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Shallows Tim Winton 9781555971939 Books

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Shallows Tim Winton 9781555971939 Books

This one is about australia and whaling and environmentalism, with redirections and flashbacks between 1831 and 1978. Queenie's grandfather has written a secret diary and her husband Cleve gets to read it. The diary is rather intriguing in itself, while queenie joins a group of people in their attempt to put an end to the whale slaughtering. With unemployment and whaling industry as the two main parameters, the conflict escalates. Some disturbing close-ups on slaughtering and some heated encounters beteween the groups and, as always with Tim Winton; insiders view on the main characters. Shallows are the shallow waters where sometimes whales are beached. The unanswered question remains: Do whales commit suicide?


Tags : Shallows [Tim Winton] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Shallows</i> is set in a small whaling town in Western Australia, where land-based whaling has been a tradition for over 150 years. When Queenie Cookson decides to join an antiwhaling protest group,Tim Winton,Shallows,Graywolf Press,1555971938,903529397,Literary,Australia;Fiction.,Western Australia;Fiction.,Women environmentalists;Fiction.,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,General,Popular English Fiction,Western Australia,Whaling,Women environmentalists,Australia

Shallows Tim Winton 9781555971939 Books Reviews

If one is not sure you like a book after finishing it...you are probably looking for reasons to like it out of loyalty to the author after being disappointed. After Cloudstreet & Dirt Music, one just 'expects' the things from Tim Winton that he does so well. Story, plot, and unbelievable descriptive imagery to enhance his wonderful characters.
Shallows has an average story (that could have been SO much better considering the era and topic (whale hunting for goodness sake...how do you dull that topic?), no plot, and is saved only by great characterization (even though they are all unlikeable).
It's not a dog...but it's no diamond.
I didn't like this book any more than An Open Swimmer. I found the flashbacks very confusing and the argot alienating (especially Winton's tendency to use brand names rather than generic ones - eg Zodiac for a type of boat. I often took too long to work out what he was talking about, as I don't know that specific lingo). In addition, the plot was boring, and there was not a single character that I even part-liked or could feel some empathy towards. I would shun the lot in real life, which meant it was not a pleasure to "briefly inhabit" Angelus. I had seen enough of this town by about chapter three. It was very difficult for me to feel involved in the events, despite the fact that I personally care very deeply about the fate of whales, and sympathise theoretically with the ideals behind the agitators who were trying to stop whaling. However, the actual individuals doing the protesting were as rebarbative as the ones mercilessly taking the lives of intelligent whales. No doubt that is Winton's point, but it didn't leave the reader much of a motive for staying with the book. I couldn't wait to be finished, and started skimming huge sections just to get it over with.
Despite that, I found Winton's writing style enjoyably poetic at times, and many of his descriptions were intelligent and interesting in their allusions. Had it not been for the moments of poetry embedded in this dragging plot, I would have abandoned the book before the end.
I've read four other books by this author and enjoyed them greatly. This book was a struggle to get through. I get why it won such critical praise its sparse, at times poetic, and tackles important issues of the time it was written, but for me it was very slow going. None of the characters were all that interesting, and even from the very beginning I kept wondering is this a part two of another book. The fleshing out of the characters- what little was provided happened in drips and drabs, and again they just weren't that interesting.
I still like the author but for me his more current books are just more interesting.
I am huge fan of Tim Winton, but find some his books better than others. He always writes about the Australian underdog and usually a young man who grew up rough and never really had a fair chance at life. In “Shallows” he has chosen a real lost soul, struggling with so many disappointments. This makes for somewhat bleak reading and may be the reason why so many other reviewers have been ambivalent about this work. I gave it a break halfway through and returned much later to finish and found this worked well, giving me the kind of distance to appreciate both the writing and the story.
This book takes me back to Albany 1977, when the whalers had either ceased or were about to cease whaling. Another great Winton novel!
I gave this book 2 stars because I loved his other book _Cloudstreet_ and find the author to be amazingly talented.
Unfortunately, I could not get past page 82 in this slow, ponderous story. I gave it multiple efforts but found myself lacking any interest in these characters or their gripes. I initially felt an alignment with Queenie and backed her spontaneous efforts to protest the slaughtering of whales which is the only thriving buisness in the town she lives in. Her actions angered most of the individuals of the town and her newly wed husband, Cleveland. Cleveland is a low-aspiring fellow, not originally from the small whaling town, Angelus. He is pre-occupied by scrapbooks and reading the diaries of the town's expired elder Nathaniel Coupar who is Queenie's great grandfather. Meanwhile, her father, Daniel is a miserably depressed grump who has issues with everyone in town but can't express himself. Then we have another despicably repulsive realtor, Des Pustling, whom I thought could disgust me enough to dredge up some kind of interest to keep me turning the pages. Other bits of folk weave irritatingly in and out, but not enough to hold fast the effort.
I hate to give up on a book, and can not even remember the last time I did, so I kept hoping the story would pick up and grab me, but it just was so much work to stay interested.
There are too many characters to keep track of, and the timeline flips back and forth which was very distracting.
Meanwhile, I am moving on to _Dirt Music_ and _the Riders_; also by Tim Winton with higher expectations.
I am a huge fan of this author but found myself floundering a bit with this one. There is too much going on, too many people involved which dilutes proper understanding of any of them. Whilst Tim Winton knows how to write, I found this story inconclusive. Pity but you can't win 'em all.
This one is about australia and whaling and environmentalism, with redirections and flashbacks between 1831 and 1978. Queenie's grandfather has written a secret diary and her husband Cleve gets to read it. The diary is rather intriguing in itself, while queenie joins a group of people in their attempt to put an end to the whale slaughtering. With unemployment and whaling industry as the two main parameters, the conflict escalates. Some disturbing close-ups on slaughtering and some heated encounters beteween the groups and, as always with Tim Winton; insiders view on the main characters. Shallows are the shallow waters where sometimes whales are beached. The unanswered question remains Do whales commit suicide?