Tim Winton – The Turning (by L’Yan)

 

Have you read any Tim Winton?  You will either love him or hate him.  I can’t get enough of him. Stay tuned for many more mentions of his name from me!

Do you ever fall in love with a character and then be devastated when their story is over?  This is what I love about Tim Winton: his characters make appearances throughout a number of stories.  You then find amazing, complicated relationships between them all as they appear in each other’s histories.  I love to find out more about his characters, as they have begun to feel like old friends! ‘The Turning’ is my favourite of his books, as it is a collection of short stories featuring my old friends from his previous (and later) work.

I was somewhat disappointed with his new ‘Breath’ (even though it won the Miles Franklin – congratulations Timmy on your fourth by the way).  It seemed to lack… something.  I don’t know if it was the characters or the plot or what, I will have to read it again.  I just remember being disappointed, since I went and bought it and read it the day it was released.  Yes, I am that obsessed.  I think because I love his short stories so much I use them as a yardstick, even though I know the genres are very different.  ‘The Turning’, for me, perfects (hyperbole) the short story collection, as the stories are all related, whether through common place, character or event, so you never get the feeling of disconnectedness that random collections can leave you with.  ‘Breath’ feels a bit like a short story that got longer and longer and longer like it lost its way.  Well, it winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award gives me an excuse to read it again.

Not that I need an excuse to read Tim Winton.  Ever.

L’Yan

Filed under Awesome Aussie Authors | Tags: Book Reviews, The Turning, Tim Winton | Comment (0)