While in Darkness There is Light: Idealism and Tragedy on an Australian Commune

Additional While in Darkness There is Light: Idealism and Tragedy on an Australian Commune Information

A look at the lives of five young men who, during the Vietnam era, start a commune in Australia-and a look at how young men often look to the wild to find themselves and the consequences this sometimes yields. The Rosebud Farm project was born of idealism, commitment, and virtue, all deeply rooted in friendships that have transcended distance and time. The men in this story, insulated by wealth and innocent of heart, were trying to make sense of a tumultuous world and trying to find some peace in it.

One of these five young men was Charlie Dean, the brother of Howard Dean (who has written the introduction).

Louella Bryant has won numerous awards for her short stories and poems. She is the author of two young-adult historical novels-The Black Bonnet, finalist for the Vermont Book Award, and Father By Blood, winner of the Silver Bay Children's Literature Award-and a picture book, Two Tracks in the Snow. Louella teaches creative writing in the Spalding University MFA writing program in Louisville and mentors young writers at the New England Young Writers' Conference at Bread Loaf.

What Customers Say About While in Darkness There is Light: Idealism and Tragedy on an Australian Commune:

Bryant brings to life a time of struggle and idealism that stands in stark contrast to today's cynicism. Having come of age at that time, I can attest to this authentic portrayal of my generation's youthful hopes and mistakes. Clear prose and wonderfully drawn characters make this a compelling read, enjoyable and satisfying from start to finish.

There's a lot of fun and (dangerous) adventure in Australia -- one of them dies in a diving accident and another goes off on a quixotic quest to Southeast Asia, never to return. Louella Bryant has written an engrossing memoir of a small group of young men, the sons of rich Americans, living under the stress of the war in Vietnam. "Hell-no, they won't go" (to fight), but even so they're scarred by the times. An excellent forward by former Vermont Governor and prominent Democrat, Howard Dean, who lost his brother. A good read and well-written.

Bryant has done a wonderful job capturing the times of the 70's counterculture when just about everyone, including the wealthiest young men in the country, were turning on and dropping out. The book is a tribute to a time when young people were so fed up with their country that they were willing to move half way around the globe to try and make a better life for themselves. Leaving behind lives that most people could only dream of these idealists set up a commune in the Australian jungle and made a go of it. And while Charlie Dean's death was senseless and tragic it does overshadow the overall success of the Rosebud farm and the backbreaking hard work and tenacity of Rich Trapnell who, as the proverbial last man standing, runs a thriving business to this day. As you will see by reading the book the social struggles reverberate in each of the cast of characters in varying degrees. Highly recommended.

For me, the book was somewhat nostalgic as I was maturing at the same time as time as they were, but never in my wildest dreams would I have left the comforts that they had to toil endlessly in a foreign country. This is an amazing story about a group of young men who were seemingly born with silver spoons in their mouths, attending prep schools, summering in the Hamptons, going to the finest colleges, drinking tea out of fine china with pinkies extended whose families had country club memberships and who, by all means, should have been pure, unadulterated, spoiled snobs. These were extremely intelligent young people, mature for their years, who survived and thrived and had the experience of a lifetime. But these young men totally surprised me. These amazing 20-somethings were filled with wanderlust, and they ended up, by their own decisions, on a piece of property in the rain forest of Australia, and they turned it into a working farm visited by hundreds (if not thousands) of similar young folks searching to find themselves. It is a tale with a tragic ending, but you know that going into the story. It's the events that lead up to that tragic ending that will keep you riveted and entertained.