Such is Life
Encyclopedia
Such Is Life: Being Certain Extracts From The Diary of Tom Collins is a novel written by the Australia
n author Joseph Furphy
(aka Tom Collins) in 1897, and published on 1 August 1903. It is a fictional account of the life of rural dwellers, including bullock drivers
, squatters and itinerant travellers, in southern New South Wales
and Victoria
, during the 1880s.
The book gives the impression of being a series of loosely interwoven stories of the various people encountered by the narrator as he travels about the countryside. The people he meets round campfires pass on news and gossip and tell stories, so that sometimes the reader can infer information by putting these second hand stories together with the action of the narrative. At times the prose may be difficult for some modern readers to understand because of the use of Australian vernacular
and the attempt to convey the accents of Scottish and Chinese personalities.
The title of Such is Life is said to be derived from Ned Kelly
's last words—said as he was about to be hanged. The book is full of mordant irony from start to finish, not least from the contrast between the narration and the action—the narrator at times employing extremely high blown language (and displaying Furphy's almost freakish degree of book-learning) in humorous contrast to the extremely low characters and mundane events he is describing. Furphy employs both pathos
and bathos
and the narration teases the reader with its tangents, like a shaggy dog story. (The pseudonym 'Tom Collins' is slang for a tall story.) There are hidden substories, and the narrator sometimes gets hold of the wrong end of the stick in untangling them, but the reader can nut them out. Subjects which occur in the book but are not spoken of directly include: foul language; nakedness and undergarments; passing as the opposite sex; homosexuality among bullock drivers; effeminacy; mutilation; and murder. At the same time the great joy of the novel is its realism: Furphy is able to capture the flavour of interaction between the bush characters he meets, their way of talking, the physical landscape, the feel of a nomad's life. The 19th century US novelist he is most similar in approach to is Mark Twain
. With its use of a digressive, unreliable narrator
, Furphy's method in Such is Life can be compared with that of his Brazilian contemporary Machado de Assis.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author Joseph Furphy
Joseph Furphy
Joseph Furphy , is widely regarded as the "Father of the Australian novel". He mostly wrote under the pseudonym Tom Collins, and is best known for his novel Such is Life , regarded as an Australian classic.-Biography:Furphy was born at Yering Station in Yering, Victoria...
(aka Tom Collins) in 1897, and published on 1 August 1903. It is a fictional account of the life of rural dwellers, including bullock drivers
Bullocky
A bullocky is an Australian English term for the driver of a bullock team. Bullock drivers were also known as teamsters or carriers. The American term for a bullocky is a bullwhacker.-History:...
, squatters and itinerant travellers, in southern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, during the 1880s.
The book gives the impression of being a series of loosely interwoven stories of the various people encountered by the narrator as he travels about the countryside. The people he meets round campfires pass on news and gossip and tell stories, so that sometimes the reader can infer information by putting these second hand stories together with the action of the narrative. At times the prose may be difficult for some modern readers to understand because of the use of Australian vernacular
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
and the attempt to convey the accents of Scottish and Chinese personalities.
The title of Such is Life is said to be derived from Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
's last words—said as he was about to be hanged. The book is full of mordant irony from start to finish, not least from the contrast between the narration and the action—the narrator at times employing extremely high blown language (and displaying Furphy's almost freakish degree of book-learning) in humorous contrast to the extremely low characters and mundane events he is describing. Furphy employs both pathos
Pathos
Pathos represents an appeal to the audience's emotions. Pathos is a communication technique used most often in rhetoric , and in literature, film and other narrative art....
and bathos
Bathos
Bathos is an abrupt transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect. While often unintended, bathos may be used deliberately to produce a humorous effect. If bathos is overt, it may be described as Burlesque or mock-heroic...
and the narration teases the reader with its tangents, like a shaggy dog story. (The pseudonym 'Tom Collins' is slang for a tall story.) There are hidden substories, and the narrator sometimes gets hold of the wrong end of the stick in untangling them, but the reader can nut them out. Subjects which occur in the book but are not spoken of directly include: foul language; nakedness and undergarments; passing as the opposite sex; homosexuality among bullock drivers; effeminacy; mutilation; and murder. At the same time the great joy of the novel is its realism: Furphy is able to capture the flavour of interaction between the bush characters he meets, their way of talking, the physical landscape, the feel of a nomad's life. The 19th century US novelist he is most similar in approach to is Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
. With its use of a digressive, unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
, Furphy's method in Such is Life can be compared with that of his Brazilian contemporary Machado de Assis.
External links
- Such is Life University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...