Marcus Clarke (1846–1881)

It's fair to say that this quintessential work of 19th century Australian fiction is a bit dreary and dry to a lot of modern readers. Still, I first read this as a boy and still come back to it every now and then: a poignant melodrama that, despite its occasional silliness or longueurs, provides us with constant insight into the lives and thoughts of the first generations of white Australians. They still connected so much with the "empire", and yet already a very different society was show more emerging Down Under. Fantastic stuff. show less

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once in I was gripped. The story doesn't really get going until Rufus is on the prison ship. To me this is a story of the human spirit and how it can survive in the most desparate of situations. Rufus, is a wronged man and is constantly being crushed but he still manages to retain something of himself throughout. Also the writer must have done a tremendous amount of research, because the descriptions of the penal system in Australia make show more you feel like you're there, the heat, the dirt, everything. show less

This was an unexpected page-turner. I picked this up from the local high school who were selling off discarded library books. Why on earth they discarded this I cannot think. Not only is it part of the very limited pantheon of Australian classics (and we have lots of Australians here) with its great insight into early white Aussie history, it’s a very good read. Still, their loss = my gain.

There’s a lot of the influence of Les Miserables meets The Count of Monte Cristo here (although I show more do say that having read neither of them). A man is arrested for a wrong he did not commit and, for the sake of others, conceals his identity. He is transported and suffers the most hideous betrayals so that the life you thought could get no worse, gets successively worse throughout the novel. Along the way, many profit at the expense of his misfortune. Some are regarded as criminal for this, others are deceived into being thought as worthy of esteem in their own right. And the full spectrum of religion is on view, from the repulsive hypocrisy of the so-called Rev Meekin to the only too self-aware Rev North.

So, that’s the literary structure out of the way, which makes for a good story in itself. But what makes this a very good book are Clarke’s detailed descriptions of penal servitude and suffering. Many of the tales told of his characters are in fact based on true stories which my version referenced in an appendix. Some of them appear incredible and provide real life responses to critics I’ve read online who state that some of the story is perhaps a little too laden with serendipity.

I did not find it so. The characters captivated me in much the same way that Golding’s Rites of Passage did recently. And the story kept me going chapter after chapter: some of the descriptions of the attempted escapes are very vivid with the landscape, probably the harshest gaoler of all, playing a significant part. The ending I thought absolutely appropriate. However, I did read that, for versions published in the US, it was cheered up a bit for those who, preferring the indescribably awful writing of Radcliffe, read in order to escape reality rather than try to come to terms with it. I don’t think Clarke would have approved based on the response of Rev. North:

"The story does not end satisfactorily. Balzac was too great a master of his art for that. In real life the curtain never falls on a comfortably finished drama. The play goes on eternally."

So, in summary, this book surprised me with its rich detail and pace of its story telling. show less

First review of this classic australian book on LT, and not by an Australian? Anyway, here goes:
I read this book in a German translation (from an East-German publisher, complete with socialist commentary on the issue of transportation and penal colonies in a capitalist system). The translation was very good (unlike the cr*p we are served by some publishers today), although the original version I now own is much more authentic in its true 1840s style.
A gripping story about one man that gets show more wrongly accused of murder and transported to the Antipodes. I remember watching the mini-series in the 1980s and really getting angry, and the same feeling came back while reading the story of Rufus Dawes, who always loses, despite being a good man with the best intentions. The system of penal colonies and the rules applied within the system did not allow for people to really redeem themselves. You might survive and get back home if you kept a low profile, but Dawes who unintentionally got involved in a mutiny on the way to Australia never gets a chance to prove that he is indeed innocent.
Despite its age, a gripping read. show less