A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

Published by Penguin, U.K

Pages: 711

Country: Australia

This debut book by Steve Toltz (which was short listed for Booker Prize 2008) is about a dysfunctional family, it’s a father-son story set for the most part in Australia.

(This post will reveal nothing much about the plot)

The title is derived from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words – “ 'Tis fine for us to talk: we sit and muse, and are serene, and complete; but the moment we meet with anybody, each becomes a fraction.”

The novel is presented in first person by Jasper Dean (who is now in his early twenties) as he recounts his life journey, reminisces about his father Martin Dean. Martin’s life is in contrast with that of his brother Terry, an infamous criminal who is loved and remembered fondly by the country. Martin on the other hand is a skeptic, a philosopher who eventually ends up being the most hated man in Australia. Jasper’s worst fear is that he’d turn out to be like his father. There is a flashback in the flashback – the part where Jasper learns about his father’s childhood days and his young adult years in Paris. These are put across as narrated by Martin in first person. A portion of the book narrated through the perspective of both the protagonists Jasper and Martin made for an excellent read. (I enjoyed Martin’s narration the best)

This turned out to be one of those books that you enjoy all the while but just cannot pinpoint what exactly was fabulous about it! This maybe because apart from an unpredictable storyline, Toltz presents a lot of ideas through his characters and these points are sure to get you thinking.

This book’s got some unforgettable characters – Anouk, Caroline, Astrid, Eddie and this being a father-son story, it doesn’t dwell much into the character sketch of any one else, but I would’ve loved to read more about the strong female characters.

And now for the brickbats … I’ve got none really. I started out without expecting much, hoping that the level of obscurity that was hinted through the summary would be low. My fear was misplaced; I found the book thoroughly absorbing; the good parts of the book overshadow the so-so ones (which for me were when Martin rants about Death) Oh, just that the book could’ve been brief towards the very end (the parts in Thailand).

The author’s got an amazing sense of humor; the writing style is spontaneous, the everyday-ness of the protagonists’ is well thought out. “A Fraction of the Whole” is touching, witty, irreverent, refreshing ... I give it 5 stars!

You can read an extract at the book’s website.

Quotes

I had only a splinter of awareness back then that no matter what anybody says, choosing between available options is not the same as thinkig for yourself. The only true way of thinking for yourself is to create options of your own options that don’t exist.

Change is when new selves come into the foreground while others recede into forgotten landscapes. Maybe definition of having lived a full life is when every citizen in the hall of selves gets to take you for a spin, the commander the lover the coward the misanthrope the fighter the priest the moral guardian the immoral guardian the lover of life the hater of life the fool the judge the jury the executioner..