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His Natural Life
This edition is the first to print the complete original version of the novel in volume form.
Foreshadowing the nightmare visions of the twentieth century in which evil is perceived as central to the condition of man, His Natural Life is a novel of startling power and originality.
It is the greatest novel to come out of colonial Australia and pinpoints with shocking immediacy the reality of Botany Bay and the horrors of the transportation system - a fate so awful tht many convicts hanged themselves rather than suffer it. Written by a ‘kaleidoscopic, particoloured, harlequinesque, thaumatropic being’, as his friend Gerald Manley Hopkins described Marcus Clarke, it traces the fortunes of Richard Dawes at the hands of th ‘system’. Broken and disastrously changed by his treatment, Dawes nevertheless survives, a figure haunting as much for the vicissitudes he suffers as for the psychological brilliance of his characterization. Yet Marcus Clarke’s novel is more than an enthralling narrative and a catalogue of horrors. Its descriptive vigour and the telling portrayal of a struggling new society fraught with tension and paradoxes endow it with a moral and spiritual resonance that ‘will always assure it a place in the evolution of the literature of evil’.
Foreshadowing the nightmare visions of the twentieth century in which evil is perceived as central to the condition of man, His Natural Life is a novel of startling power and originality.
It is the greatest novel to come out of colonial Australia and pinpoints with shocking immediacy the reality of Botany Bay and the horrors of the transportation system - a fate so awful tht many convicts hanged themselves rather than suffer it. Written by a ‘kaleidoscopic, particoloured, harlequinesque, thaumatropic being’, as his friend Gerald Manley Hopkins described Marcus Clarke, it traces the fortunes of Richard Dawes at the hands of th ‘system’. Broken and disastrously changed by his treatment, Dawes nevertheless survives, a figure haunting as much for the vicissitudes he suffers as for the psychological brilliance of his characterization. Yet Marcus Clarke’s novel is more than an enthralling narrative and a catalogue of horrors. Its descriptive vigour and the telling portrayal of a struggling new society fraught with tension and paradoxes endow it with a moral and spiritual resonance that ‘will always assure it a place in the evolution of the literature of evil’.
927 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1874
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About the author
Marcus Clarke
53 books27 followersAustralian writer Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke, known as Marcus Clarke, was born in Kensington, London. His mother died when he was just a small child and he was raised by his father, a lawyer.
Marcus Clarke moved to Victoria, Australia, where he had an uncle in the provincial town of Ararat, and landed in Melbourne in June 1863. In 1869 Clarke married the actress Marian Dunn and shortly afterwards they started to raise a family of six children. He died of pleurisy at the age of thirty-five.
Marcus Clarke moved to Victoria, Australia, where he had an uncle in the provincial town of Ararat, and landed in Melbourne in June 1863. In 1869 Clarke married the actress Marian Dunn and shortly afterwards they started to raise a family of six children. He died of pleurisy at the age of thirty-five.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
November 15, 2023
In Dickens's Great Expectations, the convict Magwitch escapes from one of the prison ships on the Thames (a ‘black Hulk…like a wicked Noah's ark’), and is later transported to Australia, where he does well for himself and becomes a rich man. You might say that his story exemplifies a Victorian horror of criminality, tempered with a Victorian belief in the ability of the penal system to do good.
Ten years later, Marcus Clarke's For the Term of His Natural Life picks up the theme and strips it of any traces of naïveté or hope. Clarke's protagonist, known for most of the novel as Rufus Dawes, is, like similar nineteenth-century heroes, unjustly imprisoned. But for Dawes, unlike Jean Valjean or Edmond Dantès, there will be no revenge or redemption, just a gradual spiralling into a Dantesque system of hell on earth.
The book works through the system in a methodical way, each of its four sections covering a new part of the process: the transportation to Van Diemen's Land, Macquarie Harbour, Port Arthur, and finally Norfolk Island. There are plenty of mistaken identities, unlikely coincidences, and the usual melodramatic trappings of Romantic fiction here, but below them the tone is much darker.
Such moments are not used, as in Hugo or Dickens, to make uplifting moral points, but rather they simply contribute to a generalised air of oppression and bleak claustrophobia. Incidents are far darker than in contemporaries, notably the moments of cannibalism (drawing on some famous events in Tasmanian history) and the many happy suicides, including young boys, who rush joyfully to their deaths to escape the world around them. Clarke has an astute (if pessimistic) grasp of human psychology, so that even the ‘good’ characters are shown to have dark impulses, while his descriptions linger grimly on the punishments of convict life, like flogging:
His Natural Life isn't read much now outside Australia, but it was so influential that it came to be seen as spawning a whole genre of ‘Tasmanian Gothic’, in which the medieval imagery and ancient ruins of European Gothic are replaced by imposing colonial structures and an eerie vision of the natural world. There are brilliant descriptions of the landscape in here, but there is nothing welcoming about it: it offers no shelter and no food, just the dangers of tracklessness and violent natural phenomena. Indeed the landscape here is, as Clarke points out more than once, just another kind of prison.
