The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

Rating:
Summary: Another over-rated work by Carey
Review: Peter Carey, since the publication of his first novel, has been constantly over-rated by critics. This novel is the greatest example of his true inability as an author/artist. The story-line is at best lame, with Carey foreshadowing any twists in the plot miles in advance. It is, of course, an attempt at satire, however he over reaches himself yet again. And yet again, because he uses a new language and is supposedly being clever, critics fawn madly over his talent and equate him with Dickens. Please. Carey is perhaps the best "first page" writer in the world, but unfortunately his novels go for much longer. Avoid this novel.

Rating:
Summary: a remarkable book: also, how to decode it
Review: This is a book I read several years ago, and have recently revisited. It's weird, but haunting. I am a bit surprised (and proud?) that I seem to be the only one on the web to decode the politics and language of the book. As the other reviews make clear, the novel tells the story of a highly intelligent, observant, severely handicapped child growing up in an alternative-universe version of Earth in which Europe seems to be geographically intact, but the Western and Southern hemispheres are quite different. In the obvious place of North America is the Dutch-speaking nation of Voorstand, which economically and politically dominates the globe and is fighting an unspecified cold war of some sort. The novel concerns the politics and culture of an English-speaking Southern hemisphere island nation, which might be Carey's native Australia or perhaps New Zealand. The analogies and the political points are made clear by the coded language in the novel.

The big imperial power is called Voorstand (pseudo-Dutch for "stands for", get it? It "stands for"...the US. There is also a sexual connotation). The smaller Southern-hemisphere nation is called Efica, whose name is Dutch for the letters F, I and K, which spells something rude (and obvious) in Dutch. One of the ways in which Voorstand spreads its power is through its be-kind-to-animals religion, which is inextricably coupled with the entertainment industry called the Sirkus. The three central characters of this religion/entertainment are Bruder Mouse, Bruder Dog and Bruder Duck -- i.e. Mickey, Pluto and Donald. Don't worry, I am not ruining the plot with these observations. This is actually a wonderful book, but it helps to have some linguistic hints. It is a book about humanity, art and politics -- about freedom both political and artistic. Tristan, the central character, also "stands for" something: for how freedom survives, even though it occasionally falls humiliatingly flat on its face, in circumstances of oppression. What's great about the novel, though, is that it is not a tract, but a sprawling, complicated, often hilariously funny world delightfully different yet delightfully identical to ours. I love weird details like the sirens on trucks that sound when the drivers dare to exceed the speed limit.

The other bit of code is, of course, the reference to a much older sprawling work -- "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy" (whose initials Tristan Smith shares). But don't worry, Carey's book is much more readable.

Rating:
Summary: Pathos, poignant, wrenching, and hopeful
Review: This remarkable book defines new territory between literary fiction and science fiction. It offers up a ringside seat to broad, concentric human and political themes that are likely to ring true many decades hence. The plot intricacies are tight, verging on being too clever, but Carey manages to lean towards the believable, producing a provocative and original book. I did not find the foreign words distracting or difficult, as did some readers. I think knowing more than one language helps. But don't let it deter you; Carey provides a glossary and footnotes to aid you in understanding the story.

The main character, Tristan Smith, has an unusual voice, not just in the physical sense, but in the sense of being the story-teller of not only the events he experienced, but also those he didn't, or was too young to remember. One cannot help but think him impulsive, willful, egotistical. It would be easy to dislike him, yet Carey must have realized Tristan's 'voice' could not have been otherwise, for he was both pampered and neglected and sheltered from normal human contact, an upbringing that protected him, on the one hand, but also impeded him socially, on the other. The reader will also appreciate the irony of a man's true character being glimpsed only when he wears a mask, and the truism that a nation's character is revealed by how they treat 'the least of these, my people.'

In contrast to Carey's book, we get a pretty steady diet of stories about handicapped people who triumph over impossible odds, who experience 'miracle healings,' who attain a magical status, who project what we want to see, that is, they appear to be happy because they are shunned if they honestly share their pain as well as their triumphs. Thus, I believe it took real courage to write and publish this book. Carey candidly, poignantly reveals a closeted inner life, the rarely revealed or imagined existence of a person with severe limitations, the stark, impossible-to-countenance realities that we simply avoid in our daily thoughts and deeds. In the tradition of a good storeyteller, the author punctuates these revelations by surrounding Tristan with artistic/acrobatic performers, humanity's most physically blessed individuals and by nations gripped in the same struggles for survival that people experience on an individual level. This backdrop emphasizes just how deeply Tristan's powerful inner soul cries out from inside his shell that he wants the same, feels the same, IS the same right down to his genes... Carey bares the pain, the challenge, in both the inner life and the political life of the beautiful versus the not beautiful, the big versus the small, the powerful versus the powerless in the colors of blood, and laser lights, and tarnished festivals that emphasize the moment over long-term everyday courtesies and, through the maturation and evolution of the character, through the small blessed events that we selectively choose to define our humanity and our lives, that give us the stamina and drive to endure, to go on, to hope.

This book is not for everyone. It is not for the reader of light entertainment. It is a book that goes beyond surface themes while still retaining the format of a personal story, told through unforgettable characters and events. If that intrigues you, I highly recommend this book.