Purchased at the YMCA Easter Book Sale in Bendigo (5 for $2!). Instead of book-hunting I should be packing to leave Bendigo in a week - but who could resist bargains like these.
One of the Top 20 Australian Novels as voted. Different cover.

Firstly I must thank tantan for starting the Booker prize winnners bookring which catapulted the reading of this novel to the top of my Mt TBR.
tantan booker prizewinners ring
As at 21st Feb and within a week of commencing, I am over halfway in what looked to be a big read- the novel is over 500 pages long. The writing is complex and is not a book which you can quickly scan. When I discovered there were lots of short chapters, I was able to pace myself and easily get through many chapters at a time.
The detail is wonderful and the characters are well developed. I love the oddball Oscar and Lucinda. Peter Carey takes us from their early separate childhoods, one growing up in NSW and the other in Devon.

Finished this fantastic novel yesterday. I felt a great sense of satisfaction in reading this - certainly the best book I have read this year. The book is longish and sometimes my interest wandered a little but the description and detail were wonderful. Peter Carey wrote it as a very believable factual account rather than the fiction that it is. The ending was worth hanging in for, and was quite surprising.
Off to tantan now for the ring.

Received today thanks to megan. I have a huge pile of books to read (as in read right now), but I'll get to this as soon as I can.

Just an update to say that I'm now just over half-way through this novel. Like meganh I've also found that the short chapters make it much easier to read. I came across this on page 227 which I loved:

"There was, she thought, as she sliced her grey roast beef, so much to be said in favour of a game of cards. One was not compelled to pretend, could be silent without being thought dull, could frown without people being overly solicitous about one's happiness, could triumph over a man and not have to giggle and simper when one did it. One could kill time, obliterate loneliness, have a friendship with strangers one would never see again, and line on that, oiled cycle of anticipation, the expectation that something delicious was about to happen."

Finished this morning, and I must say I loved this! What a story! This won the Booker Prize in 1988 and so far I haven't read anything else that was shortlisted that year. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie was one of the nominees, among others, and I can see already that this Booker Prize project is growing and growing, as I'm just going to have to read some of the other nominees to see how they compare.

This will be heading off to blurbren as soon as I check her address.

received today. Many thanks!

Failed to read it due to lack of interest!
i've contacted the next recipient, will be mailed as soon as i get a reply.

Received today - thanks lady-anglophile. I have a bit of a backlog on the Booker rings now - will get to it as soon as possible, although I am looking forward to it.

I can't believe I have had this book so long - sorry! In my defense, I have been trying to pass it on for a little while but had no response, so it will now be making it's way back to meganh. I will journal my response to the book more fully when I get a little time.
Thanks for arranging the ring, meganh!