It may not be the Great Australian Novel, but it's probably the first great Australian novel. It's been ages since I read a big book with a real plot like this, and I have to say I found it all extremely exciting – just don't hold your breath for a happy ending. At one point a character reads a short story by Balzac, noting that the tale ‘does not end satisfactorily. Balzac was too great a master of his art for that’, and here Clarke is giving you due warning of the gloomy immutability he has in mind. ‘In real life the curtain never falls on a comfortably-finished drama. The play goes on eternally.’
Ten years later, Marcus Clarke's For the Term of His Natural Life picks up the theme and strips it of any traces of naïveté or hope. Clarke's protagonist, known for most of the novel as Rufus Dawes, is, like similar nineteenth-century heroes, unjustly imprisoned. But for Dawes, unlike Jean Valjean or Edmond Dantès, there will be no revenge or redemption, just a gradual spiralling into a Dantesque system of hell on earth.
The book works through the system in a methodical way, each of its four sections covering a new part of the process: the transportation to Van Diemen's Land, Macquarie Harbour, Port Arthur, and finally Norfolk Island. There are plenty of mistaken identities, unlikely coincidences, and the usual melodramatic trappings of Romantic fiction here, but below them the tone is much darker.
It is impossible to convey, in words, any idea of the hideous phantasmagoria of shifting limbs and faces which moved through the evil-smelling twilight of this terrible prison-house. Callot might have drawn it, Dante might have suggested it…
Such moments are not used, as in Hugo or Dickens, to make uplifting moral points, but rather they simply contribute to a generalised air of oppression and bleak claustrophobia. Incidents are far darker than in contemporaries, notably the moments of cannibalism (drawing on some famous events in Tasmanian history) and the many happy suicides, including young boys, who rush joyfully to their deaths to escape the world around them. Clarke has an astute (if pessimistic) grasp of human psychology, so that even the ‘good’ characters are shown to have dark impulses, while his descriptions linger grimly on the punishments of convict life, like flogging:
The third blow sounded as though it had been struck upon a piece of raw beef, and the crimson turned purple.
“My God!” said Kirkland faintly, and bit his lips.
The flogging proceeded in silence for ten strokes, and then Kirkland gave a screech like a wounded horse. …
The lad's back, swollen into a hump, now presented the appearance of a ripe peach which a wilful child has scored with a pin.
His Natural Life isn't read much now outside Australia, but it was so influential that it came to be seen as spawning a whole genre of ‘Tasmanian Gothic’, in which the medieval imagery and ancient ruins of European Gothic are replaced by imposing colonial structures and an eerie vision of the natural world. There are brilliant descriptions of the landscape in here, but there is nothing welcoming about it: it offers no shelter and no food, just the dangers of tracklessness and violent natural phenomena. Indeed the landscape here is, as Clarke points out more than once, just another kind of prison.
It may not be the Great Australian Novel, but it's probably the first great Australian novel. It's been ages since I read a big book with a real plot like this, and I have to say I found it all extremely exciting – just don't hold your breath for a happy ending. At one point a character reads a short story by Balzac, noting that the tale ‘does not end satisfactorily. Balzac was too great a master of his art for that’, and here Clarke is giving you due warning of the gloomy immutability he has in mind. ‘In real life the curtain never falls on a comfortably-finished drama. The play goes on eternally.’
March 3, 2023
For the Term of His Natural Life was written between 1870 and 1872 and was serialised at the time in The Australian Journal that was also edited by the book's author Marcus Clarke. My copy read is the Penguin edition 2009 with an Introduction by George Ian Smith.
The intro is worth a read just to discover Mr Smith writing about modern Australia in that “Airlines cross Australia in one day……” and that “……….Only five days flying brings us back to Europe…” There have been marked improvements in travel to and from this island continent in the last decade!
First let’s just say that I am glad that I did not have to read this at school, as has been said elsewhere literature of the Victorian age can be wasted on youthful readers. Certainly, the coincidences and luck in the plot would have driven me to severe criticism back in my youth. Be that as it may, we do tend towards a different outlook into older age as to how we approach and read. This was the first novel of Australian convict literature of note, and also later was described as the first of what has become known as Tasmanian Gothic. At the time of writing, the dark history of convict settlement in Van Diemen's land was still fresh in the memory of the public hence as a reader of colonial history, I now know its place in the cannon and the effect it has had on a reading public.
Clarke wrote in what can be called nowadays a mashup. Combining several known events of brutality into one novel and as a derring-do adventure that combines everything from murder and criminal activity, identity theft and sheer brutality, it makes for a bit of a page turner. It is also a grim reminder of man’s inhumanity to man, no matter the circumstances.
