English Passengers: A Novel | Matthew Kneale | A Hilarious Look at Human Flaws, Faults and Foibles

English Passengers: A Novel | Matthew Kneale | A tragic, but hilarious, tale

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English Passengers...

	English Passengers: A Novel Matthew Kneale Anchor, 2001 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 86 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Hilarious Look at Human Flaws, Faults and Foibles

English Passengers is a wonderful novel, funny, inventive, engaging. It is two stories, really. The first takes place in the "present" as it were, and is the story of an expedition to Tasmania, an expedition in search of the site of the Garden of Eden. Three English passengers, all hilariously obnoxious in their own way, sail aboard a boat captained by a charmingly conniving Manxman who is always one step ahead of the customs men. The other story takes place in the years leading up to the "present" in Tasmania. In this story, the sinister, darker side of human nature is explored. The English settlers there slowly, through disease, through murder, eliminate the natives there. Both stories are on a pace to crash into each other. You will spend a good part of this novel wondering what will happen when these two worlds collide. The novel is told from many different viewpoints. Each narrator thinks the world of him or herself, but exposes his or her flaws in mainly a comical fashion. Kneale manages to keep a light tone throughout, while still exposing the ugly side of humanity, the greediness, the racism, the ugly imperialism. A highly enjoyable work.

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A tragic, but hilarious, tale

I know that the title of this review sounds contradictory, but this book is not only a tragedy, but a comedy as well. The tragedy is in the depiction of the decimation of the aborigines of Tasmania, due to neglect by the British colonial government, and the murderous outlook of the colonists, both convict and free. It's a sad, but true, story that is parallel with our own treatment of Native Americans. The comedy comes from the bunbling efforts of the crew of a smuggling ship to unload its illicit, and lucrative, cargo. Additionally, there's a deluded vicar seeking the Garden of Eden in the wilds of Tasmania, and a blackhearted doctor who believes in the primacy of the "Saxon race". Everything comes together in this tale, which is well told, and extremely interesting. It's worth reading for the comedy, but you will be greatly afected by the plight of the Maoris, also.

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Don't we just love 'Historical Novels' these days...

One of the more entertaining of 'historical novels', as we seem now to be calling them, this didn't take as long to get into as Captain Corelli, but didn't quite pack the punch of Louis de Bernieres' novel. It's one of those books in the Tarantino mould, which manages to tell the story from a variety of different angles, using the cunning method of different narrators. One minute it's the vicar telling the story, the next minute.. "hold on, there's a whole other person telling the story - unbelievable!". Cynicism apart, this was a book I really enjoyed, great detail on all the characters, I particularly liked the acerbic wit and meanness of the doctor, and thought it was beautifully balanced with the supposed piety of the vicarious one. What was great was the way that Kneale started by portraying both these characters as the world saw them, but throughout the course of the book we came to know them and their petty sins and jealousies more intimately - and to his credit Kneale manages the transition very smoothly. A book without heroes perhaps? Certainly there is not much in the way of catharsis at the end of the story, only grim retribution and irony - but I don't want to spoil it for you. A very worthwhile read anyway, and a good book to take on holiday. Happy reading!

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Great work

This book is funny and exciting and surprising all at once. If you are a historical novel fan you will love this one.

Killing with kindness and cruelty

The destruction of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania is at the heart of this novel. Told by various characters in letter, journal entries, and eyewitness accounts; English Passengers sees the genocide of these people from many different viewpoints like those of racial supremacists, religous do-gooders, Manx sailors, and Peevay, the man who shows the reader what his people have lost. The skill of the author is evident by speaking in so many different voices, but it becomes a matter of style over substance. The emotional resonance is lost with all the shifting styles and commentaries. A valiant effort, but it left me wondering if any one character might have given this book more emotional weight; a weight this heinous crime deserves. I understand the author is using the amazing stupidity of many of his characters to make his comments for him, it just didn't quite work for me.

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