Ultima Thule

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony #3

by Henry Handel Richardson

1929. Ultima Thule is the final volume in Henry Handel Richardson's (Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson) The Fortunes of Richard Mahony trilogy. It is without question Richardson's most important work. Her brilliant analysis of human inadequacy, of the gulf between the ideal and achievement, and of the complexities of circumstance, environment and human frailty, make her one of Australia's most distinguished novelists. In The Fortunes of Richard Mahony she brings together knowledge of a significant period of Australian history, an understanding of human weakness, and a grasp of the principles and techniques of the best European and Russian writers of the nineteenth century. Ultima Thule opens with Mahony's financial ruin and explores the complete disintegration of his personality. The Australian countryside at its worst takes on almost human shapes of menace and hostility, and Mahony is finally broken as much by the country of his exile as by his own morbid sensitivity.

Genres: Fiction, Australia, Classics, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson Robertson for mixed motives used and adopted Henry Handel Richardson, a pen-name that probably militated against recognition especially when feminist literary history began. Maurice Guest was highly praised in Germany when it first appeared in translation in 1912, but received a bad press in England, though it influenced other novelists. The publishers bowdlerized the language for the second imprint. The trilogy suffered from the long intervals between its three volumes: Australia Felix (1917); The Way Home (1925) and Ultima Thule (1929). The last brought overnight fame and the three volumes were published as one in 1930. Her fame in England was short-lived; as late as 1977, when Virago Press republished The Getting of Wisdom, some London critics referred to the author as 'Mr Richardson'. Her short stories, The End of a Childhood (1934), and the novel, The Young Cosima (1939), had lukewarm receptions.

Henry Handel Richardson's place in Australian literature is important and secure. The Fortunes is an archetypal novel of the country, written about the great upsurge of nineteenth-century Western capitalism fuelled by the gold discoveries. With relentless objectivity it surveys all the main issues which were to define the direction of white Australian society from the 1850s onwards, within the domestic framework of a marriage. Powerfully symbolic in a realistic mode it is, as an English critic said in 1973, 'one of the great inexorable books of the world'.

Reviews

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard's fortune, his health and his mental state take a never ending slide downhill in the final book of this trilogy. His confidence is shattered, his wandering state scares off patients and his various ailments hamper both his thinking and manoeuvrability. Polly/Mary is fed up and is forced to take action.
This is probably the best of the three books, a portrait of a broken man, a legal/medical system of ghastly terror and a feeling of what could have been if Richard had only listen to his wife.

[Chrissie]

Third in a series based on the author's father.

*******************

*The Getting of Wisdom 4 stars

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony
*Australia Felix 4 stars
*The Way Home TBR
*Ultima Thule TBR

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in a series about the life of Dr Richard Mahony. I have not read the first two books, but did read summaries of them on Wikipedia - not ideal, but what can you do?
Compared to other books written around this time, it actually holds up.
This story starts with Richard coming back to Melbourne, whilst his family is travelling, to setup a house and practice to support the family after losing most of their money by an embezzling broker.
He is reluctant to take the help or even the companionship of any of his old friends, even though he is desperately lonely. When his family arrives things start to go well for a while, except for all the secrets he keeps from his wonderfully wise wife Mary - if only he would listen to her!
They finish up moving around to different country towns where Richard believes he will be able to make a better income, but in each and every one his practice generally fails due to his own odd behaviour.
This is the slow descent into madness of the protagonist written by an author who saw their own father go through something similar, which is what makes this novel so involving. I loved the way the author often changes the point of view to other characters, including the 7 year old son known as Cuffy and how these strange actions of his father seem through his own slightly narcissistic eyes.
I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to find out the warts and all version of how the insane were handled or just anyone after a good read.

[Velvetink]

1 of 21 books for $10. 2/10/12

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last volume in the Fortunes of Richard Mahony trilogy.

[Laura]

Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.