theft: a love story

I will never regain those hours of my life - effectively flushed down the toilet - spent reading this waste of ink and paper. 1.5 stars, “About her husband, i did actually enquire, but she held her private life so fucking tightly, like a tourist clutching a handbag on the A train,..”, “All Butcher's previous politeness was revealed as so much bad milk floating in a cup of welcome tea...”, New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (2007), Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction (2006), Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Nominee for Literary Fiction (2007). Submissions. "Theft" is also a story of an art fraud, of mischief, even of murder, but never (at least I don't recall) have frauds and thieves been more overtly likeable than Peter Carey's characters in this novel. April 8, 2006 — 10.00am. It improves as the story unfolds, but I just found myself wa. Author: Peter Carey. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. It won the 2006 Vance Palmer Prize, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award prize for fiction. Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the project's quality scale. For me the beating heart of the book is Butcher's slow-witted brother, Hugh. Theft- A Love Story Carey Peter. What I liked: 1) TWO unreliable narrators relating their versions of this tragi-comic tale (an Australian artist five years "out of style," and his mentally challenged brother.) If you want a vivid picture of the dark side of the international art world, very well written, read this; otherwise, go to the museum and meditate on some true art. More interesting to me was a deeper back story which hinted at the childhood and family life of the main characters and a portrayal of the different aspects of love – aesthetic, brotherly, parental, and erotic, hence the title. ISBN 13: 9780307368638. Main Theft- A Love Story. Here Carey is at his cleverest wrestling with this theme. One difficult tendency was the lack of segue between key events, often times travel and great changes were only offhandedly rema. It's Carey's prose that makes it so much more. Theft: a Love Story. The story is told by two narrators: an artist, who is a bit crazy and a drunk, and his brother, who is mentally challenged (though you never really learn what his diagnosis is). He’s always trying to work out what it is to be Australian. Early on, Butcher Bones foretells he will see his neighbor's stolen painting but not until after the neighbor is dead. Exiled to a remote house owned by a fussy former patron, Butcher is trying to get his career back on track, avoid his creditors and manage Hugh, when - on a stormy, flooding evening - he receives a visit from the mysterious Marlene, described by Hugh as "a GAMINE with tiny boobies and a silk dress you could have fitted in your pocket with your hanky". Peter Carey's prose isn't quite so verbally manic. To love each other better, we should respect this. Fun to return to every day. Carey’s is national identity. This is another example of his versatility and originality, especially obvious in the two narrative voices of the two brothers, so different at the beginning of the book, but that seem to approach each other more and more. I somehow thought, when I had the book in my hands, considering the praises on its cover, that it would be a fun ride, a journey of guffaws and cunning smirks but alas, deceived and dejected! Ranging from the rural wilds of Australia to Manhattan via Sydney and Tokyo and exploring the ideas of art, fraud, responsibility and redemption, this is a dark, thought-provoking and stirring story that will also make you laugh out loud. Peter Carey. Here is a clutch of new exhibits in Peter Carey's menagerie. Here’s my book review of Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey.. And unfortunately, the characters were rather pushy and domineering and that made them annoying. In My Life as a Fake , an act of literary fraud takes human form like Frankenstein's monster and pursues its creator to the ends of the earth. Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. Journey into the storied Black Forest with Carey's latest work, The Chemistry of Tears, about a grieving museum expert and the 19th-century... Michael Boone is an ex–"really famous" painter acting as caretaker for his younger brother, a damaged man of childlike emotional volatility. You get the sense throughout Theft that Carey knows his characters as well as he knows himself. Theft is a love poem of a completely unexpected kind. Most of the happenings are tragic but you find yourself laughing anyway especially reading Hugh’s take on the scrapes Michael and his lover mange to get themselves into. I found "Oscar and Lucinda" tough sledding. and of course never hurts when a book is recommended/loaned to me by someone I love. How incredibly original. Yet it's also serious. Peter Carey's "Theft: A Love Story" is a literary tour-de-force, a brilliant book, a witty spoof on the art world, a tale of two brothers and a story about love, a story taking us from Australia to Japan and to New York, to sum it up: a magnificent book. ISBN: 9780571231478. We’d love your help. The novel alternates between the viewpoint of Butcher himself, and that of his "damaged two hundred and twenty pound brother" Hugh. Through marriage to Olivier Liebovitz, Marlene is the holder of the droit moral, the hereditary right to authenticate paintings, in this case those of Olivier's dead father, Jacques Liebovitz. It’s as if he doesn’t quite believe Australians have a reliable identity and his characters are ceaselessly driven to either establish one or rage against its absence. Carey has a gift for insight into human nature and writes with wit. It tells the story of the theft of a famous piece of art in Australia and how it intertwines with this artist's life. