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Loving Country
Loving Country is a book that inspires ultimate respect for Mother Earth and the role of her custodians. While readers are encouraged to discover the sacred country of Australia in an open-minded and sensitive manner, the intention of this book is to foster communication and understanding between all peoples and country, to bring about a range of environmental and social changes.
Co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou hope to empower communities to tell their own stories, and for people to honour them and the country from which they have grown. Beautifully designed, all of the writing and photography in Loving Country has been created in consultation with communities. From the ingenious fish traps at Brewarrina and the rivers that feed the Great Barrier Reef, to the love stories of Wiluna and the whale story of Margaret River, there is so much to celebrate and admire about the oldest continuing culture in the world.
For those who want to do more than a whistle-stop tour of Australia, this book offers some keys to unlock and reveal the heart of this loving country.
Co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou hope to empower communities to tell their own stories, and for people to honour them and the country from which they have grown. Beautifully designed, all of the writing and photography in Loving Country has been created in consultation with communities. From the ingenious fish traps at Brewarrina and the rivers that feed the Great Barrier Reef, to the love stories of Wiluna and the whale story of Margaret River, there is so much to celebrate and admire about the oldest continuing culture in the world.
For those who want to do more than a whistle-stop tour of Australia, this book offers some keys to unlock and reveal the heart of this loving country.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published December 2, 2020
36 people are currently reading
557 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Pascoe
41 books322 followersBruce Pascoe was born of Bunurong and Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond and graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Education. He is a member of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative of southern Victoria and has been the director of the Australian Studies Project for the Commonwealth Schools Commission.
Bruce has had a varied career as a teacher, farmer, fisherman, barman, fencing contractor, lecturer, Aboriginal language researcher, archaeological site worker and editor.
He won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Literature Award in 1999 and his novel Fog a Dox (published by Magabala Books in 2012), won the Young Adult category of the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.
Source: http://brucepascoe.com.au/about/
Bruce has had a varied career as a teacher, farmer, fisherman, barman, fencing contractor, lecturer, Aboriginal language researcher, archaeological site worker and editor.
He won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Literature Award in 1999 and his novel Fog a Dox (published by Magabala Books in 2012), won the Young Adult category of the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.
Source: http://brucepascoe.com.au/about/
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May 1, 2022I listened to this, and it was fantastic to hear the authors' voices, particularly with the number of Aboriginal languages and place names referenced. 'Loving Country' is essentially a series of short essays on different areas of country in Australia presented from a First Nations perspective. Listeners or readers are introduced to the traditional custodians of each place, the importance of respect for culture and its connection to place in each area, and some of the damage that has been done by colonisation, climate change, and the modern way of living. It is quite a hopeful text through all this, offering up alternative ideas about how we might approach challenges in each place based on past understanding and respect for culture and country.
February 8, 2021
This read has been as an e-audio book, which I recommend as a way to absorb and embrace the text. But get hold of a copy of the truly beautiful paper publication. If you can, obtain a copy of your own to return to as you absorb the depth of each story and sort. (I am currently awaiting the arrival of my own copy in the mail, reborrowing from the library was no longer meeting my needs) ..........
First read as an e-audio book, now consumed as a paper book. So much beauty and so much truth. Bruny Island nearly destroys me with each read, but they are truth-stories that must be shared and heard
Don’t forget to sit with the forward from each author. These give you a context and starting point as well as gentle reminders to frame each part.
Bruce Pascoe is a clear speaking truth teller and every one of his books helps the reader open their minds to the lived reality of the First Peoples of Australia and the change forced upon every aspect of life with the invasion/arrival of Anglo settlers. This is our history, the history we as a nation have yet to have the courage to embrace and sit down and be ready for the dialogue of Truth-Telling and the listening we must do.
First read as an e-audio book, now consumed as a paper book. So much beauty and so much truth. Bruny Island nearly destroys me with each read, but they are truth-stories that must be shared and heard
Don’t forget to sit with the forward from each author. These give you a context and starting point as well as gentle reminders to frame each part.
Bruce Pascoe is a clear speaking truth teller and every one of his books helps the reader open their minds to the lived reality of the First Peoples of Australia and the change forced upon every aspect of life with the invasion/arrival of Anglo settlers. This is our history, the history we as a nation have yet to have the courage to embrace and sit down and be ready for the dialogue of Truth-Telling and the listening we must do.
April 14, 2022
Following on from the success of Dark Emu, and Young Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe now takes us on a brief tour of sacred sites around Australia.
Discussing various sites around Australia 🇦🇺, including its history and the effect of the introduction of European colonisation on the area and the local Indigenous population.
An eye-opening and thought provoking read. All Australians need to read Pascoe and re-think what they've been taught about Australia's history.
