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The Crow Eaters: A Journey through South Australia
'Ben Stubbs uncovers the sheer delight and surprise of discovering what’s in your own backyard.’ — Bob Byrne, author of Adelaide Remember When and Australia Remember When
Outsiders think of South Australia as being different, without really knowing much about it. Combining his own travel across the million-square kilometres of the state with an investigation of its history, Ben Stubbs seeks to find out what South Australia is really like.
In the spirit of the best travel writing and literary non-fiction, he lingers in places of quiet beauty and meets some memorable people. Along the way he debunks most of the clichés that plague the state. Travelling to Maralinga, Ceduna, Kangaroo Island, the Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, the storied Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth and the once-mighty river that is the Murray, Stubbs brings this diverse state to life. He even addresses head-on the question ‘Is South Australia weird?’
Readers will find it hard to resist the book’s implicit invitation to take a look at places much closer to home, to take the time to drink in dramatic landscapes that are slow, deep and speckled with unforgettable characters.
‘Takes you where the silence is massive and the beauty unexpected.’ — Christopher Kremmer
Outsiders think of South Australia as being different, without really knowing much about it. Combining his own travel across the million-square kilometres of the state with an investigation of its history, Ben Stubbs seeks to find out what South Australia is really like.
In the spirit of the best travel writing and literary non-fiction, he lingers in places of quiet beauty and meets some memorable people. Along the way he debunks most of the clichés that plague the state. Travelling to Maralinga, Ceduna, Kangaroo Island, the Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, the storied Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth and the once-mighty river that is the Murray, Stubbs brings this diverse state to life. He even addresses head-on the question ‘Is South Australia weird?’
Readers will find it hard to resist the book’s implicit invitation to take a look at places much closer to home, to take the time to drink in dramatic landscapes that are slow, deep and speckled with unforgettable characters.
‘Takes you where the silence is massive and the beauty unexpected.’ — Christopher Kremmer
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2019
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58 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 17, 2022
It took me a few pages to fall into this narrative and then the eye opening began~
Stubbs stuffs a lot into this book. There's history and travel with locals. And from this I came to realize how ridiculously diverse the settlers to the region were: Chinese, Italians, Sri Lankans, Vietnamese, Bulgarians and other Europeans, Americans, Greeks, Serbs, Croates...)
There is also the environment and native peoples, both of whom Stubbs is sympathetic to. Let's talk about The Fence, as an example. Stubbs travelled with a fellow whose job it is to keep it in repair. Or at least his segment, as the fence is twice as long as the US boarder with Mexico. The fence is there to keep the wild life --native and imported-- from destroying what men have built. And just as the region was settled by people from around the world, there are a diversity of critters. Besides the dingos, wild dogs, and dingo-hybrids, there are large populations of camels, cats, rabbits, horses and donkeys.
Unlike other travel adventures, Stubbs takes the time to delve into the smaller bits of history. He visits an old prison, for example, and lists some of the petty crimes and sentences. (Nothing as informative about a time as what annoyed people.) He also talks about the isolation of the outback and how children once had to use pedal-radios to get up enough power for a signal so they could start school.
He explores the positive and the not. Thinking here of the 'Maralinga guinea pigs'. Soldiers ordered to stand at the 'survivable edge' of a nuclear blast. They were commanded to strip and roll in the radioactive ashes. It's so offensive to me that I won't say more. [see BBC - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-571... - Nuclear test veterans: 'My dad was treated like a guinea pig']
Overall I thought it worked to give a sense of the region. The history, the weather, the hardy, determined spirit of the people, the diversity, the evolution over time...
-------
And because I-personally wanted a convenient list of the books he mentioned....
Cooper's Creek
by Alan Moorehead
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The Wayward Tourist
by Mark Twain
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
White Man in a Hole
by Rena Briand
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Journey Around My Room
by Xavier de Maistre
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
In Patagonia
by Bruce Chatwin
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
Storm Boy
by Colin Thiele, Robert Ingpen (Illustrations)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark
by Bruce Elder
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
The Emigrant: A Tale of Australia
by W.H. Leigh
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
Unearthed: The Aboriginal Tasmanians of Kangaroo Island
by Rebe Taylor
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
Blood on the Wattle
by Bruce Elder
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
INNAMINCKA
by HM Tolcher
not found on Goodreads but available at AbeBooks.
Here is another book by her.