The main protagonist is Richard Devine, the only son and heir of a filthy rich ship builder. Richard uses the name Rufous Dawes in a convoluted inheritance debacle, and when a murder happens is sentenced to life imprisonment to the colonies for crime he did not commit. The title is excellent as we get to read the story of what is indeed the term of his natural life, a life of great tragedy and brutality. The end is what all great Victorian era writers of all nations seemed to like, redemption. I was reminded of The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserable even though obviously these are entirely different settings.
I enjoyed the descriptions of Port Arthur and Norfolk Island. Having been to these two very beautiful but also tragic places I was able to visualise the writer's descriptions with ease and there is no doubt in my mind that the gruesome and appalling conditions being these colonial prisons it was not hard to reimagine, such were the excellent descriptions written. I have not been to Sarah Island, the other penal station in this book, but will make an effort in the coming years.
This is considered an Australian classic of the colonial era and has been in continuous publication since.
Highly recommended.
A Tale They won't Believe by Weddings Parties Anything
The intro is worth a read just to discover Mr Smith writing about modern Australia in that “Airlines cross Australia in one day……” and that “……….Only five days flying brings us back to Europe…” There have been marked improvements in travel to and from this island continent in the last decade!
First let’s just say that I am glad that I did not have to read this at school, as has been said elsewhere literature of the Victorian age can be wasted on youthful readers. Certainly, the coincidences and luck in the plot would have driven me to severe criticism back in my youth. Be that as it may, we do tend towards a different outlook into older age as to how we approach and read. This was the first novel of Australian convict literature of note, and also later was described as the first of what has become known as Tasmanian Gothic. At the time of writing, the dark history of convict settlement in Van Diemen's land was still fresh in the memory of the public hence as a reader of colonial history, I now know its place in the cannon and the effect it has had on a reading public.
Clarke wrote in what can be called nowadays a mashup. Combining several known events of brutality into one novel and as a derring-do adventure that combines everything from murder and criminal activity, identity theft and sheer brutality, it makes for a bit of a page turner. It is also a grim reminder of man’s inhumanity to man, no matter the circumstances.
The main protagonist is Richard Devine, the only son and heir of a filthy rich ship builder. Richard uses the name Rufous Dawes in a convoluted inheritance debacle, and when a murder happens is sentenced to life imprisonment to the colonies for crime he did not commit. The title is excellent as we get to read the story of what is indeed the term of his natural life, a life of great tragedy and brutality. The end is what all great Victorian era writers of all nations seemed to like, redemption. I was reminded of The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserable even though obviously these are entirely different settings.
I enjoyed the descriptions of Port Arthur and Norfolk Island. Having been to these two very beautiful but also tragic places I was able to visualise the writer's descriptions with ease and there is no doubt in my mind that the gruesome and appalling conditions being these colonial prisons it was not hard to reimagine, such were the excellent descriptions written. I have not been to Sarah Island, the other penal station in this book, but will make an effort in the coming years.
This is considered an Australian classic of the colonial era and has been in continuous publication since.
Highly recommended.
A Tale They won't Believe by Weddings Parties Anything
November 27, 2023
A retrospective rating and review.
A query from a Goodreads friend reminded me that I've read this one, many years ago. I think we read it in school?
I recall enjoying it, but can only offer this limited review.
I have fond memories of a very good live production of songs and reels reseached from the Tasmanian convict era, most Irish in origin, performed in the penitentiary (or it could have been the asylum?) at Port Arthur with the 1927 silent film of the same name screened on the convict-built brick walls as a backdrop. Although an eerie experience, I think it added to my favourable recollection of the novel.
A query from a Goodreads friend reminded me that I've read this one, many years ago. I think we read it in school?
I recall enjoying it, but can only offer this limited review.
I have fond memories of a very good live production of songs and reels reseached from the Tasmanian convict era, most Irish in origin, performed in the penitentiary (or it could have been the asylum?) at Port Arthur with the 1927 silent film of the same name screened on the convict-built brick walls as a backdrop. Although an eerie experience, I think it added to my favourable recollection of the novel.
January 20, 2021
Over my holidays I’ve been writing some strange facts on Melbourne – in part, I’m hoping this becomes a book someday, but it is still hard to tell. Anyway, it has meant that I’ve been reading stuff about Melbourne and Australian history.
Part of that was to read this – something I was supposed to have done at uni the first time around, but never quite got to it. It is a very strange book, in many ways – not least in the fact that it really doesn’t give a stuff about covering up coincidences. The coincidences in the story could only be written by someone with literally no shame at all. But it is melodrama and it is hard to not be a sucker for that.
There is a bad guy in this – Trump levels of paedophilia and incestuous desires – who ends up married to a young woman (mostly because she suffers an amnesia episode – which book could not be improved by such an episode?) but soon tires of her. There is a wonderful line, “She loved him least when he loved her most.”
