Reviews for The History of Australia: The 20th Century 1901-1975 - Hardcover

The average rating for The History of Australia: The 20th Century 1901-1975 - Hardcover based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-10-15 00:00:00 Richard Obrien I think this book would appeal to those who read 19th-century fiction, but who'd also enjoy some modernity to go along with it. Just when you think Meredith is writing a stock 19th-century character or a 'typical' plot line, he turns it on its head. Honor, romantic notions, and pride are skewered. The only characters with any common sense who actually get things done are an earthy landlady and a nephew of Lord Feverel, one who's married a housemaid and actually works at something useful. There is humor, mostly of the ironical kind, and tragedy, also ironic. The tone changes as we get to the last chapter, which is narrated by one of the characters (a bland character who has become quite emotional) instead of the detached narrator whose disembodied voice previously dominated in various ways. I don't believe I've read anything like this book before as far as 19th-c literature goes. In later revisions to this book, Meredith took out the first four chapters, another chapter about Sir Feverel visiting a Mrs Grandison and her daughters as he searches for a wife for his son (one that will fit his System), and some of the dialogue spoken by the landlady and another nephew, Adrian, the "Wise Youth." I'm glad I read this edition with the restored cuts: otherwise, I would've missed out on some of the funniest bits.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-03-11 00:00:00 Andy Hayworth If you enjoy 19th century irony as I do, you will enjoy The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) immensely! This novel was a recent choice by the Yahoo 19th Century Lit group, and I don’t know why it isn’t more widely read by lovers of the classics because much of it is hilarious. The ordeal that young Richard must endure is the System of Education devised for him by his father, Sir Austin Feverel. His plan is that the boy should grow up happy and self-confident by being secluded from all pernicious influences, especially school and females. He does not, to put it mildly, have very realistic ideas about his child, and he ‘s not a very good judge of character. For Sir Austin has cast aside his faithless wife and is bringing up the boy himself, with only the companionship of some hangers-on at the Estate. There is a Cousin Austin Wentworth who disgraced the family name by marrying a housemaid, and a cynical Cousin Adrian Harley, an Epicurean who flunked out of Curate school and has been given a ‘stipendiary post’ at Sir Austin’s so that he can loaf about in a more respectable way. For the rest of my review please visit but beware: there are some spoilers there.