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size. Fun to return to every day. Carey is an artist who churns and curses and worries and frets. It is certainly a love story but that did not begin until midway through the shitty stuff, by which time I had not only lost my 8-year-old son, Theft: A Love Story | Brotherhood Books JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Theft: a Love Story, Paperback by Carey, Peter, Like New Used, Free shipping ... $13.36. The unfamiliar landscape of Australia and constant jumps into individual trails of thought was both distracting and charming. Overall, I found this read gratuitously obscene; however, the author is a Booker Prize winner, and it was my book club selection, so I persisted and finished it. Bless me, too, for being lucky enough to be able to have good fiction like this on my shelf. Those qualities reminded me of Donleavy. However, the gorgeous writing & creative use of language, the depth of characters and their relationships, plus a romance and art world provenance/authentication intrigue mystery... lovely, powerful, highly recommended. The more I read of Peter Carey, the better I like him. April 11, 2006 — 3.37am. "My life as a Fake" explored some interesting ideas, but wasn't altogether successful, in my opinion. PFFFFTTT. I'm a Peter Carey junkie, slowly coming down again from the wild rush that his books give me. Carey’s is national identity. Warning: Caregiver: A Love Story, and therefore this review, contains a sensitive subject for some. However, the gorgeous writing & creative use of language, the depth of characters and their relationships, plus a romance and art world provenance/authentication intrigue mystery... lovely, powerfu. Send-to-Kindle or Email . I'd forgotten about this book. By James Bradley. Free Shipping. But this novel is joyously written and full of energy. It is told in a stream of consciousness and the chapters can be very hard to follow. The unfamiliar landscape of Australia and constant jumps into individual trails of thought was both distracting and charming. Probably every writer has one overriding obsession, a theme he can’t help returning to in every novel. You could say one difference between what is termed literary fiction and commercial fiction is often simply the imaginative depth with which the author animates his or her characters. Theft is about art and art fakes, love and betrayal. It tells the story of the theft of a famous piece of art in Australia and how it intertwines with this artist's life. "My Life as a Fake" dealt with literature and made obvious reference to the infamous "Ern Malley" literary hoax of the. [1], New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. This novel did something few novels can do: it made me laugh out loud. But it’s been quite disappointing, despite calling to mind elements of Palahniuk, Faulkner, and Steinbeck. Add to Wishlist: Condition. Hugh is one of the most interesting characters I've met in a while. When a woman rekindles an early love in her late 30s her whole life changes. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The Ginger Man? The notions of both kinds of fraud are intertwined. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later. The plot seemed captivating, hence why I started reading in the first place, but it was difficult to immerse myself wholly in the story. Just left in awe at the moment and incapable of leaving a worthy review. Love and deception are the bread and butter of literature, but art? Is The Great Gatsby a love story? Be the first to review this product . I love Carey's descriptions - his portrayal of the painter and his obsession was a highlight, as was the humour of Slow Bones. Easy to read and with two terrific voices - Butcher and Slow. That in itself isn't exciting, though it's cleverly done. Email to a Friend. Save for later This is another example of his versatility and originality, especially obvious in the two narrative voices of the two brothers, so different at the beginning of the book, but that seem to approach each other more and more. Fun to read. Read "Theft: A Love Story A Love Story" by Peter Carey available from Rakuten Kobo. Certainly some of that here, mainly at the beginning of the book, and the main character is exactly the type of ego-drive male "genius" character that I'm not sympathetic to. The plot seemed captivating, hence why I started reading in the first place, but it was difficult to immerse myself wholly in the story. There's hardly a writer whose books are just so much damned FUN. There's hardly a writer whose books are just so much damned FUN. It becomes clearer and clearer that Butcher Bones is the less reliable of the two, his 'damaged' brother Hugh, the 'idiot savant' really is much more perceptive and astute than his brother gives him credit for. The documentary captures Bambi Fass's final months at home with her loved ones and the support of hospice as she fights terminal cancer. Title: Theft: A Love Story; Author: Peter Carey; Edition: 1; Publisher: Penguin Australia Pty Ltd; ISBN: 9781760896522 I'm a Peter Carey junkie, slowly coming down again from the wild rush that his books give me. In this case, Carey writes characters that have such powerful voices, they make the plot tertiary. 