English Passengers, by Matthew Kneale

The group (most of) gathered in the Pulteney Arms, a week after being snowed off. The book was Steve’s selection, a rare re-visit of a book he first read soon after publication in 2003, and had vivid memories of... or so he thought. It was in fact a late replacement for his original choice of Peter Ackroyd’s ‘Hawksmoor’, which proved impossible to obtain either in print or e-book formats. Still not sure why that should be, as it’s supposed to be an excellent book.

Steve’s take was that this is a remarkable story that would have been hard to believe if it was a complete fiction. The strong connections with fact give it real resonance. The structure is on the face of it complex, using several different characters to tell the tale, chapter by chapter. In practice it’s very effective.

Nonetheless the narrators are necessarily so different that sometimes it ground its gears going from one to the next. He also found the rather knockabout antics of the Manx sailors and their ship not really all that helpful or relevant - other than to underline the unregulated way life was led in those days away from the UK...
Every character has some pleasing trait, well written, even if it makes him or her an unpleasant person. Kewley is nicely tart in observation. On the Bishop of Mann: “There were some persons said he’d got himself all in sulks because he’d not been given a fine airy cathedral in Winchester or Canterbury to lord it over, but had been shut away on a small country full of Methodists mumbling some language he couldn’t understand.”
 
For Steve there was one niggling flaw: while utterly believable in historical context and general presentation, he was never really clear about the intended narrative form. It’s not a diary, even though it is presented as such in a way, because it’s written with no prior knowledge of forthcoming events. Such as when Wilson describes his absolute certainty of the appearance of Eden ‘just around the next corner’ as it were, and is then clearly undermined by events on the same day. The rather strange outcome is that instead of imagining him writing up his diary by the camp fire in the evening, there’s a sense of him stopping every five minutes to add the next paragraph.

But a good book, provoking and well written. The clash between religious conviction and the exciting and no less pompously self-confident surge of scientific discovery was effectively presented: how else would a not-very-intelligent but upper-class member of the clergy have felt it necessary to do battle with these disturbing new forces?
Was it worth re-reading? Steve thought so, though he found that he had remembered only the sections dealing with the violent colonisation of Tasmania, and had completely forgotten the angle that dealt with religion vs scientific discovery. Much ‘new’ to enjoy.

Chris B enjoyed the book, with its uncomfortable evocation of colonial history, the beginnings of eugenics, through Potter’s writings, and he found the seafaring elements convincing and enjoyable (though with some apparent sailing blunders, which passed the rest of us by!). The varied characterisations gave the novel breadth and were well developed, although some of the caricatures were perhaps a bit unfair. Kewley was a kind of likeable rogue, and Renshaw perhaps undeveloped. 

The plot, with its conceit of setting the hunt for the Garden of Eden in Tasmania, was credible and interesting, and provoked through on a range of issues. For Chris, however, the ending was a bit precipitous. As Potter’s skeleton went on show as an aborigine it was of course a perfect come-down for his high-flown ideals, but was it all a little bit too ‘neat’?

Neil was in the camp that found the ‘situation-based’ parts of the book (aka the ‘comedy bits’) more engaging than the more message-orientated content. For him there was a sense that the colonial sections could have been shortened. While the varied threads made the book engaging, the stuttering chronology hade the book more of a challenge. He was definitely with Potter when it came to Wilson.

For Neil it was unusual to find a book that tied up most of its ends effectively – come-uppance delivered etc. But rather long, could have been edited.

Chris W was also revisiting the book again and remarked on the fact that it covered a fascinating and unsavoury part of our history – making a comparison with the expulsion of the Rohingya people of Burma: do we have the right to lecture others, given our past? The range of characters was rich and he particularly enjoyed Peevay, the English-speaking aborigine. The language the author developed for him was a really original way to present the actions of the white settlers, speaking volumes about both sides, and the differences between them.

He allowed that it was a bit tedious getting the English Passengers there and back again but thoroughly necessary given the context. Certainly did not feel that time had been wasted by reading it a second time. And he also very much enjoyed the geographical elements of the narrative. Tasmania is a fascinatingly varied country – an appropriate location.
Mark T enjoyed the book, though found it took a little time to get up to speed, particularly with the dialects of Peevay. But once under way, he connected with the family and their descriptions of white people as ‘ghosts’, and his father as an archetypal convict turned trapper. The descriptions of the white settler Robson made him an intensely disliked character for Mark, while as with other readers, the religion vs science conflict personified through Wilson and Potter as fascinating.

Mark W began by drawing comparisons with the Arawak (sp?) people in Jamaica, who were ‘civilised’ (exterminated) by the Spanish colonising forces. He pointed out that the theme of extermination of races in the interests of nationalistic expansion and religious missionary zeal is a common one, particularly for the UK – he appreciated the way the book highlighted our hypocrisy in this respect.

He enjoyed the book though felt it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a novel-based yarn or a serious socio-historical commentary. The early stages, the setup, were more interesting as some of the characters developed into caricatures. But the thrilled element of the narrative worked as well, with the Potter ‘monster’ developing as Rev’d Wilson’s character became increasingly extreme (though Potter’s narrative style, though understandable, was difficult to follow and slightly aggravating). In some ways the story of a man’s inspired but ultimately doomed quest reminded him of Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. 

Richard also enjoyed the book. Reporting from afar he commented that he found many things that were extremely good about it. The many well drawn characters; the well distinguished voices; the history was fascinating. The story sustained his interest over so many time periods and so many characters. The genocide of the Tasmanian Aborigines was and remains tragic, and there are very many resonances with current issues, although the Victorian imperialistic ideals which contributed to this particular one are less obvious nowadays. The issues of causality and history were extremely interestingly drawn out.

He had a few gripes too – like Steve he thought the Manx sailors and captain were somewhat farcical (maybe they were meant as the comedy routine?), but more importantly, although I found the characters well drawn and interesting, I didn’t actually feel very emotionally involved with any of them.

But overall one of the better books Richard felt we’d read.

Scores:
S: 8.5
CB: 8.2
N: 7.6
MT: 7.5
CW: 8.3
MW 6.7
RV: 9.0
Total: 55.8
Average: 7.97