The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey
In this darkly comic work of literary satire by New Zealand’s most acclaimed and best-selling novelist, Tama, a talking magpie and social media influencer, is the sole witness to a marriage in freefall.
Tama is just a helpless chick when he is rescued by Marnie. ‘If it keeps me awake,’ says Marnie’s husband Rob, a farmer in the middle of a years-long drought, ‘I’ll have to wring its neck.’ But with Tama come new possibilities for the couple’s future. Tama’s fame is growing, and with it, his earning potential. The more Tama sees, the more the animal and the human worlds – and all the precarity, darkness and hope within them – bleed into one another. Like a stock truck filled with live cargo, the story moves inexorably towards its dramatic conclusion: the annual Axeman’s Carnival.
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Part trickster, part surrogate child, part witness, Tama is the star of this story. And although what he says to humans is often nonsensical (and hilarious), the tale he tells makes disturbingly perfect sense.
The Axeman’s Carnival is Catherine Chidgey at her finest – comic, profound, poetic and true.
My Review
The whole book is written from the point of view of Tama (short for Tamagochi), a rescued Magpie. I kid you not. It’s very strange to start with when he is in the egg (says someone who has written a short story from the point of view of a spider), but once you realise what’s going on it makes sense.
Tama is devoted to Marnie who rescued him and soon learns tricks and human speech. He repeats everything she says, actually he repeats everything he hears, including foreign languages, and a lot of swear words. So be careful what you say in front of him if you have something to hide. Because sooner or later he’ll remember that incriminating phrase or sentence. The author is very clever with this, because he naturally doesn’t understand what he is saying, though occasionally he appears to.
He becomes an internet sensation. He wears tiny outfits and Marnie posts pictures online. People flock (excuse the pun) to see him. They turn up at the house uninvited and Rob is furious. But then Rob is always furious, always on the edge of a precipice of rage. Marnie defends him, even though his behaviour is indefensible. It’s the usual – it’s not me, it’s the drink. We have no sympathy, Rob, you vile specimen. Then Tama rescues them from financial disaster, and Rob is all sweetness and light in front of Tama’s adoring fans.
I didn’t like Marnie’s older sister Ange – you’ll understand why later in the book. Or her mother Barbara. A silly woman, always telling Marnie she’s too fat and she should be careful with such an ‘attractive’ husband like Rob. If only she knew the truth.
If I had one criticism, much as I love Tama. I would have liked multiple points of view, definitely Marnie, maybe even Rob.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival was a number one bestseller in the author’s native New Zealand, as was her previous novel Pet (Europa, 2023). Chidgey’s many awards include the Prize in Modern Letters, the Katherine Mansfield Award, the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship, the Janet Frame Fiction Prize, and the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. She lives in Ngāruawāhia and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Waikato.