Anyway – this is the great Australian novel from the Nineteenth Century – large parts of it are a great read. But I do need to warn you that there will be times when suspending disbelief isn’t going to be easy – or even possible. Just accept that and move on.
Part of that was to read this – something I was supposed to have done at uni the first time around, but never quite got to it. It is a very strange book, in many ways – not least in the fact that it really doesn’t give a stuff about covering up coincidences. The coincidences in the story could only be written by someone with literally no shame at all. But it is melodrama and it is hard to not be a sucker for that.
There is a bad guy in this – Trump levels of paedophilia and incestuous desires – who ends up married to a young woman (mostly because she suffers an amnesia episode – which book could not be improved by such an episode?) but soon tires of her. There is a wonderful line, “She loved him least when he loved her most.”
Anyway – this is the great Australian novel from the Nineteenth Century – large parts of it are a great read. But I do need to warn you that there will be times when suspending disbelief isn’t going to be easy – or even possible. Just accept that and move on.
July 23, 2016
“We convicts have the advantage over you gentlemen. You are afraid of death; we pray for it. It is the best thing that can happen to us. Die! They were going to hang me once. I wish they had. My God, I wish they had!”
For The Term Of His Natural Life is the best-known novel by Australian author, Marcus Clarke. It was first published in 1874, although it began as a serialised novel titled His Natural Life, published in the Australian Journal. Text Publishing have produced a handsome volume under their Text Classics banner.
There are significant differences in the plot between the original (unabridged) edition and later editions of this novel; the first book has been reduced to a prologue; the text has been condensed into a much more readable form, and much of the (frankly, boring and often unimportant) detail has been omitted; and the ending is completely different. Thus, for example, in excess of 150 pages of book 2 of the original edition are reduced to a much more manageable 75 pages in this edition.
Clarke managed to pack a lot into his novel: perhaps as it began in serialised form, each episode needed some drama: a parental estrangement, a very rich will, a secret identity, a wrongful conviction, transport on a convict ship, a mutiny, another wrongful conviction, flogging, suicide attempts, multiple escape attempts (at least one involving cannibalism), another mutiny, abandonment on a deserted shore, the construction of a coracle, yet another wrongful conviction, many years of penal servitude, the claiming of an inheritance by an imposter, quite a few confessions and a shipwreck.
This novel has been described as the Australian Count of Monte Cristo and while it is considered an Australian Classic, as historical fiction, it is not really up to the standard of Dumas’s writing. The most exciting chapters, by far, are those detailing the escape from Port of Arthur of convict, John Rex. It is filled with improbable coincidences, and while he draws on many real occurrences in Tasmania’s history, Clarke’s emphasis is on the cruelty of convict life. Rufus Dawes is one very unlucky man!
This book will appeal to those who enjoy Australian historical fiction written from the closer perspective of fifty years as opposed to almost one hundred and fifty. A map of the relevant parts would have been helpful, but Wikipedia serves equally, these days. Text Classics include an introduction by author, Rohan Wilson and an evocative cover by the talented WH Chong. A beautiful edition of an Aussie Classic.
For The Term Of His Natural Life is the best-known novel by Australian author, Marcus Clarke. It was first published in 1874, although it began as a serialised novel titled His Natural Life, published in the Australian Journal. Text Publishing have produced a handsome volume under their Text Classics banner.
There are significant differences in the plot between the original (unabridged) edition and later editions of this novel; the first book has been reduced to a prologue; the text has been condensed into a much more readable form, and much of the (frankly, boring and often unimportant) detail has been omitted; and the ending is completely different. Thus, for example, in excess of 150 pages of book 2 of the original edition are reduced to a much more manageable 75 pages in this edition.
Clarke managed to pack a lot into his novel: perhaps as it began in serialised form, each episode needed some drama: a parental estrangement, a very rich will, a secret identity, a wrongful conviction, transport on a convict ship, a mutiny, another wrongful conviction, flogging, suicide attempts, multiple escape attempts (at least one involving cannibalism), another mutiny, abandonment on a deserted shore, the construction of a coracle, yet another wrongful conviction, many years of penal servitude, the claiming of an inheritance by an imposter, quite a few confessions and a shipwreck.
This novel has been described as the Australian Count of Monte Cristo and while it is considered an Australian Classic, as historical fiction, it is not really up to the standard of Dumas’s writing. The most exciting chapters, by far, are those detailing the escape from Port of Arthur of convict, John Rex. It is filled with improbable coincidences, and while he draws on many real occurrences in Tasmania’s history, Clarke’s emphasis is on the cruelty of convict life. Rufus Dawes is one very unlucky man!
This book will appeal to those who enjoy Australian historical fiction written from the closer perspective of fifty years as opposed to almost one hundred and fifty. A map of the relevant parts would have been helpful, but Wikipedia serves equally, these days. Text Classics include an introduction by author, Rohan Wilson and an evocative cover by the talented WH Chong. A beautiful edition of an Aussie Classic.