Discussing various sites around Australia 🇦🇺, including its history and the effect of the introduction of European colonisation on the area and the local Indigenous population.
An eye-opening and thought provoking read. All Australians need to read Pascoe and re-think what they've been taught about Australia's history.
March 25, 2024
Loving Country is a collection of essays on a range of Indigenous sacred sites in “Australia.” For each one, the essay includes detailed descriptions of the land and water, their histories, and their cultural significance; they also include a section at the end of each chapter including information on available tours or other ways to visit and learn about the area, and there are landscape and nature photos throughout. The text citiques settler colonialism and its cultural and environmental impacts, how these histories are told (or, in too many instances, silenced) today, and discusses contemporary Australians’ responsibilities toward the First Peoples and the land itself.
I read this on an e-reader, and I really wish I could’ve gotten a hard copy – I would definitely suggest the hard copy route if you can find one in order to better see the photographs.
Content warnings: as a book detailing Indigenous experiences of and histories with their land, it does discuss the past and present violence of settler colonialism.
I read this on an e-reader, and I really wish I could’ve gotten a hard copy – I would definitely suggest the hard copy route if you can find one in order to better see the photographs.
Content warnings: as a book detailing Indigenous experiences of and histories with their land, it does discuss the past and present violence of settler colonialism.
January 25, 2021
Co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou capture a diverse range of landscapes and introduce readers to the profoundly sacred country from different places across Australia.
Opening up a really important conversation, about respect, understanding and celebration for the world’s oldest continuing culture. The book has some stinging critiques, particularly about the reverence placed on Colonial culture, while ignoring the significance of First Nations culture.
I was particularly moved by the discussion of the Whale and its importance in cultures right around Australia including in the red centre. The stories and research tie together for a really riveting read. The generosity of the story tellers, knowledge keepers and Lore men and women can’t go unnoticed.
Reading Loving Country at this time has made me feel profoundly homesick, but in a good way.
It is fair to say this book only has the capacity to explore a small fraction of what makes Australia unique, with hundreds of nations making up what is now called Australia, but the message is clear encouraging the reader to seek out stories, experiences and understandings of country that might be hidden or not automatically apparent, it asks you to listen and learn with respect and openness.
As Australia, wakes up to a public holiday marking Invasion Day, this is one of those books I hope more and more Australian’s pick up and really open their hearts and minds to the underlining messages, these are lands for which people have long ancestral connections.
Opening up a really important conversation, about respect, understanding and celebration for the world’s oldest continuing culture. The book has some stinging critiques, particularly about the reverence placed on Colonial culture, while ignoring the significance of First Nations culture.
I was particularly moved by the discussion of the Whale and its importance in cultures right around Australia including in the red centre. The stories and research tie together for a really riveting read. The generosity of the story tellers, knowledge keepers and Lore men and women can’t go unnoticed.
Reading Loving Country at this time has made me feel profoundly homesick, but in a good way.
It is fair to say this book only has the capacity to explore a small fraction of what makes Australia unique, with hundreds of nations making up what is now called Australia, but the message is clear encouraging the reader to seek out stories, experiences and understandings of country that might be hidden or not automatically apparent, it asks you to listen and learn with respect and openness.
As Australia, wakes up to a public holiday marking Invasion Day, this is one of those books I hope more and more Australian’s pick up and really open their hearts and minds to the underlining messages, these are lands for which people have long ancestral connections.
May 6, 2021
A beautifully photographed book of places important to Indigenous Australians around the country.
It's more of a taste of the less known places then a complete atlas. In fact there is not a single map in all these pages that identifies were these places are. You need a good knowledge of Australia or be willing to use your google skills.
Surprisingly there is not much that is covered in the book on the country around Sydney, for example.
What is covered is given a loving examination with some lovely details.
It would be a good book to take on a road trip around the country or one to just sit on the coffee table and flick through occasionally.
It's more of a taste of the less known places then a complete atlas. In fact there is not a single map in all these pages that identifies were these places are. You need a good knowledge of Australia or be willing to use your google skills.
Surprisingly there is not much that is covered in the book on the country around Sydney, for example.
What is covered is given a loving examination with some lovely details.
It would be a good book to take on a road trip around the country or one to just sit on the coffee table and flick through occasionally.
December 5, 2022
This book offers marvellous insight into the care of Country and the hidden history of Aboriginal Australia. It invites listening, respect and fresh understanding. It is also a marvellous travel guide offering ways to connect more deeply with Aboriginal teachers across the country.
April 8, 2022
A few years ago I spent six months traveling this country with my family. What I wouldn't give to have had this book to inform our travels! I highly recommend listening to the audiobook.
