D'Arcy Niland Books

A mendicant bush father ends up with his young daughter, something that he really doesn't want to have happen.

The daughter, of course, needs a parent, although a tough and independent kid. Gradually, she grows on him, even though he sees her as a burden to start with, etc.

This 1955 Australian literary classic is hardly known at all in the US. And for a good reason: no publisher has seen fit to publish an annotated edition that would put translations of the copious "Strine" expressions (Australian slang) at the bottom of each page. Some geographical and cultural annotations would be a big help too. As it is, the reader is obligated to have an Australian dictionary at hand at all times to get through the story.
Why bother to publish an annotated edition? Here's why. Out of hundreds of novels dealing with the important topic of parental kidnapping ("PK"), this is the finest (in English at least). Not only is this a masterpiece of the PK sub-genre, it is a profound and poetic evocation of parenthood, fatherhood in particular. It's the sort of book that one might choose as required reading for high-school and college students if the topic of fatherhood ever overcame educators' lack of interest in fatherhood.
Like Joyce's "Ulysses," "The Shiralee" is inspired by an ancient epic, "The Odyssey." Unlike Joyce, Niland is spare with words and wears his learning so lightly you might not even realize you are reading an epic studded with symbols Melvillesque in scale. Like the Homer's hero, Niland's is a physical, not merely mental, wanderer.
Niland's hero is an Everyman who evokes another precursor as well, the voyager of Pilgrim's Progress. The Shiralee's pilgrimage is, however, the progress of the soul of fatherhood itself.
There is so much to be read "between the lines" (the place from which the story's real power emanates) that the book virtually demands a prompt second reading.
How many copies can sell in the US market? Just count the number of fathers in this country and add all their coming-of-age sons and you'll have that figure.

My mom recorded the Shiralee on tape some years ago. I love it! It is such a good story. They really need to get it on DVD.

I was fortunate enough to have recorded the movie, The Shiralee, when it was on Masterpiece Theater all those years ago. Actually, my grandparents taped, it as I about 10 years old. This film moved me in a way, even then, that I can only describe as profound. When I watch it today, it brings me something different each time. I only wish I could get my hands on the book!

I loved the book. My husband saw it on Masterpiece Theatre the same 10 years ago as other readers. I would like to know if the video is available to purchase or if it will air again soon. I've tried desparately in the past 5 years to locate the right people that might air it again-No luck. please help. Thanks

Darcy Niland is largely unknown outside Australia (and largely unknown inside it). Dead Men Running is a rare novel by a genius at the top of his form. I first read it as a teenager and it haunted my imagination for many years - it's about the nature of truth, telling the truth, and the inevitable cost of that telling - all set against the backdrop of Irish-Australia and the coming of age of a young boy immigrant, after 1916. The impact of the 1916 Irish revolt reverberated across the British Empire - for many people, after 2 years of bloody fighting during the Great War, it was an act of treachery by the Irish utterly unforgivable by Australians. Many Australian Irish families changed the spelling and pronunciation of their names to escape the stigma. This novel is fascinating and compelling - maybe especially so, as I am a Queenslander (our State had far less Irish immigration than southern states) it was an insight into a different cultural milieu as well as a different time. The novel works so well as a coming of age story and of innocence lost. Maybe all of us are just dead men running, waiting for the inevitable.............