ipreferquiet 's review for:

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

3.0

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After I finished this book I felt like I had spent a month in West Australia of half a century ago, that's how authentic and real the setting felt to me. It paints a picture of two working class families in the 40s through the 60s. How the families interact and how their lives get woven together by living in the same big house is just part of the story. Underlying it there are all sorts of spiritual things going on, from an aboriginal old man showing up and disappearing throughout the book, ghosts in the walls of the house, the house that speaks, oh and a pig speaking in tongues... it has lots hilarious moments, which make up nicely for the boring parts. I found it sometimes hard to keep listening, and at times it became a chore, because of how amoral and foolish most characters are. In the second part of the book the author redeems them somewhat, and they become more sympathetic.