Bliss

What lies outside the confines of the rat-race? In "Bliss' Peter Carey explores the life that exists outsides the confines of structured reality. Harry Joy experiences a state of bliss on suffering a heart attack but on recovery must reconcile himself to a repugnant world devoid of caring or morality. Or does he? His character yearns for a more sprititual existence as exemplified by Honey Barbara a hippy from one would presume Northern NSW or Queensland. His eventual attainment of this lifestyle provides a fitting end to this novel.

It's hard to surprise anyone who has read extensively -- the plot is usually predictable, the outcome clear, and the path hackneyed.This Carey guy has renewed my faith in the English language. I thought before starting that Harry Joy would have a heartattack, decide he was in Hell, then wander around for 300 pages before finally saying, "Oops, I was wrong."I had no idea where this book was going until it got there, and on the way it was funny, insightful, vivid, with likeable and hateable characters populating an insane but real world.It's too bad he's so unknown, this guy can write.

At the beginning of this quirky and original tale, Harry Joy thinks he has it all. He is proud of his children, has a successful career, is still in love with his beautiful and intelligent wife, is best friends with his boss. Then, he has a heart attack, and has one of those near-death out of body experiences where he approaches a zone of complete bliss, and a zone of complete horror. During his recovery, he becomes convinced that he truly is dead, and that he is in that zone of complete horror, indeed in hell. Suspecting this, he begins to find evidence that he is right! After one of the worst of the revelations, he has an interlude with a young woman who lives an alternate lifestyle in a much more remote area. He falls in love with Honey Barbara, and his life begins to change. And then Harry Joy begins a struggle to truly change his entire life and self, and finally attain complete bliss. This is a silly/sad/sweet story filled with surprises, human frailty, and poetic beauty. It is a story to become a lasting favorite. And, surprise of surprises, the movie matches the book

Peter Careys' book 'Bliss' is a pure poetry (and in places almost reads like it). If you ever see it in a book store, just pick it up and read the last page to get an idea of the artistry of this man. Harry Joy has had a heart attack and experienced several minutes of clinical death. As he recovers, he begins to doubt that he came back to life at all and Harry takes a long, hard look at his life, family, friends and job.

This book is the best I have ever read. The story is interesting as are the characters, events, descriptions, emotions, etc. As the author is Austrailian, I have found that few people in the US have even heard of him. He is truly a gifted storyteller.