A Fraction of the Whole
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Product Description
Review
'A fat book but very light on its feet, skipping from anecdote, to rant, to reflection, like a stone skimming across a pond ... it is brilliant' Guardian 'If first novels were sandwiches, Steve Toltz's would be a juicy, swaggering doorstop of a sarnie, overflowing with eccentrically combined but delicious ingredients ... Toltz is a superb phrase-maker with an acute eye for humanity's shortfalls' Big Issue 'A grand achievement and the debut of a great comic talent ... go away and read it' Sunday Times 'Sparkling comic writing...It gives off the unmistakeable whiff of a book that might just contain the secret of life.' Independent 'With tinges of magical realism and buckets of misanthropic humour it's a clever and funny debut.' Observer
Product Description
From his prison cell, Jasper Dean tells the unlikely story of his scheming father Martin, his crazy Uncle Terry and how the three of them upset - mostly unintentionally - an entire continent. Incorporating death, parenting (good and bad kinds), one labyrinth, first love, a handbook for criminals, a scheme to make everyone rich and an explosive suggestion box, Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole is a hilarious, heartbreaking story of families and how to survive them.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Up front I'm going to tell you that I loved this book! It's not without flaws but once I started reading I was compulsive about spending time with it whenever I could. A single novel spread over three books is a nice gimmick and a far more comfortable way to read a long book than when it's a single big book.
The bulk of the story is told by Australian Jasper Dean whose uncle is a notorious folk hero/criminal called Terry and whose self-pitying father Martin (Martin Dean... geddit?) has lived his entire life in Terry's shadow, even long after his death.
The story is partially told from Martin's point of view and so we get to see three generations of the Dean family, grandparents, parents and child. And what a messed up family it is. It seems nothing Martin does ever works out well despite his best intentions.
The humour is uniformly arid throughout and while not a laugh a minute I was regularly chuckling to myself.
Now here we get to the bad points. This is ultimately a book about books and possibly even a book about how the love of books is no excuse for not living your life in the real world. It's one of those novels that gives itself a sheen of intellectualism by quoting from a lot of very smart people's books. This is no bad thing really and actually led me to look at a number of the titles quoted, most of which it turns out are probably too heavy for me to get into. Still, it does no harm to look.
The other main problem is that although the half dozen or so main character have diverse outlooks and backgrounds they do all seem to talk with a very similar "voice". There are also some over-long stream of consciousness rants that can be hit or miss.
Overall I can't recommend this book highly enough. Unlike a lot of modern higher brow fiction the last book even manages to wrap up most of the story with just enough of a loose end to not rule out a sequel but don't let that dissuade you.
The bulk of the story is told by Australian Jasper Dean whose uncle is a notorious folk hero/criminal called Terry and whose self-pitying father Martin (Martin Dean... geddit?) has lived his entire life in Terry's shadow, even long after his death.
The story is partially told from Martin's point of view and so we get to see three generations of the Dean family, grandparents, parents and child. And what a messed up family it is. It seems nothing Martin does ever works out well despite his best intentions.
The humour is uniformly arid throughout and while not a laugh a minute I was regularly chuckling to myself.
Now here we get to the bad points. This is ultimately a book about books and possibly even a book about how the love of books is no excuse for not living your life in the real world. It's one of those novels that gives itself a sheen of intellectualism by quoting from a lot of very smart people's books. This is no bad thing really and actually led me to look at a number of the titles quoted, most of which it turns out are probably too heavy for me to get into. Still, it does no harm to look.
The other main problem is that although the half dozen or so main character have diverse outlooks and backgrounds they do all seem to talk with a very similar "voice". There are also some over-long stream of consciousness rants that can be hit or miss.
Overall I can't recommend this book highly enough. Unlike a lot of modern higher brow fiction the last book even manages to wrap up most of the story with just enough of a loose end to not rule out a sequel but don't let that dissuade you.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I'm not sure why, but I can't quite bring myself to give this five stars, but rest assured my four are big, heavy, glistening stars. Imagine them like the matching oiled pectorals on two tan-addicted steroidal gym monkeys, striding along a British beach on our long, glorious day (singular) of summer.
A Fraction of the Whole is great, though ultimately not perfect, and that is actually a significant part of its endless charm. It's a tall, even shaggy, story of young Australian men with a surfeit of character, butting against a normal world that can't cope with their intelligence, and won't accept their outsider status. The first part of the book covers the young criminal career of the Ned Kelly-alike anti-hero, Terry, seen through the eyes of his quiet, sickly brother, Martin. It then goes on to follow a young adult Martin travelling to Paris, events we see as his son Jasper reads a diary Martin wrote at the time. This peek inside Martin's mind shows us what an original viewpoint Steve Toltz has created: a mind that drifts free of convention and muses on the world in a dark, unpleasant way that most people would prefer to pretend was unique to Martin, but in fact is likely just how we all think about things when the lights are off. It's hard to take in places, but is nearly always very funny, and the humour-coated pills are sometimes too easy to swallow, as you find yourself agreeing with the lunatic at the centre of the story.
It's very hard to give a rounded picture of Toltz's debut, because it is so different from most new novels, and that's to its credit. It did remind me of the comic, digressive novel that came out last year, by Millard Kaufman, Bowl of Cherries, but Toltz captures the antic tone better.
