twistinthetale's review against another edition
2.0
This was a pretty tough slog for me. I can see the talent in the writing but the plot and characters were quite unappealing. I found that the blurb, describing a cyber attack on prison facilities in Australia and America, was misleading as the novel really didn't deal with this in any detail. The seedy suburban setting and the unsympathetic characters left a sourness that was difficult to ignore. Only just a 2 star rating for me.
jacinta_m_carter's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
kchisholm's review against another edition
1.0
The blurb on the back of AMNESIA reads exactly like that of a really good thriller. A threat that unleashes something frightening in the world, and the battle to find the perpetrator.
Which seemed, by the end of the book, to be written for another AMNESIA, somewhere in a parallel universe. One where the book we were reading actually addressed the major plot elements, rather than immediately meandering off into something or other about an ex-journalist / ghost writer who had a bit of a hump up with the world who ... something.
It's certainly possible to see what Carey was trying to do here. There's obviously an attempt at humour and lashings of irony. A bored observation of the boring concept of boring threats instigated by the world's biggest baddie. Or at least that's a best guess.
Which would be perfectly fair enough. It's not like the concept of political interference and corruption, cyber-threats and big-power lording it over supposed allies is new fare in the world of thrillers. There is a reasonable argument to be had about it being done to death. The difference is that in most of that style of book that this reader has read, the actual threats, the players, and the consequences are explored, analysed and frequently even explained.
In the case of AMNESIA it doesn't feel like any of that is even attempted. Added to that was a rather predictable pattern of "left and right" Australian political thought, yet another "perspective" on the 1975 Dismissal and, alas, a somewhat stunning lack of technical validity for the whole worm infection in the first place.
Add to that a tendency to pastiche the Australian-ness of the setting, and AMNESIA rapidly lurched into something that seemed more like a self-involved, navel gazing, rights of passage for some drunken old journo than anything like a thriller.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-amnesia-peter-carey
Which seemed, by the end of the book, to be written for another AMNESIA, somewhere in a parallel universe. One where the book we were reading actually addressed the major plot elements, rather than immediately meandering off into something or other about an ex-journalist / ghost writer who had a bit of a hump up with the world who ... something.
It's certainly possible to see what Carey was trying to do here. There's obviously an attempt at humour and lashings of irony. A bored observation of the boring concept of boring threats instigated by the world's biggest baddie. Or at least that's a best guess.
Which would be perfectly fair enough. It's not like the concept of political interference and corruption, cyber-threats and big-power lording it over supposed allies is new fare in the world of thrillers. There is a reasonable argument to be had about it being done to death. The difference is that in most of that style of book that this reader has read, the actual threats, the players, and the consequences are explored, analysed and frequently even explained.
In the case of AMNESIA it doesn't feel like any of that is even attempted. Added to that was a rather predictable pattern of "left and right" Australian political thought, yet another "perspective" on the 1975 Dismissal and, alas, a somewhat stunning lack of technical validity for the whole worm infection in the first place.
Add to that a tendency to pastiche the Australian-ness of the setting, and AMNESIA rapidly lurched into something that seemed more like a self-involved, navel gazing, rights of passage for some drunken old journo than anything like a thriller.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-amnesia-peter-carey
salarjay's review against another edition
2.0
At halfway, thing get so tedious that finding any alternative is worthwhile.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘The corporation is under our control. The angel declares you free.’
In 2010, on a chilly autumn morning in Melbourne, Gaby Baillieux releases the Angel Worm into the computers of Australia’s prison system. Many prisoners, including hundreds of asylum seekers walk free.
But, because an American corporation runs prison security, the worm also infects close to 5000 American places of incarceration. Was the American intrusion intended?
Felix Moore, who considers himself ‘Australia’s last serving left-wing journalist’ has no doubt. He’s convinced that Gaby’s act was part of a long-running covert conflict between Australia and America. What long running covert conflict? You know, the one that dates back to the Battle of Brisbane in 1942, includes the vexed issue of Pine, and the coup against Gough Whitlam in 1975.
Felix Moore himself is in a spot of bother. He’s just lost a big libel case and his wife has kicked him out. Fortunately, his good mate, property developer Woody Townes has a job for Felix. Woody is going to fund Felix to write Gaby’s biography. He’s concerned that the USA might extradite Gaby.
And then it all gets complicated. Getting Gaby (who just happens to have been born on 11 November 1975) to co-operate may be a challenge. And then, there’s her film-star mother.
Enough. It’s a complicated story that would benefit from rereading. It’s a satire that requires knowledge/memory of events that many of us have forgotten (if we ever knew them). That’s amnesia. It’s a satire about activism, journalism, politics and the relationship between Australia and the USA. It’s a satire with some fairly unlikable characters because, well, characters are less important than ideas in satire.
Just how seriously should we take it?
Not my favourite novel by Peter Carey, but definitely worth reading.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In 2010, on a chilly autumn morning in Melbourne, Gaby Baillieux releases the Angel Worm into the computers of Australia’s prison system. Many prisoners, including hundreds of asylum seekers walk free.
But, because an American corporation runs prison security, the worm also infects close to 5000 American places of incarceration. Was the American intrusion intended?
Felix Moore, who considers himself ‘Australia’s last serving left-wing journalist’ has no doubt. He’s convinced that Gaby’s act was part of a long-running covert conflict between Australia and America. What long running covert conflict? You know, the one that dates back to the Battle of Brisbane in 1942, includes the vexed issue of Pine, and the coup against Gough Whitlam in 1975.
Felix Moore himself is in a spot of bother. He’s just lost a big libel case and his wife has kicked him out. Fortunately, his good mate, property developer Woody Townes has a job for Felix. Woody is going to fund Felix to write Gaby’s biography. He’s concerned that the USA might extradite Gaby.
And then it all gets complicated. Getting Gaby (who just happens to have been born on 11 November 1975) to co-operate may be a challenge. And then, there’s her film-star mother.
Enough. It’s a complicated story that would benefit from rereading. It’s a satire that requires knowledge/memory of events that many of us have forgotten (if we ever knew them). That’s amnesia. It’s a satire about activism, journalism, politics and the relationship between Australia and the USA. It’s a satire with some fairly unlikable characters because, well, characters are less important than ideas in satire.
Just how seriously should we take it?
Not my favourite novel by Peter Carey, but definitely worth reading.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘The corporation is under our control. The angel declares you free.’
In 2010, on a chilly autumn morning in Melbourne, Gaby Baillieux releases the Angel Worm into the computers of Australia’s prison system. Many prisoners, including hundreds of asylum seekers walk free.
But, because an American corporation runs prison security, the worm also infects close to 5000 American places of incarceration. Was the American intrusion intended?
Felix Moore, who considers himself ‘Australia’s last serving left-wing journalist’ has no doubt. He’s convinced that Gaby’s act was part of a long-running covert conflict between Australia and America. What long running covert conflict? You know, the one that dates back to the Battle of Brisbane in 1942, includes the vexed issue of Pine, and the coup against Gough Whitlam in 1975.
Felix Moore himself is in a spot of bother. He’s just lost a big libel case and his wife has kicked him out. Fortunately, his good mate, property developer Woody Townes has a job for Felix. Woody is going to fund Felix to write Gaby’s biography. He’s concerned that the USA might extradite Gaby.
And then it all gets complicated. Getting Gaby (who just happens to have been born on 11 November 1975) to co-operate may be a challenge. And then, there’s her film-star mother.
Enough. It’s a complicated story that would benefit from rereading. It’s a satire that requires knowledge/memory of events that many of us have forgotten (if we ever knew them). That’s amnesia. It’s a satire about activism, journalism, politics and the relationship between Australia and the USA. It’s a satire with some fairly unlikable characters because, well, characters are less important than ideas in satire.
Just how seriously should we take it?
Not my favourite novel by Peter Carey, but definitely worth reading.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In 2010, on a chilly autumn morning in Melbourne, Gaby Baillieux releases the Angel Worm into the computers of Australia’s prison system. Many prisoners, including hundreds of asylum seekers walk free.
But, because an American corporation runs prison security, the worm also infects close to 5000 American places of incarceration. Was the American intrusion intended?
Felix Moore, who considers himself ‘Australia’s last serving left-wing journalist’ has no doubt. He’s convinced that Gaby’s act was part of a long-running covert conflict between Australia and America. What long running covert conflict? You know, the one that dates back to the Battle of Brisbane in 1942, includes the vexed issue of Pine, and the coup against Gough Whitlam in 1975.
Felix Moore himself is in a spot of bother. He’s just lost a big libel case and his wife has kicked him out. Fortunately, his good mate, property developer Woody Townes has a job for Felix. Woody is going to fund Felix to write Gaby’s biography. He’s concerned that the USA might extradite Gaby.
And then it all gets complicated. Getting Gaby (who just happens to have been born on 11 November 1975) to co-operate may be a challenge. And then, there’s her film-star mother.
Enough. It’s a complicated story that would benefit from rereading. It’s a satire that requires knowledge/memory of events that many of us have forgotten (if we ever knew them). That’s amnesia. It’s a satire about activism, journalism, politics and the relationship between Australia and the USA. It’s a satire with some fairly unlikable characters because, well, characters are less important than ideas in satire.
Just how seriously should we take it?
Not my favourite novel by Peter Carey, but definitely worth reading.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
sam_masnick's review against another edition
1.0
There isn't anything about this book I liked! The story was disjointed with no flow and the characters unlikeable.
sawyerbell's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Goodreads First Reads for providing me with a free copy of Amnesia.
Peter Carey is always a hit and miss author for me. I love his vivid, muscular prose and the way he brings a setting to life but sometimes have trouble engaging with his characters and plots. This proved true for Amnesia as well. While Felix, the beaten down journalist and Gaby,the cyberpunk activist, were intermittently interesting, the plot was noir-ishly murky and ultimately not as interesting as the blurb seemed to promise.
Peter Carey is always a hit and miss author for me. I love his vivid, muscular prose and the way he brings a setting to life but sometimes have trouble engaging with his characters and plots. This proved true for Amnesia as well. While Felix, the beaten down journalist and Gaby,the cyberpunk activist, were intermittently interesting, the plot was noir-ishly murky and ultimately not as interesting as the blurb seemed to promise.
chukg's review against another edition
3.0
Well written with realistically drawn characters, especially the main guy, but most of them are at least moderately unpleasant people. Cool to see some old computer stuff (Zork & BBS) that I know about, also I learned some Australian history. Much more a character study than a genre book, which was not really what I was expecting from the blurb (but goes along with the author's previous work).