Penelope Fitzgerald Criticism
Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000) was a distinguished English novelist and biographer whose works are celebrated for their understated style and meticulously crafted prose. Her novels often reflect her personal experiences and are characterized by their precise, economical use of language to depict authentic characters and settings. Among her acclaimed works, Offshore, which won the Booker Prize in 1979, authentically captures the life of a transient houseboat community on the Thames, drawing from Fitzgerald's own life experiences. Critics such as Hermione Lee praise this novel for its stylish restraint, although John Ryle suggests a sentimental attachment that occasionally undermines its depth.
Fitzgerald's novel Human Voices, inspired by her wartime work at the BBC, paints a vivid picture of the 1940 Blitz period, weaving humor with emotional depth. The novel's disciplined narrative and wit are highlighted by critics such as A. S. Byatt and P. H. Newby. Fitzgerald's ability to combine incisive insights into human behavior with an English economy and understatement is further emphasized by Penelope Lively.
Her writing style, noted for its precision, is adept at encapsulating character and situation with a few incisive phrases. Richard Eder celebrates Fitzgerald for her thrilling and humorous prose, while also noting the "mosaic" quality of her work, particularly in The Blue Flower, which he describes as capturing the nuanced interplay of characters.
Fitzgerald's novels like The Bookshop, The Beginning of Spring, and The Gate of Angels are often lauded for their exploration of place and its influence on character, a quality Jonathan Raban commends for vivid period detail and evocative settings. Her historical imagination is particularly evident in The Blue Flower, a fictionalized account of German poet Fritz von Hardenberg, which Philip Hensher notes as consolidating her literary reputation.
Julian Gitzen's analysis of Fitzgerald's compression techniques further underscores her ability to convey complex narratives with subtlety and wit, making her one of the most proficient novelists in capturing the intricacies of human relationships within small communities. Despite some criticism regarding her character development, Fitzgerald's deft use of detail and subtle comedic touch continues to resonate with both critics and readers alike.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Fitzgerald, Penelope (Vol. 143)
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Two Bicycles, One Spirit
(summary)
In the following review, Eder praises Fitzgerald’s deft use of details to evoke a sense of possibilities in her Gate of Angels.
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A Still, Small Voice: The Novels of Penelope Fitzgerald
(summary)
In the following essay, Bawer traces the distinctive characteristics of Fitzgerald’s fiction and asserts that these features are most prominent in The Gate of Angels.
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Tradition and Some Individual Talents
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Pritchard lauds Fitzgerald’s Gate of Angels as a “delightful entertainment.” He describes the novel set in 1912 in a mythical Cambridge college, St. Angelicus, focusing on the characters Fred Fairly and Daisy Saunders, and highlights Fitzgerald's offbeat sensibility.
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Death and the Maiden
(summary)
In the following review, Annan discusses the amount of detail Fitzgerald manages to put into The Blue Flower.
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Seen and Unseen
(summary)
In the following review, Ratcliffe complains that while Fitzgerald has provided a well-drawn setting and several memorable characters, she has not given all of her heart to The Blue Flower.
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The Professor and the Flower
(summary)
In the following review, Gardam praises Fitzgerald’s ability to draw a convincing setting and set of characters in The Blue Flower.
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Dark Fates
(summary)
In the following review, Kermode asserts that Fitzgerald’s skillful use of detail in The Blue Flower convincingly renders the historical moment.
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The Blue Flower
(summary)
In the following review, Eder describes the mosaic quality of Fitzgerald’s writing in The Blue Flower.
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Petals on the Wind
(summary)
In the following review, Dirda recounts the virtues of Fitzgerald’s Blue Flower.
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Paradise in a Dream
(summary)
In the following review, Holmes traces the course of Fitzgerald’s career that eventually led her to write The Blue Flower.
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Elements of Compression in the Novels of Penelope Fitzgerald
(summary)
In the following essay, Gitzen studies Fitzgerald’s use of compression in her novels, tracing common features including a short time span, a restriction of plot, and a minimum number of prominent characters.
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Love in the Time of Tuberculosis
(summary)
In the following review, Herzog asserts that the spareness of Fitzgerald’s style and her ability to capture setting in The Blue Flower create a powerful effect on the reader.
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Looking Backward
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Flower states that The Bookshop is “clearly one of” [Fitzgerald’s] best. He reflects on Penelope Fitzgerald's career and her novel The Bookshop, which features protagonist Florence Green attempting to run a bookshop in a resistant community, ultimately leading to her defeat despite her intelligence and generosity.
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The Blue Flower
(summary)
In the following review, Knapp delineates the positive and negative features of Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower. Penelope Fitzgerald’s ninth novel The Blue Flower, sets out to retell the tale of Friedrich von Hardenberg and Sophie von Kuhn, one of literary history’s most poignant love stories. The effort is timely, since the book was published on the two-hundredth anniversary of the couple’s first meeting.
