THE SEVENTH WAVE
Patrick Ness writing in the Guardian Saturday hails Breath, Tim Winton's exploration of fear and adrenaline.
Twelve-year-old Bruce Pike, "Pikelet", lives in Sawyer, near Perth in Western Australia, in the early 70s. A small town of "millers and loggers and dairy farmers", Sawyer is also home to Loonie, one year older than Pikelet and a boy congenitally incapable of turning down a dare. They meet in the local river, Loonie swimming to the bottom and holding his breath for upwards of two minutes with the sole intention of scaring tourists into thinking he's drowning. The boys spur each other on to greater and greater risks, to the point of vomiting and passing out. Anything for a "rebellion against the monotony of drawing breath".
One day, they sneak out on their bikes on a forbidden trip to the ocean and see a surfer skilled above all others, sliding down the waves with "his head thrown back as if he'd just finished singing an anthem that nobody else could hear". He turns out to be Sando, a "huge, bearded, coiled-up presence", who's reached the ancient age of 36.
For the full review go to The Guardian online.
Penguin Books in NZ/Australia, Picador in UK.
Patrick Ness writing in the Guardian Saturday hails Breath, Tim Winton's exploration of fear and adrenaline.
Twelve-year-old Bruce Pike, "Pikelet", lives in Sawyer, near Perth in Western Australia, in the early 70s. A small town of "millers and loggers and dairy farmers", Sawyer is also home to Loonie, one year older than Pikelet and a boy congenitally incapable of turning down a dare. They meet in the local river, Loonie swimming to the bottom and holding his breath for upwards of two minutes with the sole intention of scaring tourists into thinking he's drowning. The boys spur each other on to greater and greater risks, to the point of vomiting and passing out. Anything for a "rebellion against the monotony of drawing breath".
One day, they sneak out on their bikes on a forbidden trip to the ocean and see a surfer skilled above all others, sliding down the waves with "his head thrown back as if he'd just finished singing an anthem that nobody else could hear". He turns out to be Sando, a "huge, bearded, coiled-up presence", who's reached the ancient age of 36.
For the full review go to The Guardian online.
Penguin Books in NZ/Australia, Picador in UK.
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