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Parrot and Olivier in America [Paperback]

Peter Carey (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 3 Feb 2011

Olivier is a French aristocrat, the traumatized child of survivors of the 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 the New World, 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.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 592 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (3 Feb 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0571253326
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571253326
  • Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 3.7 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 157,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'I finished it with unabated enjoyment ... Dazzling.' --Guardian

'Carey is a wily and supremely confident storyteller on a grand scale.' --The Times

'Fizzes with the same fictional panache that has twice won Carey the Booker prize.' --Sunday Times

'Carey is a wily and supremely confident storyteller on a grand scale.' --The Times

'Fizzing with fictional panache ... Exhilarating.' --Sunday Times

Book Description

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the story of an extraordinary friendship across two continents.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
87 of 90 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Unreliable narrators in America 11 Feb 2010
By J. F. Holland
Format:Hardcover
Peter Carey has always been a master at the unreliable narrator and in Parrot and Olivier we are treated to two of the them, alternating chapters and versions of the truth. Olivier is a spoilt young French aristocrat who is sent abroad to save his skin at the time of the 1830 revolution. His unwilling servant is Parrot who has far more practical commonsense than his master but has been sorely abused by dubious French aristocrats before. Both of the damaged heroes are searching for love and respect and to varying degrees they find it, though in both cases their long term happiness is in doubt. At least one of our narrators has a genuine historical counterpart, and other characters we meet have a passing resemblance to real people. However, Carey, as usual, has his way of subverting history, while at the same time he raises issues about the relationship between the New and Old Worlds, and the ways that they are governed . Don't expect Henry James, do expect Peter Carey on top form.
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars `I had not known America would be like this.' 27 Aug 2010
By J. Cameron-Smith TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
The novel opens in France where sickly, sensitive Olivier de Garmont and the remnants of his aristocratic family have survived the Revolution and the Terror of 1793, and are surviving the Bonaparte regime in their chateau in Normandy. The restoration of the monarchy brings no joy to Olivier's family, and his family decides to send him to America - ostensibly to study prison reform.

Parrot, considerably older than Olivier, is the son of an itinerant English printer. Olivier and Parrot are brought together by the mysterious one-armed Marquis de Tilbot whose presence looms large across the novel. When Olivier sets sail for America, Parrot accompanies him as both protector and spy.

The narrative shifts between the perspectives of Parrot and Olivier, covering both their adventures together and their separate lives. This enables the introduction and exploration of a number of different themes in the novel: including love, politics and ambition. I especially enjoyed the differing views of democracy:
`In a democracy, it seemed, one could not go against a servant's will.' (Olivier)
`I read Tom Paine by candlelight, but for 18 hours a day I was a vassal.' (Parrot)

Olivier is trapped by his past, caught between his aristocratic past and a brash new world where equality means dealing with people of different classes and station in life as though they are equals. Olivier is never really comfortable in America, although when he falls in love with an American heiress he sees some possibilities. Parrot, on the other hand, has already experienced much in his life and is more flexible in his approach to opportunities. It is Parrot's narrative that particularly enriches the story because it enlarges the world beyond that of the myopic Olivier.... Read more ›
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars curate's egg 29 Aug 2011
By Mr. C. G. Leggatt
Format:Paperback
Peter Carey has not written an "un-put-downable" book - the plot lines just aren't tight and sustaining enough - and the reader is left primarily to enjoy a slowly developing respect, almost friendship, between a master and a servant in the mid-nineteenth century. When Parrot, the servant, narrates there is much meandering and musing and I often longed for a crisper pace. There are extraordinary coincidences and some oddities that grate - Parrot, writing in the nineteenth century, would not have referred to "Elizabeth 1" anymore as, today, we would refer to Queen Anne 1. He is 49 years old and yet, in an age of shorter life-expectancy, two people who were adults when he was a child are still around, despite both having physical impairments. Finally, for me, Parrot seems weakly resigned to never seeing his wife and child in Australia again - surely his every action should be vigorously directed toward a reunion.