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The Sweet Smell of Success
(summary)
In the following review, Hensher argues that Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower finally solidifies the author’s reputation.
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Penelope Fitzgerald: A Voice amidst the Blitz
(summary)
In the following review, Charters provides a brief overview of Fitzgerald’s life and career and how the author’s experience working at the BBC during World War II provided the basis for Human Voices.
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The Fact Artist
(summary)
In the following review, Raban lauds Fitzgerald’s ability to write as if from first-hand memory instead of historical research, especially in her Human Voices.
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A Listener’s Guide
(summary)
In the following review, Wheeler states that the central paradox of Fitzgerald’s Human Voices is between human truth and the lies of war. The novel, set in the BBC’s Broadcasting House, attempts to record the truth of human voices against the lies of war, raising the paradoxical relationship between fact and fiction: how can fiction be true? The extraordinary style of the book turns the tension in the paradox into a genuine aesthetic pleasure.
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Two Bicycles, One Spirit
(summary)
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Fitzgerald, Penelope (Vol. 19)
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Suburbanity
(summary)
In the following essay, Susannah Clapp critiques Penelope Fitzgerald's debut novel, The Golden Child, as a humorous yet overly intricate thriller that suffers from an excessive plot, which undermines its potential wit and coherence.
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Suffocating Suffolk
(summary)
In the following essay, Valentine Cunningham explores the themes of resilience, power dynamics, and moral complexity in Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop, highlighting the novel's critique of social class and the perilous naivety around literature, embodied by the protagonist's struggles in a small, insular community.
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War Wounds
(summary)
In the following essay, John Mellors critiques Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop for its portrayal of eccentric characters and a bleak setting, noting the author's wry humor and economical style, but ultimately finding the narrative's conclusion unsatisfactory and reflective of its protagonist's understated nature.
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Down by the Thames
(summary)
In the following essay, Hermione Lee explores how Penelope Fitzgerald's novel 'Offshore' depicts a unique, transient community of houseboat-owners on the Thames with stylish restraint, emphasizing their alienation from the city and focusing on the characters' distinct, self-reliant existences rather than conventional relationship dynamics.
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New Music
(summary)
In the following essay, John Ryle critiques Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore for its charmingly English characters and vivid setting, while noting the narrative's overabundance of characters and the author's sentimental attachment, which he argues detracts from the potential depth and realism of the story.
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Between Land and Water
(summary)
In the following essay, Victoria Glendinning examines Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore, highlighting its poetic prose, compressed characterizations, and unique narrative style, while also addressing criticisms of certain heavy-handed elements that sparked debate when it won the Booker Prize.
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A Water-Colour Novel
(summary)
In the following essay, Hardwick praises Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore for its delicate and witty portrayal of eccentric characters and their relationships, while highlighting the endearing charm of Nenna and her precocious children, and suggesting the author's potential for more substantial works.
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Winners and Misfits
(summary)
In the following essay, Digby Durrant critiques Penelope Fitzgerald's Offshore as a witty and distinct work that, despite its Booker Prize win, may underwhelm readers due to its modest scope and unresolved narrative.
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The Isle Full of Noises
(summary)
In the following essay, A. S. Byatt discusses Penelope Fitzgerald's Human Voices, highlighting its delicate balance between humor and sadness, its portrayal of the BBC's wartime atmosphere, and its unique narrative style that combines scrappiness with thematic coherence, leaving readers yearning for more detail.
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BBC Seraglio
(summary)
In the following essay, P. H. Newby argues that Penelope Fitzgerald's Human Voices combines humor, wit, and emotional control to create a vivid depiction of BBC life during the 1940 Blitz, highlighting her skill in crafting appealing characters and embracing absurdities while maintaining a disciplined yet emotionally engaging narrative style.
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Five of the Best: New Fiction
(summary)
In the following essay, Penelope Lively praises Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Human Voices for its English economy and understatement, highlighting the novel's ability to vividly convey the BBC wartime atmosphere and explore human behavior through memorable dialogue and episodic structure.
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Suburbanity
(summary)
- Further Reading
Criticism by Penelope Fitzgerald
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When I Am Old and Gay and Full of Sleep
Saul Bellow Criticism
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Luck Dispensers
Amy Tan Criticism
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Jerusalem
Stevie Smith Criticism
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Sunny Side Up
Carol Shields Criticism
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Family Life
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Criticism
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Ninjo
Banana Yoshimoto Criticism
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Fried Nappy
Roddy Doyle Criticism
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A Secret Richness
Barbara Pym Criticism
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Words Break the Pain Barrier
Francis King Criticism