A wonderful book.

This is a devastating account of the awfulness of British colonialism, its brutality, how good men got caught up in a bad system. It deals specifically with the colonisation of Tasmania, which is a particularly awful story, but somehow manages to be both very moving and very funny. Highly recommended.

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6 people found this helpful

A great novel improved

The narration of English Passengers is pitch perfect and brings the characters of Peevay Potter and the others vividly alive. I was disappointed that it had to end.

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4 people found this helpful

A masterclass in dramatic irony

This early example of multiple narratives is perfect for the subject matter of clashing cultures. I have read a lot of Australian colonial stories, and feel this writer has really understood and dealt with the invasion of Australia in a very nuanced way. I would have preferred a few more voice actors, as a few of the characters sounded too alike, but this is nit picking.

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2 people found this helpful

Disappointing

It may be that having read other reviews and the fact that book has won the Whitbread prize raised my expectation too high. However that might be, I have abandoned this after struggling for more than 8 hours with it. It was well written but I found the characters more of a caricature or representing a point of view, intellectual stance or type of experience than real multi-faceted people, I didn't feel involved with any of them and found their accounts laboured, long-winded and tedious. The book seemed to be an attempt to fictionalise the colonial experience in New Zealand that was neither an interesting novel nor an absorbing piece of history. I wasn't sure how much the readers, although good, added to the sense of caricature and heavy handedness and it may be better read in print. I found myself putting off listening so eventually decided to abandon it. I should also add that as far as I got there were no female characters with a voice - I don't know if one appears later - all the story tellers were male, which also put me off.

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2 people found this helpful

Well written and performed

Loved this story of the illl fated Captain and his ship. As disasters befall him, he tries to salvage what he can from the situation, heaping more bad luck upon them all.
The description of the Aboriginal peoples woes are no less well written and the dreadful things done to them in the name of improvement are really well portrayed.

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1 person found this helpful

Great listen. Funny despite the subject matter!

I was dreading the depressing theme of this book but it turned out to be a really entertaining listen. The Tasmanian situation was atrocious & this was a clever way to describe the factors involved. The performances by all the different characters were great, giving all the different perspectives in such an amusing way.
A really excellent listen.

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Excellent entertainment

Funny, serious and insightful - good history lesson. The reading was clear and different characters well differentiated

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brilliant book

brilliant story, painful truth, great characters. really glad I came across this audio book.

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Exciting, moving, funny, thought provoking

I highly recommend this book. The many narrators added value by their characterful reading. Each narrator is quite different in their style and for me this added to my enjoyment of the book. I feel this book lends itself well to audio book presentation and has been very well performed. The subject matter of the book is interesting and has provoked me to read more on the history. The book narrates a captivating story in an unusual and interesting way with several characters who the listener will find themselves caring about. I highly recommend this book.

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Captivating and extraordinarily absorbing

Having revisited Kneale’s ‘English Passengers’ after sixteen years absence, I bought the audiobook digital version having listened to Simon Callow’s excellent, but abridged version, on cassette in 2004, I was not disappointed to re-aquaint myself with Captain Kewley, Peevay and the Revd. Wilson amongst many others after such a long lay-off. The richness of the narrative and the fact that much was based on real events...and characters from that period made this story an absolute pleasure to listen to again. Top marks to all the narrators and production team...and many, many thanks to Matthew Kneale for his huge efforts in bringing this period of our colonial history to life.

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