Shallows by Tim Winton

After my Tim Winton rant a post or so ago, I found this in my brothers bookshelf and helped myself to it.  It’s early Tim Winton and a great book although I think he’s an even better writer now.  It was clearly a text from my brothers school days, so my version had a few interesting notations in the margins to add to the analysis. 

Set in a small coastal Western Australian town where whaling is the key industry, it examines the issues of anti-whaling, small town mentality, history, family and all the other themes that Winton is reknowned for writing about; love, loneliness, water etc. 

Winton’s way of not filling in the gaps just keeps the pages turning.  Great.

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

A memoir?  Could have fooled me.  If this story wasn’t overtly described as a true story I would never have believed it was possible.  Having said that, it’s a pretty easy read and quite funny at moments.  I haven’t seen the movie although am now keen knowing that Annette  Bening plays Augusten’s mother. 

The story is Augusten’s recollections of a very strange up-bringing; his mother signing over her son’s guardianship to her shrink even though there’s a raving pedophile in his home.  The bizarre and unusual characters  that Augusten finds himself with are both funny and scary.  Agnes eating dry dogfood; Pooh doing a poo; and Hope with her cat are all very peculiar but portrayed in a way that makes them seem more bohemian than bananas.   

Give it a go, it’s not a bad read.

Breath by Tim Winton

It’s disappointing when people you admire don’t live up to your admiration.  I have read most of Tim Winton’s books, some of them now considered modern day classics;  Cloudstreet; The Riders; Dirt Music – all fantastic novels, memorable for characters, prose and Australian imagery.  

Not long after I read Dirt Music I had a chance encounter with Tim Winton, down at Lygon Street in a well known pizzeria.  I won’t go into the details (people I’ve told this story to will be shaking their heads and muttering something about letting go) but I was left thinking he’s not as wonderful as I expected.  So for a while I’ve had a bit of Tim Winton moratorium.  All through last year and the launch of Breath with everyone telling me what a fantastic read it is, the First Tuesday Book Club awarding top marks etc etc I’ve stayed strong and resisted. 

Until last week.

In a moment of lethargy and with a desire to read some quality fiction, I lapsed, purchased a copy and was hooked from the first moment.  I managed to finish it in two days (two hours each day on the train) and am now cursing myself for waiting for so long to read it.

I’m not going to give away anything about the story, I’m only going to agree that it deserves it’s Miles Franklin Award .  I am also really pleased that in his acceptance speech, Winton chose to rail against territorial copyright that the Productivity Commission is currently evaluating.  The speech is delivered with poise and logic, part of it even featured on one of the 7.30 Report this week.         

I’m not sure if Tim Winton is getting better or it’s just been too long between drinks.  Get yourself a copy, it’s even in paperback so there are no excuses.  As for my Tim Winton encounter?  All is forgiven, it’s in the past now…

Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant

This book has been on my radar for quite a while, a few years infact, but I just haven’t gotten around to reading it until now.  I recall receiving the Scribe Publications e-newsletter and seeing the great reviews it attracted and I think it also sold out for a time.  So, although I’m on a mission to read all the un-read books on my shelf before I buy more, I lapsed a couple of weeks ago on a trip to Borders.  It was on the 3 for 2 table with a couple of other books I sought. 

Joe Bageant was born in the small American town of Winchester and after being away for a couple of decades or so returns to his roots.  His story of rediscovering the people he grew up with (beer-drinking, church-going, gun-loving, low wage workers) provides the most interesting current day commentary of middle (low?) America.  The subtitle – Dispatches From America’s Class War - is spot on.  As someone who was born into this life, Bageant is able to comment on the attitudes and lifestyles of these people without sounding patronising and holier than thou.  He uses humour and empathy to tell this story and what results is an eminently readable book that at moments made me laugh out loud, but at other moments filled me with sadness.  The way his subjects are completely uninformed and misguided about their attitudes to government, guns and mortgages and the acceptance ‘dumbing down’ is both a social and political commentary.  This is the America we rarely hear about.

The edition I read was recently released with a new foreword which brought the book right up to the post-GFC climate.  This is an essential read for anyone interested in American current affairs.