image of person or book cover 7778273617307887328.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
Issue Details: First known date: 2015... 2015 A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'“I woke with a gasp. And lay in the dark, open-mouthed, holding my breath. That feeling ... that feeling was indescribable. For a moment I had felt as if I were falling ... falling into bliss.”

'All his life, Richard Kline has been haunted by a sense that something is lacking. He envies the ease with which some people slip – seemingly unquestioningly – into contented suburban life or the pursuit of wealth.

'As he moves into middle age, Richard grows increasingly angry. But then a strange event awakens him to a different way of living. He finds himself on a quest, almost against his own will, to resolve the 'divine discontent' he has suffered since childhood. From pharmaceuticals to new age therapies and finding a guru, Richard's journey dramatises the search for meaning in today's world.

'This moving and audacious novel is a pilgrim's progress for the here and now. Suffused with yearning and a sense of the mystical, this extraordinary novel is one of Lohrey's finest offerings yet.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Epigraph: All our scientific and philosophic ideals are altars to unknown gods. –William James, Varieties of Religious Experience

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 7778273617307887328.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 259p.
      Note/s:
      • Published March 2015
      ISBN: 9781863957182
    • Carlton, Parkville - Carlton area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2016 .
      image of person or book cover 3056277465037358066.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 272p.
      Edition info: 2nd ed.
      Note/s:
      • Published March 2016.
      ISBN: 9781863958158

Other Formats

  • Also large print.

Works about this Work

Free Solo Julieanne Lamond , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: Lohrey 2022; (p. 60-87)
'Early in the writing of this book I went to see a film called Free Solo. It is about a remarkable feat of human courage and strength: a man climbing the goo-metre high rock face, El Capitan, without ropes or harness. The film looks at the psychology of Alex Honnold, the man who could do some-thing that would seem, to most people, utterly terrifying. He is single minded to such an extent that he comes across as comic. He starts a relationship with a woman while they are filming: 'I don't mind having her in the van, he says of his new girlfriend. 'She's pretty; she doesn't take up too much space.' His climbing  friends discuss the risks of entering into a relationship when attempting such a difficult goal.  Would his concern for her impact his capacity to carry it out? I tried not to guffaw when he referred to himself as a warrior.  Facing down and ignoring danger. Here I thought is a kind of masculinity that 'gets the job done.' It prides itself on its lack of encumbrance. Solitude. There is no concern for the minutiae of life: he eats his dinner with the spatula he used to cook it. Such embodiment of masculinity enables a focus so intense that a man can balance his body on a tiny foothold  800 metres in the air while he switches his grip between one thumb and the other. And in doing so, he achieves an act of the the most extreme self-reliance and, arguably, pride: doing the most dangerous thing without dying.' 

 (Introduction)

 

 
y separately published work icon A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey Jan Hutchinson , Melbourne : CAE Book Group , 2015 9463588 2015 single work criticism
Review : A Short History of Richard Kline 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , May no. 111 2015; (p. 73)

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
A Soulful Longing Bernadette Brennan , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , April 2015;

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
Review : A Short History of Richard Kline B B , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 7 March 2015;

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
Review : A Short History of Richard Kline David Gaunt , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , vol. 94 no. 3 2015; (p. 21)

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
Sense of Yearning Creates Space for Allegory Geordie Williamson , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 March 2015; (p. 16-17)

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
Fifty Shades of Spirituality Phil Brown , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 7 March 2015; (p. 18)

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
'While the subject of sex is no longer taboo, that of our spiritual journeys remains hidden in the closet...'
Hauntings Felicity Plunkett , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 369 2015; (p. 37)

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
From the Other Side of Restless Disillusionment Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21-22 March 2015; (p. 35) The Canberra Times , 21 March 2015; (p. 22)

— Review of A Short History of Richard Kline : A Novel Amanda Lohrey , 2015 single work novel
y separately published work icon A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey Jan Hutchinson , Melbourne : CAE Book Group , 2015 9463588 2015 single work criticism
Free Solo Julieanne Lamond , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: Lohrey 2022; (p. 60-87)
'Early in the writing of this book I went to see a film called Free Solo. It is about a remarkable feat of human courage and strength: a man climbing the goo-metre high rock face, El Capitan, without ropes or harness. The film looks at the psychology of Alex Honnold, the man who could do some-thing that would seem, to most people, utterly terrifying. He is single minded to such an extent that he comes across as comic. He starts a relationship with a woman while they are filming: 'I don't mind having her in the van, he says of his new girlfriend. 'She's pretty; she doesn't take up too much space.' His climbing  friends discuss the risks of entering into a relationship when attempting such a difficult goal.  Would his concern for her impact his capacity to carry it out? I tried not to guffaw when he referred to himself as a warrior.  Facing down and ignoring danger. Here I thought is a kind of masculinity that 'gets the job done.' It prides itself on its lack of encumbrance. Solitude. There is no concern for the minutiae of life: he eats his dinner with the spatula he used to cook it. Such embodiment of masculinity enables a focus so intense that a man can balance his body on a tiny foothold  800 metres in the air while he switches his grip between one thumb and the other. And in doing so, he achieves an act of the the most extreme self-reliance and, arguably, pride: doing the most dangerous thing without dying.' 

 (Introduction)

 

 
Last amended 22 Mar 2017 15:37:16
X