Product Description
One of the greatest 19th-century Australian novels and the grand epic of the transportation system, this novel charts the misfortune of Richard Divine, falsely accused of murder, through the worst Australian penal settlements, while retaining his humanity and spiritual dignity. So powerful is Clarke's representation of the brutality of transportation that more than a century later historians still struggle to disentangle fact from tragic fiction. ... 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

Product Description
BOMB 89, Spring 2004, featuring: Interviews with Rodney Graham by Kim Gordon, Pierre Huyghe by Doug Aitken, Jerome Charyn by Frederic Tuten, Ben Marcus by Courtney Eldridge, Kaffe Matthews by Antony Huberman, Jonathan Caouette by Christopher Wilcha, Laura Linney by Romulus Linney, and David Levi Strauss by Hakim Bey. Essays by Olu Oguibe on Odili Donald Odita, David Lang on Bill Albertini, John Haskell on Amy Cutler, and Carroll Dunham by Mel Kendrick. Artwork by Billy Sullivan and Yun-Fei Ji. ... Read more

Product Description
The contemporary innovative poetry world is as lively and provocative today as at any time in the last century. Over the course of more than two decades, Conjunctions has published the work of hundreds of highly original poets, both young and established. For issue no. 43, Beyond Arcadia, Conjunctions has invited 12 prominent and respected writers to undertake the difficult task of selecting their favorite young writer, one they feel is destined to become a major voice in American poetry. Among the 12 selectors are prize-winning poets including Jorie Graham, Ann Lauterbach, Lyn Hejinian, Peter Gizzi, Fanny Howe, Michael Palmer, Robert Creeley, John Ashberry, Martine Bellen, Sandra Cisneros, Forrest Gander and Nathaniel Mackey. Each of the young poets chosen--whose work has not yet enjoyed wide exposure--will be represented by a chapbook-length selection of new work with an introduction from their mentor/selector. Beyond Arcadia introduces a cross-selection of unique voices from among many in the talented new wave of poets at work today. This groundbreaking issue will also feature a previously unpublished play by filmmaker John Sayles; new fiction by John Barth, Ben Marcus, Jon McGregor, Rick Moody, and many others; as well as a previously unpublished masterpiece of Russian surrealism, A Certain Quantity of Conversations Or, The Completely Altered Nightbook, a play by Aleksandr Vvendensky.

Edited by Bradford Morrow.

Paperback, 6 x 9 in. / 400 pgs ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Steve Corica, Mihael Mikić, Graham Arnold, Aurelio Vidmar, Hayden Foxe, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Tony Popovic, Takuya Takagi, Ian Crook, Hisato Satō, Kazuyuki Toda, Tatsuhiko Kubo, Noh Jung-Yoon, Don Goodman, Yūichi Komano, César Sampaio, Ilian Stoyanov, Hajime Moriyasu, Ivan Hašek, Joubert Araújo Martins, Serhiy Skachenko, Dan Calichman, Pieter Huistra, Shusaku Nishikawa, Takashi Shimoda, Satoru Yamagishi, Tomislav Erceg, Kōji Morisaki, Michel Pensée, Irondino Ferreira Neto, Tomoaki Makino, Yosuke Kashiwagi, Kozo Yuki, Kenichi Uemura, John Van Loen, Oleg Pashinin, Tadanari Lee, Kohei Morita, Keisuke Kurihara, Chikara Fujimoto, Kazuyuki Morisaki, Tomotaka Okamoto, Koji Nakajima, Marcelo Silva Ramos, Atsushi Nagai, Lee Baxter, Yusuke Igawa, Masayuki Omori, Kazuya Maekawa, Ri Han-Jae, Tore Pedersen, Pavel Černý, Kota Hattori, Tiago Jorge Honório, Yojiro Takahagi, Yutaka Takahashi, Shohei Ikeda, José Antônio Martins Galvão, Ueslei Raimundo Pereira Da Silva, Genki Nakayama, Takuto Hayashi, Jean-Paul Vondenburg, Kohei Miyazaki, Hiroyuki Nishijima, Shogo Nishikawa, Masato Yamazaki, Toshihiro Yamaguchi, Takashi Rakuyama, Yuki Okubo, Shunsuke Maeda, Hiroto Mogi, Mitsuyuki Yoshihiro, Miguel Simão, Ryota Moriwaki, Akihiro Sato, Hirotsugu Nakabayashi, Yuya Hashiuchi, Stjepan Jukić, Ryuji Michiki, Hiroshige Yanagimoto, Jan Jönsson, Shinichiro Kuwada, Ryuichi Hirashige, Toshihiro Aoyama, Norio Omura, Daisuke Tonoike, Issei Takayanagi, Antônio Carlos Santos, Kenta Uchida, Július Bielik, Tsubasa Yokotake, Takuya Marutani, Yasuyuki Moriyama, Yahiro Kazama, Yuki Matsushita, Dario Dabac, Koji Yoshimura, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Koichi Kidera, Kohei Shimizu, Yosuke Ikehata, Kosuke Yatsuda, Naoya Umeda, Iwao Yamane, Hideaki Ueno, Shinya Kawashima, Susumu Oki, Yutaro Hara, Jungo Kono, Junya Osaki, Kazumasa Takagi, Takehito Shigehara, Sotaro Sada, Katsumi Yusa, Yuji Ishikawa, Hiroshi Matsuda, Toshiya Tanaka, Sho Shinohara, Kazuma Irifune. Source:...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2680584 ... Read more

