His Illegal Self
by Peter Carey
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| published
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February 7th 2008
by Faber and Faber
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| binding
| Hardcover |
| isbn
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0571231519
(isbn13: 9780571231515)
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| ebook |
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| pages
| 300 |
| date added
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01-08-08
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Magdalena by:
I read everything Carey writes!
recommends it for:
just about anyone - it's an easy, fast read, but very well written
Che Selkirk is a boy whose parents, members of the increasingly violent Students for a Democratic Society, have both disappeared, leaving him with his very rich grandmother. At the age of eight, a woman that Che recognises as his mother suddenly arrives and kidnaps him, taking him from New York to Australia. This is how the book begins, and Che’s adventure through hunger, love and loss becomes almost a coming of age tale as he starts to understand who he is and where his future lies.
On...more
Che Selkirk is a boy whose parents, members of the increasingly violent Students for a Democratic Society, have both disappeared, leaving him with his very rich grandmother. At the age of eight, a woman that Che recognises as his mother suddenly arrives and kidnaps him, taking him from New York to Australia. This is how the book begins, and Che’s adventure through hunger, love and loss becomes almost a coming of age tale as he starts to understand who he is and where his future lies.
On the simplest of levels, the book is a super fast-paced race across the globe as Che and Dial attempt to hide from the police and carve an existence for themselves. The plot is propelled by both the readers own dislocation as they come to grips with the distortions between the two narrative voices. Both Che and Dial are presented as equals – joint narrators in this story, but their stories aren’t identical. The reader is put in the uncomfortable position of being between them, unable to discount either the intensity of Che’s needs, or the combination of confusion and desire which motivates Dial. Both need one another, and continue to work together at avoiding the truth and avoiding the law, at the same time they find themselves removed from their usual lives, and co-opted for causes they don’t believe in.
As in so many of Carey’s novels, real love and visual artifice become the two forces that move the narrative along. It’s a search for a truth that isn’t nearly as obvious as one might think. It’s about the way love crisscrosses us – marks us, makes us whole, and hurts us at the same time.
Carey handles it all very subtly, weaving privilege, pain and damage together into a beautiful tapestry. Nothing seems stable, and yet there’s something solid growing – that “sharp searing pain that didn’t hurt” – something real, absolutely true, and physical that stays with us through life’s changes.
There are no fireworks in this book – the prose is light and smooth, but looking closely, each sentence is wrought with meaning and intensity. Che is “gooseflesh, head to toes” as he realizes how helpless he is. When dial hears a girl calling for the lost Che, she recognizes this “dreadful sympathy.” The hippy landscape of Nambour, from the home grown vegetables to the scruffy undergrowth is almost lovingly depicted.
Like even the blackest of Carey’s novels (and for me, it’s tempting to almost see this novel as the antidote to The Tax Inspector), there’s a strong undercurrent of humour. Dial is subsumed in the small-mindedness of Australia, and yet she holds onto desperately to her status: “Her mother would have died to see her genius in a dump like this.” (36) She was an “SDS goddess”, the Alice May Twitchell Fellow – an assistant professor at Vassar College, stuck in the backwoods of Australia where, as with any commune, the pettiness is all pervasive. She puts up shelving for lentils, lines the house with crooked boards, and tries to procure the services of a Zoot-suited lawyer to argue her case back in America so Che can go home, but her ignorance is obvious enough to the hippies whose commune she joins.
Trevor tells her at one point “You’re American. You wouldn’t know if you were up yourself” (70). She begins to know whether she’s “up herself” as the book progresses however. Dial’s painful learning curve is part of what makes this novel work.
In an act of remarkable self-control, Carey leaves the story open, suggesting a long and complex history which the reader isn’t privy to. This last sentence so changes the story that this reader at least went back and re-read it in its entirety, taking in the rich linguistic power which Carey has become famous for. Che is believable, both as the 8 year old boy struggling to find himself, and as the older, wiser narrator he becomes by the end of the book. One can imagine many other landscapes, or books growing out of this boy. But for now, there’s only the reader’s imagination, which Carey has kickstarted with this moving novel. ...less
Read in March, 2008
Worthy of another Booker prize?