The above noted, there remains considerable charm and sharp observation of time and place that ultimately makes this a delightful read - if one that you do have to work at. The younger aristocratic Olivier is a good balance to Parrot and his blossoming in America is well developed. He also has some brilliantly written "laugh out loud" lines that are a nice foil to Parrot's more plodding narrative. Despite frustrations, I'm glad I stayed the course.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Rich characterization 5 Oct 2010
By MisterHobgoblin TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
I have just finished Parrot and Olivier and on balance I thought it was brilliant. The two voices are superbly drawn and sustained throughout the novel. To their credit, I always preferred the voice I was reading until I got onto the other voice and then thought "no, this one is even better". There's a wonderful interaction between the two characters and the strongest parts of the novel are when Parrot and Olivier are together and in their respective pre-ambles. This is truly a character driven novel - the plot, whilst linear, doesn't feel terribly consequential and the fact that this is a fictionalization of Tocqueville is almost incidental.

If there is a weak link, it is when the two arrive in America and go separate ways. The new characters (Eckhart, Mathilde, Amelia, etc.) just don't lift off the page quite as well as Watkins, the marquis de Tilbot et al. The other minor criticism is that Peter Carey doesn't do a particularly effective job of portraying the passing of time. There are various parts of the novel where the narrative jars as one discovers that the young lad is really an adult, and that the adult is really quite an old man.

But these are relatively minor flaws when set aside such rich, larger than life charactirization, the complex relationship between Parrot and Olivier, and the superb, convincing detailing of life in the early days of the US. There was also a tendency for Carey to drop in comments from his characters, apparently contemporary thoughts, that appeared deeply ironic in the context of recent US history. Given that the novel is based on Tocqueville's life and writing, one is left to wonder how much of the prescience is genuine Tocqueville and how much is Peter Carey using the licence of hindsight.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars The Coming of the New World
Parrot lives in Devon with his printer dad. Olivier is a babe in arms when his aristocratic family go into hiding during the French revolution. Read more
Published 18 days ago by An admirer of Saul
5.0 out of 5 stars Seems like new
Although I ordered this as a used copy of the book, the goods received look like brand new. Delivery was prompt, and I am very pleased with this purchase. Read more
Published 26 days ago by A. M. Harvey Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully rich and intelligent stuff!
What's not to love in a new Peter Carey novel?
Meticulously researched and with characters that intrigue and leap from the page to engage the reader in an adventure not to be... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Maureen A. Morton
5.0 out of 5 stars Carey at his best
Ingenious construction bringing together marvellous characterisation, historic interest, and grand adventure. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Deb's Delight
2.0 out of 5 stars dull
i've always liked peter carey but i just found this book boring. couldn't get into the characters or plot so gave up about half way through
Published 4 months ago by Sara Evans
5.0 out of 5 stars The Age of Revolution
Parrot and Olivier in America is an exquisite take on the picaresque novel. The rambling and seemingly disjointed narrative pings peripatetically between various countries and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by S Kemp
3.0 out of 5 stars Parrot and Oliver in America
If it had not been chosen by my reading group, I would not have finished it. Some passages are beautifully written, some words are made up by the author but some of the language... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Lynn
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent historical novel
Takes a while to get going but develops into an interesting story. Good but not his best by some way
Published 7 months ago by Summersalt
5.0 out of 5 stars It is so good
This is my latest Carey read, having read Oscar and Lucinda, The Real History of the Kelly Gang, and the relatively new The Chemistry of Tears all in the last few months. Read more
Published 13 months ago by James C
2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment after a promising opening
Parrot and Olivier In America was a nominee for The 2010 Booker Prize alongside Room, The Long Song, In A Strange Room, C, and winner The Finkler Question. Read more
Published 16 months ago by R. A. Davison
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