Clarke wanted to write the Australian novel, a story about the survival of the human spirit in the most dire of circumstances. This book was meant to be a psychological story as much as it was a convict one. But for Clarke the shorter title encompassed a larger brief. The longer title, For the Term of His Natural Life only came about after Clarke died because the English publisher Richard Bentley wanted to emphasise the convict story.
The book began life in 1870 as a serial in the monthly periodical The Australian Journal, and appeared under the title His Natural Life. Yet it's the book more than any other that's defined the Australian image of the convict past.
It depicts violence, cruelty and unrelenting suffering. Book.Lyn Gallacher: Marcus Clarke's For the Term of His Natural Life isn't a book for the fainthearted. The novel was based on research by the author as well as a visit to the penal settlement of Port Arthur." Size: Large Octavo. The conditions experienced by the convicts are graphically described. The harsh and inhumane treatment meted out to the convicts, some of whom were transported for relatively minor crimes, is clearly conveyed. The story follows the fortunes of Rufus Dawes, a young man transported for a theft that he did not commit, when rendering assistance to the victim of a mugging. For the Term of His Natural Life is a "ripping yarn", which at times relies on unrealistic coincidences. He is best known for his 1874 novel For the Term of His Natural Life, about the convict system in Australia, and widely regarded as a classic of Australian literature. "Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (1846-1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian and playwright. 8 Books with numerous titled subdivisions, list of at least 45 b&w illustrations, Original patterned brown-cloth with gilt design and lettering to spine and brown top text block, lightly warn worn, lightly age-toned bottom and fore- text block.
0 kommentar(er)