No.
Fascinating with some literary merit?
Yes.
Carey tells this tale mainly from two characters' perspectives: a boy/son/grandson, Che or Jay, and a mother/kidnapper/revolutionary, Dial or Anna. Confused? Try reading the novel. The prose isn't necessarily dense, but it often demands rereading phrases or sentences in order to interpret what, exactly, is happening in the novel. Carey never uses quotation marks, which, surprisingly, isn't the cause of the confu...more
Worthy of another Booker prize?
No.
Fascinating with some literary merit?
Yes.
Carey tells this tale mainly from two characters' perspectives: a boy/son/grandson, Che or Jay, and a mother/kidnapper/revolutionary, Dial or Anna. Confused? Try reading the novel. The prose isn't necessarily dense, but it often demands rereading phrases or sentences in order to interpret what, exactly, is happening in the novel. Carey never uses quotation marks, which, surprisingly, isn't the cause of the confusion. He, instead, layers metaphors or deliberately "gums up" a sentence in order to obtain what I imagine he feels is a sense of art or what he believes embellishes his plot. What is the plot? In the Vietnam Era, an eight-year-old boy being raised by his very rich grandmother (lives on Park Avenue) is delivered to and/or kidnapped by a friend of the boy's mother/a former employee of the grandmother's so that the boy may visit with his felonious, underground, biological mother. The boy never actually reaches his intended destination, however, and spends most of the book in a socialist commune in Australia. What happens beyond those facts is rather trivial and incidental.
Throughout my reading of the book, I kept waiting for the ah-ha moment when I would realize why this author was twice awarded the Booker prize; it never came. I appreciated some of his sentences and the way that he handled a few pacing details (ie. "years from now he would remember . . ." or "when he was a baby he used to . . ." you get the point). Initially, I enjoyed being confused and felt that the sentence structure added to the suspense of the novel; however, two-hundred pages into the book, it felt like Carey was only filling-in empty spaces between the action sequences of the plot and trying to meet some page quota, which was very annoying. [I suspect his editor no longer line-edits his too-famous manuscripts.:] I don't mean to be disrespectful, but Peter Carey, you should have a discussion with Joan Didion about her most recent work; you both have a lot in common. Next time, please have a little more consideration for the integrity of your work and don't fall back on your previous success. Your readers will be oh-so-grateful....less
Read in February, 2008
recommended to The New by:
The NYLS Book Review
There’s a saying that if you remember the 1960’s, you weren’t there. To this maxim I’ll append – if you weren’t there, you haven’t lived.
Carey’s His Illegal Self opens with the unwitting kidnapping of wealthy eight-year-old Ché from his grandmother’s care by a self-disdaining, Harvard University hippie named Dial. Ché s mother, another Ivy League graduate, orchestrates and initiates the caper prior to blowing herself up while handling explosives for “the movement”. ...more
There’s a saying that if you remember the 1960’s, you weren’t there. To this maxim I’ll append – if you weren’t there, you haven’t lived.
Carey’s His Illegal Self opens with the unwitting kidnapping of wealthy eight-year-old Ché from his grandmother’s care by a self-disdaining, Harvard University hippie named Dial. Ché s mother, another Ivy League graduate, orchestrates and initiates the caper prior to blowing herself up while handling explosives for “the movement”. Dial subsequently flees the country for Australia with Ché in tow, joining a band of hippies there whose main concern is not government sanctioned abuses of the people by corporations, but the adherence of all parties within the commune to a “no cat” rule. Dial and Ché have a cat.
Okay, if the summary portion of this review of Carey’s work seems glib, remember we’re talking about the 1960’s – a time when the serious and the comical frequently collided; sometimes with devastating consequences; other times only seemingly so. I fair estimation, Carey does an unimpeachable job of capturing the wantonly way in which consequential decisions were made and lives created, altered, and destroyed during this period. This attitude of the 60’s reflects glaringly in the work’s subtext and should be the backdrop upon which the events in the summary are viewed.
