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Title: The Bush

Author: Don Watson, Hamish Hamilton

Narrator: Don Watson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-13-17

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

An enthralling journey, showcasing Watson's trademark literary gift and sardonic wit, through the Australian landscape and character.

While most Australians live in cities clinging to the coastal fringe, our sense of what an Australian is, or should be, is drawn from the vast and varied inland called the bush. But what do we mean by 'the bush', and how has it shaped us?

Starting with his forebears' battle to drive back nature and eke a living from the land, Don Watson explores the bush as it was and as it now is: the triumphs and the ruination, the commonplace and the bizarre, the stories we like to tell about ourselves and the national character, and those we don't. A milestone work of memoir, travel writing and history, The Bush takes us on a profoundly revelatory and entertaining journey through the Australian landscape and character.

Members Reviews:

An absolute treasure

I started this book as we were shortly to take an inland tour through Australia's heartland. I was totally gobsmacked by the knowledge across multiple aspects of the writer. He seemed to have an infinite understanding of not only detailed history, but botany, zoology, psychology, social anthropology, politics let alone huge amounts of geography of Australia. The detail is phenomenal, and as it is in memoir-mode his own recollections enliven the narrative. One thing I missed though, was a selection of maps and diagrams. A reader can feel s/he might have virtually no idea of the locality under inspection. I tried Google maps and didn't fare much better. Photos were good but could have been more fully captioned. Our Ghan trip from Adelaide to Darwin though not the immediate focus of the book, was rendered much more insightfully enjoyable because we had read this book. I had The Bush with me through our holiday and kept on dipping into it. Incidentally - it is a dip-into book - open any page and pick up interesting paragraphs straight away. Thoroughly recommendable by all who have got past the Brizzie to Melbers perception that that's all Australia is!

Australian adaptation

Enjoyed the synthesis of bush folklore, botanical science and Australian history. Watson encourages us to feel guilt for the actions of our colonial families but to respect their fortitude and adaptation to a hostile world. It is humbling to appreciate just how much the the immigrants had to learn and how quickly the diverse collection of discards created a shared knowledge based largely on oral history. Partly also by reading the changes in the flora and fauna. Remarkable also how some, perhaps many, indigenous individuals adapted. There can be some pride to temper the guilt.

Read this, Australians, and know yourself and your country a lot better.

I can't remember the last time I read non-fiction that I found so difficult to put down, aided by Watson's considerable literary gifts and sardonic wit. More importantly (and I know how pompous this is going to sound but I don't care) you will not understand yourself as an Australian until you have read this book and for those in other countries, you will not understand Australians until you have read this book.