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Loading... The Egyptologist (2004)by Arthur Phillips
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None No current Talk conversations about this book. This is a fascinating book not for the easily disturbed or offended. While I will probably never read it again, it was definitely worth reading, though it left me with a sort of creepy feeling. Truly a book with layers of texture, mostly due to its multiple points of view. ( )THIS is one of my favorite books of all time. With a sense of humor akin to Douglas Adams, this novel hosts some bizarre characters who speak the most ludicrous dialogue. The digs at academia and the role of authored history itself are fascinating, honest at times, and always funny. The labyrinthine plot snakes across continents with a mix of ancient Egypt, gum-shoe detective work and layers and layers of elaborate lies that would make Baron Muchanhausen blush and cry. The finale involving the 'discovery' of the tomb is dementedly funny and pathetic at once. My copy is autographed, from a session where I went to see Phillips and it was attended by.....four people. Yes, a major author event at the Broward County Main Library and only 4 people showed up. It was sad in way, but Phillips was very articulate and funny. We enjoyed immensely. talk @ fetish/fascination with Egypt — interesting written style By memory / + fellow's mind defective Never really figured it out! Just as Howard Carter unveils the tomb of Tutankhamun, making the most dazzling find in the history of archaeology, Oxford-educated Egyptologist Ralph Trilipush is digging himself into trouble, having staked his professional reputation and his fiancee's fortune on a scrap of hieroglyphic pornography. Meanwhile, a relentless Australian detective sets off on the case of his career, spanning the globe in search of a murderer. And another murderer. And possibly another murderer. I had high expectations for this based on reviews I had read, and felt a little let down. I think I saw through some of the fundamental revelations of the plot pretty early on, which made it seem like many episodes in the story went on much too long. Too bad; a good basic idea, but executed a little ham-handedly. One of the strangest pieces of fiction I've ever read, but enjoyable. This epistolary novel moves back and forth from 1922 Egypt and America and 1954 Sydney, Australia. It consists of entries in a journal of an archaeologist, Ralph Trilipush, on the track on the tomb of an obscure king, Atum hadu [Atum-is-Aroused] who has written erotic verse; letters and cables to and from his [Ralph's] betrothed; and correspondence from a retired detective, Ferrell, in an old folks' home in Sydney to a certain Mr. Macy, who wishes to fill in gaps in his family history, mostly relating to events surrounding a great-aunt. 1922 is the year Howard Carter astonished the world with the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Our archaeologist wishes to outshine Carter, with a greater discovery. There are 4 murders involved. The novel traces the feckless archaeologist and his bumbling as well as giving us Ferrell's memories. Early on, I figured out NONE of the narrators was reliable. What was true and what was false in their telling? There were certainly questions in Ralph's background and he revealed himself as a confidence trickster. How much of what we hear or read should we believe? How much do we delude ourselves? I took the book as a wicked satire on archaeologists and their funding. Note: I played around with the letters in our hero's name; it's an anagram for the author's name.
The cast of Arthur Phillips's comic novel "The Egyptologist" could have come from one of those deliciously campy old Hollywood mummy movies.
References to this work on external resources.
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![]() Audible.com2 editions of this book were published by Audible.com.
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