Present Books Conducive To A Fraction of the Whole
| Original Title: | A Fraction of the Whole |
| ISBN: | 0385521723 (ISBN13: 9780385521727) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Booker Prize Nominee (2008), Guardian First Book Award Nominee (2008), New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for People's Choice Award (2009), Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize Nominee for comic fiction (2009), Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Literary Fiction and Nominee for Newcomer (2008) |
Steve Toltz
Hardcover | Pages: 530 pages Rating: 4.13 | 15354 Users | 2304 Reviews
Describe Out Of Books A Fraction of the Whole
| Title | : | A Fraction of the Whole |
| Author | : | Steve Toltz |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 530 pages |
| Published | : | February 12th 2008 by Spiegel & Grau (first published 2008) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Australia. Novels |
Commentary During Books A Fraction of the Whole
An irreverent comic adventure, spanning three continents, about a father and son against each other and against the world. For most of his life, Jasper Dean couldn’t decide whether to pity, hate, love, or murder his certifiably paranoid father, Martin, a man who overanalyzed anything and everything and imparted his self-garnered wisdom to his only son. But now that Martin is dead, Jasper can fully reflect on the crackpot who raised him in intellectual captivity, and what he realizes is that, for all its lunacy, theirs was a grand adventure. As he recollects the events that led to his father’s demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveries—about his infamous outlaw uncle, Terry, his mysteriously absent European mother, and Martin’s constant losing battle to make a lasting mark on the world he so disdains. It’s a story that takes them from the Australian bush to the cafés of bohemian Paris, from the Thai jungle to strip clubs, asylums, labyrinths, and criminal lairs, and from the highs of first love to the lows of failed ambition. The result is a wild rollercoaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings. A Fraction of the Whole is an uproarious indictment of the modern world and its mores, and the epic debut of the blisteringly funny and talented Steve Toltz.Rating Out Of Books A Fraction of the Whole
Ratings: 4.13 From 15354 Users | 2304 ReviewsWrite Up Out Of Books A Fraction of the Whole
Thoroughly enjoyable and difficult to categorise. This debut novel is 700 pages long and bowls along at a very rapid pace. It is a very funny generational saga about brothers Martin and Terry Dean and Martins son Jasper. Its pretty much totally unbelievable and there is extraordinary level of cynicism about life and the human condition; something which should delight even the most misanthropic.It is set in Australia and ranges across France and Thailand as well. There are philosophical elementsLOOK, i dont mind quirky, even wacky, but zany i cant take and this book is zany as hell and seemingly grounded in nothing. toltz is funny, punchy and wicked so why on earth would he write such a long book? (732pgs) surely a long book has something to say that demands its long-bookedness. tolstoy, go for it, write a long book - you deserve it, you go to the depths of us but not this fellow (despite the booker shortlist). modern film seems to be doing this too. 'i dont know how to make a great
Books like this don't come along every day. It's almost impossible to categorize A Fraction of the Whole: a sprawling tale of love, heartache, crazy schemes and unexpected twists. It's absolutely bursting with life and I didn't want to it end.The plot is a hard one to summarise but it all centres around the Dean family. In the opening pages Jasper tells us that "the whole of Australia despises my father perhaps more than any other man, just as they adore his brother, my uncle, perhaps more than
To begin with, a poorly-devised haiku review: Stained honour, dented ego,As we bury up our dead.Smiles can last for miles________________I had better get on my horse and start writing my own novels because Steve Toltz has been a-thieving from my brain stock. Both of A Fraction of the Whole's protagonists, Martin and Jasper, throw off a continuous stream of ideas and summations of the human experience that my friends are probably pretty tired of hearing spouted from my own mouth. From their
I wanted to read a contemporary riotously funny romp with edgy substance and this was it. Its long (562 Kindle pages), but just as I was thinking it was dragging and a rant had out-ranted its welcome, things sped up, turned plot somersaults careening from absurdist hilarity to true agony, it exploded with insanity, and it left me both laughing and gasping, What next?If youve ever felt eclipsed by a friend or family member or family celebrity, youll love the sibling, filial, and criminal (sorry,
Well, I'm sorry, but I really didn't like this book. I feel a bit guilty for this, first because it came recommended by people whose tastes I totally trust (sorry Amanda! sorry Kira!), and second because, due to my really shamefully busy life, it took me a ludicrously long time to read this (sorry Steve Toltz). So yeah, I mean, it was my faultnot Steve'sthat this book has been hanging menacingly over my head for freaking ages. But let's face it, Steve, it's your fault that your book just wasn't
I read this monstrous, merciless Australian comedy in a shack in Orkney in June 2010. For those unfamiliar with Orkney, its a small Scottish island known for its flatness. In the Annual Flatness Contest, Orkney narrowly beat the Whole of the Netherlands to win the coveted flatness trophya trophy crushed several times by a JCB hauler and shipped to a factory where extensive smelting work is done on its remaining points and prongs until the award achieves a flatitude of such 180 perfection as
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