Apparently Zane Grey was quite taken with Australia after his 1935 visit and he wrote the 615 page novel The Great Trek in which he describes many of the natural wonders of both flora and fauna that he encountered. An abbreviated version of this story was originally published in 1944 as “The Wilderness” but now it has been re-issued in a 500 page version.

I enjoyed this story, but I have a feeling that I would have liked the concise shorter version a little more that this longer, drawn out story with it’s overly dramatic language and florid descriptions. Two American cowboys come to Australia and sign on for a cattle drive of epic proportions. Driving across the Outback and a vast area called the Never Never Land, a group of pioneers and drovers herd eight thousand cattle toward the Kimberley Mountains. Along the way they encounter many hardships and set-backs in the form of unfriendly aborigines, thunder storms, dust storms, perilous river crossings and a vile bushwhacker. The book is chock full of adventure, romance, action and, unfortunately, there are definite tones of racism that is a reflection of the times. The trek takes over two years and at times I felt like it was going to take me two years to read the book!

Grey does paint a vivid picture of the beauty of Australia and the story is interesting but the language and morals are dated and require some gritting of the teeth. I really liked the survival aspect of the story and I am pleased to have read this epic tale. ( )