I tried... - Rated 
I give this book two stars instead of one because I could not bring myself to finish it. I hate not finishing a book once I start it, especially one such as 'THEFT' that I was so looking forward to reading, so believe me I tried. I suffered through page after page of this book for over two weeks only to get a little more than halfway through. You heard right, it took me two weeks to just get to the halfway mark, that is because every time I read a page or two I found myself falling asleep, as this had to be one of the most boring books that I have ever read! 'THEFT' has a promising concept, a former world renowned painter finds himself, after being bankrupt on the verge of making a comeback only to get involved with a mysterious woman who threatens to bring down all that he has worked for. It sounds as though the book has a lot of suspense and intrigue. There is a promise of adventure as the clues unravel about the art theft & murder but at least for the first half of this story those things come in the smallest of doses. I couldn't even give a proper synopsis of the book because as far as I could tell, not much happened other than two brothers complaining an awful lot about each other. Every time you would see a hint of the story taking shape the focus of the story would change and it ended up being dragged out.
Again, I give this book two stars instead of one because since I did not finish it, something, somewhere down the line could happen to make this a more interesting book. However, I personally couldn't suffer through another 100 pages before that happened.
I must be missing something.... - Rated 
This was my first Peter Carey and if it wasn't on my reading group list I would never have chosen it. I can see the book's merits, however I really didn't enjoy this book at all and found its negative, cynical tone quite depressing.
However, the characterisations of the brothers, the evocation of their individual voices, the imagery and the tangible descriptions of life in small town Australia are masterful. The problem for me is that these make the plot line almost invisible. I was so involved in the inner dialogues that I couldn't figure out what was happening in the plot.
The book's themes are very interesting and thought-provoking, and I loved the final sentence of the whole thing (admittedly partly because it was just that)for its wise, prophetic tone.
I'm glad to have read this, and it's likely that I will dip into it again, because the writing is stunning in parts. But I am not a Carey convert through this offering.
(For an interesting counterpoint to the themes of this book check out Lewis Hind's The Gift - especially the first part exploring the value vs giftedness of art.)
I admire this book a great deal, but I can't say that I really enjoyed it - Rated 
Carey does well in creating two distinct voices for Butcher and his brother and really does a great job in conveying their personalities. Butcher is a selfish, self-centred man, fully focused on creating his work and bitter that he is no longer in fashion and thereby unable to command high prices. Hugh is an idiot-savant (at times, too savant for my liking) and with a tendency to TALK IN CAPITALS at odd times in his narration. In reality, the story is about the relationship between these two men - the resentment that Butcher feels for having to look after his damaged brother and the resentment that Hugh feels for never being allowed to do what he wants to do - and is explored through a plot concerning the theft of a painting by Leibovitz (Butcher's favourite artist and the person whose work inspired him to paint in the first place).
We meet Butcher and Hugh in the small outback town of Bellingen, where they're living in a house belonging to Butcher's patron, Jean-Paul, maintaining it for him whilst Butcher paints. Into their life crashes Marlene, a woman Butcher assumes is American, trying to get to Butcher's neighbour, Dozy (who owns the Leibowitz painting) in order to authenticate it. When the painting later goes missing, it's Butcher who is suspected of the crime and he's forced to return to Sydney, where he again meets up with Marlene and when she tells him she can help revitalise his career with a show in Tokyo, they become lovers and embark on a journey that takes them to Tokyo and Manhattan. On the way, Butcher and Hugh learn more about the Leibowitz family and Marlene's connection to them and also the dark scam at the heart of the story.
Carey is a lyrical writer and he excels at setting scenes and creating a sense of place. However, compared with the richness of the Butcher and Hugh characters, I felt that Marlene was too slight and trite a character to be truly believable and really wanted to know more about her and her relationship with Olivier than what we get on the page. Ultimately, Butcher was too bitter and unpleasant a character for me to feel drawn to, but I did feel tremendous sympathy for Hugh, albeit there were times when I'd have liked to see Carey play down the savant quality and show him as a simpler human being. Also, I felt that the plot hinged on a huge improbability (one that I'm not going to give away because I don't want to spoil it), but it was a fact that really irritated me because I'd been hoping for a more fulfilling pay off to the scam than what we're given.
A fun read about the world of art forgery - Rated 
The wonderful and intriguing world of art forgery is explored in Theft: A Love Story, the Booker shortlisted novel by Australian author Peter Carey.
In my experience, reading anything by Peter Carey can be a bit of a hit or miss affair. There are certain books by him that I love (Jack Maggs, Oscar and Lucinda) and certain books I've struggled with and eventually abandoned (The Illywhacker, The True Story of the Kelly Gang). Fortunately, I found Theft: A Love Story to be immediately accessible and highly entertaining. I loved it's balance of humour and melancholy, and the twist at the end was a joy.
The story follows the lives of two very different Australian brothers -- Michael "Butcher" Bones, a wayward artist, and his "damaged two-hundred-and-twenty-pound" brother, Hugh -- who take turns to narrate their escapades chapter by chapter.
Their various run-ins with art dealers, collectors, critics and curators covers rural Australia, Sydney, Tokyo and New York. Accompanied by the mysterious Marlene, a woman with an eye for a genuine work of art, the brothers get themselves into all kinds of "situations".
It is, at times, laugh out loud funny and at others slightly distressing. But above all it's a fun read about a world characterised by deception and dishonesty, where no-one can tell the difference between the real thing and a fake, and where the road to artistic fame and glory is paved with criminal intent.
Theft: A Love Story - a thriller, a good read - Rated 
A really good read and not necessarily for ex pat Aussies. I loved the thriller element and didn't want to put it down - classic Carey, not up there necessarily with Oscar and Lucinda, but worth the read, especially for Carey fans.
|