October 29, 2022
A beautiful collection of essays about caring for country. This book covers a different region for each essay, discussing its history and how the white man has affected it, ultimately coming back to how we should treasure it.
March 15, 2021
Incredibly interesting information that all Australians should know.
February 24, 2021
Loving Country is a must-read for all Australian adults. Why did I give it only 4 stars then? If it had been a travel guide, I would have given it 5.
I listen to this as an audiobook, which I recommend doing. It helped me understand how to pronounce certain words. Bruce Pascoe also has a lovely speaking voice, and conveys his feelings very plainly. His anger, disappointment and sense of betrayal is made clear, and is devastating and captivating in equal measure. Vicky Shukuroglou sounds more tempered, and I did find her sections just a little less interesting and memorable than Pascoe's.
I thoroughly enjoy this text, and read it in only a few days. I kept thinking I would re-read it before visiting the places mentioned, and thinking about which of my friends I could rope into a road trip to the places mentioned. I found myself dreaming of tours with the custodians of this land, seeing hidden history and culture that is often discarded by White Australians.
I listen to this as an audiobook, which I recommend doing. It helped me understand how to pronounce certain words. Bruce Pascoe also has a lovely speaking voice, and conveys his feelings very plainly. His anger, disappointment and sense of betrayal is made clear, and is devastating and captivating in equal measure. Vicky Shukuroglou sounds more tempered, and I did find her sections just a little less interesting and memorable than Pascoe's.
I thoroughly enjoy this text, and read it in only a few days. I kept thinking I would re-read it before visiting the places mentioned, and thinking about which of my friends I could rope into a road trip to the places mentioned. I found myself dreaming of tours with the custodians of this land, seeing hidden history and culture that is often discarded by White Australians.
June 28, 2021
Beautifully and thoughtfully presented book that showcases some of Australia's sites of sacred significance.
Loving Country is a book that inspires ultimate respect for Mother Earth and the role of her custodians. While readers are encouraged to discover the sacred country of Australia in an open-minded and sensitive manner, the intention of this book is to foster communication and understanding between all peoples and country, to bring about a range of environmental and social changes.
Co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou hope to empower communities to tell their own stories, and for people to honour them and the country from which they have grown. Beautifully designed, all of the writing and photography in Loving Country has been created in consultation with communities. From the ingenious fish traps at Brewarrina and the rivers that feed the Great Barrier Reef, to the love stories of Wiluna and the whale story of Margaret River, there is so much to celebrate and admire about the oldest continuing culture in the world.
For those who want to do more than a whistle-stop tour of Australia, this book offers some keys to unlock and reveal the heart of this loving country.
Loving Country is a book that inspires ultimate respect for Mother Earth and the role of her custodians. While readers are encouraged to discover the sacred country of Australia in an open-minded and sensitive manner, the intention of this book is to foster communication and understanding between all peoples and country, to bring about a range of environmental and social changes.
Co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou hope to empower communities to tell their own stories, and for people to honour them and the country from which they have grown. Beautifully designed, all of the writing and photography in Loving Country has been created in consultation with communities. From the ingenious fish traps at Brewarrina and the rivers that feed the Great Barrier Reef, to the love stories of Wiluna and the whale story of Margaret River, there is so much to celebrate and admire about the oldest continuing culture in the world.
For those who want to do more than a whistle-stop tour of Australia, this book offers some keys to unlock and reveal the heart of this loving country.
April 26, 2021
"None said we must stop and turn back the clock, but all said we could do much better in our care for what we have today." This quote sums up this book in such an eloquent way.
As I am currently studying Australian Archaeology, I was looking forward to learning more about sacred Australia. As a non-indigenous Australian, I had only a little understanding of just how much this country has lost due to colonialism. The many aspects of Australia that has been manufactured are pointed out. Our wester perspective is so limited and called out the so-called 'religious people who pointed to a civilisation thousands of years old and said savages. Again hearing that a child couldn't even find a book on indigenous history in a school library broke my heart.
This is was an easy 5 star read. Please read this!
As I am currently studying Australian Archaeology, I was looking forward to learning more about sacred Australia. As a non-indigenous Australian, I had only a little understanding of just how much this country has lost due to colonialism. The many aspects of Australia that has been manufactured are pointed out. Our wester perspective is so limited and called out the so-called 'religious people who pointed to a civilisation thousands of years old and said savages. Again hearing that a child couldn't even find a book on indigenous history in a school library broke my heart.
This is was an easy 5 star read. Please read this!
June 20, 2021
In LOVING COUNTRY the authors take us on a tour of Australian places cloaked in colonial names, and share their original name and history, their sacred significance and what became of the people who once lived there and cared for that country.
