![]() ![]() In addition, his eye for physical detail-and the ways in which such details open small or large windows onto character-is on par with that of Dickens. ![]() Carey, however, more than withstands the test of time, alluding to the formality of Victorian prose without ever bending over backward to duplicate it. Of course, rewriting a page-turner from the past offers some major perils, not the least of them being comparisons to the original. So, too, is the postcolonial spin that Carey puts on Dickens's material: this time around, the prodigal Maggs is perceived less as an invading alien than a righteous (if not particularly welcome) refugee. ![]() The names, it's true, have been tinkered with, but the book's literary paternity is unmistakable. Jack Maggs is a variation on Great Expectations, in which Dickens's tale is told from the viewpoint of Australian convict Abel Magwitch. In this novel, however, Carey has set himself an even more complicated task-reimagining not only a vanished era but one of that era's masterpieces. As a novelist, Peter Carey is hardly a stranger to the 19th century: his Oscar and Lucinda was a veritable treasure-trove of Victoriana. ![]()
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