Recent read #4: Parrot & Olivier in America

Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey

Parrot & Olivier are two disparate individuals who do much as the title suggests and travel to America together.  The story is split up into chapters narrated by each character separately.  You find out about their backgrounds and how they have each arrived at the situation that they are currently in.  Peter Carey is a wonderful author and his characters and the landscape of new America take on a life of their own.  You merely think of Carey as a historian recording the lives of these two individuals.  All of that being said, I am not a book critic nor even proclaim to be an armchair book critic.  Parrot & Olivier was a National Book Award Finalist, however I did not enjoy reading this book.  The story of the founding of democracy and its early days was not fully appreciated by me, even though I did appreciate how well-written it was.  Perhaps I will revisit this again at a later time and reread for a fuller appreciation of Carey's work.