Reviews

Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald

ruyanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

amyroseb's review

informative lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

gripyfish's review against another edition

dark funny informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

piccoline's review against another edition

5.0

Another great one from Penelope. I don't know what to say, really, that is new. As usual she sketches characters with compassion and concision. Her wit is bone dry and subtle as always.

At this point I think you should just pick whichever of her novels has the most interesting sounding plot and read it. Not that the plot will end up being what you care about, but all of them that I've read are small, sharp masterpieces. (At this point I've read Human Voices, The Beginning of Spring, Offshore, The Bookshop, and The Gate of Angels.)

lnatal's review

3.0

From BBC Radio 4 Extra: When British listeners tuned in to the BBC's Nine O'Clock News in the middle of 1940, they had no idea what human dramas and follies were unfolding behind the scenes. Read by Penelope Wilton.

sifter's review

4.0

Short, delicate story of the lives of BBC staff at war. Some brilliant, economic lines (a baby in its cot is described as “simmering”, catering “brews away remorselessly in the basement”) and a lovely bittersweet ending. No-one would write a war novel like this now, so light on its feet and daringly flippant.

margedalloway's review

3.0

Probably my favourite of the Fitzgerald novels I've read, The Beginning of Spring is a little more consistent, but this had much higher peaks for me. The concept of people using their everyday lives to distract from the war is really well executed, and I found myself interested by some aspect of almost every character.

trin's review

4.0

Penelope Fitzgerald writes such dark, claustrophobic, nasty little books -- but at their best I can't help but admire them. This one refuses to let you follow any one character long enough to give you a point of focus, and the last third starts to feel like a game of hot potato or musical chairs where you're just waiting to see which character gets killed in the Blitz. Yet there's such control to Fitzgerald's seemingly plotless chaos. A fascinating read.