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Nov. 29th, 2004
Book Review
Nov. 29th, 2004 12:22 pmIllywhacker
by Peter Carey
This novel is about Australia. Not just things that happened there, or people who lived there, but the place itself. It is narrated by Herbert Badgery who lives to be 139. However, Herbert spends very little time talking about himself and his own life - the book is mainly about the people he meets and lives with during his long life - friends, family, lovers, adversaries, etc. He delves into their characters, their histories, and their lives with near-omniscience. The characters are the most important and the best thing in the book, not the plot. And they are incredibly fascinating and entertaining people.
"Illywhacker" is an Australian term (slang, I think) for a charlatan, a confidence man, a grifter. All of the people in this book, including the narrator, are illywhackers in some way. I think that Herbert is really a personification of Australia, the "voice" of the country, perhaps. However, Carey is in no way disparaging Australia by saying that it is a place of (and even built by) charlatans. Rather, I think he's trying to evoke a place made by imagination, formed out of the dreams and schemes of its people. Or something like that.
by Peter Carey
This novel is about Australia. Not just things that happened there, or people who lived there, but the place itself. It is narrated by Herbert Badgery who lives to be 139. However, Herbert spends very little time talking about himself and his own life - the book is mainly about the people he meets and lives with during his long life - friends, family, lovers, adversaries, etc. He delves into their characters, their histories, and their lives with near-omniscience. The characters are the most important and the best thing in the book, not the plot. And they are incredibly fascinating and entertaining people.
"Illywhacker" is an Australian term (slang, I think) for a charlatan, a confidence man, a grifter. All of the people in this book, including the narrator, are illywhackers in some way. I think that Herbert is really a personification of Australia, the "voice" of the country, perhaps. However, Carey is in no way disparaging Australia by saying that it is a place of (and even built by) charlatans. Rather, I think he's trying to evoke a place made by imagination, formed out of the dreams and schemes of its people. Or something like that.