That said, it’s worthy of note the lengths the elite would go, in this work, to destroy themselves. Is this Carey’s tacitly delivered social commentary? Or, is it more simply what remains of his memories of the 1960’s? Either way it’s fine, since the former is what good literature is all about, and the latter gives him “street cred”. In the end, it is Ché readers will ultimately identify with and the frail innocence he represents in an aggravating, obscene, and tumultuous time in world history. If Ché is to be the representative character for the countless, young, unheard, and innocent voices of the era, then Carey is to be lauded. Why? It would mean he was there, he remembered, and he lived.
© Joel Glenn, Book Critic –The NYLS Book Review, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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bookshelves:
contemporary,
finished-in-2008
Read in February, 2008
Finished, after I thought I wouldn't. With an unusual plot, Carey takes us back to the 70's and the world of SDS (you remember them?) and the Weathermen (and them?) on the lam. Anna Xenos (a.k.a. Dial) just wants to help her old friend, a most notorious radical, by bringing her 8-year-old son (named, I kid you not, Che) for a visit. A funny thing happens on the way to the happy meeting, however. Only I can't say. So... Dial, when plans change suddenly, keeps going with the boy and winds up ...more
Finished, after I thought I wouldn't. With an unusual plot, Carey takes us back to the 70's and the world of SDS (you remember them?) and the Weathermen (and them?) on the lam. Anna Xenos (a.k.a. Dial) just wants to help her old friend, a most notorious radical, by bringing her 8-year-old son (named, I kid you not, Che) for a visit. A funny thing happens on the way to the happy meeting, however. Only I can't say. So... Dial, when plans change suddenly, keeps going with the boy and winds up (whoops) kidnapping him. In deep, she really runs for it... as in travels with Che to Oz (Australia to you, mate).
In the badlands of Australia, we meet Trevor, just one of many unsavory hippies with a most unusual personality. You see, Che thinks Dial is his mommy (confused lad that he is) and wants to meet his daddy, too (fat chance). He was in the care of his grandmother and had everything money could buy, but now that's all changed in a big way. Yes, it's a long way down and financially under to where he finds himself in this rather sad tale.
Although the book begins to drag in the commune Down Under, Carey does occasionally write some "show stopper" lines that readers of "writer's writers" will appreciate. Alas, he forsakes quotation marks (an annoying contrivance seen more and more in contemporary literature), so it's often confusing as to who is talking at times. Couple that with Carey's penchant for short, choppy sentences and paragraphs, and you see how the book can make a reader ambivalent.
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Read in May, 2008
Takes place in the early 70s, first in New York and then in the Australian jungle/outback. The story is told from a 7 yr old boy's perspective. Che or Jay is the son of members of a militant political underground group and is being raised by his wealthy maternal grandmother until he is kidnapped by a young woman (his mother?). The 2 flee to Australia and end up hiding out in a rather unwelcoming commune in the jungle, a place neither is mentally or physically prepared for. The woman, Dial, is a...more
Takes place in the early 70s, first in New York and then in the Australian jungle/outback. The story is told from a 7 yr old boy's perspective. Che or Jay is the son of members of a militant political underground group and is being raised by his wealthy maternal grandmother until he is kidnapped by a young woman (his mother?). The 2 flee to Australia and end up hiding out in a rather unwelcoming commune in the jungle, a place neither is mentally or physically prepared for. The woman, Dial, is an academic from Boston and the only wilderness Che/Jay has experienced is his grandparent's country place in upstate NY.
I enjoyed this book (though it was a little slow in the middle)mainly because it was from the boy's perspective. He adapts and accepts all the crazy things that are inflicted on him by the bizarre adults in his life because of the very basic need for belonging, for love and family. All he wants is to be re-united with his mother and father. Carey also touches on the "myth" of freedom. The commune, made up of "feral" hippies, has it's own laws and restrictions which are enforced in sometimes barbaric ways - not a place of peace and love.