August 5, 2011
Poignant and tender, Marcus Clarke's novel depicts both the ugliness and resilience of man. Its depiction of the harsh realities during early settlement, has ensured its status as an important Australian classic.
Accused of a crime he did not commit, Richard Devine- an English aristocrat, is sentenced to life imprisonment at the penal colony of Tasmania. Taking on a new identity (to save his mother grief and shame), the now Rufus Dawes sails to Van Diemen's Land on board a convict ship. What he discovers upon arrival, he encounters a penal system entrenched in treachery, savagery and cruelty.
This book polarised our small book group. Whilst some debated the circumstances which conspired to convict Dawes, I argued in favour of Clarke's writing. Whilst the dense layout of text irritated some of our readers, I applauded the content and prose. And whilst they thought the relationships were highly improbable, I again stood my ground and pointed out its merits.
In truth, I forgive the book's follies because I enjoyed the imagery and took great pleasure in the structure of the sentences. I sighed longingly at my inability to match Clark's skill. Had Clarke been a lesser writer, then I may have been less forgiving. But since he's not, I continue to argue in his favour.
Accused of a crime he did not commit, Richard Devine- an English aristocrat, is sentenced to life imprisonment at the penal colony of Tasmania. Taking on a new identity (to save his mother grief and shame), the now Rufus Dawes sails to Van Diemen's Land on board a convict ship. What he discovers upon arrival, he encounters a penal system entrenched in treachery, savagery and cruelty.
This book polarised our small book group. Whilst some debated the circumstances which conspired to convict Dawes, I argued in favour of Clarke's writing. Whilst the dense layout of text irritated some of our readers, I applauded the content and prose. And whilst they thought the relationships were highly improbable, I again stood my ground and pointed out its merits.
In truth, I forgive the book's follies because I enjoyed the imagery and took great pleasure in the structure of the sentences. I sighed longingly at my inability to match Clark's skill. Had Clarke been a lesser writer, then I may have been less forgiving. But since he's not, I continue to argue in his favour.
April 15, 2011
This book was incredible. Fans of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "Crime and Punishment" take note. Any fan of the "prison novel" or "prison movie" will likely enjoy this book immensely. The lead jailer - Maurice Frere - could easily have been the inspiration for the sadistic wardens of "Shawshank Redemption" and "Cool Hand Luke" respectively.
Brief summary: The book surrounds the 19thC Penal Colony of Australia and the various "island prisons" that were set up there. The inhumanity of that experience is exposed full-force and how it warps both prisoner and jailer alike. In the midst of all of this is a tale of improper conviction, con-artists, deception, attempted redemption and "love" all existing in the inhospitable world of 19thC Australia.
The writing is far ahead of it's time (19thC), the storyline is incredibly engaging, the descriptiveness of prison life in the penal colony is brutally honest, the characters are deep and rich in every way. The ending is fantastic.
Best book I've read in the past year (perhaps more).
Highly recommended.
Brief summary: The book surrounds the 19thC Penal Colony of Australia and the various "island prisons" that were set up there. The inhumanity of that experience is exposed full-force and how it warps both prisoner and jailer alike. In the midst of all of this is a tale of improper conviction, con-artists, deception, attempted redemption and "love" all existing in the inhospitable world of 19thC Australia.
The writing is far ahead of it's time (19thC), the storyline is incredibly engaging, the descriptiveness of prison life in the penal colony is brutally honest, the characters are deep and rich in every way. The ending is fantastic.
Best book I've read in the past year (perhaps more).
Highly recommended.
November 29, 2008
This is the first Australian historical fiction dealing with convicts that I’ve read (as far as I can remember anyway) and I was truly looking forward to it. It’s a classic written in the late 19th century so I guess it was contemporary fiction when it was first written.
Basically, the story follows an intrinsically good man who has a run of ‘bad luck’ throughout the book for a period of 20 years of his life. It is amazing just how much ‘bad luck’ a person can have and yet despite the harshness of a convict’s life, he has managed to preserve his humanity though there are periods where, understandably, he fell into the pits of despair and misery.
I continued to read and hope for a better luck – something to turn around his present misery right to the last page! And the end… Oh, the end…!!! I will leave you to read for yourself.
Basically, the story follows an intrinsically good man who has a run of ‘bad luck’ throughout the book for a period of 20 years of his life. It is amazing just how much ‘bad luck’ a person can have and yet despite the harshness of a convict’s life, he has managed to preserve his humanity though there are periods where, understandably, he fell into the pits of despair and misery.
I continued to read and hope for a better luck – something to turn around his present misery right to the last page! And the end… Oh, the end…!!! I will leave you to read for yourself.
