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Generations of Men
Generations of Men is the pioneering story of the ancestors of Australia's best-known poet, Judith Wright. The names, dates and events are factual and are based on diaries, letters and personal reminiscences. Wright has taken this factual material and with her poet's imagination turned it into a reconstruction of a past era; people, places and even moods.This is a beautifully written family history that documents not only the settling of Wright's own family into New South Wales' last century, but also the life of a nation, as Australia was colonized by 'generations of men' unsuited in many ways to the historical and geographical context of their new environment. For many years unavailable, Judith Wright's elegant chronicle is fascinating both as a historical document and a personal meditation.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
About the author
Judith A. Wright
37 books34 followersJudith Wright was probably Australia's greatest poet; she was also an ardent conservationist and activist. She died in 2000, at the age of 85.
Over a long and distinguished literary career, she published poetry, children's books, literary essays, biographies, histories and other works of non-fiction.
Her commitment to the Great Barrier Reef began in 1962, when she helped found the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. She went on to become a member of the Committee of Enquiry into the National Estate and life member of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Judith Wright worked tirelessly to promote land rights for Aboriginal people and to raise awareness among non-Aboriginal Australians of their plight arising from the legacy of European settlement. She has written The Cry for the Dead (1981), We Call for a Treaty (1985) and Born of the Conquerors (1991).
Judith Wright was awarded many honours for her writing, including the Grace Leven Award (twice), the New South Wales Premier's Prize, the Encyclopedia Britannica Prize for Literature, and the ASAN World Prize for Poetry. She has received honorary degrees (D.Litt.) from the Universities of New England, Sydney Monash, Melbourne, Griffith and New South Wales and the Australian National University. In 1994 she received the Human Rights Commission Award for Collected Poems.
Over a long and distinguished literary career, she published poetry, children's books, literary essays, biographies, histories and other works of non-fiction.
Her commitment to the Great Barrier Reef began in 1962, when she helped found the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. She went on to become a member of the Committee of Enquiry into the National Estate and life member of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Judith Wright worked tirelessly to promote land rights for Aboriginal people and to raise awareness among non-Aboriginal Australians of their plight arising from the legacy of European settlement. She has written The Cry for the Dead (1981), We Call for a Treaty (1985) and Born of the Conquerors (1991).
Judith Wright was awarded many honours for her writing, including the Grace Leven Award (twice), the New South Wales Premier's Prize, the Encyclopedia Britannica Prize for Literature, and the ASAN World Prize for Poetry. She has received honorary degrees (D.Litt.) from the Universities of New England, Sydney Monash, Melbourne, Griffith and New South Wales and the Australian National University. In 1994 she received the Human Rights Commission Award for Collected Poems.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 19, 2016
Great book about Australian history that shows the hardships and triumphs of life on the land for the early settlers and doesn't shy away from the horrific treatment of Aborigines. Although it's based on real people, it felt more like a good novel. The chapters that focused on Albert were the best for me. May was a fascinating woman and a pioneer for her times, but she wasn't as well fleshed out as Albert. At the end it all became a bit too rose-tinted. Still an excellent read and highly recommended.
October 12, 2023
I found this book rather disappointing. The prose seemed rather pedestrian, which surprised me very much given that Judith Wright was one of our most eminent poets. I also disliked the partly fictional style, almost turning the story of her ancestors into a novel by including various thoughts and feelings which have to be Wright's inventions, even though she had access to diaries and letters of the people of whom she writes.
The book was written back in 1959 and Wright went on to be an important activist on the environment and also on the treatment of our First Nations people. It recounts the activities of the settlers including the dispossession of the people whose land they were taking over, the ringbarking of trees in order to grow the grass they wanted for their stock, without any reflection of the terrible damage being inflicted on the people and the land.
Only towards the end of the book she imagines her ancestor Albert reflecting on "this whirlwind of destruction" and on how "they had killed Paddy's people, driving them in hundreds over the cliffs of the tableland to die on the rocks below - for spearing cattle, for rebellion against the dominion of money and prosperity."
A little later, with Albert still musing, she writes "To forgive oneself - that was the hardest task. Until the white men could recognise and forgive that deep and festering consciousness of guilt in themselves, they would not forgive the blacks for setting it there. The murder would go on - open or concealed - until the blacks were all gone, the whites forever crippled."
Wright gives us no indication whatsoever that she has any proof that Albert thought these things. They may be simply her hope that he did have some inkling of what was being done, and indeed continued to be done for many more years, well into the 20th century, as the frontier moved westwards.
In the end, the book is about the triumph against the odds of dealing with the challenges of the country to the settlers, who without doubt lived very difficult and often heart-breaking lives of struggle to succeed.
Mildly interesting, but not really recommended, especially for those who like their biographies to eschew fictional imaginings, and to look at the subject(s) with a dispassionate eye.
The book was written back in 1959 and Wright went on to be an important activist on the environment and also on the treatment of our First Nations people. It recounts the activities of the settlers including the dispossession of the people whose land they were taking over, the ringbarking of trees in order to grow the grass they wanted for their stock, without any reflection of the terrible damage being inflicted on the people and the land.
Only towards the end of the book she imagines her ancestor Albert reflecting on "this whirlwind of destruction" and on how "they had killed Paddy's people, driving them in hundreds over the cliffs of the tableland to die on the rocks below - for spearing cattle, for rebellion against the dominion of money and prosperity."
A little later, with Albert still musing, she writes "To forgive oneself - that was the hardest task. Until the white men could recognise and forgive that deep and festering consciousness of guilt in themselves, they would not forgive the blacks for setting it there. The murder would go on - open or concealed - until the blacks were all gone, the whites forever crippled."
Wright gives us no indication whatsoever that she has any proof that Albert thought these things. They may be simply her hope that he did have some inkling of what was being done, and indeed continued to be done for many more years, well into the 20th century, as the frontier moved westwards.
In the end, the book is about the triumph against the odds of dealing with the challenges of the country to the settlers, who without doubt lived very difficult and often heart-breaking lives of struggle to succeed.
Mildly interesting, but not really recommended, especially for those who like their biographies to eschew fictional imaginings, and to look at the subject(s) with a dispassionate eye.
October 15, 2018
If Judith Wright submitted this for publication today, I doubt that it would be accepted. I can understand the need to fictionalise a family document - her grandparents diaries, but actually, it doesn't make for good fiction. Endless descriptions of the cattle and the weather only go so far. She has tried to get inside their heads, but has only been partially successful at that. Too much description, not enough action, hard to keep reading but I finished it and I won't be writing a family history from my ancestors' letters - better to let them speak for themselves.
June 16, 2025
Review coming on June 25th, the anniversary of her death.
March 22, 2025
beautifully written about family and the harshness of the australian landscape. created space for thought about Australia’s racist/colonial history, the roles women were reduced to, and unrelenting ambition.
also just a nice love story thrown in with all the tough farming history. could get a little tedious to constantly read about cattle and the wool market but worth it.
also just a nice love story thrown in with all the tough farming history. could get a little tedious to constantly read about cattle and the wool market but worth it.
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September 7, 2016OUP 1967
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews