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Review
‘Of all the novelists of the last quarter-century, she has the most unarguable claim on greatness. [It has been] a career we, as readers, can only count ourselves lucky to have lived through.’ Philip Hensher, Spectator
‘One of the pleasures of reading Penelope Fitzgerald is the unpredictability of her intelligence, which never loses its quality, but springs constant surprises, and if you make the mistake of reading her fast because she is so readable, you will miss some of the best jokes. This is a very funny novel.’ The Times
‘Comic, and sometimes extraordinarily sad.’ A.S. Byatt, TLS
Product Description
A funny, touching, authentic story of life at Broadcasting House during the Blitz.
The human voices of Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel are those of the BBC in the first years of the World War II, the time when the Concert Hall was turned into a dormitory for both sexes, the whole building became a target for enemy bombers, and in the BBC – as elsewhere – some had to fail and some had to die.
It does not pretend to be an accurate history of Broadcasting House in those years, but ‘one is left with the sensation’, as William Boyd said, reviewing it in the ‘London Magazine’, ‘that this is what it was really like.’
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is without doubt the best book, ever, about the BBC, full of archetypes who are as alive now as they were in the wartime period she describes. Funny, memorable and achingly true.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ms. Fitzgerald actually did work for the BBC during WWII, and while there was at least one annoying trait, I found the book to be her wittiest I have read. My complaint has to do with the use of acronyms; if you worked at the BBC this will not be an issue. But when used liberally, in a compact novel that defines how she writes, there is little time to learn them. "CJ get me AJ the SECDEF, RJ the SECTRES, ASAP, for a get together at MOJ, PDQ...OK? The PPA, and 2 JPA'S, should attend as well." Usually this sort of banter is reserved for a Tom Clancy Novel.
The book ended with a great bang like many of her works, but this time we are not left wondering if the book we are holding is a few pages short. There still is more to unfold for some central characters, but this time the reader decides whether or not to pursue a continuance.
The TRUTH is the mission the BBC is on. To broadcast this and nothing else, not even speeches by the King that have been mended to delete his stutter. However in one of the funniest passages of the book, a French general feels compelled to share the "truth" with England and the English he so loves. Fortunately for both country and citizens alike, and to the amusement of the PM, he had the plugs pulled upon him.
Since Ms. Fitzgerald did work at the BBC, it offers an additional avenue for thought. Simply stated, how much is true, how many of these people actually lived, and how much was pure fiction. It is a tribute to her writing that the reader is unsure. By writing as she has, whether in a complimentary manner, or unflattering, I doubt some of the subjects would recognize themselves.
Another novel, without repetition, that demonstrates the vast skill this woman commanded.
The book ended with a great bang like many of her works, but this time we are not left wondering if the book we are holding is a few pages short. There still is more to unfold for some central characters, but this time the reader decides whether or not to pursue a continuance.
The TRUTH is the mission the BBC is on. To broadcast this and nothing else, not even speeches by the King that have been mended to delete his stutter. However in one of the funniest passages of the book, a French general feels compelled to share the "truth" with England and the English he so loves. Fortunately for both country and citizens alike, and to the amusement of the PM, he had the plugs pulled upon him.
Since Ms. Fitzgerald did work at the BBC, it offers an additional avenue for thought. Simply stated, how much is true, how many of these people actually lived, and how much was pure fiction. It is a tribute to her writing that the reader is unsure. By writing as she has, whether in a complimentary manner, or unflattering, I doubt some of the subjects would recognize themselves.
Another novel, without repetition, that demonstrates the vast skill this woman commanded.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's a small corner of the WW2 Home Front but one Penelope Fitzgerald knew from personal experience - the Transcription Department of BBC Broadcasting House at the beginning of the London Blitz. Public broadcasting is less than twenty years old but working for the BBC is essential war work, like joining the Women's Land Army or volunteering for the Auxiliary Fire Service. With exquisite lightness of touch Fitzgerald blends the eccentricities of the BBC's Old Servants with the randomness of life as the bombs starts to fall. 'Human Voices' captivated me from start to finish and I am busily tracking down more of Fitzgerald's work. I'm particularly looking forward to her biography of that distinctly odd Victorian painter, Burne-Jones.
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