Customer Reviews

English Passengers

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nominated for the Booker Prize in 2000, English Passengers is, on the surface, a picaresque adventure of sailors going to Tasmania, but it is also the vivid, sorrowful drama of the extermination of the aborigines there. With a cast of characters engaged in all manner of mischief during their voyage from the Isle of Man to Tasmania, this engaging and thoughtful novel uses nineteen different voices, four of them major characters, incorporating personal memoirs and/or letters which provide depth and interest. Through the wide variety of characters and their attitudes and beliefs, the seemingly incompatible plot lines, both comic and tragic, come to life and provide focus for the ship's meanderings.

Illiam Quillian Kewley, the irrepressible ship captain from the Isle of Man, is always just a heartbeat away from apprehension by authorities. Rev. Geoffrey Wilson, his Bible-thumping passenger, believes that a literal interpretation of Genesis puts the Garden of Eden in Tasmania, and he's about to prove it. Dr. Thomas Potter, another passenger, is a phlebotomist who believes that his own success is proof of his high position on the chain of being, with the Manx crewmen far below him, and the aborigines just a step up from the apes. Peevay, a minimally educated aborigine with whom the reader greatly identifies, is a foil to show how the tunnel-visioned, British colonial/missionary spirit produces everything but "improvement" for the aborigines. The story and setting are further fleshed out with entries from Tasmanian colonial governors, landowners, schoolmasters, prison inspectors, prison superintendents, and their wives.

As the characters come alive, interact, brawl, and otherwise reveal the colonial and philosophical attitudes of their day, the novel's broad scope and action are alternately very dramatic and very funny. Finely constructed and thoroughly enjoyable, the journey and explorations around the island would have been easier to visualize if the publishers had included a map of Tasmania. Not a book to be read in dribs and drabs, this book benefits from being read in big chunks to keep the action and all the characters in focus and to allow the scenes to develop fully in all their humor and drama. Also recommended for those who are interested in Tasmania: Peter Conrad's Behind the Mountain: Return to Tasmania (ISBN 0671705733), a stunning memoir and excellent source of information about the island, including maps. Mary Whipple

There are two points about the book that makes one think maybe it ought not to have five stars. One is that there are no maps; a map of Tasmania showing the places mentioned would have given more depth to the moral and other issues covered in the book. Secondly, the book could have been organised in a different way. Jumping from one group of people to another in consecutive chapters was not initially appropriate as the time settings were different. It was much better reading if the historically earlier part ( chapters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) were put together, then a new section with the current chapters 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9). Chapters 11 onwards could have remained where they are, as the two strands come together.

Once we have sorted out these points, the novel is a must. The amount of research undertaken is astonishing, and so is the range of issues covered.

Sometimes the Aborigines from Australia are in the news, but usually when there is a problem. Matthew Kneale's book describes in detail the process why the original people who lived in Tasmania, have completely disappeared. Imperialism always has its victims, but to follow the process by which the systematic wiping out of a group of people is heart rendering. Yet, the author's style is such that one cannot put the book down.

The hold and effects of a religion are very well illustrated. For some people, all the problems that people had were brought upon themselves because they were not Christians. The belief in religion also led people to undertake horrendous journeys, in this case to find the location of the Garden of Eden.

The author has been able to portray the human characteristics of the local inhabitants very well- their inter-relatedness with nature, and their belief in human kindness. Taking all the different characters in the book, this novel should be a must for all students, not just those studying literature.

There is a lot of information about ships, navigation, the work of smugglers and human adventures at sea. At the same time there are very funny moments - like no child in school when the inspector appeared.

This is a book that will arouse strong reactions in people, for different reasons.