2006. Carey uses the idea in a lighter way, however, and puts Hugh's well-intentioned innocence on every page. "The sacred in the profane" by Patrick Ness, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theft:_A_Love_Story&oldid=991630514, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA), Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year, 2007: shortlisted, This page was last edited on 1 December 2020, at 01:37. I really didn't care for this book. Theft: A Love Story is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. It’s the story of Michael, an alcoholic nearing middle age painter who leaves the detritus of his failed marriage and some legal tussles in Australia and immigrates to New York city with his new (and ever scheming) love and his mentally challenged brother Hugh (though you find yourself continually wondering who has the largest handicap, Michael or Hugh). I'll chalk it down to "it's not you, it's me". In "Theft", Carey considers the issue of fakery in the art world, in a story that shifts between Australia, Tokyo, and the art world of Manhattan in the 1980's. He’s always trying to work out what it is to be Australian. 2) The author's ironic take on the wacky world of artists, collectors, agents, appraisers. It won the 2006 Vance Palmer Prize, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award prize for fiction. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The new Baz Luhrmann adaptation is being sold as such. It is told from the alternating perspectives of two brothers, Michael, a famous painter, who has fallen from fame, divorced, (he refers to his former wife as the “Plaintiff. Why this was shortlisted for the Booker prize I have no effing clue. It becomes clearer and clearer that Butcher Bones is the less reliable of the two, his 'damaged' brother Hugh, the 'id. In a single sentence, I didn’t find anything great about the story. Theft: A Love Story. Claiming that the brothers' neighbour owns an original Jacques Liebovitz, she sets in motion a chain of events that could be the making or ruin of them all.A truly brilliant vel - an act of fantastic writing bravura from Peter Carey, in which he once again displays his extraordinary flair for language - THEFT is a love poem of a completely unexpected kind. Once famous painter Michael “Butcher” Boone has his life altered when he becomes caretaker for his childlike brother Hugh and a beautiful enigmatic young woman enters their lives. Alone together they’ve forged a delicate equilibrium, a balance instantly destroyed when a mysterious young woman named Marlene walks out of a rainstorm and into their lives. As the novel opens, Butcher is fresh out of jail for robbing his ex-wife of his own paintings, paintings that became hers when the marriage ended. He reminded me of the damaged son in the South African novel, Triomf, and of Benjy in The Sound and the Fury. As an artist, I tend to stay away from fiction about artists, finding many writers' depictions of artists to be full of cliche. Directed by Larry Rosen. Deeply in love, she and her new husband want to have a child together and they make an appointment at an IVF clinic. "Bless me," he says over and over again in the novel. Refresh and try again. It was a painful read. theft love story Michael “Butcher” Boone is an ex-“really famous” painter, now reduced to living in a remote country house and acting as caretaker for his younger brother, Hugh. I thought it very well-written. The plot roars and lurches along, the people come leaping and bounding into the imagination, the intricacies of the trickery and subterfuge keep your mind racing, and the whole thing rounds out to a hugely satisfying ending that shows that the true love story was that of the two brothers, tied together like the two halves of a double helix. Jim, a retired football player, and his girlfriend Amy go to his cabin for the weekend. I wish I could remember where I first heard of this book, years ago. 3.8 • 5 Ratings; $13.99; $13.99; Publisher Description. "If you are MAKING ART," says a character in Peter Carey's magnificent new novel [Theft: A Love Story] "the labour never ends, no peace, no Sabbath, just eternal churning and cursing and worrying and fretting." I really didn't care for this book. The lowest-priced brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging (where packaging is … I remembered Donleavy about p200 of Theft. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan and boasting a haunting love … (I believe it was a very positive review in some paper or on some website.) I have just finished reading this book and I guess he forgot to include the neighbor's death Jean, unless I missed it too! Could you love a thief if you knew what she did? "My Life as a Fake" dealt with literature and made obvious reference to the infamous "Ern Malley" literary hoax of the 1940's. Theft: A Love Story is within the scope of WikiProject Australia, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Australia and Australia-related topics.If you would like to participate, visit the project page. Sometimes the bond with a cat is so strong that even the most committed pet parent might not realize their extra love is adding extra pounds. Direct from London, Avalanche: A Love Story stars acclaimed British actor Maxine Peake in a compelling story of hope and longing. May 9th 2006 Peter Carey's prose isn't quite so verbally manic. Overall, I found this read gratuitously obscene; however, the author is a Booker Prize winner, and it was my book club selection, so I persisted and finished it. Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey (Hardback, 2006) Be the first to write a review. It was a painful read. The place, the people, the cultures are so foreign to me, everything I read (or see in films) by Australians has an air of mystification about it which leaves me scratching my head – “What just happened heah, mate?”, Remember J. P. Donleavy? To see what your friends thought of this book. It won the 2006 Vance Palmer Prize, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award prize for fiction. But this novel is joyously written and full of energy. Add to Cart. I cant quite decide if I enjoyed this book or simply finished out of a sense of commitment to reach the end. It’s as if he doesn’t quite believe Australians have a reliable identity and his characters are ceaselessly driven to either establish one or rage against its absence. Confusing whose weekend it was to have the cabin, Jim's ex-wife, Kate, and her boyfriend Miller also go to the cabin for the weekend. Language: english. His criminal narrators in Jack Maggs and True History of the Kelly Gang plead their cases even as condemnation crashes down upon them. It’s the story of Michael, an alcoholic nearing middle age painter who leaves the detritus of his failed marriage and some legal tussles in Australia and immigrates to New York city with his new (and ever scheming) love and his mentally challenged brother Hugh (though you find yourself continually wondering who has the largest handicap, Michael or Hugh). And in one magnificent novel after another, he struggles to solve it. The world is unlikely to furnish us with a perfectly matched storyteller, but love won’t flourish if each of us is trying to tell a different story. As if he has access to every corner of their memory; knows every leap and retraction of their heart. Cover. Start by marking “Theft: A Love Story” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Theft: A Love Story is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. Very very unique story! This imaginative reach makes them tremendously engaging. Theft: A Love Story: Peter Carey $10.00 Michael ‘Butcher’ Boone is an former ‘really famous’ painter – opinionated, furious, brilliant – and now reduced to living in the remote country house of his biggest collector and acting as caretaker for his younger brother, Hugh, a damaged man of imposing physicality and childlike emotional volatility. 3) The rather intriguing twists of the art theft. Theft is the story of Michael "Butcher" Boone, an Australian artist, whose career is having an early, and comprehensive twilight. Peter Carey has a problem with telling the truth. Year. Availability: In stock. It is told in a stream of consciousness and the chapters can be very hard to follow. In "Theft", Carey revisits some of the themes which clearly continue to interest him - Australian art and literature, and how they are perceived both within and outside Australia. If there is a prequel, it may be worthwhile; otherwise, see ya at the museum! When a mysterious woman comes into their lives, she upsets their delicate equilibrium sets in motion a chain of events that could be the making—or the ruin—of them all. Fun to read. Theft is the story of Michael "Butcher" Boone, an Australian artist whose career is having an early and comprehensive twilight. Michael ‘Butcher’ Boone is an ex-‘really famous’ painter, now reduced to … Michael 'Butcher' Boone is an ex-'really famous' painter, now reduced to living in a remote country house and acting as caretaker for his younger brother, Hugh. Life is good. I share John Updike's words for he has said exactly what I would have wanted to say but would have been too incapable of putting across so well: A well crafted story from Mr Carey. Carey’s humor is transcendent in this book. Peter Carey's "Theft: A Love Story" is a literary tour-de-force, a brilliant book, a witty spoof on the art world, a tale of two brothers and a story about love, a story taking us from Australia to Japan and to New York, to sum it up: a magnificent book. The Ginger Man? Rules and how to enter The Booker Prize and The International Booker Prize Submissions Did the author forget to include the neighbor's death or did I miss it? Since then, I’ve been excited to get around to it. That in itself isn't exciting, though it's clever. Please read our short guide how to send a book to Kindle. Of course, the "Love Story" mentioned as un undertitle is the love story of Marlene (who walks into the lives of Michael and Hugh one rainy night, starting off the story there) and Michael. This novel did something few novels can do: it made me laugh out loud. By Andrew Reimer. It's a testament to Carey's considerable skill that he can let us observe the world so clearly through Hugh's amusingly cockeyed, slanted vision. He uses art forgery to explore the theme of cultural and personal authenticity or, Probably every writer has one overriding obsession, a theme he can’t help returning to in every novel. It improves as the story unfolds, but I just found myself wanting to skip paragraphs and whole pages and get to the action. Definitely heavy in Australian vernacular and jargon of the fine art world, which makes it a challenging read at times, but the story pulls you through for sure! He uses art forgery to explore the theme of cultural and personal authenticity or its absence. Theft: A Love Story is a novel, by Australian writer Peter Carey. As an artist, I tend to stay away from fiction about artists, finding many writers' depictions of artists to be full of cliche. Fair. Most of the happenings are tragic but you find yourself laughing anyway especially reading Hugh’s t. Carey’s humor is transcendent in this book. One difficult tendency was the lack of segue between key events, often times travel and great changes were only offhandedly remarked upon in Hugh’s poetic ramblings. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Hello Select your address Best Sellers Today's Deals New Releases Books Gift Ideas Today's Deals New Releases Books Gift Ideas The more I read of Peter Carey, the better I like him. Here Carey is at his cleverest wrestling with this theme. Price. Australia baffles me. Yet it's also serious. In "Theft", Carey revisits some of the themes which clearly continue to interest him - Australian art and literature, and how they are perceived both within and outside Australia. The people we love are not just characters, but also creators, of our shared story. Couldn't bring myself to finish the last 60 pages.

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