I quite enjoy the book until the last chapter. Before writing about my disappointment, let me say what I like first. Published in 1915, Prichard’s descriptions of the lives of the early settlers are genuine enough. I get to know about the harshness of the nature, an absence of culture and civilization, and hardships in life in general. As Pioneers, these early settlers had to build everything from scratch. They even had to write their own rules and regulations, some of which I could not follow. Even after reading the book I still don’t understand why it is illegal for Davey and Conal to transport the mob (cattle) from Victoria to NSW. If such dealings are so profitable that they are willing to take the risks, not a word is written about how much they can make. I suppose reading the book requires a local knowledge, and this is perhaps the reason why Prichard was not awarded the Nobel Prize. My reading experiences of the Nobel Prize literary works tell me that the issues embedded are usually universal, whether social or moral. Prichard’s perspective seems rather provincial.
Some people commented that Prichard’s use of language is old-fashioned; I think it is only natural that this is so. While the use of language is dated is not an issue for me, I do not find her writing elegant. It reads more like folktale to me. Rather than following the story of a protagonist, the book focuses on pioneers who are glorified as heroes and heroines of Australia. There is nothing wrong with this as long as the existence of other settlers: first nation aboriginals, early European and Asian settlers are also acknowledged. I do not mean that the story needs to focus on all peoples, but it is wrong without mentioning about other peoples than including a black man in passing. I was greatly disappointed at the ending chapter when Prichard writes, “my four grandparents were English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. ‘They have quarrelled and fought among themselves, but you are a gathering of them in a new country. . . . There will be a great future for the nation that comes of you and the boys and girls like you. It will be a nation of pioneers, with all the adventurous, toiling strain of the men and women who came over the sea and conquered the wilderness.” Not being English or Irish or Scottish or Welsh, the ending does not speak to me, or other Australians who are not descendants of these four peoples. Prichard seems to have overlooked the fact that most of these so-called pioneers did not settle in Australia by choice. Many of them were either ex-convicts or outcasts. They are accidental heroes and heroines. Now I understand why her books are out of fashion. Prichard holds two beliefs that are totally unfashionable: The success of Australia no longer hinges upon these pioneers, and that communism as an ideology does not work in reality. It slips so easily into totalitarianism and even dictatorship. No wonder her works are not widely read or studied in highschools.