Parrot and Olivier in America - Peter Carey

I know nothing about Alexis de Tocqueville’s life and work, of which this is a fictionalised version, so I should probably begin by acknowledging that much of this probably flew by somewhere high over my head. Others may get more from it, but I found the effort demanded by this book was not fully rewarded.

The French aristocrat Olivier and his sidekick Parrot narrate alternate chapters and their personalities and speech are well differentiated. Secondary characters remain a little opaque. The narrative structure is reflected in the story, in which Quixote and Panza begin to blur roles. It’s interesting in parts, but I feel it should have been rather more fun.