LoveReading Says
April 2011 Guest Editor Lesley Lokko on Tim Winton...
Another Australian who’s got a way with words. I read Dirt Music years ago and was blown away by his prose, his magical attention to details, landscapes, weather, emotions, particularly when things are going wrong between couples...just stunning. I then read Breath, a surfing-coming-of-age tale that’s about so much more than waves and wet dreams and decided that I wouldn’t let the Noughties end without a visit Down Under. I didn’t...and his descriptions, particularly of the Queensland coastline, were staggeringly accurate. A real gem of a writer.
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Like all good literature this is a novel on many levels. The exhilaration of danger, the power of the sea and the joy of youth challenging the elements sing from the pages, but beneath that is the pain of love, friendship and coming-of-age. This is a beautiful book.
Comparison: Sebastian Barry, Peter Carey, Kate Grenville.
Sarah Broadhurst
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Breath Synopsis
'Exhilarating' - Sunday Times
'Rapturous' - Sunday Telegraph
'A remarkable tale of grace and danger' - Financial Times
When paramedic Bruce Pike is called out to deal with another teenage adventure gone wrong, he knows better than anyone what happened and how. Thirty years before, that dead boy could have been him. Bruce remembers what it was like to be a risk-taking kid, to feel that thrill and that fear . . .
Breath by Tim Winton is the story of Bruce and his best friend Loonie, and the surfing obsession that changed both of their lives. It is about the exhilaration of the sea and the waves, the treacherous addiction to risk, and the intoxicating power of forbidden love.
Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.
About This Edition
About Tim Winton
Tim Winton was born in Perth in 1960. He is the author of many books, including novels, a collection of stories, non-fiction and books for children. His first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian /Vogel Award. Cloudstreet won the Banjo Award and the Miles Franklin Award in Australia and the Deo Gloria Prize in England, and has been successfully adapted for the theatre. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice, for The Riders (1995) and Dirt Music (2002).
Author photo © Kate Eshelby
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