I did not enjoy this book.It takes a brain more agile and more in fitting with modern thinking patterns to appreciate the wit/humour suggested in the blurb. The bombardment of disconnected ideas smothered the story line.Throughout most of the book I congratulated Peter Carey for endless pages of nothingness.It takes ingenuity to keep going for so long without getting anywhere. I did warm to the story in the last few chapters where there was evidence of human interaction and a reasoned argument relating to democracy. The comparisons of the old and new worlds was of interest. The metaphores relating human styles to that of painters intrigued me enough to look up the works of art. I may read another of his works to make a comparison, as I see he has won the Booker prize on previous occasions.
This is a long book....Perhaps because the two characters from the title are the main protagonists who share the narration of the book between them it double the narration! Whilst Parrot and Olivier encompasses so many themes such as, aristocracy, class,the French revolution, the printing revolution, servants and masters, the birth of America, democracy amongst other things...Unfortunately I felt this myriad of themes interwoven amongst the backdrop of these not particularly interesting characters was just too much for me! Having said that, I can see why Peter Carey has been shortlisted for the Booker, as his writing style is particularly ingenious, I did enjoy reading some of the passages just for their cleverness! His frequent use of French in the first part of the book irritated me a little too, as I think it makes this type of writing quite exclusive to a certain readership. (Who either understand it or can be bothered to look up the meanings!) Another problem I had with this novel was that the characters were not very likeable, memorable maybe, but I had no interest really in whether they succeeded or failed. The last part of the book did interest me more, the characters took on a little more depth and interest, which kept me going until the end. If you read this before embarking - my advice is if you are not enjoying it by page 150 then abandon ship while you still can!! 4/10
Posted on behalf of Pat
ReplyDeleteI did not enjoy this book.It takes a brain more agile and more in fitting with modern thinking patterns to appreciate the wit/humour suggested in the blurb.
The bombardment of disconnected ideas smothered the story line.Throughout most of the book I congratulated Peter Carey for endless pages of nothingness.It takes ingenuity to keep going for so long without getting anywhere.
I did warm to the story in the last few chapters where there was evidence of human interaction and a reasoned argument relating to democracy.
The comparisons of the old and new worlds was of interest.
The metaphores relating human styles to that of painters intrigued me enough to look up the works of art.
I may read another of his works to make a comparison, as I see he has won the Booker prize on previous occasions.
This is a long book....Perhaps because the two characters from the title are the main protagonists who share the narration of the book between them it double the narration!
ReplyDeleteWhilst Parrot and Olivier encompasses so many themes such as, aristocracy, class,the French revolution, the printing revolution, servants and masters, the birth of America, democracy amongst other things...Unfortunately I felt this myriad of themes interwoven amongst the backdrop of these not particularly interesting characters was just too much for me!
Having said that, I can see why Peter Carey has been shortlisted for the Booker, as his writing style is particularly ingenious, I did enjoy reading some of the passages just for their cleverness! His frequent use of French in the first part of the book irritated me a little too, as I think it makes this type of writing quite exclusive to a certain readership. (Who either understand it or can be bothered to look up the meanings!)
Another problem I had with this novel was that the characters were not very likeable, memorable maybe, but I had no interest really in whether they succeeded or failed. The last part of the book did interest me more, the characters took on a little more depth and interest, which kept me going until the end.
If you read this before embarking - my advice is if you are not enjoying it by page 150 then abandon ship while you still can!!
4/10