On Our Selection

Steele RuddDec 2015

3.9

Word count: 53K words

Summary

To You "Who Gave Our Country Birth;"to the memory of Youwhose names, whose giant enterprise, whose deeds offortitude and daringwere never engraved on tablet or tombstone;to You who strove through the silences of the Bush-landsand made them ours;to You who delved and toiled in loneliness throughthe years that have faded away;to You who have no place in the history of our Countryso far as it is yet written;to You who have done MOST for this Land;to You for whom few, in the march of settlement, in the turmoilof busy city life, now appear to care;and to you particularly,GOOD OLD DAD,This Book is most affectionately dedicated.

Editor's review

This work looks back on the daily life of Australian bush pioneers with plain yet profound strokes. It does not cast the settlers as epic heroes but instead directs its respect toward ordinary people unrecorded in the history books. The author uses dialect and everyday vignettes to build up the coarse texture of bush life, and humor often seeps naturally out of hardship, making readers laugh first and sigh afterward. It reminds readers that a nation's formation depends not only on official narratives but also on the resilience and solitude of countless unnamed people. For readers familiar with Australian literature or colonial social history, this book offers a valuable folk perspective; for general readers, it is more like a window into a bygone rural world, suited to slow reading in quiet moments, to feel the restrained deep feeling behind the words. The book has no grand plot; the pleasure of reading comes from the accumulation of details and the narrator's voice, requiring patience and an interest in rural experience. As a public-domain text, it can also prompt today's readers to reflect on who is remembered and who is omitted in historical writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Australian colonial social history and rural life
Readers who enjoy regional literature and dialect narrative and appreciate slow humor
Students and teachers studying folk memory and the historical writing of 'the unnamed'
General readers who want to understand everyday bush pioneer life through literature

Not a good fit for

Readers of genre fiction who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narrative
Readers with no interest in the nineteenth-century colonial background and unwilling to look up context
Academic readers expecting a complete author biography or detailed historical annotations

Reading tips

Read the preface or dedication first to grasp the author's emotional tone toward unnamed pioneers, then enter the main text.
Do not parse dialect and colloquial expressions word by word; use the context to feel the tone and humor.
After every few short chapters, pause and record one bush-life detail that impressed you.
If you are unfamiliar with Australian colonial history, look up basic background as you read to understand the social circumstances in the text.

FAQ

Is this book suitable as an introductory read for understanding Australian history?

It offers a literary folk perspective rather than a systematic historical account. It is suitable as supplementary reading to let readers feel the pioneers' daily life and emotions, but it should not replace a history textbook. Reading it alongside basic historical materials will give a fuller understanding.

The book uses a lot of dialect and colloquial speech. What if I have trouble reading it?

You do not need to match every word to standard English; first grasp the tone of the dialogue and the scene. Most dialect expressions serve character and humorous effect, and reading aloud or inferring from context is more effective than consulting a dictionary. Look up words that recur frequently in a focused way.

Do I need to know the author's biography before reading?

Not necessarily. The book's value lies mainly in the bush-life experience presented in the text and its respect for unnamed people. Understanding the author's era and colonial background helps, but biographical details are not a prerequisite for understanding the book; readers can start from the text itself.

Comments

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About the author

Steele Rudd Author · Australian · 1868–1935

Steele Rudd (1868–1935) was an Australian writer whose real name was Arthur Hoey Davis. He is best known for On Our Selection, a collection of humorous rural stories. Drawing on the hardscrabble life of an early Australian selector family, he wrote in an exaggerated yet affectionate style about drought, poverty, neighbourly visits and domestic mishaps, turning the hardships of pioneer settlement into comic everyday scenes. Such writing helped shape a popular image of Australian bush life, and figures in the Dad and Dave vein became familiar cultural references for local readers. Public information about his life beyond his best-known work is limited, and many biographical details remain uncertain; yet through the humorous tradition established in On Our Selection, he holds a place in Australian popular literature, and his work is often classified as inspirational and coming-of-age reading.