Drought Or Deluge: Man In The Cooper's Creek Region
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Rogues and Heroes: Policing the Cooper 1876-1952
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Innamincka????
by Elizabeth Burchill
-I’m not sure if this is the book he was referring to.
https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...
Dark Emu
by Bruce Pascoe
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The Death of Holden: The End of an Australian Dream
by Royce Kurmelovs
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Among the Thugs
by Bill Buford
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Good Times, Hard Times: The Past and the Future in Elizabeth
by Mark Peel
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Adelaide
by Kerryn Goldsworthy
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Quiet City: Walking in the West Terrace Cemetery
by Carol Lefevre
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Australia and New Zealand: Volume 1
by Anthony Trollope
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
November 11, 2021
‘It’s a long walk if you take a short cut.’
I have travelled to South Australia a couple of times, but only ever to Adelaide. And when you travel for work-related purposes, there is not much opportunity for exploration and sightseeing. Reading Mr Stubbs’s book took me far beyond the city limits of Adelaide, into places I know by name or reputation such as Ceduna, Elizabeth, and Maralinga. What I enjoyed most about this book was the journey along the dog fence with one of the men who patrols part of it from the edge of Mabel Creek to Mount Eva. This is remote territory: red gibber plains, rolling scrub and chalky country, and is utterly foreign to me. And yet, as Mr Stubbs describes this part of his journey with Al, I can see that the country has its own austere beauty.
I read about Coober Pedy, Kangaroo Island and the Flinders Ranges and learned a little about the history and some of the people who live there. I am tempted to visit some of these places to see for myself. But whether I visit or I do not, I now appreciate that there is far more to South Australia than the city of Adelaide.
Mr Stubbs has written an interesting and informative guide which I would recommend to anyone interested in South Australia.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I have travelled to South Australia a couple of times, but only ever to Adelaide. And when you travel for work-related purposes, there is not much opportunity for exploration and sightseeing. Reading Mr Stubbs’s book took me far beyond the city limits of Adelaide, into places I know by name or reputation such as Ceduna, Elizabeth, and Maralinga. What I enjoyed most about this book was the journey along the dog fence with one of the men who patrols part of it from the edge of Mabel Creek to Mount Eva. This is remote territory: red gibber plains, rolling scrub and chalky country, and is utterly foreign to me. And yet, as Mr Stubbs describes this part of his journey with Al, I can see that the country has its own austere beauty.
I read about Coober Pedy, Kangaroo Island and the Flinders Ranges and learned a little about the history and some of the people who live there. I am tempted to visit some of these places to see for myself. But whether I visit or I do not, I now appreciate that there is far more to South Australia than the city of Adelaide.
Mr Stubbs has written an interesting and informative guide which I would recommend to anyone interested in South Australia.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
September 15, 2020
This book doubled up as a guidebook for a road trip round South Australia during the Covid border closure, albeit with considerably more eloquence and insightfulness than most guidebooks. It was a pleasant companion; I’d sometimes catch myself looking out for the characters the author describes along the way. I finished the book (and the road trip) with a warm and fuzzy feeling for the state I’m grateful to call home.
September 3, 2019
The Crow Eaters
As a South Australian I found this a very interesting read. I saw the author interviewed on tv and his description of his book made me want to read it. I wasn’t disappointed. I sent it to my friend overseas to give them a glimpse of my State.
As a South Australian I found this a very interesting read. I saw the author interviewed on tv and his description of his book made me want to read it. I wasn’t disappointed. I sent it to my friend overseas to give them a glimpse of my State.
September 29, 2023
Two and a half stars - I couldn’t decide between two or three.
I’m disappointed. I was feeling a bit homesick and happened to see this, so I picked it up, hoping for a tour of my home that would perk me up. Not so.
When books are written I think it is helpful for authors to be explicit whether they are offering a personal perspective, or attempting a neutral, balanced one. This is a personal perspective masquerading as a balanced one.
I enjoyed the trips to the river and up to Woomera, down to extinct volcanoes, down further still to swimming in shark-filled waters, and the bits of history woven into the authors journey. It was great to learn about the dog fence and the nuclear tests. Where indigenous history isn’t an anti-colonial pity party, I enjoyed that too. The odd mix of people descended from afghans, britons and the indigenous was something you don’t hear about but is genuinely quite interesting.
