Winton writes about the relentless restlessness of ambition and the illusion of achievement the elation of success alongside the disillusioning devastation of failure.ĭeceptively complex, with mesmerising storytelling and lyrical prose, Breath is subtle and sleek and poignant and powerful. RELATED: Review: War & Peace - Leo TolstoyĪ story about breath, adolescence and risk-taking, it too is a tale about life in a small town, testing the boundaries of friendship and our ability to seek gratification by selfishly exploiting circumstance. The boys develop an obsession with the has-been 70’s surfing guru and his angry, bitter young wife, and the tale follows the four characters across one hot summer of surfing.
It’s while surfing that the boys meet Sando older and more worldly, he soon takes them under his wing, and teaches them to live life precariously and on the edge. The book looks back on his own tumultuous teenage years in a small mill town in Western Australia, many of which were spent in the water with his friend Loonie. We meet Bruce, a paramedic, who is called to attend the death of a teenager an incident which causes him to reflect on a pivotal point in his own life: the summer when he surfed Old Smoky, the biggest, most dangerous wave on the Point, dodged a shark, fell in love, and found and lost friendship.
And it was on seeing said book’s trailer for the soon-to-be-released film adaptation that I swiftly moved Tim Winton’s tale right to the top of my reading pile.Ī coming of age story about water, surfing and survival, Breath entices its reader from the very first page. I have a dog-eared and dusty copy of Cloud Street that I bought from a book shop in a small village skirting the Blue Mountains when I visited with my mum and step-dad last year I also have in my possession his much lauded Dirt Music which I purchased during one of my prolonged trips to Paddington’s Berkelouw Books.Īnd yet, it wasn’t until a recent trip to Byron and a literary shopping spree at The Book Room at Byron that I bought myself a copy of Breath. Beloved by readers all over the world, he’s something of an Australian treasure, with an impressive back catalogue of books, many of which have been shortlisted for – or won – prestigious literary prizes, including the Miles Franklin and the Man Booker. I’ve been meaning to read Tim Winton ever since I moved to Australia two and a half years ago.
0 kommentar(er)