January 25, 2015
Glad to see other reviewers mention The Count of Monte Cristo. I felt strong influence from that, and from Les Mis -- no worse for it, but rather an argument for unabashed influence. It was also an argument for pulp fiction, because it puts its pulp to great uses. A cracking read (I pinched that adjective from another review, but it's exactly right).
This Penguin edition entitles itself just His Natural Life, which restores an original irony. It has a confused publishing history, but this, edited by Stephen Murray-Smith, copyright 1970, 900+ fully-printed pages, claims to be 'the complete original text' which 'differs radically' from the 'common, popular' (and 'mutilated') version usually titled For the Term of His Natural Life. Beware cheap imitations.
To-read-again.
This Penguin edition entitles itself just His Natural Life, which restores an original irony. It has a confused publishing history, but this, edited by Stephen Murray-Smith, copyright 1970, 900+ fully-printed pages, claims to be 'the complete original text' which 'differs radically' from the 'common, popular' (and 'mutilated') version usually titled For the Term of His Natural Life. Beware cheap imitations.
To-read-again.
August 28, 2020
It was good fun reading this Aussie Classic with a bunch of mostly American readers in the Yahoo 19th century reading group. As I was leading the discussion, I had to start by clearing up some assumptions about this strange land of ours downunder. People overseas usually think of Australia as blue skies and sunshine, but for the purposes of this book, the hot and arid landscapes of Australia are irrelevant. Our smallest and most southerly island state is nothing like that. On the contrary, it’s the perfect setting for what has come to be known as Tasmanian Gothic.
To read my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/01/18/fo... and also see the guest review by Dr Lurline Stuart who edited the critical edition at http://anzlitlovers.com/2011/12/27/fo...
To read my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/01/18/fo... and also see the guest review by Dr Lurline Stuart who edited the critical edition at http://anzlitlovers.com/2011/12/27/fo...
February 8, 2012
Warning! This book is not for the faint hearted. Marcus Clarke wrote a story that would rightfully take the same place in Australian and British history as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin took in that of the United States. Most people (especially history buffs) know that Australia was originally used as a penal colony and a great majority of the original European inhabitants were convicts. In Britain deportation was deemed more humane and every much as definite and hanging at Tyburn. At the start of the 19th Century, children were punished by the same standard as adults and it wasn’t uncommon for a ten year old child to be put to death for stealing bread.
This was the beginning of the industrial revolution and public senses were changing; slowly. Deportation to a penal colony in Australia for life was, for all intents and purposes, a death penalty; without a body. The horrors and nightmare of life in these colonies was of little interest to the British public. Happy in their ignorance this same public silently condoned horrors surpassing slavery that was prevalent at that time in the southern states of the United States. This story could not fail to sway public opinion.
If you want a memorable romance this story would fall short of the desired mark. If you are interested is how life really was at that time in the Australian colony, this is the book for you.
This was the beginning of the industrial revolution and public senses were changing; slowly. Deportation to a penal colony in Australia for life was, for all intents and purposes, a death penalty; without a body. The horrors and nightmare of life in these colonies was of little interest to the British public. Happy in their ignorance this same public silently condoned horrors surpassing slavery that was prevalent at that time in the southern states of the United States. This story could not fail to sway public opinion.
If you want a memorable romance this story would fall short of the desired mark. If you are interested is how life really was at that time in the Australian colony, this is the book for you.
January 28, 2019
Bizarrely, my mother bought me this book when I was thirteen. It was bizarre because one of her instruments of emotional abuse during my teenage years came from controlling what I could read or watch. But then her obsession was with anything sexual, and this must have seemed like a nice old fashioned historical novel. I read it when I was sick and feverish and I can still remember the nightmares. I've been wanting to reread this book for a long time, but even twenty years on I dread starting.
January 15, 2022
This is a tale with shadows of The Count of Monte Cristo. "For the Term of His Natural Life is a story written by Marcus Clarke and published in The Australian Journal between 1870 and 1872 (as His Natural Life). It wasublished as a novel in 1874 and is the best known novelisation of life as a convict in early Australian history. At times relying on seemingly implausible coincidences, the story follows the fortunes of Rufus Dawes, a young man transported for a murder that he did not commit. The book clearly conveys the harsh and inhumane treatment meted out to the convicts, some of whom were transported for relatively minor crimes, and graphically describes the conditions the convicts experienced. The novel was based on research by the author as well as a visit to the penal settlement of Port Arthur, Tasmania."
April 11, 2017
So apparently I never reviewed this last year? Whoops.
This book is basically the story of a guy who finds out something scandalous about his family, is then falsely accused of murder, convicted, and sent to the colonies. He spends the next millionty years of his life being falsely accused of more crimes and being punished accordingly. Basically, he's Jean Valjean minus the singing and the bread.
The first part of this story was completely action packed and I loved it. The second part featured a lot of Tasmanian convict history, and details of the establishment of the various penal colonies, which zzzzzz. Especially if you have any background in Tasmanian history, which I do. Basically, that section was super dry and read like non-fiction.
