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A review by eroga
The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton
5.0
Wow. Just wow. This is tim Winton at his finest. I have just finished this and I’m still processing. In short, an abused teenager, Jaxie, comes home to find his father dead (this isn’t a spoiler, it happens within the first couple of chapters). He then takes off into the bush and comes across an isolated older man.
As in all tim winton’s books, the landscape of Western Australia is a character in its own right. Harsh, brutal but luminescent, the desolation and loneliness underpins the book. Apart from the landscape there are only two major characters, jaxie and the older man, who I don’t want to give too much detail about (spoilers sweetie!) however tim Winton develops them brilliantly, showing Jaxie’s development and growth from a neglected, abused and angry teen into someone who wrestles with doing the right thing and loyalty and family, when he hasn’t had an example of this in his home life. He also explores growing older and regrets and paying for our past sins, and the way this plays on our minds obsessively.
As in all good literature, this book questions what does it mean to be human? What do we want in life? And how do we cope when what we want doesn’t eventuate? When life and circumstances throw a spanner in the works? What is truly important to us as humans?
At times brutal, heartbreaking, tender and humourous, sometimes all at once, the minutia of survival under the odds, whether physical or emotional, is stripped down to the bones. I hope it works out well for jaxie, and he finds what he is looking for.
As in all tim winton’s books, the landscape of Western Australia is a character in its own right. Harsh, brutal but luminescent, the desolation and loneliness underpins the book. Apart from the landscape there are only two major characters, jaxie and the older man, who I don’t want to give too much detail about (spoilers sweetie!) however tim Winton develops them brilliantly, showing Jaxie’s development and growth from a neglected, abused and angry teen into someone who wrestles with doing the right thing and loyalty and family, when he hasn’t had an example of this in his home life. He also explores growing older and regrets and paying for our past sins, and the way this plays on our minds obsessively.
As in all good literature, this book questions what does it mean to be human? What do we want in life? And how do we cope when what we want doesn’t eventuate? When life and circumstances throw a spanner in the works? What is truly important to us as humans?
At times brutal, heartbreaking, tender and humourous, sometimes all at once, the minutia of survival under the odds, whether physical or emotional, is stripped down to the bones. I hope it works out well for jaxie, and he finds what he is looking for.