Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

This is an imaginative version of the story of Alexis de Toqueville. While some of the basic outlines of the life of Carey's Olivier de Barfleur do mirror those of the life of Alexis de Toqueville, the main of the book is an entertaining invention. Our aristocratic Olivier find himself bundled off to America, saddled with a clever man-of-the-earth, Parrot, as his servant. The clash and eventual co-operation of their personalities, the portrayal of American democracy, the beautiful lyricism of Carey's writing--these are the things that make up this book.

General rating: 3 out of 4. I liked it, but can't unreservedly recommend it.

1. Is it plausible. Yes.

2. Is it thought provoking? Yes, it really is.

3. Is it engaging? Yes, particularly the back half. I found it a little difficult to get caught up in the book at first because I didn't like ANY of the characters during almost the entire first half of the book. Peter Carey's writing style is lovely and that helped a lot.

4. Is it uplifting? No. Not at all.

Language: there are a few very offensive words and quite a few less offensive obscenities as well
Sex: well... my evaluation of sexual content is based on one main thing: titillation. If there is sexual content that is generally offensive (e.g. violent, base or ugly), then that's obviously unpalatable. But from time to time there will be a book that has its share of sexual relationships that can be best described as "earthy" but don't seem to be designed to titillate. The vast majority of sexual content in novels seems to me to be added just to arouse and entertain. The sexual content in this novel was at times a bit intrusive to the story, I thought, but didn't stand out to me as added just to be provocative. Mostly. That said, this book does have plenty of sexual content. Both men are in love at one point or another and even when their sexual feelings about their loves aren't described, there are referrals to sex in general. Sex being, apparently, on every man's mind frequently. So I'm told.

My recommendation: I would hesitate to recommend this to my friends because of its earthy content. I have no desire to add it my collection. I had trouble getting into it. I will most likely not read any other books by Peter Carey. Although his writing is very evocative, very transporting, I don't care for his earthy style nor his veiled cynicism. On the other hand, I'm glad I read this book. It made me think about America and what makes it unique and what makes it a wonderful place to live and what its struggles may have always been. It also awoke in me an interest to read Toqueville's "Democracy in America", which I've heard so much quoted from over the years. I did find myself invested in Olivier and Parrot by the end. I loved how Carey illustrated so many ideas just through the feelings and experiences of his main characters. It was an interesting book.