Drown them in the Sea
Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW
©2004 print-on-demand-2021
Drown them in the Sea is an “invaders’ comeuppance” tale – the folly of the European agricultural tradition having been carried over to the Australian landscape and persevered with from one generation to the next in the face of evidence that the farmers have been barking up the wrong tree from the word ‘Go’. When the banker wants the loan repaid the response is that it’s asking too much, that the poor sod needs an opportunity to find another way to carry-on the tradition, to persevere with the folly. If the drought persists there’s nothing for it but to fell the trees and grow more grain on the one patch of soil that’s not yet been ruined. Like Gail Jones, Nicholas Angel spins an entertaining yarn but falls short of creating literature.
