Such Is Life

An Apple Books Classic edition.

Set in the Australian outback in the 19th century, Such Is Life is the fictional diary of Tom Collins, a bull driver with a penchant for philosophical musings.

Author Joseph Furphy’s classic is known as much for its dry humour as it is for its historic value. The book unfolds as a collection of short vignettes about Tom’s travels and encounters. His descriptions of the outback make you feel like you’ve saddled up and are riding right next to him, and there’s a lot of fun to be had in deciphering entire paragraphs written in bush dialect. Immerse yourself in a long-gone era with this Australian classic.

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

Right from its famous opening line (“Unemployed at last!”), Joseph Furphy’s 1903 novel celebrates wry Australian humour in all its glory. Presented as the diary entries of cattle driver Tom Collins (the name itself slang for a tall tale), these linked comic sketches have great fun with the freedom and hardship of bush life during the 1880s. Furphy employs a thick Aussie vernacular–imagine a local version of Mark Twain–to create an authentic, flowing voice, no matter how absurd the circumstances. He takes us deep into the rural backdrop of his time, marking the point where Australia’s laconic national identity–and unique wit–began to truly emerge.

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