Inspired by this message from his college lecturers, the idealistic and zealous 19 year old Doug O’Connor takes up his first appointment to a remote one-teacher school in a decaying Australian country town.
Friend and Philosopher is an honestly written story, told with warmth, tenderness and insight. Entering that painful period when the child must become an adult, Doug encounters a series of reversals for which he is ill equipped, and struggles to come to a better understanding of himself.
Tense and engaging, Friend and Philosopher captures the awkwardness and confusion of youth, celebrating the loss of innocence, and dealing with complex and profound issues in a compelling and straightforward way.
A candid story about a young school teacher on his first posting to a one-horse town. Although his heart is in the right place, the hapless 19-year-old gets into all sorts of trouble. Author Noel Braun has drawn on his own experiences as a country school teacher to write this bitter-sweet tale full of Aussie characters.
- Wendy O’Hanlon, APN Newspapers
After being out of print Friend and Philosopher is now available.Though in a revised edition it tells the same compelling story which ensured its success on first publication.
