Beyond the Black Stump

By: Nevil Shute

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

When Stanton Laird, American geologist, goes prospecting for the Topeka Exploration Company in the savage Australian outback, he finds something a good deal more precious than oil.

©1984 Nevil Shute Norway, Renewed by Mrs. Donald C. Mayfield (P)1988 Recorded Books, LLC

Interesting view of US-Australia differences 1955

A young Oregon geologist with recent experience in "Arabia" is assigned to assess oil potential in the northwestern Australian outback circa 1955. Though even in '55 Australia was one of the world's richest countries, at the time it was considerably poorer than the booming USA. The economic gap was even wider between long-settled but rural Oregon (where our geologist grew up) and the arid frontier of Western Australia. Our American geologist, who has some skeletons in his closet, falls in love with young Australian lassie, who is a member of an extended, very complicated European-Aboriginal family.

When Mr. Geologist brings not-quite-engaged lassie back to meet ma and pa in eastern, small-town Oregon, complications ensue.

Nevil Shute, an English author who spent many years residing and writing in Australia, brings an odd perspective to the story. The plain message is that American racism in Mr. Geologist's Oregon hometown is a source of division between lassie and geologist's family, friends, and neighbors, even though the fair Aussie lassie is herself of 100% European descent. Even the whiff of a genetic relationship with "half-caste" or "yellow" Aboriginal-Europeans is enough to make Oregonians suspicious. America was certainly racist at the time, but it's a bit odd to treat Australians as blameless in this area. The author's own treatment of the Aboriginal and half-Aboriginal characters in his novel loudly shouts our "These are lesser mortals, whose cares and tribulations matter not at all." Australia was for many decades famous for its European only immigration policy, and its aboriginal population were victims of the same notions of racial prejudice as the American Indian and African-descended residents of the U.S.

For all that, this is an interesting, even fascinating, picture of life in frontier Australia and rural Oregon circa 1955. Very well read.

Australia is defined.

Where does Beyond the Black Stump rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

Good story, not Shute's best but even that is still worth the read.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

No surprises here.

What three words best describe Davina Porter???s voice?

Limited, Clear, Experienced

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

An Interesting Read for 2020

I am a huge Nevil Shute fan, having read and listened to many of his books throughout the years. I have been putting off listening to the last 3 of his books on Audible, The pandemic, protests, and politics of 2020 was the perfect time to listen to one of my last few books. Beyond the Black Stump certainly didn’t disappoint. Being back in Nevil Shute’s 1955 world was a breathe of fresh air. No sappy love story, no silly heroics, no “give me a break” moments, just a good solid story. The book was also interesting to listen to during the protest time of Black Lives Matter. There is both the adequated viewpoint towards the Australian aborigines and any persons of color, as well as the liberal broadminded viewpoint of people are people. The book is definitely full of 1950s morals and customs which are interesting to evaluate in today’s climate. The story takes place in the vast Australian outback and a small town in Oregon. It is a refreshing tale of two people, falling in love and trying to resolve their cultural differences. The narrator does a great job. I highly recommend Beyond The Black Stump.

A good and entertaining story

The story is good, but without much of a point—just a story.

The only issue I had was while listening to the audio book it seemed I could hear talking or other background noise. Like a tv was playing faintly in the background of the recording. At times for me it was very annoying.

Otherwise if you are looking for an entertaining story I highly recommend this book.

not as good as othe Shute stories

It's a decent story, decently read, but somehow wasn't as interesting as the other Shute books I've listened to. I'm getting down to the ones with fewer ratings, which means fewer purchases, not sure I'll keep going. The first several stories were excellent.

I can never get enough of reading this book

There is something about this book that makes me want to read and re-read it again and again. The people touch your hearts; the Outback experience compared to western U.S. is insightful and tender. The people are so real they are part of us. The reader is exceptional.

Definitely a story of its time.

I enjoyed the story of “Beyond the Black Stump.” I found Stanton to be exceedingly annoying. I think my favorite part of the book is all the action happening in the Outback of Australia. I loved all the characters on Lara station. Pat Reagan and his brother Tom had me laughing while they were discussing how much money to give to Molly for her travels with the Judge. Hilarious.
Once Stanton proposes to Molly and starts saying “honey” this and “hon” that, it really annoyed the crap out me. It might be on me, I had a stupid ex boyfriend who would say “honey” all the time to me and he was a piece of garbage. Most likely it’s my own bias speaking there.
It was hard to listen to how catty the small town people got to Molly, but I suppose the truth hurts. I don’t live in an American small town as perfect as Hazel, obviously, but there are veins of truth. I was as shocked and angry as Molly at Stanton’s view of his youthful assholery and accident that killed Diana.
All in all, there was quite a bit of racism, and some really horrible comments by some of the characters. It was the 1950’s and I’m glad we know better now. They are dead and gone, and we can learn from their mistakes to be better people.
My last observation is who would eat flapjacks, syrup, chicken, ice cream, beans, I think bacon as well, and I can’t remember what else as a 1950’s American in an unairconditioned tent town on the Australian outback? For one meal?! I have to think the heat would have killed you if you got all that down. Maybe all the sugar shriveled their brains.
Anyways, loved Molly and the Australian characters. Found some good in the American ones. Diet was fairly unbelievable. Didn’t love this story as much as I loved Trustee in the Toolroom, but Neville treats his people in the stories well.

Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator

I've gotten on a kick of listening to books I read when I was in college, in 1960 and there abouts. Nevil Shute was a wonderful author and "On the Beach" was a seminal book for me, as a young person raised in the "Drop and Cover" bomb raid trials every school in Los Angeles practiced. The atom bomb was very real to us..but that has nothing to do with "Beyond the Black Stump", does it?

I read this as a senior in high school and was fascinated by Australia when I did. The vastness of the continent amazed me, as did the primitive way people lived in 1955 in the outback..the frontier.

This book is dated, but fully shows the bigotry that was rampant back then, before the civil rights movement here in the States. If you can get by that, and not want to re-write the way things were, it's a great story about two people who fall in love. About Australia in its time of just starting to be civilized. About the excitement of the oil speculator and the misery of an arid land with no water.

As for the narrator, Davina Porter is a favorite..she narrates all Diana Galbendon's "Outlander" series and does a credible job of an Australian accent.if you enjoy Bruce Courtenay's books about that land you'll like this slightly different outlook on it.

Recommended-Highly

NE Oregon to NW Australia ...

The little town of Hazel, OR for those familiar with the North Western US is without a doubt La Grande with it's beautiful Blue Mountain vista's the Grande Ronde River which flows into the Snake and as Shute describes is located between Pendleton and Enterprise, Oregon.

Shute has this area of NE Oregon during the mid 1950's wired right down to 2nd Ave and the Safeway supermarket. Having never been to Australia myself the lesson in this for me is to trust the author's descriptions of the Outback which are most likely great snapshots of that period in Western Queensland.

This is an inquiring look into human values from the perspective of two different English speaking sub-cultures. We get a good look at an Australian Frontier mindset as well as a Puritanical post war American outlook on issues of personal responsibility and how quickly we sometimes judge others in our day-to-day lives. Ego-centrism and ethnocentrism give a solid framework by which to consider this plot and set of characters.

A timeless book as relevant today in the 2010's as it was in the 1950's. The narration is done by a well spoken female and was easy to listen to.

Great Story

As usual Nevil has done a marvelous job of story telling. Very true story but a little sad. Great Australian story with lots of detail about this very Southern country.