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A review by essjay1
The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton
5.0
Brilliant on many levels, but most of all, this is a great story. We are right by Jaxie’s side from the opening sentence, dragged out into the parched red dirt of the West Australian outback.
This is one of those rare books that you finish and just flip straight back to Chapter 1 for another go. And that opening chapter - good enough the first time, perfect the second.
Winton has always had a gift for language that draws you in and he seems to get better with every book. I love that he doesn’t shy away from the unpolished, less beautiful things in life, that he gives voice to characters who most people will never encounter, or even believe exist. He understands isolation, and sees strength of character where others are too scared to look, or perhaps too narrow minded.
I like that Winton rarely tries to tell his readers what to think - he simply gives us Jaxie with all his 15 yr old angst and wisdom, and old Fintan with his Irish philosophy and deep secrets, and let’s us figure it out for ourselves. There is plenty of symbolism to discuss like the goat on the gamble or the salt pan mirage, plenty of commentary to be made around themes of toxic masculinity, domestic violence to name two, and ethical quandaries to deliberate.
Or we can just think about that tricky dance between hope and hopelessness that both men perform. I’ll leave you with a quote:
“You could burn a skyscraper down with what’s in me.”
This is one of those rare books that you finish and just flip straight back to Chapter 1 for another go. And that opening chapter - good enough the first time, perfect the second.
Winton has always had a gift for language that draws you in and he seems to get better with every book. I love that he doesn’t shy away from the unpolished, less beautiful things in life, that he gives voice to characters who most people will never encounter, or even believe exist. He understands isolation, and sees strength of character where others are too scared to look, or perhaps too narrow minded.
I like that Winton rarely tries to tell his readers what to think - he simply gives us Jaxie with all his 15 yr old angst and wisdom, and old Fintan with his Irish philosophy and deep secrets, and let’s us figure it out for ourselves. There is plenty of symbolism to discuss like the goat on the gamble or the salt pan mirage, plenty of commentary to be made around themes of toxic masculinity, domestic violence to name two, and ethical quandaries to deliberate.
Or we can just think about that tricky dance between hope and hopelessness that both men perform. I’ll leave you with a quote:
“You could burn a skyscraper down with what’s in me.”