Set on a coastal stretch of Western Australia, Tim Winton's stunning collection of connected stories is about turnings of all kinds -- changes of heart, slow awakenings, nasty surprises and accidents, sudden detours, resolves made or broken. Brothers cease speaking to each other, husbands abandon wives and children, grown men are haunted by childhood fears. People struggle against the weight of their own history and try to reconcile themselves to their place in the world. With extraordinary insight and tenderness, Winton explores the demons and frailties of ordinary people whose lives are not what they had hoped.
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Well-known in his native Australia and twice shortlisted for the Man Booker, Winton (Dirt Music, etc.) is overdue for wider recognition in the U.S. This collection of linked stories showcases his strengths: memorable characters colliding with the moments that define them—for better or worse—and clean, evocative prose that captures the often stultifying life in smalltown Western Australia. In the title story, Raelene, a young wife and mother living in a trailer park with her abusive husband, Max, becomes fascinated with her happy new neighbors; the seemingly perfect couple's influence sets Raelene on a muddled path toward self-examination, resulting in a transformation shocking for both its brutality and naïveté. "Sand" reveals Max's cruelty as a young boy—he tries to bury his younger brother alive—while "Family" shows the two brothers meeting again as adults, with the balance of power between them shifting dramatically. Another character, Vic, is central to the book: he appears as an awkward adolescent fixated on unattainable older girls, as a young man coping with the legacy of his father's alcoholism and abandonment, and as a middle-aged man unable to come to terms with his past. Winton reveals a wide but finely turned swath of simmering inner lives; the sweetness of these stories, as well as their sharp bite, feels earned and real. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
The currents and themes sinuously winding through Winton's spellbinding collection of short stories are almost too numerous to mention. Despair, longing, abandonment, abuse, violence, tenderness: they cover the gamut of human emotions and conditions, but do so in such a subtle, masterful way so as not to burden the reader with sensory overload. It's enough just to go along for the ride as Winton revists a favored locale, a blighted fishing village along Australia's western coast, following a band of characters as their compelling stories connect and overlap, quixotically veering off on dizzying tangents in one story, only to solidly converge later on to reveal pivotal points from their pasts or resolve enigmatic issues in the future. Withal, Winton creates a sense of place so profound one can almost smell the oily fumes from marine slaughterhouses. More than isolated vignettes, Winton's stories are of a whole, seamless, sensuous, and utterly captivating. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
I loved this book.
Winton has an amazing ability to transport me to the centre of his stories and to bring his characters to life.
I have considered reading Winton's work before, even picked up Dirt Music many times in book stores, but never felt inspired to read it as I have never had much of an interest in Australia. Reading The Turning has changed this completely and now I find myself wanting to read more work set in Australia and all of Winton's work.
Western Australia is as much a character in Winton's stories as the characters like Vic and Max that return throughout this collection. Having grown up in a rural prairie town, I can relate deeply to the setting for this collection of stories and how it informs the life of its residents.
It reminded me of how spending time in rural Arkansas I was taken by its similarities to the prairies, with the harsh weather coming in summer rather than winter. I had this same connection while reading The Turning.
I have recently returned to my prairie home after many years away and find myself deeply connected to the place for the first time in my adult life. As a forty-something prairie girl having just come home, this is one of my favourite collections.
It is authors like Winton that remind me of the importance of the arts to our growth and our ability to understand ourselves and others. I feel like I have grown as a person from reading this book, high praise indeed!
Winton has an amazing ability to transport me to the centre of his stories and to bring his characters to life.
I have considered reading Winton's work before, even picked up Dirt Music many times in book stores, but never felt inspired to read it as I have never had much of an interest in Australia. Reading The Turning has changed this completely and now I find myself wanting to read more work set in Australia and all of Winton's work.
Western Australia is as much a character in Winton's stories as the characters like Vic and Max that return throughout this collection. Having grown up in a rural prairie town, I can relate deeply to the setting for this collection of stories and how it informs the life of its residents.
It reminded me of how spending time in rural Arkansas I was taken by its similarities to the prairies, with the harsh weather coming in summer rather than winter. I had this same connection while reading The Turning.
I have recently returned to my prairie home after many years away and find myself deeply connected to the place for the first time in my adult life. As a forty-something prairie girl having just come home, this is one of my favourite collections.
It is authors like Winton that remind me of the importance of the arts to our growth and our ability to understand ourselves and others. I feel like I have grown as a person from reading this book, high praise indeed!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
19 reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life's Turning Points
Sep 22 2005
By Adam
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Tim Winton's latest book 'The Turning' is a collection of short stories, narratives that are to some extent connected, in that the same places feature in the book and the same characters come in and out of the stories.
Most of the characters in the stories have been in some sort of trouble of one kind or another and have been damaged. They are all at some turning point in their lives, where they are facing up to what has happened to them in the past and trying to work out who they are, before they set off into the future.
"There are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they've made for themselves."
Winton's depiction of the world of small-town Western Australian life is expressed with precise realism. He uses sensory detail to convey the atmosphere of the setting. Winton's use of the senses lets the reader share the intimacy of living in a small-town. However, Winton also illustrates the drawbacks of small-town life.
Winton's prose is simple and yet powerful. The characters are all interesting and he makes the reader think. You will read this book and want to read Winton's other books as well. Highly recommended.
Most of the characters in the stories have been in some sort of trouble of one kind or another and have been damaged. They are all at some turning point in their lives, where they are facing up to what has happened to them in the past and trying to work out who they are, before they set off into the future.
"There are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they've made for themselves."
Winton's depiction of the world of small-town Western Australian life is expressed with precise realism. He uses sensory detail to convey the atmosphere of the setting. Winton's use of the senses lets the reader share the intimacy of living in a small-town. However, Winton also illustrates the drawbacks of small-town life.
Winton's prose is simple and yet powerful. The characters are all interesting and he makes the reader think. You will read this book and want to read Winton's other books as well. Highly recommended.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
do yourself a favour
Sep 8 2005
By sandra papas
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
for those of you who are yet to discover Tim Winton he is a legend here in Australia and you are in for a treat! Most of his novels are set in Western Australia - our country's largest,yet least poplutated state which is dreadfully hot in summer but full of magnificent surf beaches, stunning scenery and some of the best wineries in the world. I spent much of my childhood in Perth and Winton writes so well I spend weeks having flashbacks - I can smell the sand during our summer holidays.
The book is a series of short stories that turn out to be linked in some (often very subtle) ways. I cant recommend it enough - or any of his books for that matter - see Dirt Music.
The book is a series of short stories that turn out to be linked in some (often very subtle) ways. I cant recommend it enough - or any of his books for that matter - see Dirt Music.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not always a fan but this book may be one of the finest collections
Mar 29 2006
By Ian Muldoon
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Sometimes Mr Winton seems to be straining to be profound riddling his books with impressive literary devices - or maybe I'm too dumb to recognise great art. But with THE TURNING he seems completely at ease and as a consequence the stories ring with a truth - an emotional and spiritual truth firmly set in a believable landscape. The title story about Raelene's physical and spiritual journey, is in the patois of we Australians - a ripper! Mr Winton's great contribution to world literature may indeed be the way in which he is liberating the Australian language and bringing the voice and stories of our caravan dwellers, fishermen, and other inhabitants of small town Australia - working and otherwise - to the fore.
The Lockie Leonard trilogy and THE TURNING I expect have joined or will be joining our collective memories much as Blinky Bill, Ginger Meggs and Voss already have.
The Lockie Leonard trilogy and THE TURNING I expect have joined or will be joining our collective memories much as Blinky Bill, Ginger Meggs and Voss already have.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 19 reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
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