Product Description
Kapitel: John Harvey Kellogg, Marcus Gavius Apicius, Guy-Claude Burger, Robert Mondavi, Sylvester Graham, Norman W. Walker, Otto Buchinger, Marie-Antoine Carême, Julius Menzer, Udo Pollmer, Horace Fletcher, Paula Bosch, Eckhard Supp, Carlo Petrini, Alan Eaton Davidson, Herta Heuwer, Maximilian Ledochowski, Louis-Gaspard Estournel, Zlata Bartl, Henry John Heinz, Lorenz Caviezel, Frederick Miller, Frank C. Mars, Jack Lalanne, Michel Montignac, Howard Hay, Katja Burghardt, René Gabriel. Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: The Montignac diet is a weight-loss diet that was popular in the 1990s, mainly in Europe. It was invented by Frenchman Michel Montignac, an international executive for the pharmaceutical industry, who, like his father, was overweight in his youth. His method is aimed at people wishing to lose weight efficiently and lastingly, reduce risks of heart failure, and prevent diabetes. Carbohydrate-rich foods are classified according to glycemic index (GI), a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their effect on blood glucose levels after meals. High-GI carbohydrates are considered "bad" (with the exception of those foodstuffs like carrots that, even though they have high GIs, have a quite low carbohydrate content and should not significantly affect blood sugar levels). "Bad carbohydrates", such as those in sweets, potatoes, rice, and white bread, may not be taken together with fats, especially during Phase 1 of the Method. According to Montignac's theory, these combinations will lead to the fats in the food being stored as body fat. Some kinds of pasta, such as "al dente" durum wheat spaghetti, some varieties of rice, such as long-grain Basmati, whole grains and foods rich in fiber, have a not so high GI. Besides, the quality of fat foods depends on the nature of their fatty acids: polyunsaturated omega 3 acids (fish fat) as well as monounsaturated fatty acids (olive oil) are the best choice, while saturated ...http://booksllc.net/?l=de ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Resource
This was the first book of the Custer Library that I read and I found it very interesting.It contains an abstract of the Court of Inquiry that was requested by Major Reno in 1879.The first part of the book is a helpful preface to the inquiry.The rest is mostly testimony from the inquiry itself.At time the testimony gets a bit belabored but it is still fascinating to read the testimony of eyewitnesses to the Reno theater of battle.Major Reno comes across as a tragic perhaps even pathetic victim of history.He is exonerated but, by then, popular belief had already condemned his anyway.This book is a crucial resource for the serious (and casual) students of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Reno Inquiry
I bought this book about the famous inquiry of Major Reno who was accused of cowardice at the battle of Little Bighorn. It was fine. However, anybody who would be interested in this book might as well go all the way and get Ron Nichols' version of the Inquiry. That's why I gave the Graham abstract a 4. Nichols has taken the unpublished manuscript (from the National Archives?) and copied it down word-for-word so you get the whole enchilada, not Graham's edited version. I couldn't find Nichols book on Amazon.com but it's out there somewhere. I got my copy from the Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association. Perhaps someone at Amazon.com will read this review and make Mr. Nichols' heftier compilation available.

How I wish I could have asked a few pointed questions there!
This book belongs on the shelf of all students of the LBH battle.The trouble is that the testimony is such a tease.The tough questions were not asked, or not allowed to be asked.Larry Sklenar in "To Hell with Honor"in essence called the whole inquiry a sham, that Lieutenant George Wallace committed perjury to cover for Reno, and the other survivors who testified were just interested in putting it all behind them, or protecting the Army from a military-phobic Congress.I agree that it is an interesting read, but reading it is like a hungry man looking at a chocolate cake but not being allowed a bite.

Benteen, Reno, Varnum Come Alive: Great for Custer Pros
A surprisingly good read. W. A. Graham's well edited book of testimony is fascinating. The inquiry report was supressed for many years until Graham came along.The Reno and Benteen passages are quite revealing of the menthemselves. Reno reveals what he really thinks of Custer and Benteen'ssarcasm concerning Custer's order for him on that day is so apparent onewishes he was challenged more on the stand. Benteen's reasons for his delayare quite astonishing. Those wellfamiliar with the LBH will appreciatesome of the between the lines testimony of the officers. Varnum (chief ofscouts) and civilians describe the retreat from the valley as a rout andbut the other officers are reluctant to critizise. Graham's editing andPohanka's introduction enrich the book by providing more backgroundinformation. ... Read more

Product Description
The Cover Story - Ryan Phillippe by Paul Haggis - For anyone who ever thought he was just another pretty face, Ryan Phillipe has turned out to be more of an ever-evolving puzzle. Now, with his star turn in Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" and other big projects in the works, all the pieces are finally coming together. Photographs by Mark Seliger. Also in this issue - Interview Showcase: Ginnifer Goodwin: Polygamist families aren't exactly a dime a dozen on television, neither are actresses like this one, The Happening Music Interview: Fergie by John Legend, The Boy Wonder Interview: Brady Quinn by Brendan Lemon, The Defiant Actress Interview: Vera Farmiga by Sam Rockwell, The Heat is On Interview: Sofia Coppola by Marc Jacobs, The Superstar Interview, Elton John by Cameron Crowe, Lee Pace, Shareffa, Rebecca Hall, Diane Arbus's kid sister Renee Neverov Brown, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Derek Luke and Tim Robbins, A Life In Pictures: Edie Segwick, Robert Wilson, Tokyo Police Club, and much more! ... Read more