So on the whole, I really enjoyed this one. Except for the romance, which was pretty squicky at times.
This book is basically the story of a guy who finds out something scandalous about his family, is then falsely accused of murder, convicted, and sent to the colonies. He spends the next millionty years of his life being falsely accused of more crimes and being punished accordingly. Basically, he's Jean Valjean minus the singing and the bread.
The first part of this story was completely action packed and I loved it. The second part featured a lot of Tasmanian convict history, and details of the establishment of the various penal colonies, which zzzzzz. Especially if you have any background in Tasmanian history, which I do. Basically, that section was super dry and read like non-fiction.
So on the whole, I really enjoyed this one. Except for the romance, which was pretty squicky at times.
June 9, 2013
Every chapter made me cry.. It's going to take me a year to get over this terrible and beautiful story
July 4, 2018
Sadly, I must report that I found this Australian classic tedious and melodramatic and as such, a major disappointment.
October 31, 2020
This was an engrossing, tragic, old-fashioned 19th century adventure epic with several exceptionally well-drawn characters, who face the most dire of circumstances, and incredibly detailed descriptions of prison escapes and the accompanying brutal punishments. An Australian classic, which I purchased on a visit to Port Arthur, I would argue that this book should be more widely known in the English speaking world, despite its occasional flights into gothic melodrama (which really is par for the course in most worthy 19th century literature.) I found the vast majority of the densely packed 445 pages enormously engaging, full of well-paced plot twists and turns, and yes-a few too many coincidences, but I forgave them (although one was really strained) due to the compelling story and characters. Our hero, Rufus Dawes, is the 19th century Australian male version of Tess of the d'Ubervilles-- one of the unluckiest characters of which an author could conceive. There are some truly poignant passages and, oh that ending! I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy getting lost in a well-told story with gothic undertones, who enjoy the worlds and characters created by Trollope or Dickens, or those who enjoy old-fashioned adventure novels of derring-do.
August 7, 2019
About a month ago my wife and I took a road trip through the Australian island state of Tasmania, a beautifully gothic place much haunted by its brutal convict history. It's hard to avoid the old prison museums, the women's factories and, of course, the corresponding literature. I saw For the Term of His Natural Life all over the place and, in a used-book store in Launceston, I finally bought it.
This book is a fiction, but it deals with a period in Australian history that was all too true. Like the grimmer of Dickens' work, Clarke presents a troubling, dark and often shocking insight into the harsh lives suffered by Britain's felons transported to the penal colonies for slave labour and correction. With a wide range of characters, all of them exceedingly fleshed-out and engaging - that son of a bitch Maurice Freere, the inept Reverend Meekin and the tragic Reverend North particularly - the story is much more entertaining than a poorer writer might have rendered it.
The narrative structure isn't the most conventional for a novel. Clarke jumps several years, sometimes decades, fairly often. Instead of telling a linear story of linked events, he jumps between characters scattered all over time and space, with the wrongly-accused martyr Rufus Dawes being the connection between them all.
For the Term of His Natural Life is quite a large book, but rarely (and I mean this literally) does it ever lag. It truly is an Australian masterpiece, a Dickensian epic of Australia's oft-glossed-over past.
This book is a fiction, but it deals with a period in Australian history that was all too true. Like the grimmer of Dickens' work, Clarke presents a troubling, dark and often shocking insight into the harsh lives suffered by Britain's felons transported to the penal colonies for slave labour and correction. With a wide range of characters, all of them exceedingly fleshed-out and engaging - that son of a bitch Maurice Freere, the inept Reverend Meekin and the tragic Reverend North particularly - the story is much more entertaining than a poorer writer might have rendered it.
The narrative structure isn't the most conventional for a novel. Clarke jumps several years, sometimes decades, fairly often. Instead of telling a linear story of linked events, he jumps between characters scattered all over time and space, with the wrongly-accused martyr Rufus Dawes being the connection between them all.
For the Term of His Natural Life is quite a large book, but rarely (and I mean this literally) does it ever lag. It truly is an Australian masterpiece, a Dickensian epic of Australia's oft-glossed-over past.
September 4, 2017
Pentru toată viața – a reprezentat pentru mine prima întâlnire cu autorul Marcus Clarke. Mi-a plăcut modul de scriere și am resimțit în anumite pasaje masculinitatea lui, mai ales în descrierile ample în ceea ce privește construcția de nave, sau regimul dur din închisoare. Este o carte care îți insuflă o stare aventură și cutezanță, dar te face să te și îndoiești asupra faptului cum că viața noastră ar depinde numai de noi. Oamenii din jurul tău și adevărurile spuse pe jumătate au un rol extrem de important.
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March 20, 2016
Review to come at Vintage Novels. :)
January 7, 2019
This is a classic? How? How can this be considered a classic?
