This is the first Peter Carey that I'm not very excited about.

Perhaps it was becuase I listened to the audio version. Or maybe it was because it followed A Fraction of the Whole so closely, but it just didn't gel for me. I have been a fan of Carey's writing, which I think  is superb, but here there was way too much exposition. Again this may not have jarred so much if I were reading it myself, but hearing it read, made my mind wander a lot. 

I also think the length of the book did not help at all. Even though my mind wandered and I lost whole chunks of the narrative, I still got the overarching story, so I didn't bother to go back most of the time. 

Neither did I relate to the characters much. It was also very weird and confusing when the MC, Herbert Badgerey, referred to himself in the third person occasionally. 

I got through the over 24 hours though so it wasn't all bad. Just not up to my usual standard of enjoyment.