Technically I found the writing a little difficult at first as Carey never uses quotation marks for dialogue so you are never sure if it is internal or spoken....less
It's 1972 and seven-year-old Che Selkirk is the center of this story, the child of 60s revolutionaries who've been on the lam for years. He lives with his Upper East Side bourgeois grandma with the hopes of being reclaimed by his Weatherman parents. So when a woman named Dial shows up at the apartment, his adventures begin.
The book is mostly set in podunk Australia as he and Dial are fugitives. The novel is imminently readable with genuinely surprising plot twits. It's the first of my pile ...more
It's 1972 and seven-year-old Che Selkirk is the center of this story, the child of 60s revolutionaries who've been on the lam for years. He lives with his Upper East Side bourgeois grandma with the hopes of being reclaimed by his Weatherman parents. So when a woman named Dial shows up at the apartment, his adventures begin.
The book is mostly set in podunk Australia as he and Dial are fugitives. The novel is imminently readable with genuinely surprising plot twits. It's the first of my pile I read and it set a high bar for a page-turner. I likes the balance between good plot action with internal/emotional character development. The touching relationship is that of Dial and Che, their differing expectations and ideas of what the hell they're doing, how to co-exist and live with each other.
The intimate portrayal of the hippie colony was almost...quaint? Silly idealists with their hairy armpits, sharing wealth and property, food and duties. Where was their entrepreneurial, money-grubbing spirit?
Bonus: learned a lot about the fracturing of Students for a Democratic Society in the late 60s and the radicalization of factions within it. Also learned about BFE when it's Down Under. ...less
bookshelves:
to-read
i am really excited about this book. it was written up in the ny times book review. here is quick summary from amazon:Raised by his boho-turned-bourgeois grandmother on New York's Upper East Side, Che Selkirk, seven years old in 1972, hasn't seen his Weathermenesque parents since he was a toddler, but when a young woman who calls herself Dial walks into Che's apartment one afternoon, he believes his mother has finally come. Within two hours, Dial and Che are on the lam and heading for Philly a...more
i am really excited about this book. it was written up in the ny times book review. here is quick summary from amazon:Raised by his boho-turned-bourgeois grandmother on New York's Upper East Side, Che Selkirk, seven years old in 1972, hasn't seen his Weathermenesque parents since he was a toddler, but when a young woman who calls herself Dial walks into Che's apartment one afternoon, he believes his mother has finally come. Within two hours, Dial and Che are on the lam and heading for Philly as Che's kidnapping hits the news. Unexpected trouble strikes, and soon the boy and Dial, who doesn't know how or if to tell Che that she is only a messenger who was supposed to escort him to meet his mother, land in a hippie commune in the Australian outback. The novel sags as Dial, with the help of local illiterate feral hippie Trevor, tries to make the primitive living situation work; the drama consists largely of commune infighting and the travails of living without running water, but the narrative eventually regains its thrust and barrels toward a bang-up conclusion.
