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Loading... Parrot and Olivier in America (original 2009; edition 2010)by Peter Carey
Work InformationParrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey (2009)
   No current Talk conversations about this book.  Margaret09 | Apr 15, 2024 |    ) DavidRFWarner | Mar 20, 2024 |  ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 | and the abiding horrors of both the French Revolution and the racism dominating two World Wars. I was hoping for Olivier to finally get any of his acts - from prisons to marriage to recognizing his servant with respect - together and was definitely pulling for Parrot to rise and shine until he dumped the n-word at the end of the book. WTH. Good to include engravings and paintings, non? (  ) m.belljackson | Oct 5, 2023 | ) RickGeissal | Aug 16, 2023 |
 "There are engaging, funny scenes throughout this picaresque tale, but the travelogue grows rickety and stalls too often." "Quirky and erudite, but the payoff in human-interest terms is meager." "But this conclusion in no way dampens this dashing novel – for it is in the testing of assumptions, in Garmont and Parrot's challenging of each other, that its beauty and intelligence lies." The narrative proceeds in leaps and bounds, sometimes with a hop backwards, omitting connections, giving an impression above all, perhaps, of confusion – confusion of event and motive, incomprehension, a vast drama without structure. The language is vivid, forceful and poetic (though I wish Olivier's aristocratic locution was free of grammatical blunders such as "of she toward whom", "of she who I affected to be unaware of", "to he who I intended to make my father-in-law"). There are terrific set pieces, such as the burning of the forgers' house – moments Dickensian in their vividness. Themes of fire and burning run through the story. An early kind of bicycle appears, with much discussion and even an illustration, and later on an American bicycle enters the tale. Are there hidden significances? I don't know. It's a dazzling, entertaining novel. Should one ask for more? "In the end, the novel’s richness can’t disguise the fact that the plot rather lags behind the ideas driving it. That said, it’s still one hell of a ride." AwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Fiction.
Literature.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:Parrot and Olivier in America has been shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. From the two-time Booker Prizeâ??winning author comes an irrepressibly funny new novel set in early nineteenth-century America. Olivierâ??an improvisation on the life of Alexis de Tocquevilleâ??is the traumatized child of aristocratic survivors of the French Revolution. Parrot is the motherless son of an itinerant English printer. They are born on different sides of history, but their lives will be connected by an enigmatic one-armed marquis. When Olivier sets sail for the nascent United Statesâ??ostensibly to make a study of the penal system, but more precisely to save his neck from one more revolutionâ??Parrot will be there, too: as spy for the marquis, and as protector, foe, and foil for Olivier. As the narrative shifts between the perspectives of Parrot and Olivier, between their picaresque adventures apart and togetherâ??in love and politics, prisons and finance, homelands and brave new landsâ??a most unlikely friendship begins to take hold. And with their story, Peter Carey explores the experiment of American democracy with dazzling inventiveness and with all the richness and surprise of characterization, imagery, and language that we have come to expect from thi No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.5)
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Wikipedia in English (2)
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Parrot, or Perriquet, as Larrit often calls himself, is a reluctant servant, whose real talent is as an engraver. Garmont is loosely based on the life of aristocrat Alexis de Toqueville, and is an unlikely commentator on the state of American prisons and democratic society. A nobleman brought up with no democratic ideals, but plenty of neuroses, Olivier finds life in America difficult until he falls in love. Parrot is the man he constantly refers to and summons back when life gets tough.
Unable either to live together or without each other, the two men live through adventurous times in improbable but entertaining ways. The novel is also something of a commentary on France and America during a period of transition. A playful, entertaining and often thought-provoking read. (