If I was forced to explain why I haven't given this five stars, I suppose it's because it doesn't all hold together at all times. The story reads as several shorter stories, and the narrative tone of Martin is too similar to that of Jaspar, but that is picking holes for the sake of it, and Toltz may well want the father and the son, so different in their lives, to ultimately sound so similar.
It is, without question, a very, very funny, engrossing, gabbling example of Australian exuberance, and I can well recommend it to you.
A Fraction of the Whole is great, though ultimately not perfect, and that is actually a significant part of its endless charm. It's a tall, even shaggy, story of young Australian men with a surfeit of character, butting against a normal world that can't cope with their intelligence, and won't accept their outsider status. The first part of the book covers the young criminal career of the Ned Kelly-alike anti-hero, Terry, seen through the eyes of his quiet, sickly brother, Martin. It then goes on to follow a young adult Martin travelling to Paris, events we see as his son Jasper reads a diary Martin wrote at the time. This peek inside Martin's mind shows us what an original viewpoint Steve Toltz has created: a mind that drifts free of convention and muses on the world in a dark, unpleasant way that most people would prefer to pretend was unique to Martin, but in fact is likely just how we all think about things when the lights are off. It's hard to take in places, but is nearly always very funny, and the humour-coated pills are sometimes too easy to swallow, as you find yourself agreeing with the lunatic at the centre of the story.
It's very hard to give a rounded picture of Toltz's debut, because it is so different from most new novels, and that's to its credit. It did remind me of the comic, digressive novel that came out last year, by Millard Kaufman, Bowl of Cherries, but Toltz captures the antic tone better.
If I was forced to explain why I haven't given this five stars, I suppose it's because it doesn't all hold together at all times. The story reads as several shorter stories, and the narrative tone of Martin is too similar to that of Jaspar, but that is picking holes for the sake of it, and Toltz may well want the father and the son, so different in their lives, to ultimately sound so similar.
It is, without question, a very, very funny, engrossing, gabbling example of Australian exuberance, and I can well recommend it to you.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this on a whim (in fact I barely looked beyond the front cover) and wasn't particularly looking forward to reading it. I was UTTERLY wrong. This is probably the best book I've ever read. In fact take all the books I've ever read, add them all together and it probably just about matches how good this book is! One of the reviews says that "It gives off the unmistakeable whiff of a book that might just contain the secret of life.". I agree with this whole heartedly. Such is the authors expertise at observing the vagueries of human existence, the pointlessness of many of the things we try to achieve and just how funny it all is, that I was completely enthralled.
I cannot lend this to any friends becasue I'll probably want to read it again very soon and stop and think properly about some of the philosphical aspects.
It's a bit of a tome - some 700 pages - but I could have easily read more. It was hilarious in many parts and really laugh out loud stuff! Very original, fantastic and immense plot, funny and life enhancing - what more can we ask for?!
My only concern about this book - is how on earth it could be followed up?! Good luck Mr Toltz!
I cannot lend this to any friends becasue I'll probably want to read it again very soon and stop and think properly about some of the philosphical aspects.
It's a bit of a tome - some 700 pages - but I could have easily read more. It was hilarious in many parts and really laugh out loud stuff! Very original, fantastic and immense plot, funny and life enhancing - what more can we ask for?!
My only concern about this book - is how on earth it could be followed up?! Good luck Mr Toltz!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just brilliant !!!!
A Fraction of the Whole
I have been an avid book reader for many years but this is the first time I've written a review. Lazy??? most likely. Read more
I have been an avid book reader for many years but this is the first time I've written a review. Lazy??? most likely. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Kindle Eyes
Strange book but enjoyable to read
I did enjoy reading this although at times you just think you are reading the oddest book. It got mixed reviews from my bookclub as some people didn't enjoy it at all, but there... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rachel
brilliant
I absolutely loved this book... it's full of charm, dry as the Sahara, witty and bitter-sweet till to the end. It's also re-readable I re-read within 6mths! Read more
Published 5 months ago by tillyflop100
A frightening World, but a Great Novel
Steve Toltz's debut novel tells the story of Martin Dean, his son Jasper and uncle Terry. Martin and terry's childhoods are far from normal. Read more
Published 5 months ago by D V
Leaving on a jet plane? Good
Sometimes scintillatingly brilliant, Steve Toltz's A Fraction Of The Whole unfortunately suffers from entire aeons of longueurs, too many for it to merit any more than three... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Steve Keen
i loved it
I have given it five stars because for me, quite simply, it has been the most memorable book I have read so far in my life (besides Harry Potter but this is memorable for different... Read more
Published 8 months ago by scandinaviona
Funny...
I really enjoyed this book, it was funny and engaging. I mean some of the reflection in the narration made me think, 'Yeah, I can relate!' Throughly enjoyed it!
Published 8 months ago by V3ronica
A Fraction Of The Whole
Quickly dives from farce to black comedy, which I wouldn't have said was my genre but this book exceeded expectations. Read more
Published 9 months ago by gardencitybooks
A Pile of Smashed Crockery
This is one more over-ambitious debut by a young Australian writer, similar to "Seven Types of Ambiguity" by Perlman, not only in its all too redundant style but also in the choice... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Joachimski
Brilliant
Just when I'd completely and utterly lost faith in publishing - just when you think they're all corrupt bastards who are owned by pop stars and footballers - Penguin come up trumps... Read more
Published 10 months ago by V G Harwood
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