New Addition to the Literary License Family

Sarah Elizabeth was born on August 26th at 6:53 pm, weighing 8 lbs., 2 ozs. and measuring 20 inches. It's difficult to believe she's already 1 month old!

Thanks to everyone for your support and best wishes. Things have been a bit hectic around here, but Sarah's late night feedings have given me plenty of opportunities to keep up with my reading (and reviewing).

More reviews are on the way!

A Review of In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut

In a Strange Room
4 out of 5: In South African writer Damon Galgut’s latest novel, which is shortlisted for this year’s prestigious Man Booker Prize, the narrator (also named Damon) describes three different journeys he took as a younger man, one where he filled the role of the follower, one the lover, and one the guardian. Although each trip is distinct, involving different locations (Greece, Africa, and India), travel companions, and challenges, certain themes resurface throughout Damon’s wanderings, including his unceasing drive to keep moving and his inability to form lasting relationships. Damon’s changing character—which ranges from a powerless follower to an assertive protector, depending on the varying circumstances he confronts—suggests that a large part of human identity derives from external influences rather than from an inherent inner quality. Locating a solid core within this impermanence is what compels Damon to undertake his quests and what creates this novel’s momentum.

Throughout Damon’s travels, Galgut’s sensual prose captures the essence of the traveler’s changing landscapes and moods while maintaining an elegant simplicity that shades the three stories with allegorical overtones. Frequent switches between first and third person narration create interesting tension between the older narrator and his younger, traveling self. Overall, In a Strange Room is a beautiful and haunting meditation on loneliness and the unending drive to discover a deeper meaning of life.

A Review of Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

Parrot and Olivier in America

4.5 out of 5: In Parrot and Olivier in America, Peter Carey uses the medium of a historical novel to explore the concept of democracy as it existed in the early years of the United States. French aristocrat Olivier is sent by his family to America to study the new nation's prison system and to escape the hostilities threatening aristocrats in his home country. Once in America, Olivier is captivated and puzzled by the country's democratic ideals. In his travels, Olivier is accompanied by John "Parrot" Larrit, who acts as Olivier's secretary. Ultimately, the relationship between Olivier and Parrot undergoes a dramatic change as it encounters the egalitarian spirit of America. The character of Olivier is Carey's fictionalization of the great French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville, author of the influential Democracy in America. However, Parrot and Olivier in America goes well beyond a mere retelling of the travels of a historic personality to create a complex world of interlinking characters and events.

The story unfolds through the alternating narrations of Olivier and Parrot (a favorite technique of Carey's). By the end of the novel, Parrot's character, wise and full of heart, has stolen the show, but the spoiled and self-focused Olivier shows eventual signs of reformation. Carey refuses to tie up all the loose ends, making the novel seem all the more realistic and complex. Parrot and Olivier in America is a fascinating read when viewed as an intellectual examination of the early days of American democracy and its effects on human interactions, particularly those between diverse classes. More superficially, the novel also succeeds as a good, page-turning story.