Synopses & Reviews
Tim Winton is Australia's best-loved novelist. His new work, Breath, is an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one's limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. It's a story of extremes--extreme sports and extreme emotions. On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrillseeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Why is their mentor's past such forbidden territory? And what can explain his American wife's peculiar behavior? Venturing beyond all limits--in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behavior--there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Full of Winton's lyrical genius for conveying physical sensation, Breath is a rich and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of world literature's finest storytellers. Tim Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, and is the preeminent Australian novelist of his generation. He has written twenty books, including the bestselling novels Cloudstreet, The Riders, and Dirt Music. Winner of the Miles Franklin AwardA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
In Breath, Tim Winton, evokes an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one's limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. It is a story of extremes--extreme sports and extreme emotions. On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrill-seeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Their mentor's past is forbidden territory and his American wife's peculiar behavior indicates an unknown illness, possibly physical or mental. Venturing beyond all limits--in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behavior--there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Winton's talent for conveying physical sensation, Breath is a lyrical and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of Australian literature's finest storytellers. Darkly exhilarating . . . Winton, one of Australia's most acclaimed novelists, excels at conveying the shadowy side of his country's beauty, the way even the most ordinary landscape can exert a paralyzing hold . . . Winton's novel succeeds as a tautly gorgeous meditation on the inescapable human addiction to 'the monotony of drawing breath, ' whether you want to or not.--Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times Darkly exhilarating . . . Winton, one of Australia's most acclaimed novelists, excels at conveying the shadowy side of his country's beauty, the way even the most ordinary landscape can exert a paralyzing hold . . . Winton's novel succeeds as a tautly gorgeous meditation on the inescapable human addiction to 'the monotony of drawing breath, ' whether you want to or not.--Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times
Tim Winton, the prolific Australian author of . . . nine novels, three short-story collections, six children's books, and three nonfiction books, has a genius for the ungainly comedy of family life and the isolated sadness of lovers. But he is also a writer who values themes, a practitioner of what might be called the school of Macho Romanticism, or perhaps better, Heroic Sensitivity. His novels, often set on the sea in Western Australia, are grand, gothically lyrical affairs, beautifully written and spiritually overwrought. They can partake of giddy magical realism . . . they can partake of the solemn wilderness epic . . . Winton's characters tend to flirt with death, long for death, while at the same time bravely suffering physical hardship in order to escape death. The new novel is also charged with physical danger, physical courage, and Winton's brand of rugged introspection. But it is far less extravagant in style and scope than some of his earlier work. Interestingly, for a book about risk, this novel is meticulously, intensely careful in its composition. Breath is distilled Winton . . . a classic coming-of-age novel, and it's a good one, too. But here the story of a boy growing up becomes something more elemental. Pikelet confronts the boundaries of not just his own life, but of life itself. The novel is also, deliriously, a yarn of surfing . . . Breath is an exploration of ambition and complacency, but it is also a nuanced story of an adolescent turning his affections away from his parents to a more glamorous couple, as adolescents so often do.--Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books Richly Australian, Breath is a classic coming-of-age novel, which is not to pigeonhole the work as small or pat. Thomas Wolfe and James Joyce among many other literary greats have employed the form. Readers who are, like the narrator, adolescent might well enjoy Tim Winton's surf-and-turf tale. But this is also a book for grown-ups. Regarded as a national treasure in Australia, Mr Winton is skillful at conveying not only the thrill of surfing, but also its terrors. For Mr Winton no two waves are alike (one is 'as ugly as a civic monument'). Descriptions of man-meets-ocean are vivid, intoxicating and beautifully written. Given that Mr Winton is now 47, he is remarkably in touch with the currents of a 15-year-old's emotional life, and towards the end of the novel does a marvellous job of fast-forwarding into the damaged adult that Pikelet will become. Breath adeptly portrays the complex symbiotic relationship between the older mentor and his worshipful acolytes. Which party is more grateful for the other? Of Eva, 'there was something careless about her that I mistook for courage in the same way I misread Sando's vanity as wisdom.' Yet what may most distinguish this coming-of-age fiction is its perfect balance of teenage romanticism and disillusion. The hippy couple the boys idolise is bound to disappoint. But to the very end, Mr Winton celebrates the immediacy and animation of 'something completely pointless and beautiful.' Surfing, disappoint? Never.--The Economist
This novel is a paean to surfing. But it will not only be savoured by those with sun-bleached hair and rippling torsos. It treats elemental themes of fear and friendship, loneliness and boredom, the lure and danger of life lived intensely, the broken promises of adolescence sliding into middle age . . . The sensitivities and vulnerabilities of adolescence are depicted here with deft and painful accuracy. A tragic key in the novel, narrated as it is from the perspective of middle age, is the loss of this youthful freshness . . . The
Review
"Winton is pitch perfect in capturing...adolescent angst, and he describes surfing and the sea so thrillingly that even nonswimmers will want to plunge right in." Library Journal
Review
"Lyricism empowers this stoner rite-of-passage saga, which also conveys a timeless pathos." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Tim Winton is Australia's best-loved novelist. His new work,
Breath, is an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one's limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. It's a story of extremes extreme sports and extreme emotions.
On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrill-seeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Why is their mentor's past such forbidden territory? And what can explain his American wife's peculiar behavior? Venturing beyond all limits in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behavior there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Full of Winton's lyrical genius for conveying physical sensation, Breath is a rich and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of world literature's finest storytellers.
Synopsis
Breath is a story of risk, of learning one's limits by challenging death. On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrill-seeking teenage boys fall under the spell of a veteran big-wave surfer named Sando. Their mentor urges them into a regiment of danger and challenge, and the boys test themselves and each other on storm swells and over shark-haunted reefs. The boys give no thought to what they could lose, or to the demons that drive their mentor on into ever-greater danger. Venturing beyond all caution--in sports, relationships, and sex--each character approaches a point from which none of them will return undamaged.
Synopsis
Tim Winton is Australias best-loved novelist. His new work,Breath, is an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing ones limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. Its a story of extremes—extreme sports and extreme emotions. On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrillseeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Why is their mentors past such forbidden territory? And what can explain his American wifes peculiar behavior? Venturing beyond all limits—in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behavior—there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Full of Wintons lyrical genius for conveying physical sensation, Breath is a rich and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of world literatures finest storytellers.
About the Author
Tim Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, and is the preeminent Australian novelist of his generation. He has written twenty books, including the bestselling novels Cloudstreet, The Riders, and Dirt Music.