"Breath" by Tim Winton

[Beanpole]

Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids.
The Godson remains a firm favourite in the Tweed Valley for obvious reasons.

The Ultimate Aphrodisiac and Crime Scene Cesnock arent bad either.
Unfortunately he couldn't keep pace with the reinvention of Bondi in a lot of novels since he now lives in Terrigal.

[Clif]

Terrigal

Poor son-of-a-b!tch

How can you be writing about a tough crime-fighting hard man, and live at Terrigal

[Beanpole]

Yep, I reckon he really got the flavour of old time Bondi and the X because he lived it.

[Larry]

How's this book ( Breath) for a 16 year old ?

Mind you, the kid is a fair reader and has a pretty all around view of things -

[Beanpole]

Dunno Larry.
I reckon he or she will be destined to spend too much time deconstructing it as a High School Text.

[Beanpole]

I also think Winton is too escapist for the East Coast.

[Damage]

They were unanimous in their approval on the First Tuesday Book Club last night. ie Byrne et al.

[barrelman]

I liked the whole Les Norton thing for a while until it reached the point of total tediousness. Read them all on numerous surfing trips. Basically a case of same ol same ol. He should have just stuck with 3 or so follow ups after “Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids”. In fact that character Les Norton was based on a real life Kings Cross bouncer. Yea… he had a handle bar mo but you wouldn’t have a go at him. He was as tuff as nails. A real relic from the days when every single copper was bent and assault charges where generally swept under the table (if you had the right connections). They once did an expose on the real Les Norton in a penthouse magazine many years ago.I accidently came across him between tossing.

[Buff_Brad]

They once did an expose on the real Les Norton in a penthouse magazine many years ago.I accidently came across him between tossing.

Very funny.

[macgreggor]

"The wave drove onto the shoal and the report cannoned across the water and slapped against my chest"

I couldn't put this book down, and besides, a grey rainy day is a good day to sleep in and get out of bed at lunchtime. Winton delivers another suscinct analogy of the surfing lifestyle immortalised in time..........

Brilliant

[marcus]

loved the turning, havent read any others yet.

[Damage]

"The wave drove onto the shoal and the report cannoned across the water and slapped against my chest"

Yes i remember reading that line and thinking what the bloody hell is the report

[Beanpole]

They were unanimous in their approval on the First Tuesday Book Club last night. ie Byrne et al.

Thats enough reason to boycott the book right there.

I remember seeing an Australian Story I think it was on Robert G. Barrett. It featured him paddling his goat boat in a lagoon at Terrigal. More keg than six pack thats for sure. Really funny considering the books always have Norton doing 20 laps of the beach in a racing ski he's borrowed followed by stair climbs and a work out with the bag.

At least the cooking parts obviously come straight from the heart of an old butcher.

[Damage]

They were unanimous in their approval on the First Tuesday Book Club last night. ie Byrne et al.

Thats enough reason to boycott the book right there.

Of course it is.

[Beanpole]

The big Jen lost me after she loudly proclaimed her dislike of Hemingway even when the rest of the literati on the show were wetting themselves. Most had not read his books or had ignored them since high school. This is the cream of our literary establishment-"Theyre the cream all right, all rich and thick." to quote James Joyce.

[Beanpole]

Sorry, it was Samuel Beckett I quoted. Wrong Irishman.
He said it about the private school boys he was teaching in Dublin.

[Nick Carroll]

Australian literary establishment. There's three words no man should use in the same sentence.

Of course Jennifer didn't like Hemingway; Hemingway wrote about men, and she's married to Andrew Denton.

[Damage]

This is the cream of our literary establishment

Oh bollocks. (to quote other lesser known Irishmen; pretty sure i have that quote right).

Arn't they just people who enjoy reading, albeit with a profile, and get together to talk about it, once a month? I'm pretty sure Jen B would hardly describe herself as a doyen of the australian book club scene.

Combining a bit of beanie's tall poppy with some of NC's cultural cringe and this thread is taking a very australian turn indeed. (as opposed to a big group of aussie blokes discussing literature which i think its safe to say is very un-australian).