Tim Winton is one of Australia's great contemporary writers. I have read other novels of his and enjoyed them a lot, I'm hoping the same applies to Dirt Music as I've asked you both to read it with me. Thank you both by the way for indulging my Australiana choices over the last few months.
In the many reviews for Dirt Music I've read lofty praise for its sense of place and atmospheric language and also some criticism for its choppy sentence style. The Novel is set in the dramatic landscape of Western Australia, it is apparently a love story about people stifled by grief and regret, and a novel about the odds of breaking with the past and about the lure of music, hmm
Dirt Music is about to be released as a movie. I have seen Breath, another of Winton's novels adapted to film and while beautifully shot also on the Western Australian coast it did not come close to fully expressing the vastness of places Winton takes his readers inside peoples minds and hearts with his writing.
All the book club questions I read seemed to contain spoilers so perhaps instead as we read this novel we can think more about the Author's expression of sense of place, how well he captures human emotion and suffering, and are his descriptions of the landscape atmospheric, and of course how we feel about the short choppy sentences!
I hope we all enjoy,
much love x
Hello Ladies
ReplyDeleteI’m writing this on a gloriously sunny morning as Jay and a friend are walking purposefully round the garden. They’re planning to create some kind of storage area. Late summer will be less than peaceful I fear, and perhaps we’ve had our last BBQ this year. Been exceptionally busy with visitors and day trips to ‘places of interest’. The cooking schedule has been very demanding. Nevertheless, I’ve been nothing like as busy as you, Katie. Incredible to think that Benjamin is six. How was the week in Uluru, Nancy? Indeed, where is Uluru? Lovely to read of your happy time in Melbourne.
And thank you for Tim Winton’s ‘Dirt Music’. Wonderful writing; convincing, dialogue; powerful description. I have to say the account of Fox on Coronation Gulf was perhaps a little too detailed for my peace of mind, but communicated a huge geographical, scientific and aesthetic intelligence. Land and seascapes were etched in the mind.
Short choppy sentences certainly did not interfere with my huge enjoyment of Winton’s prose. Didn’t notice them. So to write this review I searched for some. (Good thing I didn’t get a tape from the library!) Page 125 has lots. This is because we are eavesdropping on Fox’s thoughts. And surely we don’t think in complete sentences. Conversation (pp.180-181) is much the same – we don’t speak in fluent sentences. I’m all for a few choppy sentences – poetry depends upon them – deliberately broken into lines to highlight meaning, images - p.251 and p252 for example. And surely the same thing goes for music? Fox’s use of one musical note created with nylon string provides an escape from his surroundings: ‘ . . . you go up and down your note like a pup up and down a dune . . . until you’re not one moment empty, nor one bit lost or one bit scared . . .’ (p.388) is both amazing and credible – wonderfully capturing human emotion and suffering. I would have thought this has the potential to be a brilliant film, Nancy.
I don’t know about breaking with the past: Fox, Georgie, Jim and others are clearly trying to come to terms with it. (I’m trying to see my country’s exit from the EU in that light! Shocking inability to come to terms with losing an empire, to find a place in the world . . .) Beaver says of Jim: ‘ . . . some men . . . don’t get pangs about their past. They’re fuckin’ terrified of what they’ve been. And they’re scared they might be the same person they used to be.’ Jim may never be able to break with his past. Fox, however, does seem to review and come to terms with his previous life, reassessing Darkie and Sal.
I’m glad Winton provided what I’m assuming will be a happy ending, but do worry for Fox’s eyesight! Horribly realistic assessment of the value of sunglasses - which I rarely wear!
I most certainly enjoyed this, Nancy, – thank you very much.
Much love to you both
Sue
Hello to you both!
ReplyDeleteFall has begun to show its face, much to my great displeasure. School starts in a few short days for Benjamin, much to his great displeasure. Lillian will start the week after that but she seems excited. Hopefully your busy schedule is also very enjoyable, Sue. May Jay’s project go smoothly without too much stress for you. It seems like you are trying to lure us to visit Australia, Nancy! And I have to say I am quite tempted!
Mr. Winton’s descriptions of the landscapes were incredible. They were very luring. It makes me want to start planning a trip to halfway across the world! I also looked up what quolls were and am smitten with those adorable marsupials! Australia has certainly moved up on my list of places to visit after reading Winton’s work. I enjoyed his choppy writing. It helped progress the story well and I agree with Sue’s comment about people not thinking in complete sentences.
I really could not understand Jim or his logic of uniting Georgie and Lu to redeem his past. He sounds like a desperate man grasping at straws. Maybe this was Winton’s intent? I mostly identified with Georgie and the loss of her sense of purpose after the death of Mrs. Jubail. I feel that most people in the medical field have one patient who haunts them and even more so for people who work with cancer patients. Nancy described her memory of the whale carcass being triggered by the dead fish in our last novel, similarly I was reminded of a former patient while reading Winton’s description of the fungating tumor. His description couldn’t be more on point which makes me wonder how many fungating tumors he has come in contact with. A truly deeply horrible smell and absolutely repulsive to see on an actual person!
I felt the ending was left open in regards to whether Lu lives. It reminds me of Charlotte Bronte’s Villette where the reader is left to decide whether M. Paul dies in a shipwreck or returns to fulfill his promises of love for Lucy. I am not sure what kind of life Georgie and Lu could lead together so it seems fitting to allow the hopeless romantic or the chronic cynic decide their fate.
A very enjoyable novel, Nancy. Thank you. I will recommend this to others.
To more wonderful reading!
Katie
Hello again!
ReplyDeleteHere are just a few books I'd like to add to the list if they are ok with you both:
While I was gone by Sue Miller
Before Women had Wings by Connie May Fowler
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The last one is non-fiction. Please let me know if these are ok!
Much love,
Katie
ReplyDeleteHello Ladies,
I’m finally back from our visit to the red centre of Oz. Sue you probably know Uluru by its European name Ayers Rock. We had an amazing time, saw some incredible sights and went on a few tough but worthwhile hikes. I will spam both your inboxes with photos once I’ve sorted them. Katie it is another reason to visit!! We would be very excited to see you and your family if you ever make it out here. You are welcome to come stay as long as you like. May I suggest you google Quokkas for the most adorable Australian animal ever.
Sue, sounds like Summer was a wonderful time for you and Jay. Hope the building project goes well.
We are in our first week of Spring here and already hot temps have ignited a number of out of control bushfires in SE Queensland and Nth NSW, it’s going to be a yucky one to say the least.
I am so pleased you both enjoyed Dirt Music, Tim Winton is an amazing writer, truly capturing the heart and spirit of the land and its people.
I’ve just read over the excerpts you quoted Sue and feel I need to read the whole story again just to savour not only the story of Lu Fox again but just to wallow in the writing.
It was Lu Foxes story that resonated with me the most. His tragic life and also the small town prejudices he had to cope with were very sad. His shunning of the great love of his life, music when he couldn’t cope with his survivors guilt to when he began to heal as he allowed music back into his life.
Sue, you are so right about the short sentences. I would hate to write down my own thoughts or some of the conversations Ivars and I have with not a complete sentence in sight! Tim Winton’s use of them was skilful.
So many wonderful colourful characters are introduced throughout the story, many with such interesting stories of the their own. I find myself wondering what happened to Rusty, did he catch up to the guy who backed into him?
How did Horrie cope after he lost Bess?
Katie, I am like you and inspired to see the landscapes Winton described so vividly. I have been doing prelims on a trip from Perth to Broome for next year some time, so excited about that.
love to all