Great idea, poorly executed.

This is a fictionalized version of Alexis de Tocqueville's journey to America. Alexis is now "Olivier." His (not really) loyal manservant is Parrot. These two very different Old Worlders (Olivier a rich French aristocrat, Parrot a poor but scrappy Brit) encounter the New World and see how very different life is across the pond.

My big problems with this book were: (1) it was very longwinded and (2) I hated everyone. These are big problems.

Was Alexis de Tocqueville really such a complete twat? Because Olivier certainly was! I kept hoping Parrot would go all The Talented Mr. Ripley on Olivier by killing him and taking his identity. I really thought that's where the book was going and was very disappointed when it never went there (I think it's a bad sign when the reader is rooting for one protagonist to kill off the other).

I really though this book would be bromantic. When the description states that this is a "funny tender portrait of two men who come to form an almost impossible friendship,” that is a promise of bromance, my friends! Sadly, this is not even close to X-Men: First Class or the new Star Trek on the bromance scale. I mean, I did talk about how I wanted Olivier to be killed off, right? The fact is, this could've been bromantic. You start off with the clashing personalities and you end up with blood brothers. But, really, Olivier was pretty douchey to Parrot the entire time. They start off hating each other (Parrot for good reason, Olivier because he’s a prig) and then suddenly there are some (drunken?) confessions and they are besties. Except Parrot still kind of hates Olivier (still for good reason). I think this is a sign of poor writing.

I could've liked Olivier and Parrot. Olivier started out as a douchey aristocrat, but he had the potential to evolve into a more enlightened, likable human being. My favorite scene (frankly, the only part of the book I liked) was the one where Olivier has to explain to the American girl he loves and her father why it's impossible for him to marry the girl in France. Which is: in the eyes of the French aristocracy, she is not good enough. It doesn't matter how great she is or how much money her father has. She's not nobility and never will be. His family are snobs and Olivier finally realizes this. Obviously, the girl and her father do not take this news well. (Personally, I think the girl was mostly pursuing Olivier because he was a French aristocrat and she very much wanted to be a French noblewoman, in large part to tweak her nose at her mother, but this is never fully explored). This was the most human Olivier ever is, but by that time I was so aggravated by him and the way he treated Parrot (and never really redeemed himself in this regard) that I never could get over my ill feelings toward Olivier.

Parrot I also could've liked. He is a survivor and I have a special place in my heart for this type of literary character. There's a certain dark humor and ruthlessness about them that I appreciate. The thing is, Parrot could frankly be aggravating, too, and his "romance" was so frustrating because the girl was SO unworthy and SO annoying I wanted to throttle Parrot for his obtuseness. And also for spending so much time on this lame storyline.

Carey had a good idea here and the outline of good characters but fumbled.