Offshore

by

English language

Published Feb. 27, 1979

OCLC Number:
10826471

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(1 review)

Offshore is a 1979 novel by Penelope Fitzgerald. Her third novel, it won the Booker Prize in the same year. The book explores the emotional restlessness of houseboat dwellers who live neither fully on the water nor fully on the land. It was inspired by the most difficult years of Fitzgerald's own life, years during which she lived on an old Thames sailing barge moored at Battersea Reach.

1 edition

reviewed Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald

How did this win a major literary prize

Dull and incredibly dated book, with a style that is both hard to read and tedious. The author is unable to depict characters through their actions, so everything is described through other characters thoughts in the most implausible way. The dialogue is stilted. Supposed based upon real events and people, though you'd never know it.

No idea how this ended up on my shelves, and it shall depart them quickly...

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