'Parrot and Olivier in America' - Peter Carey

This is a tale of discovery and exploration, but one undertaken by the titular characters with an entertaining cynicism and confusion.

Olivier is the son of French aristocrats, and has grown up to expect a similar lifestyle to theirs, only to find himself in a dynamic France, one changed forever by the revolution. We first meet him as a young boy, one detached from his pre-occupied parents, schooled and accompanied by the family servants, and entirely unaware of the national horrors that preceded his birth. Olivier is pompous in his tone and comically aloof.

Parrot, a couple of decades older, is the son of an English printer/forger who we first meet in a grim Dickensian setting. After narrowly escaping death when his father's workplace is seized by the authorities - and his father killed - Parrot winds up first in Australia, and later France.

The two characters are brought together as Olivier is dispatched - rather against his will - to America; publicly to document American incarceration techniques, but rather more for his own safety as France teeters on the brink of another revolution. Parrot is sent along as a notary, but entrusted to spy on Olivier's actions and report back to his master.

Lurching between animosity and affection, the two make an unlikely pair, but both are impressed by their destination - a land where the new concept of democracy has gone beyond a mere experiment, and a class-less society where any man can something of himself. This raises questions about the contrast between class and wealth, and the two characters meet these questions in rather different ways. During the journey both men have to consider what they are looking for in life, and how this ties in with the expectations and demands of those they left behind.

Carey's writing style (with dual first-person prose that often overlaps when describing events) is enjoyable - at least once one has slogged through Olivier's initial pomposity and second estate jargon. The characters - often unwittingly humorous, with both wonderfully self-centred - are fun, and brought to mind 'English Passengers' by Matthew Kneale. I suspect this was partly because of the similar first person style of the book, but also the sense of discovery and frequent comedic moments. If you enjoyed that, I think you'll like this.