Sunday 4 January 2009

Poinsettia and English Passengers


I was given this poinsettia four weeks ago, so it's doing well despite my neglect over Christmas. In Thailand they grew wild in the north, I remember.


Have just finished reading English Passengers, phew. I tried once before but gave up. This time I am glad I persevered. Here’s a blurb.
“In 1857 circumstances force seaman Captain Kewley and his band of smugglers from the Isle of Man to carry two eccentric English passengers to Australia: The obsessed Rev Wilson believes the Garden of Eden was on the island of Tasmania. His travelling partner and rival, Dr. Potter, is secretly developing a sinister thesis about the races of men.
Meanwhile, an aboriginal in Tasmania named Peevay recounts his people’s struggles against the invading British. These characters and many others come together in a storm of voices, including those of the convicts, their jailors and the colonial governors.”
This is is a remarkable tour de force, a meticulously researched and interesting novel, but hard work to read because of the numerous (20?) narrators. I liked Capt Kewleydidn’t realise that Manxmen considered themselves a different nationality from the dastardly English. I knew the outlines of the grim story of the Tasmanian aboriginals, but had no idea how their extinction came about, so that was informative too. All in all, a shameful episode in British colonialism.
Many of the numerous minor characters only appear briefly (just a page) to tell an episode of the story, so you don’t become involved with the characters themselves, apart from the dishonest but appealing Kewley and poor Peevay. I have to confess I skipped some of the Rev Wilson’s ranting but you can’t skip much or you lose your way – as the explorers did in central Tasmania (which is much bigger than I thought, the same size as Sri Lanka.)
I’d say this long novel is only suitable for serious dedicated reading groups, because it is pretty heavy going to start with. Not a page turner - I was able to put it down 20 pages before the end - but, finally, well worth the effort.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

One I definately won't attempt as I don't have much staying power with long books at the moment!

lx

Jenny Beattie said...

Oh Lord! That totally explains it. Our building puts sooo many poinsettias out inside and outside and I remarked to the family how much it must cost ... but they're native. Thank you for explaining that one!

Jan Jones said...

I rescued a sell-by-this-minute poinsettia from Waitrose this year for 99p. That was about 4 weeks ago and it's still going strong - just like yours!

Ms Mac said...

I do love a Poinsettia, they're such a pretty colour.

I have a copy of English Passengers here, funnily enough. I've never even been tempted to read the blurb on it, never mind get any further.