Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

Parrot and Olivier in America

Peter Carey

This was such fun to read - and I never knew what was going to happen next! But even while I was being led to ponder some very serious questions about the nature of society and democracy I found myself laughing at these two ridiculous creatures - Olivier and Parrot - and cheering them on to their next wild adventure.

Extract
We were rocketed toward Paris, lifted upward, shaken sideways by the beastly Polignac springs, but in the midst of this turmoil my mother carefully filled one goblet and I witnessed my first soda bubbles, never guessing the gas had been gathered from the top of dirty brewery yeast, seeing only an ascension of my own spirit, fragile orbs of crystal rising in the golden light.
Parallels
  • The Good Companions by J B Priestley
  • Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens