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Naked Under Capricorn
Set in the Australian outback, it deals with harsh conditions of survival and the often brutal relations between Aborigine and white man. A powerful and convincing story.
- GenresFiction
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
36 people want to read
About the author
Olaf Ruhen
45 books2 followersOlaf Ruhen was the son of Carl Ruhen, a German from Schleswig-Holstein and a Frisian Islander, who became a timber merchant in New Zealand. His wife, Margaret nee Johnson, born in New Zealand, came from a Shetland Island family. Olaf Ruhen was educated at Otago Boys' High School. As a young man, he worked with horse teams, as a shepherd, and as a deep-sea fisherman for six years. This career ended when he wrecked his own boat, the 'Alice'. He had published some articles with the Dunedin Evening Star and from 1938 to 1941 was employed as a journalist with the newspaper. During this period he wrote a number of short stories published by the Sydney Bulletin.
During the Second World War Ruhen joined the RNZAF 1941-1945, serving with the RAF flying Lancasters for the Bomber Command. From 1945 to 1947 he was again employed by the Evening Star. In 1947 he moved to Sydney, where he worked for the Telegraph, the Sun and the Sydney Morning Herald. Ruhen was also writing short stories again for the Bulletin and, more lucratively, the Saturday Evening Post where his highest payment was $2,250 for a story. He resigned in 1956 to become a freelance writer after quarrelling with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Ruhen concentrated on overseas markets, primarily the United States, then Britain and Europe. Despite his reputation for treating writing as a business, Ruhen was a writer of integrity who rejected a Saturday Evening Post offer to serialise his first novel, Naked under Capricorn, because they wished to make changes that he felt would rob the novel of its truth. American serial rights to the novel would have been worth between $9,000 and $13,000. In 1963 he was the first director of the School of Creative Writing, University of Adelaide, and in 1973 of the summer school of creative writing in Papua New Guinea.
Ruhen published several hundred short stories in anthologies and magazines. He contributed to most of the Australian journals with a national circulation and to the Saturday Evening Post, Argosy and other overseas journals. He also wrote film scripts and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Ruhen wrote a variety of non-fiction works, based largely on his extensive travels in Australia, New Guinea and the South Pacific. They included two historical works, Minerva Reef (1963) and Bullock Teams : the building of a nation (1980). Ruhen also wrote The Day of the Diprotodon (1976), an information book for children.
Ruhen was a founding committee member of the Australian Society of Authors, and vice-president of Sydney PEN. In 1976 he won the Qantas Short Story Award.
During the Second World War Ruhen joined the RNZAF 1941-1945, serving with the RAF flying Lancasters for the Bomber Command. From 1945 to 1947 he was again employed by the Evening Star. In 1947 he moved to Sydney, where he worked for the Telegraph, the Sun and the Sydney Morning Herald. Ruhen was also writing short stories again for the Bulletin and, more lucratively, the Saturday Evening Post where his highest payment was $2,250 for a story. He resigned in 1956 to become a freelance writer after quarrelling with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Ruhen concentrated on overseas markets, primarily the United States, then Britain and Europe. Despite his reputation for treating writing as a business, Ruhen was a writer of integrity who rejected a Saturday Evening Post offer to serialise his first novel, Naked under Capricorn, because they wished to make changes that he felt would rob the novel of its truth. American serial rights to the novel would have been worth between $9,000 and $13,000. In 1963 he was the first director of the School of Creative Writing, University of Adelaide, and in 1973 of the summer school of creative writing in Papua New Guinea.
Ruhen published several hundred short stories in anthologies and magazines. He contributed to most of the Australian journals with a national circulation and to the Saturday Evening Post, Argosy and other overseas journals. He also wrote film scripts and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Ruhen wrote a variety of non-fiction works, based largely on his extensive travels in Australia, New Guinea and the South Pacific. They included two historical works, Minerva Reef (1963) and Bullock Teams : the building of a nation (1980). Ruhen also wrote The Day of the Diprotodon (1976), an information book for children.
Ruhen was a founding committee member of the Australian Society of Authors, and vice-president of Sydney PEN. In 1976 he won the Qantas Short Story Award.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 25, 2025
I can see how this is claimed to be an Australian classic!
This story is truly captivating and heartbreaking at the same time. The treatment of the Aboriginal people is appalling, and unfortunately, so real. Written in the 1950's, it is inherently racist in its language and depiction, much alike the early 1900's it is set in.
A devastating and sobering depiction of how even people with the best intentions can contribute to the deterioration and westernisation of Aboriginal people and therefore separating them from their culture and Country.
This story is truly captivating and heartbreaking at the same time. The treatment of the Aboriginal people is appalling, and unfortunately, so real. Written in the 1950's, it is inherently racist in its language and depiction, much alike the early 1900's it is set in.
A devastating and sobering depiction of how even people with the best intentions can contribute to the deterioration and westernisation of Aboriginal people and therefore separating them from their culture and Country.
July 27, 2014
Powerful story about relations between Aborigine and white man in early 19th century outback Australia.
April 21, 2017
Written in the 1950's before the age of political correctness and social justice warriors, this book gives an accurate account (almost accidentally) of the slow but corrosive impact of white settlers on native Australian aboriginal populations. Set in remote Central Australia it traces the life of a aimless white drifter who comes across an aboriginal settlement (abridged to avoid spoilers). It sets in motion events that lead to the unintentional but gradual decline of traditional aboriginal society and their way of life. An interesting time-capsule of how things would've unfolded - without any politically or socially motivated overlays.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews