Good Reads / Community Library Notes
A Long Way From Home
Peter Carey
Review by Priscilla Comen
A Long Way From Home
Peter Carey
Review by Priscilla Comen
A Long Way From Home, by Peter Carey, is a great story that won the Booker Prize. It is the saga of the Australian Redex auto rally cleverly set against the background of prejudice against aboriginals. It is also about three well-defined people: Irene Bobs, her husband Titch, the best car salesman in Australia, and Willie Bachhuber, their neighbor. Bachhuber is a school teacher of difficult students, until he dangles one outside the classroom window. He’s dismissed. This is humorous and serious.
Titch wants the exclusive Ford dealership until he sees, falls in love with, and buys a Jaguar XK120, a sleek fast classic in the 1950s. The characters are described in alternating chapters and we don’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for them. Willie Bachhuber is a winning contestant on a quiz show and falls for the other contestant, Clover. They see Mrs. Bobs in the arms of another man, Dunstan, who wants Titch to take on a Holden dealership. When Bachhuber loses on the quiz show, Titch convinces him to be the navigator on the Redex trail rally he has entered. Bachhuber is perfect because he is lightweight and has knowledge of maps. Mrs. Bobs will be the driver because of her perfect “bottom.” And Titch will be the third man in the Holden he has agreed to drive. The publicity will be perfect for their new dealership if they win.
This is not a matter of speed, but rather of accuracy, to arrive at checkpoints exactly on time. The road is rocks, creeks, broken glass, and cows. Irene’s father-in-law sets off explosions to distract them, as he is in the race also. There are dead kangaroos in the road, if it is a road. Titch’s father dies of a heart attack in his car and Titch stays with his body to wait for the ambulance. Irene goes on with Bachhuber and a crippled black man in the back. When Irene stops to pee, she finds the skull of a tiny boy. She brings it with them in a small box. The old black man tells Bachhuber he has a black son. He gives Irene a phone number to call and she arranges to meet Bachhuber’s ex-wife. What happens when they meet?
Does Irene find out the truth? Does she win the Redex rally and get the credit for driving it on her own? This is a multi-faceted story that will keep you fascinated until you finish it. Find it on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Titch wants the exclusive Ford dealership until he sees, falls in love with, and buys a Jaguar XK120, a sleek fast classic in the 1950s. The characters are described in alternating chapters and we don’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for them. Willie Bachhuber is a winning contestant on a quiz show and falls for the other contestant, Clover. They see Mrs. Bobs in the arms of another man, Dunstan, who wants Titch to take on a Holden dealership. When Bachhuber loses on the quiz show, Titch convinces him to be the navigator on the Redex trail rally he has entered. Bachhuber is perfect because he is lightweight and has knowledge of maps. Mrs. Bobs will be the driver because of her perfect “bottom.” And Titch will be the third man in the Holden he has agreed to drive. The publicity will be perfect for their new dealership if they win.
This is not a matter of speed, but rather of accuracy, to arrive at checkpoints exactly on time. The road is rocks, creeks, broken glass, and cows. Irene’s father-in-law sets off explosions to distract them, as he is in the race also. There are dead kangaroos in the road, if it is a road. Titch’s father dies of a heart attack in his car and Titch stays with his body to wait for the ambulance. Irene goes on with Bachhuber and a crippled black man in the back. When Irene stops to pee, she finds the skull of a tiny boy. She brings it with them in a small box. The old black man tells Bachhuber he has a black son. He gives Irene a phone number to call and she arranges to meet Bachhuber’s ex-wife. What happens when they meet?
Does Irene find out the truth? Does she win the Redex rally and get the credit for driving it on her own? This is a multi-faceted story that will keep you fascinated until you finish it. Find it on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.