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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
This novel of present day migrant life centres on Joshua Kuperschmidt who arrives with his wife Shoshanah, from Poland, in 1925. He has given up his family and his traditional European ties to escape war and persecution, in the hope of a better life.
It is the moving story of a Jewish couple who have adapted themselves to a strange new environment in a distant land - a country where even the small Jewish community differs markedly from that they have known. Material success is the reward for Shoshanah's unrelenting ambition; but Joshua is never sure whether his own ambitions in this new society are ever fulfilled. (Publisher's blurb).
Contents
- Distant Land : Afterword, single work criticism (p. 189-192)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille. Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
New Places, Old Memories
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antípodas , no. 15 2004; (p. 77-83) -
New Issues, Old Issues : The Australian Tradition Revisited
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 170 2003; (p. 49-56)McLaren discusses a number of Australian novels (all recently re-issued) which have been central to developing the way in which Australians and foreigners think about white society in this continent. He distinguishes several trends and traditions in describing and characterising Australia's social and political system. Whereas Clarke and Richardson present Australia as a prison, Palmer and Waten present it as a land offering the promise of freedom. Furphy, on the other hand, is seen as a writer 'who shows us a country seeming to offer plentitude but finally withholding its promise' (54).
McLaren concludes that the 'past expressed in these fictions variously produced values of solidarity, egalitarianism, harmony with the land, but their values remain circumscribed by fear of the powerless and the dispossessed, by the arrogance of the powerful, and by distrust of the outsider. Our future will be secure only as we accept continuity with the past, enter into dialogue with the differences of the present, and accept a common responsibility towards the land that supports us' (56).
-
Reissued Realism
2002-2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 247 2002-2003; (p. 61-62)
— Review of Sugar Heaven 1936 single work novel ; Distant Land 1964 single work novel ; The Passage 1930 single work novel ; Jonah 1911 single work novel -
Distant Land : Afterword
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Distant Land 2001; (p. 189-192) - y A Career in Writing : Judah Waten and the Cultural Politics of a Literary Career Toowoomba : Association for the Study of Australian Literature , 1997 Z159609 1997 single work criticism
-
Reissued Realism
2002-2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 247 2002-2003; (p. 61-62)
— Review of Sugar Heaven 1936 single work novel ; Distant Land 1964 single work novel ; The Passage 1930 single work novel ; Jonah 1911 single work novel -
Distant Land
1965
single work
review
— Appears in: The Realist , Autumn no. 18 1965; (p. 19)
— Review of Distant Land 1964 single work novel -
Untitled
1964
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October vol. 3 no. 12 1964; (p. 249)
— Review of Distant Land 1964 single work novel -
Untitled
1964
single work
review
— Appears in: Nation , 14 November 1964; (p. 22)
— Review of Distant Land 1964 single work novel -
Jewish Migrant
1964
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 24 October vol. 86 no. 4418 1964; (p. 54-55)
— Review of Distant Land 1964 single work novel -
New Issues, Old Issues : The Australian Tradition Revisited
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 170 2003; (p. 49-56)McLaren discusses a number of Australian novels (all recently re-issued) which have been central to developing the way in which Australians and foreigners think about white society in this continent. He distinguishes several trends and traditions in describing and characterising Australia's social and political system. Whereas Clarke and Richardson present Australia as a prison, Palmer and Waten present it as a land offering the promise of freedom. Furphy, on the other hand, is seen as a writer 'who shows us a country seeming to offer plentitude but finally withholding its promise' (54).
McLaren concludes that the 'past expressed in these fictions variously produced values of solidarity, egalitarianism, harmony with the land, but their values remain circumscribed by fear of the powerless and the dispossessed, by the arrogance of the powerful, and by distrust of the outsider. Our future will be secure only as we accept continuity with the past, enter into dialogue with the differences of the present, and accept a common responsibility towards the land that supports us' (56).
-
New Places, Old Memories
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antípodas , no. 15 2004; (p. 77-83) - y A Career in Writing : Judah Waten and the Cultural Politics of a Literary Career Toowoomba : Association for the Study of Australian Literature , 1997 Z159609 1997 single work criticism
- y Migrant Contribution to the Literature of Australia : Judah Waten and the Old Tradition in the New World Calcutta : Writers Workshop , 1987 Z437434 1987 single work criticism biography
-
Distant Land : Afterword
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Distant Land 2001; (p. 189-192)
Awards
- 1964 winner Melbourne Moomba Festival Award
- 1920s
- 1930s