First of all. It's boooooooooooring. No, it's not because of the style of writing common back then, because I happen to usually really enjoy books written in the 19th century. Seriously, Dickens rules, and while I know one can't go around comparing everyone to Dickens because it will never end well for the other author, I do expect them to be able to write at least some dialogue that doesn't make me cringe and I certainly expect them to know the difference between "then" and "than".
What I don't look for is turgid monotonous narration interspersed with terrible dialogue that kills off the only likable character about a third of the way through the book.
Did I mention it's boring?
Still, this was a first for me. I hated it so much, that instead of procrastinating over finishing the book, I actually made myself read it quickly because I was desperate to replace it with something fun to "get the taste out of my mouth", so to speak.
I'm probably being overly harsh (I seem to have really started off this way this year! Normally I'm really nice, I promise! lol), but it really, really doesn't work for me.
First of all. It's boooooooooooring. No, it's not because of the style of writing common back then, because I happen to usually really enjoy books written in the 19th century. Seriously, Dickens rules, and while I know one can't go around comparing everyone to Dickens because it will never end well for the other author, I do expect them to be able to write at least some dialogue that doesn't make me cringe and I certainly expect them to know the difference between "then" and "than".
What I don't look for is turgid monotonous narration interspersed with terrible dialogue that kills off the only likable character about a third of the way through the book.
Did I mention it's boring?
Still, this was a first for me. I hated it so much, that instead of procrastinating over finishing the book, I actually made myself read it quickly because I was desperate to replace it with something fun to "get the taste out of my mouth", so to speak.
I'm probably being overly harsh (I seem to have really started off this way this year! Normally I'm really nice, I promise! lol), but it really, really doesn't work for me.
April 25, 2020
I was slightly disappointed by the ending, but at length I've tried to figure out how else it could be without it being predictable or weak after the monumentous journey you go through to get there. So I guess in a sense by my own logic the ending is as it should be.
The look into convict times and brutality is sickening at best. When some who will read this, such as myself, can trace back to family members who came out as convicts it is not a nice feeling to have these days brought to life so vivid and vibrantly on paper.
Moving the historical nature of the novel to one side it stands strong and proud on its merits as a swashbuckling adventure story of pure class.
Timeless classic. Read, READ.....READ IT
The look into convict times and brutality is sickening at best. When some who will read this, such as myself, can trace back to family members who came out as convicts it is not a nice feeling to have these days brought to life so vivid and vibrantly on paper.
Moving the historical nature of the novel to one side it stands strong and proud on its merits as a swashbuckling adventure story of pure class.
Timeless classic. Read, READ.....READ IT
November 24, 2020
Heading swiftly towards a solid 4 star rating I wonder if the serial, when first published, was the Game of Thrones (TV Series) equivalent of 1872. The ending appears to have fizzed much like a damp Catherine wheel.
Absolutely riveting in sections, there are some who will scoff at the deus ex machina whilst others (like myself) revelled in the ripping yarn.
At least two of the deserved stars can be attributed to the setting; convict and colonial-era Australia. A fan favourite and the original ‘mega-jail’ genre.
Absolutely riveting in sections, there are some who will scoff at the deus ex machina whilst others (like myself) revelled in the ripping yarn.
At least two of the deserved stars can be attributed to the setting; convict and colonial-era Australia. A fan favourite and the original ‘mega-jail’ genre.
September 5, 2019
Australia’s answer to Dumas’ ‘Monte Cristo’, this book was every bit a classic. Despite the numerous and almost unbelievable coincidences within the plot, it was a thrilling read; one of those rare stories that leaves you caring about a character long after you’ve closed it. I’d recommend this to anybody.
November 24, 2017
I read this cause it’s an Australian classic but it was painful for me to read. Very Victorian—like Dickens without the humor. Still, a vivid picture of convict life that I’m sure some people needed to see at the time it was written.
September 11, 2020
A gift from my daughter. I have been wanting to read this story ever since I read 'The Fatal Shore'. It was absolutely enthralling how Marcus Clarke was able to portray the inhumanity of the convict era in this romantic tragedy.
September 18, 2021
Some classics are difficult to read but I found this quite accessible, and really gripping. Reading a print version over 100 years old and being very familiar with some of the prison sites really contributed to my appreciation of this book.
January 29, 2022
This was damn fine writing and a great read but if you’re the kind who likes a happy ending or even just having your character have any good fortune at all, don’t read further. I spent the whole book waiting for this innocent and honourable man to have anything go his way and was just devastated when the ending arrived. Once again just as fortune and redemption was about to finally smile upon him, it didn’t. It made me really cross, but honestly when the author quoted Balzac earlier in the book, I really should have seen it coming. Or you know, even every one of the three times he was awarded an undeserved life sentence!
January 19, 2023
Brutal and captivating, the end was not what I expected.
December 26, 2024
Compelling, but Papillon and King Rat are better
Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews