I wish I had put more effort into the first half of The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. I didn’t begin to enjoy the novel until about 250 pages in (just past the halfway mark!) and by then I had lost track of the many characters.
Each chapter gives a different perspective of the same event (the slapping of a child) and of the aftermath, and these can be read and enjoyed individually as well as over the whole novel.
The novel is good on relationships in a multicultural, Melbourne / Australian society. Many of the characters are not very nice and there’s a lot of racist, sexual and crude language, so some might find this a difficult read. On finishing, I felt I would like to re-read it at some time.
Recommended, for some.
Waiting for the TV series in Britain – may be better as a visual. I get confused a lot with names too. Sometimes I have to do spider diagrams of who’s who as I real along. Did a “Poem from Found Print” from some Trivia review about it on my arty blog https://artsoprovident.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/poem-from-found-print-5-sma-ck/
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There’s a 2011 Australian series (available on DVD) which was shown on BBC4 back in 2011. A US series is currently showing on the Lifetime channel on Sky.
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We don’t get the Lifetime channel but it is due on the Virgin network soon. Did you see either of the series? What did you think of them?
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I came across the book in a charity (thrift) shop today and have started reading it.
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Haven’t come across either series…
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Oops – Haven’t come across either series…
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