But the book is imbalanced. It neither represents a historical nor a present view of South Australia. The state is peculiar in many ways, utterly missed amongst the bore of modern day ‘diversity’. It was politically progressive for its time and wonderfully entrepreneurial in its early days. This is completely absent. Why? Its unique human stock. It was awash with nonconformist evangelicals, methodists, baptists and presbyterians. Adelaide was the city of churches indeed, and this was why. They behaved as they did in Britain. This streak exists uniquely still, in the form of the Australian democrats, or the Xenophon party. It was so odd to read of a imam interviewed when this enormous aspect of the state’s history was ignored.
And then there’s the people focus. Most of the population is in Adelaide, yet this city was largely swept past. The city is a fascinating place, as are its people. It didn’t seem right to talk about serial killers and then push straight on to briefly discuss the hills. Who are Adelaideans? What of their city?
There is much to like in this book. But it is imbalanced. It’s not a case of removing parts - I think it’s generally all worth keeping. But add some more, fill it up, offer a more fulsome picture, not this strange, skewed one.
I love my home! But this book did not deliver.
I’m disappointed. I was feeling a bit homesick and happened to see this, so I picked it up, hoping for a tour of my home that would perk me up. Not so.
When books are written I think it is helpful for authors to be explicit whether they are offering a personal perspective, or attempting a neutral, balanced one. This is a personal perspective masquerading as a balanced one.
I enjoyed the trips to the river and up to Woomera, down to extinct volcanoes, down further still to swimming in shark-filled waters, and the bits of history woven into the authors journey. It was great to learn about the dog fence and the nuclear tests. Where indigenous history isn’t an anti-colonial pity party, I enjoyed that too. The odd mix of people descended from afghans, britons and the indigenous was something you don’t hear about but is genuinely quite interesting.
But the book is imbalanced. It neither represents a historical nor a present view of South Australia. The state is peculiar in many ways, utterly missed amongst the bore of modern day ‘diversity’. It was politically progressive for its time and wonderfully entrepreneurial in its early days. This is completely absent. Why? Its unique human stock. It was awash with nonconformist evangelicals, methodists, baptists and presbyterians. Adelaide was the city of churches indeed, and this was why. They behaved as they did in Britain. This streak exists uniquely still, in the form of the Australian democrats, or the Xenophon party. It was so odd to read of a imam interviewed when this enormous aspect of the state’s history was ignored.
And then there’s the people focus. Most of the population is in Adelaide, yet this city was largely swept past. The city is a fascinating place, as are its people. It didn’t seem right to talk about serial killers and then push straight on to briefly discuss the hills. Who are Adelaideans? What of their city?
There is much to like in this book. But it is imbalanced. It’s not a case of removing parts - I think it’s generally all worth keeping. But add some more, fill it up, offer a more fulsome picture, not this strange, skewed one.
I love my home! But this book did not deliver.
January 19, 2021
The Crow Eaters gives a fresh perspective on South Australia, especially the more remote parts. Ben Stubbs had moved to Adelaide from the east coast and wanted to find out what gave South Australia its unique culture, so he visited all corners of the state to learn about the history and the environment and to meet the people. It's an entertaining slow read and, while I did not find it particularly insightful, I appreciated the openness to learn and appreciate all that he saw. I came away with a sense of pride in my state and enthusiasm to continue exploring it myself.
June 3, 2023
For someone about to take a holiday to South Australia this was an informative and entertaining pre-read. Ben takes us to lots of significant towns and sites to tell some of the behind the scenes stories. It showed the great diversity of the environments to be found in the state as well as the people who moved there to start a new life.
The Crow Eaters has certainly whetted my appetite for travel to this state.
The Crow Eaters has certainly whetted my appetite for travel to this state.
October 29, 2021
An informative and entertaining book - excellent background for anyone travelling to Sth Australia
February 17, 2020
I really enjoyed this read! I found that I don't know a single thing about South Australia, and now I want to know more. It was a pleasure to read it on my phone and occasionally switch over to Google Maps to really see the places Ben was describing. I'd recommend this book to anyone who just needs a virtual trip to someplace completely different from the US.
November 18, 2019
I was so excited to read this book after seeing the author talk at the Jaipur Literature Festival, and I was not disappointed. It was so great to read about the quirks, history and hidden tales of my state. Stubbs explored the region with the interest and passion that another might indulge in a province of Italy. The book is clearly well researched and very easy to read, without being simplistic. I loved it so much I have just bought three copies to use as gifts at Christmas time.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews