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tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘… yes, it is all there in that immense cloud of knowing…’
I started reading this. I put it down. I picked it up, and at about the thirty-page mark I was intrigued enough to continue. I thank Lisa’s review for this. But let’s start with the book blurb:
‘In 1910 the famed escapologist Harry Houdini made an ill-fated attempt to become the first person to fly an aircraft over Australian soil—yet while Houdini is remembered today for his failure, the true record-holder has been forgotten. This quirk of history becomes the focus for the obsessions of Bernard Cripp, world-weary scion of an ailing family circus, who tries to unearth every detail of Houdini’s flight in order to re-enact it. But why is Bernard so single-minded? As his manic testimony unspools, his story takes on a darker tone: he is, in fact, in mourning for a wife and child he has lost to the skies, and paralysed by the uncertainty surrounding their deaths. If his efforts to re-create history cannot bring back his loved ones, can they at least bring him peace as he struggles to live with his loss?’
Bernard’s research, which he calls his ‘my attempt at an attempt of his attempt’ possibly tells the reader all they need to know about how the story will unfold. It is a wild (but progressively less confusing) ride through ambition and grief, through love and remembrance. At the same time, knowing that Houdini was not the first person to make a controlled powered flight over Australia (at Digger’s Rest north of Melbourne in 1910) might lead you to wonder who as the first? Not important: this novel ‘isn’t what something is but rather what something isn’t.’ And so, we follow Arthur Bernard Cripp on his journey. We learn that he is the latest in a line of circus owners and we learn why he is obsessed with the recreation of Houdini’s flight.
But it isn’t just the planned flight which captures the reader’s attention, it is the myriad of facts and ideas that Cripp shares as he traverses a world made both more accessible and more dangerous by the information age. More dangerous? Cripp lost his wife and daughter on flight MH370. Progress has a dark side as well as failures.
Intriguing.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
astridandlouise's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kidgloves's review
4.0
This is a fascinating novel. It took me a while to get into it, but once accustomed to the voice it was like getting pulled along by a strong current. Ouston has imagined the manic desperation of someone trying to navigate the horror of losing their wife and child on flight MH370. Along with the obsessive pursuit of replicating a flight by Harry Houdini, the narrator explores a dizzying array of topics tangential to flight and information recall. I heard the novel described as Wikipedian, which is a good description of the endless digressions possible when reading those entries; but Ouston’s digressions, though wild and unpredictable at times, always seem to circle back smoothly to the main narrative. I thought the most powerful part of the book was the clinical dissection of available information about MH370’s last flight and of its captain. I was disappointed with the novel’s ending, but upon reflection it seems true to a story that tries to paint an honest picture of how life sweeps along through unclear waypoints and lacks any final destination.
captainfez's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kingtoad's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
wtb_michael's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
More weird Tas-lit! A spiralling, stream of consciousness novel that circles around Houdini's flight over Diggers Rest in the early 1900s, the disappearance of MH370, and the complex connections between technology and human wonder. It's a bit pretentious, but the good kind
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