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Read in March, 2008
First of all, I did not read but listened to the story, avoiding the difficult writing style Carey imposes. That being said, I really struggled with this book. Except for the boy, I could not find one character with any redeeming value. I was often quite agitated as adult after adult made decisions which left the boy vulnerable, lonely, and scared, identity-less in a sea of adult egos. If this is a story about the radical anti-war groups of the 60’s and 70’s, it only reinforces an image ...more
First of all, I did not read but listened to the story, avoiding the difficult writing style Carey imposes. That being said, I really struggled with this book. Except for the boy, I could not find one character with any redeeming value. I was often quite agitated as adult after adult made decisions which left the boy vulnerable, lonely, and scared, identity-less in a sea of adult egos. If this is a story about the radical anti-war groups of the 60’s and 70’s, it only reinforces an image of naïve, self-important, irresponsible youth, searching for their own niche of power and privilege. The saving grace of the story is, of course, the boy, who does what all children do…he creates his own identity, his own history, and his own sense of the world, despite the efforts of the adults around him to keep him lost and groundless. I’m very pleased to have met Che/Jay, but crossing paths with the other characters in this story, I could have done without. ...less
Read in March, 2008
Peter Carey's latest novel tells the story of eight-year-old Che, the son of SDS radicals long since gone underground for crimes against the state, who is cared for by his wealthy grandmother. When the grandmother regretably gives Che over to a young woman the boy believes to be his mother, events spiral out of control and before you can say "g'day" the boy finds himself living on a hippie compound in a fecund corner of Australia. Carey handles the child's perspective quite well and th...more
Peter Carey's latest novel tells the story of eight-year-old Che, the son of SDS radicals long since gone underground for crimes against the state, who is cared for by his wealthy grandmother. When the grandmother regretably gives Che over to a young woman the boy believes to be his mother, events spiral out of control and before you can say "g'day" the boy finds himself living on a hippie compound in a fecund corner of Australia. Carey handles the child's perspective quite well and the characters Che comes to know and love are well-drawn and memorable. The novel dances around issues of class and radicalism and identity politics without regressing to some kind of outback primitive chic (I was reminded of The Mosquito Coast). Carey's thick, descriptive prose is countered by the narrative punch of 3-5 page paragraphs. ...less
bookshelves:
fiction
Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
fans of peter carey, those looking for an interesting plot
I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. I read it in three fast days, so obviously I got into the plot and characters. The writing is always rich but at times seems far too sophisticated for the voice of the young boy from whose perspective we see the story. I let go of that after a few chapters, though, accepting a voice that could both see things as a child and accept them as an adult. The ending, while beautiful in imagery and striking in tone and twist, left me a little unsure what had ...more
I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. I read it in three fast days, so obviously I got into the plot and characters. The writing is always rich but at times seems far too sophisticated for the voice of the young boy from whose perspective we see the story. I let go of that after a few chapters, though, accepting a voice that could both see things as a child and accept them as an adult. The ending, while beautiful in imagery and striking in tone and twist, left me a little unsure what had just happened, and with many unanswered questions. I am still trying to decide whether this is a good kind of unsatisfying ending, the kind that purposely leaves you wondering, or whether it was just frustrating. It's a great read, you can't go wrong picking up this book... but I can't quite give it four stars. Maybe upon another, slower reading?...less
Read in February, 2008
For a Peter Carey book this didn't have as much resonance for me as previous works. Certainly the writing is as alive as the Australian jungle where Che and Dial end up, full of twisted sentences and brilliant allusive language that suddenly flashes in your mind's eye. It's also excellent at suggesting the workings and priorities of a child's mind. But it settles after the first thrilling 100 pages into something much more mundane (which is possibly intentional) as days drag by and Dial and ...more
For a Peter Carey book this didn't have as much resonance for me as previous works. Certainly the writing is as alive as the Australian jungle where Che and Dial end up, full of twisted sentences and brilliant allusive language that suddenly flashes in your mind's eye. It's also excellent at suggesting the workings and priorities of a child's mind. But it settles after the first thrilling 100 pages into something much more mundane (which is possibly intentional) as days drag by and Dial and Che squabble and the enigmatic Trevor bonds with the boy. Altogether it just seemed rather slight and and the whole premise lacking enough development. By the closing paragraphs though I was hankering for a sequel and wanting to know how Che gets on further in life. Which is a compliment, I guess. ...less
