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y separately published work icon In the Wet single work   novel   science fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1953... 1953 In the Wet
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'It is the rainy season. Drunk and delirious, an old man lies dying in the Queensland bush. In his opium-hazed last hours, a priest finds his deserted shack and listens to his last words. Half-awake and half-dreaming the old man tells the story of an adventure set decades in the future, in a very different world . . .'. Source: bookseller's website.

Notes

  • Epigraph: Eight lines from a hymn 'sung at Shrewsbury School', composed by C. A. Allington.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Heinemann , 1953 .
      image of person or book cover 7726573484483886378.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 351p.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Heinemann ,       1953 .
      Extent: 354p.
      Reprinted: 1959 , 1971 , 1966 , 1975 , 1960
      Note/s:
      • First reviewed in TLS, 15 May 1953.
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       William Morrow ,       1953 .
      Extent: 339p.
      Reprinted: 1964
      Note/s:
      • Epigraph: Lord God of Hosts, through whom alone
        A Prince can rule his nation,
        Who settest Kings upon their throne
        And orderst each man's station;
        Now, and through ages following,
        This grace to us be given:
        To serve and love an earthly King
        Who serves our King in Heaven.- C.A. Alington (from a hymn sung at Shrewsbury School)
      • Published simultaneously in the Dominion of Canada by George J. McLeod, Ltd. Toronto. (verso)
      • Includes Author's Note. (p.339)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Perma Books ,       1957 .
      Extent: 280p.
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Perma Books ,       1957 .
      Extent: 280p.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Pan ,       1969 .
      Extent: 281p.
      Reprinted: 1971
      ISBN: 0330022911
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Heron Books ,       1969 .
      Extent: 354p.
      Note/s:
      • Original illustrations by Paul Gaisford.
    • c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,      :       Heron Books ,       1970-1979 .
      Extent: 354p.
      Note/s:
      • Published by arrangement with William Heinemann. Original illustrations by Paul Gaisford.
    • Larchmont, New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Queens House ,       1978 .
      Extent: 339p.
    • Leicester, Leicestershire,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Charnwood ,       1985 .
      Extent: 448p.
      ISBN: 0708982638
    • Mattituck, New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Amereon House ,       1986 .
      Extent: 348p.
      Reprinted: 2000
      ISBN: 0884113183, 9780884113188 (2000 reprint)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Mandarin ,       1990 .
      Extent: 347p.
      ISBN: 0749304065
    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Mandarin , 1991 .
    • Thirsk, Yorkshire,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Poughkeepsie, New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       House of Stratus ,       2000 .
      Extent: 344p.
      ISBN: 1842322540
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Vintage ,       2010 .
      image of person or book cover 4768041583404882045.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 7 December 2010.
      ISBN: 9780307474063
      Series: y separately published work icon Vintage International New York (City) : Vintage , 1993- 19532994 1993 series - publisher novel

      'William Faulkner, Philip Roth, Alice Munro, Thomas Mann, Doris Lessing, Albert Camus, V.S. Naipaul, Gabriel García Márquez, Salman Rushdie, Joan Didion, and Cormac McCarthy, among many others: Vintage International is devoted to publishing the best writing of the past century from the world over. Offering both classic and modern fiction and literary nonfiction in elegant editions, Vintage International aims to provide readers with world-class writing that has stood the test of time and essential works by the preeminent authors of today.'

      Source: Vintage.
Alternative title: Livets vav
Language: Swedish
    • Uppsala,
      c
      Sweden,
      c
      Scandinavia, Western Europe, Europe,      :       Geber ,       1954 .
      Extent: 321p.
      Reprinted: 1965 , 1978
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

A Town Not Quite Like Alice Hamish McDonald , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Inside Story , 13 August 2021;

In 2021, Hamish McDonald visited Burketown in the Gulf of Carpentaria to look at 'the unlikely place' where Nevil Shute's 'infatuation' with remote Australia began. McDonald examines the changes in Burketown since Shute's writing of A Town Like Alice, especially the lives of the local Aboriginal population.

McDonald also comments on Shute's 'hatred' of the welfare state and illustrates the ways in which this disdain seeps through into Shute's fiction writing.
Sky Politics : Nevil Shute’s In the Wet Gillian Polack , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Aurealis : Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction , no. 87 2016;
Nevil Shute - Exile by Choice Jack W. Bennett , 1988 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: A Sense of Exile : Essays in the Literature of the Asia-Pacific Region 1988; (p. 81-87)
Stories Within Stories P. K. Elkin , 1954 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 15 no. 2 1954; (p. 111-114)
— Review of In the Wet Nevil Shute , 1953 single work novel
Nevil Shute Again 1953 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 13 May vol. 74 no. 3822 1953; (p. 2)
— Review of In the Wet Nevil Shute , 1953 single work novel
Untitled Scrutarius , 1953 single work review
— Appears in: Walkabout , vol. 19 no. 7 1953; (p. 45)
— Review of In the Wet Nevil Shute , 1953 single work novel
Nevil Shute Again 1953 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 13 May vol. 74 no. 3822 1953; (p. 2)
— Review of In the Wet Nevil Shute , 1953 single work novel
Stories Within Stories P. K. Elkin , 1954 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 15 no. 2 1954; (p. 111-114)
— Review of In the Wet Nevil Shute , 1953 single work novel
Nevil Shute - Exile by Choice Jack W. Bennett , 1988 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: A Sense of Exile : Essays in the Literature of the Asia-Pacific Region 1988; (p. 81-87)
Sky Politics : Nevil Shute’s In the Wet Gillian Polack , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Aurealis : Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction , no. 87 2016;
A Town Not Quite Like Alice Hamish McDonald , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Inside Story , 13 August 2021;

In 2021, Hamish McDonald visited Burketown in the Gulf of Carpentaria to look at 'the unlikely place' where Nevil Shute's 'infatuation' with remote Australia began. McDonald examines the changes in Burketown since Shute's writing of A Town Like Alice, especially the lives of the local Aboriginal population.

McDonald also comments on Shute's 'hatred' of the welfare state and illustrates the ways in which this disdain seeps through into Shute's fiction writing.
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (6)
Last amended 24 Aug 2021 15:23:39
Subjects:
  • Australian Outback, Central Australia,
  • c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • Gulf of Carpentaria area, Far North Queensland, Queensland,
  • Northern Territory,
Settings:
  • Queensland,
  • Gulf of Carpentaria area, Far North Queensland, Queensland,
  • Australian Outback, Central Australia,
  • 1950s
  • 1980s
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