Olivier is an aristocrat, the traumatized child of survivors of the French Revolution. Parrot the son of an itinerant printer who always wanted to be an artist but has ended up a servant. Born on different sides of history, their lives will be brought together by their travels in America.
When Olivier sets sail for America, ostensibly to study its prisons but in reality to save his neck from one more revolution - Parrot is sent with him, as spy, protector, foe and foil. As the narrative shifts between the perspectives of Parrot and Olivier, and their picaresque travels together and apart - in love and politics, prisons and the world of art - Peter Carey explores the adventure of American democracy, in theory and in practice, with dazzling wit and inventiveness.
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571253326
Number of pages: 592
Weight: 460 g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 35 mm
Edition: Main - Re-issue
I struggled to get into this book at first, but once the story gets going I found it difficult to stop reading.
Once Parrot and Olivier arrive in America the background themes get more complex and there is so much to...
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Initially I found this book a little hard to get into. However, once the story began I raced through it.
Of the two stories, Parrot's is definately the more interesting. And sometimes, as the book switches back...
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A marvellous trip from France to America in the post-French Revolution era - a rollicking journey with subtle use of language, moving and also comic in its compass. Essential reading as always from Peter Carey.
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