Read in March, 2008
I didn't finish reading this book because I wanted to keep my sanity. I kept trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Many reviewed that it was a 'difficult' read. I am always up for a challenge and have no issues w/ a difficult read but in my opinion it was a HORRIBLE read. If anyone has read this book and liked it (understood it) please email me, I have questions about many things in the first few chapters I didn't understand. It was the worst book I've ever attempted to read. It made...more
I didn't finish reading this book because I wanted to keep my sanity. I kept trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Many reviewed that it was a 'difficult' read. I am always up for a challenge and have no issues w/ a difficult read but in my opinion it was a HORRIBLE read. If anyone has read this book and liked it (understood it) please email me, I have questions about many things in the first few chapters I didn't understand. It was the worst book I've ever attempted to read. It made no sense, I felt like I was reading a book written in some foreign language I knew nothing about. A waste of 24$
ps-I was turned on to this book by a FANTASTIC review in an entertainment magazine. All I can say is 'Don't be fooled' It sounds like a juicy read but it fails to deliver anything!...less
I've been reading Carey's books for years, and still love the guy. I feel like he's pared down the prose this time to what's essential. The points of view shift from Che (an 8 year old boy) to his kidnapper fluidly and truthfully. There are no superfluous descriptions, there aren't even quotation marks used, but the book is so rich and pitch-perfect. Characters change, their weaknesses shift, who you distrust in the beginning you depend on in the end. Even Australia changed for me by the en...more
I've been reading Carey's books for years, and still love the guy. I feel like he's pared down the prose this time to what's essential. The points of view shift from Che (an 8 year old boy) to his kidnapper fluidly and truthfully. There are no superfluous descriptions, there aren't even quotation marks used, but the book is so rich and pitch-perfect. Characters change, their weaknesses shift, who you distrust in the beginning you depend on in the end. Even Australia changed for me by the end. It almost ends where Carey's early novel Bliss did, in this sort of Australia jungle-as-witness-protection-garden-of-eden. Anyway plus there's a whole other sixties revolutionary/terrorist/class warfare theme that I haven't touched on that adds another layer. Highly recommended....less
Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
people with a soft spot for dirty hippies
I liked the way this book helped me remember the feelings of being a precocious boy, aware of bigger things around me but not really clued in, and having to make up my own explanations for events. It's odd that this doesn't happen as often in parenting my own kids as it does in literature, particularly David Mitchell's BLACK SWAN GREEN.
I also really enjoyed the character of the lawyer. To say why would be a spoiler, but if you read the book you'll probably laugh as I did.
I don't know wh...more
I liked the way this book helped me remember the feelings of being a precocious boy, aware of bigger things around me but not really clued in, and having to make up my own explanations for events. It's odd that this doesn't happen as often in parenting my own kids as it does in literature, particularly David Mitchell's BLACK SWAN GREEN.
I also really enjoyed the character of the lawyer. To say why would be a spoiler, but if you read the book you'll probably laugh as I did.
I don't know why the author eschewed quotation marks. I think they would have helped smooth the reading for me. Leaving them out didn't seem to add anything important.
Although I only three-starred this book, I will always reach for new Peter Carey books when I see them....less
Read in May, 2008
recommended to Fran by:
LA Times
Peter Carey has twice won the Booker Prize. "His Illegal Self" is set in the US and Australia. Carey was born in Australia and now lives in NYC. Set in the 70s, it is about a boy named Che, the son of people in the radical student movement. His grandmother obtains custody of him as an infant and has raised him until the age of the 7 under the name of Jay. His mother hoodwinks an old friend into unknowingly collaborating with a kidnapping but dies in a bomb explosion the very day o...more
Peter Carey has twice won the Booker Prize. "His Illegal Self" is set in the US and Australia. Carey was born in Australia and now lives in NYC. Set in the 70s, it is about a boy named Che, the son of people in the radical student movement. His grandmother obtains custody of him as an infant and has raised him until the age of the 7 under the name of Jay. His mother hoodwinks an old friend into unknowingly collaborating with a kidnapping but dies in a bomb explosion the very day of the kidnapping. His father is uninterested. The old friend is compromised legally and goes on the lam, eventually to Australia, with the boy. The story is a beautiful story of her and the boy's relationship. It is beautifully written and I highly recommend it....less
Read in August, 2008
I listened to this book all the way to Santa Fe. At times I almost stopped listening as the character of Anna was so irritating at times. But then I started to really appreciate this mass of "displaced", totally non-perfect individuals making their way.
