y separately published work icon The Nun and the Bandit single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1935... 1935 The Nun and the Bandit
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

E. Morris Miller's Australian Literature from its Beginnings to 1935 (1940): 729 comments: 'His latest book, The Nun and the Bandit, 1935, descends close to melodrama, but the sensationalism is restrained by the objectivity of the language. The bandit, escaping from a murder, kidnaps a girl and takes her with a sister (the novice), to the sparse desert region of Western Australia, where his redemption is fulfilled. The characters are related symbolically to their environment.'

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon The Nun and the Bandit Paul Cox , ( dir. Paul Cox ) Australia : Illumination Films , 1992 Z1468779 1992 single work film/TV

Michael, the impoverished nephew of wealthy mining magnate George, is concerned about taking care of a mentally handicapped brother and a half-brother who is Aboriginal. When Michael asks for financial help from his uncle (believing that he should, by rights, have inherited some money from his father), George indicates that he isn't letting go of a penny. In retaliation, Michael decides to kidnap George's granddaughter for ransom. The snatch takes place while the girl's aunt, a Polish nun, is visiting the girl's mother. The aunt gets caught up in the abduction as well, and a relationship develops between the angry young man and the otherworldly religious woman. She only knows that he seems like a ruffian, and she expects to be raped. He just wants her to be respectful towards him. The situation brings on a degree of personal intimacy neither of them has anticipated.

Notes

  • Epigraph: 'Aus deinem Giften brautest du dir deinen Balsam' Nietzsche (1935)

    Brew your healing balm from your own poison. (1993 translation).

  • Hope Kynoch comments: 'The Nun and the Bandit was Grant Watson's sixth novel set in the mystical environment of the Australian virgin bush of 1910. While the title may suggest a melodramatic tale, it is in fact a strong psychological study derived from the author's mythological and Jungian readings and his spiritual empathy with the Australian bush.' 'Afterword', The Nun and the Bandit (1993): 296).
  • Adapted for the 1992 film The Nun and the Bandit.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Leichhardt, Glebe - Leichhardt - Balmain area, Sydney Inner West, Sydney, New South Wales,: Primavera Press , 1993 .
      Extent: 309p.
      Description: facs.
      Note/s:
      • In 1993 Primavera Press re-released the book The Nun and the Bandit by E.L. Grant Watson. This book was originally published by Cresset Press in 1935. Primavera Press also sold the film rights to the book to Illumination Films who produced the film version of the book, which was released in 1993. The launch of the book was timed to coincide with the launch of the film, to maximise the publicity opportunities. (Guide to the Papers of Paul Brennan. MS 8116. National Library of Australia).
      • Afterword by Hope Kynoch (pp.296-306).
      • Book to Film by Paul Cox (pp.307-309).
      ISBN: 187536806X (pbk.)
Alternative title: Nunnan och banditen : Roman
Language: Swedish
    • Stockholm,
      c
      Sweden,
      c
      Scandinavia, Western Europe, Europe,      :       Fritzes ,       1943 .
      Extent: 315p.
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

'Some Mystical Affinity': E.L. Grant Watson and the Australian Desert Roslynn D. Haynes , 1998 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Land and Identity : Proceedings of the 1997 Conference Held at The University of New England Armidale New South Wales 27-30 September 1997 1998; (p. 168-173)
`A Kind of Aladdin Cave': Women, Space and Text in the Western Australian Novels of E.L. Grant Watson Angeline O'Neill , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Land and Identity : Proceedings of the 1997 Conference Held at The University of New England Armidale New South Wales 27-30 September 1997 1998; (p. 58-63)
Untitled Angeline O'Neill , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , Summer vol. 38 no. 4 1993; (p. 125-127)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
A Lurid Tale in the Wilderness Suzanne Falkiner , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 September 1993; (p. C10)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
Fame after 60 Years Elizabeth Riddell , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 5 October vol. 115 no. 5890 1993; (p. 106-107)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
New Australian Work Frederick T. Macartney , 1936 single work review
— Appears in: All About Books , 12 March vol. 8 no. 3 1936; (p. 37-39)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel ; The Devil's First : A Novel Edouard A. Aujard , 1932 single work novel ; Peter Lecky, By Himself Peter Lecky , 1935 single work autobiography ; The Singing Garden C. J. Dennis , 1935 selected work poetry ; The Lonely Rose, and Other Verses C. H. Souter , 1935 selected work poetry ; Beauty and Other Poems Alfred Chandler , 1935 selected work poetry ; Songs of Light Tilly Aston , 1935 selected work poetry ; Roundabout Humfrey Jordan , 1935 single work novel
Good, Bad, and Evil... Geoffrey Dutton , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2-3 October 1993; (p. rev 4)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
Fame after 60 Years Elizabeth Riddell , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 5 October vol. 115 no. 5890 1993; (p. 106-107)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
A Lurid Tale in the Wilderness Suzanne Falkiner , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 September 1993; (p. C10)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
Untitled Angeline O'Neill , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , Summer vol. 38 no. 4 1993; (p. 125-127)
— Review of The Nun and the Bandit E. L. Grant Watson , 1935 single work novel
E.L. Grant Watson and Western Australia : A Concern for Landscape Peter Cowan , 1980 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , March vol. 25 no. 1 1980; (p. 39-58)
Magazine Carves a Distinctive Identity Robert Hefner , 1992 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 19 January 1992; (p. 21)
The Daimon and the Fringe-Dweller : The Novels of Grant Watson Dorothy Green , 1971 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , Spring vol. 30 no. 3 1971; (p. 277-293)
`A Kind of Aladdin Cave': Women, Space and Text in the Western Australian Novels of E.L. Grant Watson Angeline O'Neill , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Land and Identity : Proceedings of the 1997 Conference Held at The University of New England Armidale New South Wales 27-30 September 1997 1998; (p. 58-63)
'Some Mystical Affinity': E.L. Grant Watson and the Australian Desert Roslynn D. Haynes , 1998 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Land and Identity : Proceedings of the 1997 Conference Held at The University of New England Armidale New South Wales 27-30 September 1997 1998; (p. 168-173)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (12)
Last amended 20 Aug 2012 10:13:42
Subjects:
Settings:
  • Western Australia,
  • Australian Outback, Central Australia,
  • 1910s
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