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chapman's review against another edition
3.0
This may be a fault of the audio version, I didn't find the narrator very engaging. The idea of this small group of people living next to each other, on boats on the Thames is a really interesting one. The disparate people and their lives interacting with each other.
Unfortunately the story didn't really grab me. I might try listening again or finding the book version to try, the Author herself sounds very interesting.
Unfortunately the story didn't really grab me. I might try listening again or finding the book version to try, the Author herself sounds very interesting.
brianreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars.
In the end I quite enjoyed Offshore, but I wasn’t sure for the first quarter of it. Fitzgerald won the Booker prize in 1979 for this novel about a community of people living on barges in the River Thames in West London. It’s thoughtful but also quite light and humorous.
There are some great bits where the dialogue has the perfect wit of a sitcom almost, and I laughed out loud multiple times at her skewering descriptions of neighbourhoods and shops around London. But other moments I had to re-read the page 2-3 times because the writing was so clever I couldn’t follow what just happened. In the end it’s a nice short book, and a reflection on loneliness and community. It’s worth a read.
In the end I quite enjoyed Offshore, but I wasn’t sure for the first quarter of it. Fitzgerald won the Booker prize in 1979 for this novel about a community of people living on barges in the River Thames in West London. It’s thoughtful but also quite light and humorous.
There are some great bits where the dialogue has the perfect wit of a sitcom almost, and I laughed out loud multiple times at her skewering descriptions of neighbourhoods and shops around London. But other moments I had to re-read the page 2-3 times because the writing was so clever I couldn’t follow what just happened. In the end it’s a nice short book, and a reflection on loneliness and community. It’s worth a read.
zoewong's review against another edition
“It’s right for us to live where we do, between land and water.”
Honestly I bought this for $1 at the RB library because I liked the cover but I am glad I did! Very short / sparse but it felt like it ended in the right place and as the blurb on the front says, this book feels like looking at Turner’s painting of the Battersea Bridge.
I liked how the characters moved with and were shaped by the river - “creatures neither of firm land nor water, [who] would have liked to be more respectable than they were” (2). They sort of reminded me of this sentiment from The Four Loves about affection: “The people with whom you are thrown together in the family, the college, the mess, the ship (!), the religious house... Made for us? Thank God, no. They are themselves, odder than you could have believed and worth far more than we guessed.”
Honestly I bought this for $1 at the RB library because I liked the cover but I am glad I did! Very short / sparse but it felt like it ended in the right place and as the blurb on the front says, this book feels like looking at Turner’s painting of the Battersea Bridge.
I liked how the characters moved with and were shaped by the river - “creatures neither of firm land nor water, [who] would have liked to be more respectable than they were” (2). They sort of reminded me of this sentiment from The Four Loves about affection: “The people with whom you are thrown together in the family, the college, the mess, the ship (!), the religious house... Made for us? Thank God, no. They are themselves, odder than you could have believed and worth far more than we guessed.”
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first novel by Penelope Fitzgerald I have read and as a winner of the Booker prize, I had to check it out. I enjoyed the writing style enormously, it is about a cast of characters that live on the Battersea Reach on the Thames. This includes Maurice a male prostitute, Richard and Laura (the only ones with any money) and Nenna and her two children Martha and Tilda who I absolutely loved. Wise beyond their years the two children often miss school to rummage around in the mud for treasures to sell as antiques. The only problem I have with this novel is the ending - why so abrupt?!
curleytwin2's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jackplmn's review against another edition
4.0
i started this book thinking it would just be an idyllic snipped of london barge life and that was delivered. what i wasn’t expecting was the somewhat dark small twists and to become so invested in every boat owners life. i jus loved it
fates_fables_golem's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Potential new favourite author!?
kweekwegg's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. Fitzgerald is wonderful as always. I can see why this one in particular got so much attention; it's exemplary of her kaleidoscopic style. It really does have the feeling of looking at a watercolor, making your own impressions, and then seeing the greater thing as a whole.
Offshore has some of Fitzgerald's most easily likeable characters, though they are just as flawed and human as ever. Martha and Trisha, the two young daughters, are her quintessential young people, so witty and charming and full of life.
Offshore has some of Fitzgerald's most easily likeable characters, though they are just as flawed and human as ever. Martha and Trisha, the two young daughters, are her quintessential young people, so witty and charming and full of life.