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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such an amazing book with a great concept and ideas. Beautifully written from the perspective of young Eli who is so desperate to understand everything in the world around him. I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. It was so engaging with an amazing plot, story line and characters.
“I’m a good man,’ Slim says. ‘But I’m a bad man too. And that’s like all men, kid. We all got a bit o’ good and a bit o’ bad in us. The tricky part is learnin’ how to be good all the time and bad none of the time. Some of us get that right. Most of us don’t.”
A sharp, beautifully written, Australian coming of age story filled with drugs, love, sadness and magic.
Journalist, Ted Dalton, won almost every Australian award with this debut, and it’s not difficult to see why. Boy Swallows Universe has some of the best writing I’ve seen this year. I wanted to race through this book because of the fast-paced plot but couldn’t as I constantly wanted to reread the striking sentences and passages.
Eli (12) and August Bell (13) have an infamous babysitter, Arthur Slim Halliday (based on a real person), known for his multiple breakouts from Brisbane jail. Slim looks after the brothers when their mother and stepdad are off selling Heroine. In a world filled with violent drug dealers, depression, alcoholism and domestic abuse Eli is trying to figure out which of the men in his live are good or bad, and how he can be a good person. The special bond between Eli and August, who has elective mutism, is one of the most compelling elements of the novel.
My only criticism would be that some of this felt a bit far-fetched and unrealistic, but as we all know truth is stranger than fiction, and a big part of this story was based on the author’s childhood in a housing commission in Brisbane. Although some parts of this grit-lit novel are quite dark, there is an omnipresent sense of love.
If you want to try something that mashes a few different genres and has a distinct writing style, this is for you. Highly recommended.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars
I don't think I have felt this relieved to finish a book in a long time.
I felt myself skimming pages, not really focusing, not really paying attention to the story.
I was daydreaming, thinking about what I was going to make myself for dinner, thinking that at 4:30pm, maybe it's time I take my first shower of the day.
But I’d turn the other page, and I was immersed in the story and literary laughing out loud.
How does that even happen?
I suppose that's a redeeming point though...
Another redeeming point for me was the Australian humor and slang. It was just so on point and the East Coast setting really made me feel at home while reading this.
But, if you're keen on reading this book, and you're not Australian, you're not going to have a single clue on what the fuck all of the slang and references are referring to.
You'll whisper to yourself "What the fuck is a thunderbox?"
One more thing, I just cannot get over the fact at how tedious this book was, how the author was so obsessed with the word "bitumen" like please, for the love of god if I see that word again, my eyes will roll out of their sockets.
The style of writing didn't really do it for me, it didn't tickle my fancy and I'm probably the only person who didn't fall in love with this book.
Oh well...
I don't think I have felt this relieved to finish a book in a long time.
I felt myself skimming pages, not really focusing, not really paying attention to the story.
I was daydreaming, thinking about what I was going to make myself for dinner, thinking that at 4:30pm, maybe it's time I take my first shower of the day.
But I’d turn the other page, and I was immersed in the story and literary laughing out loud.
How does that even happen?
I suppose that's a redeeming point though...
Another redeeming point for me was the Australian humor and slang. It was just so on point and the East Coast setting really made me feel at home while reading this.
But, if you're keen on reading this book, and you're not Australian, you're not going to have a single clue on what the fuck all of the slang and references are referring to.
You'll whisper to yourself "What the fuck is a thunderbox?"
One more thing, I just cannot get over the fact at how tedious this book was, how the author was so obsessed with the word "bitumen" like please, for the love of god if I see that word again, my eyes will roll out of their sockets.
The style of writing didn't really do it for me, it didn't tickle my fancy and I'm probably the only person who didn't fall in love with this book.
Oh well...
“The downside is life is short and has to end. The upside is it comes with bread, wine and books.”
Remarkably shallow: this felt like the script of a second tier Australian movie, out stayed its welcome, and had remarkably little to say. Many others have loved it. If like me you found the first half hour shallow, then abandon your read, it did not improve for me
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an incredibly well-written book and a fascinating story that felt like it was put down in one fell swoop. I often stopped and re-read a sentence because it was written with so much force behind it - like his fingers hit the keyboard fast, trying to keep up with his thoughts. What a ride!
At the end, he wrote that the characters were taken from his life but I still find it remarkable that he "got them" so well, inside and out, with all their problems and all that made them human. This is a book about real love and real life. There's not a note in it that rings false.
It's quirky, it's funny, it's sad, it's scary, and it's a little bit of brilliant. Kudos to the editors, who he thanks at the end of the book, for seeing his vision and guiding what could have been a disastrous explosion of words and thoughts into a remarkable story. I have no doubt that I'll read his next book, and hope he writes one.
At the end, he wrote that the characters were taken from his life but I still find it remarkable that he "got them" so well, inside and out, with all their problems and all that made them human. This is a book about real love and real life. There's not a note in it that rings false.
It's quirky, it's funny, it's sad, it's scary, and it's a little bit of brilliant. Kudos to the editors, who he thanks at the end of the book, for seeing his vision and guiding what could have been a disastrous explosion of words and thoughts into a remarkable story. I have no doubt that I'll read his next book, and hope he writes one.