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lo_oneill 's review for:
Cloudstreet
by Tim Winton
This would not normally be a book that I would have picked up but my work book club chose it for our read of the month, so I found myself starting into this and I am conflicted regarding my thoughts on the book. To tell you the truth, I did debate not finishing it a couple of time.
Winton’s development of the characters was wonderful, they progress gradually and you constantly feel like you are getting to know them more throughout the book, which I know sounds obvious but there are some authors that once they set the ground work it is all about the plot, but not this one, it really is a character driven novel. The only problem with that was that I didn’t really connect with any of the characters which really made this a tough read to get through, especially sense the novel really didn’t have a plot or big build up to something. Just the viewing of the lives of two families that coexist in the same house/back garden.
After finishing this book I was with a sense that this story would have had more resonance with me if I was Australian, but due to being Irish there was a lot of things that I fundamentally struggled to understand about post war Perth – which has set me on a little tangent of looking into Australian history as I have realized a shocking lack of knowledge on the subject!
The story itself is a gritty, family epic that is beautifully written and I can see why people are raving about Winton’s writing in this book, but I still struggled to really love the novel.
Winton’s development of the characters was wonderful, they progress gradually and you constantly feel like you are getting to know them more throughout the book, which I know sounds obvious but there are some authors that once they set the ground work it is all about the plot, but not this one, it really is a character driven novel. The only problem with that was that I didn’t really connect with any of the characters which really made this a tough read to get through, especially sense the novel really didn’t have a plot or big build up to something. Just the viewing of the lives of two families that coexist in the same house/back garden.
After finishing this book I was with a sense that this story would have had more resonance with me if I was Australian, but due to being Irish there was a lot of things that I fundamentally struggled to understand about post war Perth – which has set me on a little tangent of looking into Australian history as I have realized a shocking lack of knowledge on the subject!
The story itself is a gritty, family epic that is beautifully written and I can see why people are raving about Winton’s writing in this book, but I still struggled to really love the novel.