And as I reflect on the different themes -- of our "illegal" selves, of how people love, of how people make their way, of how a sense of displacement can operate in so many ways, I really came to admire Carey.
I would...more
I listened to this book all the way to Santa Fe. At times I almost stopped listening as the character of Anna was so irritating at times. But then I started to really appreciate this mass of "displaced", totally non-perfect individuals making their way.
And as I reflect on the different themes -- of our "illegal" selves, of how people love, of how people make their way, of how a sense of displacement can operate in so many ways, I really came to admire Carey.
I wouldn't listen to the audio recording though -- it didn't work well to have a male voice doing the voice of a little boy.
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Has potential at the beginning, but it isn't realized... the characters aren't really fleshed out enough to engage the reader in their fates. Carey has done a much better job at inhabiting the voices of his characters in other books.
There were some random things that irked me. There are too many clever, smug phrases. And I understood early on that the characters had hygiene problems- not sure why it had to be mentioned so many times. It is grating in the same way as a person who won't stop...more
Has potential at the beginning, but it isn't realized... the characters aren't really fleshed out enough to engage the reader in their fates. Carey has done a much better job at inhabiting the voices of his characters in other books.
There were some random things that irked me. There are too many clever, smug phrases. And I understood early on that the characters had hygiene problems- not sure why it had to be mentioned so many times. It is grating in the same way as a person who won't stop making the same joke, well after the humor is exhausted...less
Read in February, 2008
I am a huge Peter Carey fan - huge. I can't tell you how disappointed I was in this book. I couldn't see the character, I couldn't find the voice, I didn't see the connections, and don't get me to talk about the ending, how predictable. I'm sorry, Peter, but I don't want you to use bits of your old books either!
I will give an extra star to the place they end up living and the grandmother. Both of these are well described and alive, for me.
Read in May, 2008
I loved this story of a 7-year-old "on the lamb" (as he calls it) with a leggy, formidable ex-SDS outlaw gal. What Peter Carey does best is to communicate the impact of life's daily textures on a soul that is a work in progress. The parent in me was mildly terrified by his presentation of his protagonist's interpretations -- of the banal and the heavy. Takes place in the wild and woolly Australian outback c 1972. Nice on the hypocrisy of privileged "revolutionaries," too. (Bo...more
I loved this story of a 7-year-old "on the lamb" (as he calls it) with a leggy, formidable ex-SDS outlaw gal. What Peter Carey does best is to communicate the impact of life's daily textures on a soul that is a work in progress. The parent in me was mildly terrified by his presentation of his protagonist's interpretations -- of the banal and the heavy. Takes place in the wild and woolly Australian outback c 1972. Nice on the hypocrisy of privileged "revolutionaries," too. (Bonus: Che, the main boy, is exactly two days older than me.)...less
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in February, 2008
As usual, Peter Carey delivers with this book. It is a story of a boy and a woman, a woman that he thinks is his mother. I have to say as a parent, this book was so depressing. What i love about Peter Carey is his ability to tell a story that is so real, so uncontrived. In the end, i hated the story, the people made me so angry, and I didn't relate to any of them. Only Peter Carey could write a book like that and still have me happy I read it, and feeling like I understood people a little b...more
As usual, Peter Carey delivers with this book. It is a story of a boy and a woman, a woman that he thinks is his mother. I have to say as a parent, this book was so depressing. What i love about Peter Carey is his ability to tell a story that is so real, so uncontrived. In the end, i hated the story, the people made me so angry, and I didn't relate to any of them. Only Peter Carey could write a book like that and still have me happy I read it, and feeling like I understood people a little better than before I opened the book....less
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating
(all editions):
3.29 (206 ratings)
avg rating
(this edition): 3.50
(2 ratings)
number of reviews: 64
other editions
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His Illegal Self (Hardcover)
isbn: 030726372X
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His Illegal Self (Audio CD)
isbn: 0571240666
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His Illegal Self (Paperback)
isbn: 0571231527