It is more than a tourist map, it is an invitation to see Australia fully, to love it, to experience all that it has been and all it still is. To look around and think of who has walked here, what creatures used to crawl across this patch of earth, what stories were told around fires here that have been passed down or sadly forgotten.
I will never look comfortably at a road or building again without now imagining the history hidden underneath.
It is more than a tourist map, it is an invitation to see Australia fully, to love it, to experience all that it has been and all it still is. To look around and think of who has walked here, what creatures used to crawl across this patch of earth, what stories were told around fires here that have been passed down or sadly forgotten.
I will never look comfortably at a road or building again without now imagining the history hidden underneath.
June 1, 2022
This a a fantastic follow up to Dark Emu, surveying some sacred places of Australia. They talk about the land, the birds, animals, plants, with the original inhabitants relationships and inevitably the violent clash with the invaders. The very real “settlements’ that the indigenous people had are described as are the other tools and technology. However the sections that are most enthralling are the discussions of the continuing relationship of the people to their environment. Of course the details of the massacres are shocking and tragic. The resilience of the people are described with power. A very worthwhile book.
January 30, 2021
Brilliant book, absolutely loved it. Thought it would have just been a good flick-through to have with us whilst travelling but I read the whole thing like a novel before we even left. Very sad to see that I'd been to one of the places discussed and I didn't even know the cultural significance of it! (Gulaga)
One thing which would have been a good addition to the book was a map of Oz with which state each location is in (or even better, which language group it is in!). Thanks authors, love it.
One thing which would have been a good addition to the book was a map of Oz with which state each location is in (or even better, which language group it is in!). Thanks authors, love it.
July 7, 2021
What an awesome way to share stories about the First Nations people of Australia, and their willingness to share thousands of years of culture and knowledge with us.
Their appreciation and care for the land - their integrity and spiritual connection to living in harmony with nature just gives me goosebumps.
I look forward travelling to some of these places, getting up close & personal & appreciating what is around us. Happy NAIDOC week Bruce & Vicky, this is a fantastic book.
Their appreciation and care for the land - their integrity and spiritual connection to living in harmony with nature just gives me goosebumps.
I look forward travelling to some of these places, getting up close & personal & appreciating what is around us. Happy NAIDOC week Bruce & Vicky, this is a fantastic book.
April 26, 2023
I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed it but definitely felt the absence of the pictures. Incredibly informative text if somewhat politically naive at times. I struggle with the whole ignorance was the problem analysis which completely ignores the material relations of settler colonialism that were (and still are) underlying the social structures and relations in counties like so-called Australia
May 11, 2021
I listened to this as an audiobook, and I felt that I missed out on a lot because it referred to the pictures and landscapes within the pages that I just couldn't begin to imagine.
I then picked up a physical copy to skim through once finished to be able to absorb a bit more.
A lovely introductory travel guide to many incredible places, with such important cultural connection.
I then picked up a physical copy to skim through once finished to be able to absorb a bit more.
A lovely introductory travel guide to many incredible places, with such important cultural connection.
September 12, 2022
This book should be in every Australian household. I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook and would now like to purchase a paper copy of it for myself and my children. Ideally, I’d like to purchase the audiobook as well so I get to hear the beautiful pronunciations as I follow along.
If you’re planning travel in Australia it would be a brilliant guide.
If you’re planning travel in Australia it would be a brilliant guide.
May 7, 2024
Stories shared about sacred areas around Australia- chapters containing magnificent photographs and soulful words. The sad, horrible, brutal history of invasion, balanced by heartwarming stories of First Nation lands, nature, culture, art, society and agriculture. We need to learn this history and share the inspiring stories with all travellers. Quite lengthy.
April 24, 2021
Beautiful and really informative book. Borrowed as an audiobook but after listening half way I had to go and get the hard copy of the book. The hard covered book is beautiful. It made me want to travel and learn more about this land’s history.
June 26, 2021
Audio book. I love the soothing sound of Bruce Pascoe’s voice.
July 10, 2021
What a beautiful accompaniment to roadtripping around Australia!
July 15, 2021
An important book that I think I would like in hardback!
October 11, 2021
Would be a handy guide if you are travelling around the country.
June 26, 2022
A privilege to read while driving around rural Victoria past many places mentioned in this wonderful book. Read as an audio book from the free library Borrow Box.
July 6, 2022
Review scheduled for July 7 at anzlitlovers.com
August 12, 2022
A comprehensive way to see Australian tourist spots from an Indigenous perspective. Fascinating. Great narrators. Though I’m also gonna grab the book to see the photos!
July 9, 2024
An enjoyable exploration of places and issues pertaining to them and all of Australia.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews