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General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1875Original Publisher: R. BentleySubjects: Penal coloniesFiction / GeneralFiction / ClassicsFiction / HistoricalFiction / LiteraryHistory / Australia ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Marcus Clarke's Penal Colony Masterpiece
This was without question one of the most gripping novels I've read in many a day. I first ran across this work in a brief mention by British travel writer/popular historian James Morris, where he thought it akin to the gulag novels of post-Stalinist Russia in subject matter and philosophical content. Add to that a wealth of striking narrative detail, immensely memorable characters (Maurice Frere, Sarah Purfoy, and particularly James North leap to mind), some truly transporting (no pun intended) and incredibly creepy passages, mind-blowing plot twists and turns, and a persistent refusal to provide too pat solutions to characters' problems... Clarke wasn't better than Dickens or Eliot, but neither of the latter could have written this book.

Clarke's masterpiece was published in 1874, after being serialized in 1870-72. Critics have lambasted a few of the less believable elements and some of the pat characterization of a number of supporting characters, but these are flaws to be found in most novels of that time (and ours). Clarke redeems himself by taking the cliches and mannerisms of the nineteenth-century English novel and using them to illuminate a whole new society, one practically mythical to the metropolitan consciousness of the Victorian Anglophone world. This work is a great counterpoint to all those English novels of the day where the hero or villain gets packed off to the antipodes and returns mysteriously changed. The main thrust of the novel, though, was the need to tell the true story of (white) Australian society's beginnings. Clarke, in telling the story of the unjustly convicted Rufus Dawes (aka Richard Devine), provides a panoramic view of early Victorian Australia, from the hellish convict settlements of Macquarie Harbor and Norfolk Island to the nascent frontier towns of Hobart and Melbourne, from the aging memories of the "First Fleeters" (the original convicts who arrived in 1788) to the controversial Eureka Stockade Uprising of 1854. The narrative frequently moves at a deliciously whirlwind pace to accomodate the exciting interaction of characters and history.

Clarke's novel is generally cited as nineteenth-century Australia's greatest and points the way towards more nuanced examinations of the colonial experience in the twentieth century (Peter Carey's JOE MAGGS, about the "off-stage" life of Dickens antihero Abel Magwitch, is apparently very much in this vein). Don't read it just for this reason, though. Please be sure to find the longer, original version, as I was fortunate enough to do. Clarke was forced to produce a revised, shortened version for the original publication, one dictated by his editors that turned the novel into a much more "conventional" Victorian literary production (and has a longer title--FOR THE TERM OF HIS NATURAL LIFE). I understand a TV series was made in the mid-80s with Anthony Perkins as North. If this was the case, then it badly needs to be remade on celluloid, because I can't seem to find the series. It's a magnificent novel whose flaws, I think, are amply counterbalanced by its unexpected joys.

The horrors of the Transportation System
The well-known phrase 'for the term of his natural life' is used by Marcus Clarke to bring home the horrors of transportation and the Tasmanian penal system in the 19th century.
Richard Devine, an innocent man (under an assumed name of Rufus Dawes) convicted of a crime he did not commit, is sent for transportation and assumed killed in a shipwreck. In reality, he is heir to a vast estate (unbeknown to him) and the convolutions of the tale that evolve from this are wonderfully written; the gradual demolishing of Dawes, the unspeakable duality of Frere, the calculating guile of Sarah and the gullible innocence of Sylvia are woven together in a plot that does not end happily ever after. This I think, serves to underline the barbarism and futility of the transportation system.
Based on actual events, Clarke uses his 'hero' to illustrate the depravation and privations that prisoners (and their guards) had to endure. Graphically showing how degradation degrades and power corrupts, the narrative never dwells on gruesome details, instead it relies for effect on the imagination of the reader, which can be more terrifying.
A book that deserves a wider readership.

"His Natual Life"
It's a collation of events by various persons involved in the penalsettlement of early Australia. Marcus Clarke has interwoven these eventsinto a novel of fiction. These are stark facts; and show, as far as I'veresearched, very detailed. L.P. Hartely said it all,in this case.."Thepast is a foreign country.They do things differently there." The moreyou read on, the more you want to know..

I have been looking for this book for 9 years!
LEt me set the record straight first...I have never read this book.I had seen the mini-series almost 10 years ago on CBC Canada.The series was very gripping and always left me waiting for the next in the sequence. Following the end of the series I was determined that I had to read thisbook.My last attempt to find it was in 1991 when I was told it was out ofprint and could not be found anywhere.Luckily I have just tripped acrossthe information again and it prompted me to start looking again.Needlessto say (but I must) I am thrilled to find it and now be able to finallyread it.I hope it is everything that I know it is and more.It is anepic tale of grand proportions.Now if I can only find the video seriesAND a hard cover copy to add to my library!

A bloody great Australian read
Well, as an Australian living in the year 2000, reading this book, written in the 1880s, is an emotional experience.

For it is through works such as this that we can see our past. We can examine the nature of the beastthat gave birth to us. Who we are. From whence we came.

If you want tounderstand why Australians are they way they are, and have the attitudesand language that they do, then give this book a read. ... Read more

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Among Black leaders, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was unique. His popularity was universal, his program for the return of African people to their motherland shook the foundations of three empires, all subsequent Black Power movements have owed a debt to his example, and his prophecy has been fulfilled in the independence that brought into being more than thirty African nations.

This illuminating reader shows Garvey in all his dimensions. Among the many contributors are, in addition to Garvey himself, W. E. B. Du Bois, E. Franklin Frazier, William Z. Foster, Amy Jacques Garvey, and the editor, John Henrik Clarke. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A dirge to suffereing humanity
Marcus Clarke's masterpiece stands atop the great novels of Australian literature (the other being Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood). The novel is Victorian in its elocution and execution but it stands as a unique work of art alienated from the Dickens and Victor Hugo to which he is often assimilated by a brooding sense of intemperance for "what man has made of man". The novel traces the travails of Rufus Dawes as he is convicted and for a crime he did not commit. The story may seemingly be a novelization of the condition of the penal system in Australia during the late 19th century and it is often described as consisting of humanitarian and social concerns which are serialized without reserve or discretion. The aims of justice are thwarted and contorted to the point that it becomes compromising and compromised presence in the life of Rufus. The depictions of characters such as the cruel Lt. Maurice Frere, the tragically troubled Reverend North, a hoard of convicts with whom Rufus escapes and most importantly the Sylvia, the woman and passion of Rufus, she who will prove to be his hopeless vindication and the source of a sinuously artful and savage betrayal.
The plot is winding and however it sports coincidences that strain the verisimilitude of contemporary readership it never fails to engross and entertain, enlighten and provoke.
In essence a group of convicts escapes from the Port Arthur penitentiary. Getting lost in the wilderness, lacking survival skills and soon running out of food supplies, the men begin to starve and end up cannibalizing each other. It does not get any more brutal than that if it were not for the underlining love story that dramatizes the very pulse of the passion for justice intimated by the narrator.
Clarke's style may at times become but a grotesque imitation of Dickens, while at others it is transported by a the pellucid writing that sublimates the atmosphere of the outback wilderness and the disgraceful penal institution he indicts with an alien melancholy that engulfed in a slough of spiritual disorientation.
The love story is indefinable and best described as tragic, humane and gripping. The ultimate mark of its ascension found in Sylvia's death due to shipwreck.
Some reviewers have commented that it speaks about the Australian mind set, but it should be kept in mind that Marcus Clarke was a transplant and of British origin, of aristocratic birth, and a schoolfellow of Gerald Hopkins at Highgate Grammar School where he was described by the Christian poet as a "kaleidoscopic, parti-coloured, harlequinesque, thaumatropic" - (a thaumatrope was a kind of complementary holographic toy popular during Victorian times).Marcus Clarke arrived in Melbourne only at the age of 16. The narrative is a story that engages on all levels and it is its cynical affectation of indifference to human values that absolves the broodingly pathetic morbidity that on occasions overwhelms.
The picaresque overload of the narrative is infectious and its churlish adaptation of the phantasmagoria of the wild never idyllic and compellingly savage. The sentimental excursions into pathos, as in the story of Pretty Dick, a young boy who lost dies in the Bush, and Poor Joe, the dumb cripple who dies in a flood to save a girl and her lover. These are passionate and generous descriptions of a sensitive soul that has seen nature through its most unsparing cruelty, be it social or primordial.
The most outstanding element of the novel however is found in its forgiving sentiment. As with his favorite Shakespearean quote, "through faults great men are born", we realize that wrongdoings and the severity of circumstances are but the chance to venture into the farthest reaches of the human soul, when all is lost and all is found...

An Australian Classic
For the term of his Natural Life is an Australian classic, a tale of inhumanity and suffering during Australia's early colonial history.

The more I read this, the more I see in it the emerging attitudes that play a very large part of Australian culture today. To start with, there is no significant reference to the Aboriginal people, the actual owners of the land, they seem to barely exist at all and when they do they are dismissed.

The characteristic disrespect for authority is here of course, for there's no attempt to soften the truth of the degradation and cruelty, it's a living, breathing image of the times. It broke my heart as a teenager for the prisons that Clarke describes in Tasmania and Norfolk Island are the prisons where my 12 year old great grandfather was cruelly tormented.

But Clarke doesn't attempt to persuade us with pity. Nor are we persuaded to to censure. Clarke merely portrays the atmosphere and attitudes of the period.

Please don't confuse the book with the fim starring Anthony Perkins. The only similarity is the title.

In the film, the working class Rufus Dawes becomes young aristocrat Richard Devine. The plot dives to the depths as the dashing young gentleman Devine is wrongly accused of murder and shipped off to the penal colony to suffer under the harsh prison conditions where he resolves to escape and restore his good name. Only the help of Sylvia, the prison Commandant's daughter, can save him. A nice, trite sample of maudlin mush.

Marcus Clarke would be spinning in his grave if he knew of this travesty

A MUST READ FOR VISITORSTO TASMANIA
This book is a novel that reads like history.It offers interesting insights of the history of Tasmania. This book is an Australian classic.Highly recommended.

An insight into Ausralia's early penal system
Clark's writings in this book give you an insight into penal life in Australia's early history. His writing style gives you an empathy with the characters,and his descriptons of the Port Arthur site make you feel as if you are there. Some time later I visited Port Arthur, and Clark's writings came back. When you have been there you realise how good the book is.

A truly inspirational book.
I am planning a trip to Tasmania and it was recommended that I read Clarke's epic tale. It is one of inspiration and great character and describes life, the conditions and environment in which those men and womensuffered. I am particularly looking forward to visiting Sarah Island andPort Arthur so I can get a taste of what those people (both innocent andguilty) had to endure. Definately recommended reading for those planning aholiday to Tassie! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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In papers delivered at a conference co-sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Justice and Rutgers University, scholars and business analysts explore how criminological knowledge can help prevent crimes by and against businesses. Topics include: the impact of crime on business; preventing retail thefts; prevention and the auto industry; making crime prevention pay; public-private partnerships; crime prevention and the insurance industry; the private security industry; real estate development and crime prevention; and others. The contributing authors are: Cressida Bridgeman, John Burrows, Dennis Challinger, Ronald V. Clarke, John E. Eck, Robert DiLonardo, Marcus Felson, Kim Hazelbaker, Richard C. Hollinger, Roger A. Litton, Robert D. McCrie, Richard B. Peiser, Clifford Shearing and Jan J.M. van Dijk. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The ONLY Biography on a Great Man
Want a biography on Brutus? What choice do you have. It's amazing to me that they don't have more written on this guy. For such a major figure in public imagination to have only this short biography on him is shameful. The four stars are given simply because of the subject of the book. The book itself isn't bad at all, but it's not exactly a masterpiece. I would love to see an expanded version of this book, one that went into more detail, but I don't imagine that will happen. The writing style is basic, but not too much so, and the information is tightly packed in. Only the first 80 pages are an actual biography. The rest of the book deals with how Brutus has been perceived throughout history. As might be imagined Brutus' Republican ideals didn't mean as much in the Middle Ages as his betrayal of his close friend. That said the second part is interesting reading too. I only wish there was more of it to read. ... Read more

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Hardcover book detailing the Australian penal system in 1869. ... Read more

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Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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Mark Twain once famously said "there was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering, and that was the fact that it is past and can't be restored."Ê Well, over recent years, The British Library, working with Microsoft has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collection of 19th century books.

There are now 65,000Ê titles availableÊ (that's an incredible 25 million pages) of material ranging from works by famous names such asÊ Dickens, Trollope and Hardy as well as many forgotten literary gems , all of which can now be printed on demand and purchased right here on Amazon.

Further information on The British Library and its digitisation programme can be found on The British Library website. ... Read more