There is a point in A Fraction of the Whole, the debut novel by Australian author Steve Toltz, where I realized had I known the Martin clan, I would’ve tried to escape them. Toltz’z stream of conscious style writing gets odd and disturbing at times, and at well over 500 pages drags here and there.
The novel begins during a prison riot, leading quickly to the declaration, "my father's body will never be found." It then quickly rewinds to describe three generations of Deans, beginning with Jasper Dean's grandparents as recounted in the first person by Jasper's father Martin. The book is at least as much by and about Martin Dean as it is Jasper, though Martin is clearly dead as the book begins.
Set primarily in Australia, the novel does wander through other locations, such as Paris and Thailand. Much like A Confederacy of Dunces, the novel’s characters are outsiders in most sense of the word, coming up with one wild scheme after another (Martin's plan to make every Australian a millionaire, or Martin and Jasper building a house in the middle of a labyrinth, or Martin compiling a Handbook of Crime) while making commentaries about the ills of the world.
The book is wonderfully funny, filled with well realized, if not over-the-top misanthropic characters. There are not many novels that can peel away all of societies complex problems the way Toltz’s has done here, and kind of make them charming.
And there were times when reading the book, I felt like these characters, filled with unbridled desire to shake the world from their stupor of trying to fit in, be a conformist were the true spirit of the any ones world.
And, sometimes I too feel like a “philosopher who’s thought himself into a corner.”
The novel begins during a prison riot, leading quickly to the declaration, "my father's body will never be found." It then quickly rewinds to describe three generations of Deans, beginning with Jasper Dean's grandparents as recounted in the first person by Jasper's father Martin. The book is at least as much by and about Martin Dean as it is Jasper, though Martin is clearly dead as the book begins.
Set primarily in Australia, the novel does wander through other locations, such as Paris and Thailand. Much like A Confederacy of Dunces, the novel’s characters are outsiders in most sense of the word, coming up with one wild scheme after another (Martin's plan to make every Australian a millionaire, or Martin and Jasper building a house in the middle of a labyrinth, or Martin compiling a Handbook of Crime) while making commentaries about the ills of the world.
The book is wonderfully funny, filled with well realized, if not over-the-top misanthropic characters. There are not many novels that can peel away all of societies complex problems the way Toltz’s has done here, and kind of make them charming.
And there were times when reading the book, I felt like these characters, filled with unbridled desire to shake the world from their stupor of trying to fit in, be a conformist were the true spirit of the any ones world.
And, sometimes I too feel like a “philosopher who’s thought himself into a corner.”
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