Product Description

This comic narrative from the lips of a 109-year-old con-man is peopled with aviators, car salesmen, Chinamen and impresarios. By the author of Booker prizewinner "Oscar and Lucinda".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #548090 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 600 pages

Review
'Australian history is almost always pictureseque' said Mark Twain, 'it does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies'. This great, great book then, is truly Australian as it brims with fibs, magic, love stories, disasters and beautiful machines. The hypnotic hero, Herbert Badgery is the con man of the title - the illywhacker, and the book begins with him introducing himself at the age of 139 years old - 'it is hard to believe you can feel so bad and still not die'. Reflecting back on his long and picaresque journey, he leads us down a winding path through the history of his teeming, brilliant homeland. First published in 1985 when it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, it is always, and unfairly, eclipsed by its successor Oscar and Lucinda which won the prize in 1988. (Kirkus UK)

This new novel by the talented Australian writer (The Fat Man In History, 1980, and Bliss, 1981) clearly outlines the struggle for a national Australian identity. Even the title, Illywhacker, is a typically Australian slang term for a con-man or liar. Divided into three "books," the novel chronicles the life of Herbert Badgery, his lovers, his children, and his grandchildren. For over 500 pages we are somewhat entranced by this narrator who not only lies, but often believes the truth of his words, and eventually becomes caught in his own traps. Characters who begin with pronounced idiosyncracies develop into full-fledged lunatics: Badgery claims to be 139 years old; Molly McGrath wears an "electric chastity belt" to keep from going insane; an old Chinaman's amputated finger, kept in a vase, assumes various forms, including that of a fetus. It is a world where a woman quite naturally prefers to live in a cage, and a man's greatest talent is his ability to disappear by "making a dragon" with his body. The con-man's voice is an appropriate vehicle through which to penetrate the masks that people present to the world, and Carey's insights into human nature are sometimes startling. Unfortunately, such details also slow down the pace of the book; every detail, including the psychological causes and effects of the minutest action, must be fully explored. Overall, Carey proves himself an experimental writer par excellance, and the story is often delightful, but this remains a book only for the patient reader. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

Surreal comedy, heart rending tragedy
Illywhacker is an Australian word for a con-man. The books' illywhacker, and narrator, is Herbert Badgery, who suffers the fate of many dishonest people. Writing from his old age of 139, he weaves us an extraordinary tale of his life as reptile catcher, car salesman and aviator. A chinaman teaches him how to become invisible, a useful skill when out in the bush. His aviation attracts him a lovely wife, but married life is less than satisfactory, ending in tragedy. And so we move on to the life of his son, sent off as a student to the big city, consorting with communists and jews, and then setting up as a pet shop to make ends meet. The tragedy carries on.
Within the context of the book, we find ourselves asking how much of this conman's story is "true". It leaves you wondering, and that is really the key to the book.
Its a toss-up whether my favourite Australian novel is this, or Tim Winton's Cloudstreet. In both books, the Australian accent jumps off the page at you. Among Carey's other books, my literary friends prefer Oscar and Lucinda, perhaps because it is more perfectly formed, a typical Booker Prize winner. But I find Illywhacker funnier, more exciting, more original.

Herbert the misunderstood philanthropist.
I think that simply to dismiss Herbert as "dishonest" is to miss the central theme of this tale. The one thing which many a comedian, romancer or flim-flammer has in common is their desire simply to be loved. Thus Herbert is more to be pitied and admired by turns than scolded men of his ilk who afford the rest of us the chance to escape the humdrum and enter their carefully woven web of the warming fellowship of the fantastical can have a quid of mine anyday of the week. Read it, its dinkum.

Entertaining, but not sure I really understood it
Having loved Oscar and Lucinda, and enjoyed Jack Maggs, I thought I'd try Illywhacker.

I enojyed it, but was left with the feeling that I just hadn't understood it at all.

The story of 139 year old Herbert Badgery (born in 1886)(the reason is explained) and his family, the book covers 80 odd years of his life and loves and the problems he has with his children and grandchildren. It's populated with some wonderful characters, and there are some tremendous passages and ideas in it. But I was left vaguely unsatisfied throughout - I felt there was something I'd missed (and I really didn't get what the ending was about at all).

So if you're a Carey fan, then read it, you'll enjoy it, but anyone who's new to him should start with Oscar and Lucinda - easily his best book.