRY

I always enjoy returning to this book. Nevil Shute makes you deeply interested in his characters, who are sure real people they could be living next door. His protagonists are usually simple, clever, thoughtful people.

I always enjoy returning to this book. Nevil Shute makes you deeply interested in his characters, who are such real people they could be living next door. His protagonists are usually simple, clever, thoughtful people.

I found this book on the shelf at my local libary. By the cover, it had nothing to recommend it--beat up, dull blue, writing on the binding flaking off. The only reason I checked it out was because it was by Nevil Shute, one of my favorite authors. It sat on my pile of "to read" for six weeks before I picked it up in a moment of boredom & started reading. My boredom was gone immediately and I spent the rest of the day in post WWII Australia with the two main characters--Jennifer, a young woman who is visiting Australia compliments of a small legacy left to her by her grandmother, and Carl Zlinter, a Czechoslovakian emmigrant planning to make a life in Australia after he has completed his required labor contract. Wow, what a great book! The plot twists kept me off balance, the characters were interesting & the type of people you'd like to have living next door to you, there was enough action to keep you interested but not detract from the story, there was a bit of a mystery and the end was what you'd hoped for the entire time without expecting it to happen because of another exciting plot twist. I would give this book six stars out of five. I plan to visit my library soon to look for some more surprises like this one!

Jennifer Morton moves to London, temporarily, to take care of her ailing grandmother, who, before her death, speaks of times, now gone, when life was so much better in England, as though she recognizes the dissolving of a great culture, which her granddaughter will never know. In her last day of life, she passes on the Jennifer a timely gift of money, received from her distant niece in Australia, and with it expresses her wish for Jennifer to go soon, to seek a better and new life in the opportunities offered in "The Far Country." Living up to her grandmother's words, she follows her adventuresome spirit and sails to the other side of the world for this new discovery. Warmly received by her niece at the sheep station, she experiences the abundance of life in Queensland, where she feels at home - immediately - and can now clearly compare the differences between the continents. The new country brings refreshing contrast compared to the dreariness of her post-war nation, so plagued by needless government regulations and restrictions on all of life's commodities, even food.Freedom is what she experiences for the first time in her life and, with it, can fully understand her grandmother's wish for her to seek it. While there, she also notices hardships, endured by others who seek alternative ways to reach this very same freedom. They are the lumberjacks - the refugees from around the globe - who have accepted two-year forestry commitments to buy into the opportunities ahead. Australia attracts them and, in return for their two years of hardship, they can gain their new beginning in their new land. So it is with Carl Zlintner, a Chechoslovakian doctor, a World War II refugee, who has nine months to go before his own two years are finalized. He has no money and is ready to pursue life as a lumberjack in his future. However, hidden in the forest, he stumbles across the grave of a man, now dead for many years... a man with a recognizable name.How Jennifer Morton and pursuit to learn more about this dead man bring new life to the doctor, is a moving and powerful story of willingness to endure, readiness to sacrifice and determination to reach the goals ahead.It's a story about life and about love, wonderful and inspiring, so totally Nevil Shute!