Bought this in my local Cancer Research Shop.

Shortlisted for Booker Prize and Whitbread prize 1990. Fitzgerald was nominated 4 times for the Booker, winning with Offshore.

This didn't leave much of an impression on me except bafflement. I just kept feeling I must be missing something, I didn't get it at all. If anyone else does, please enlighten me!

Trading with kristamd, as Booker prize relay ammo.Only light so will go airmail.

Received today via speedy delivery from the UK - thank you! Perhaps the plane bearing this book flew over the slow boat carrying the book I sent in trade.

Penelope Fitzgerald is a very understated writer with a gift for describing a place or a character in just a few words, and for saying a lot by choosing not to say something. I loved the details of 1912 Cambridge - the bicycles, the fens, the cerebral ivory-tower academics engaging in endless, unresolvable debates. I also liked learning about medicine and working class life during that time period.

What wasn't as successful for me was the connection of all the novel's disparate elements. Science, religion, medicine, women's suffrage, class differences, love, celibacy...How do these all hang together?

Thanks for the chance to read this book. I plan to pass it on or wild release it.

Mailed to Canada today as part of a Bookrelay. Enjoy!

Received today...thank you! I like Penelope Fitzgerald's books and look forward to this.

I agree with both the previous journallers that this book has a lot of bits and pieces that seem to go in all directions and leaves the reader feeling a bit lost. However, that being said, I decided not to spend too much time worrying about that and just consider my reaction in general. I really liked and rather admired Daisy; she was a bold, vibrant breath of fresh air amidst the almost overwhelming rigidity of the Cambridge lifestyle. I also found the book quite funny; it's really quite a comedic piece of writing. Viewed in that light, the many digressions that the novel seems initially to suffer from actually highlight the sense of absurdity that hangs over most of the story. Fred himself seems to be stumbling through his life, mirroring the narrative style, which in turn seems to mirror the confusion of England during the volatile early years of the 20th century. These are just a few initial responses. It's a book that I think I will continue to think about for a while. Thanks for sharing!

RELEASE NOTES:

Putting this in a box of free books I'm bringing to my sister's yard sale.

EDIT: Due to last-minute unforeseen circumstances, I've had to cancel this release.

Release cancelled due to last-minute change of plans; will try again later.

RELEASE NOTES:

On the usual bookshelves...

*I'm releasing 40 books this week to mark my 40th birthday!*