Breath MP3 CD – MP3 Audio, October 10, 2011

I recently discovered this author, recommended by the writer Elin Hilderbrand in The New York Times. I am now snapping up anything by him I can get my hands on. I just finished my third title, “Breath,” which may be the best of the three so far (“Dirt Music,” “Eyrie,” both wonderful). It follows two boys in their early teens as they take up surfing and put themselves under the tutelage of an older, experienced surfer who, grudgingly at first, takes them on; soon they are under his spell. The risks they take on become increasingly dangerous as the book becomes less about surfing and more about everything else.These are all gritty novels that resonate on a deep level, written by an absolutely gorgeous writer. Western Australia is a curious and wonderful world to slip into and the language quirks are delightful. These are not easy stories—bad things do happen—and they pack a punch. Winton’s characters learn expensive life lessons, lead hard-scrabble lives, lose loved ones, make bad decisions. I might even venture to say these books are not for the faint of heart. But if you want something that’s real and will move you deeply, if you like great writing, if you want a book you won’t forget five minutes after you close it, this is for you.

I picked Breath after hearing from so many people that Tim Winton really writes great novels. One of his more recent books was shortlisted a few years ago for the Man Booker. I also saw this book on an older NY Times Notable Books list so with that I picked it up and was glad I did as the book was quite good and I will no doubt try to read something else by Winton as a result of reading this. "Breath" is about two young boys who are good friends living in a small town in Australia Loonie is the more adventurous of the two and seems to live in a thrill a minute way. Brue being much more conservative with older parents is less excitable but you can tell wants to break out of his shell. It is surfing that gets the two boys hooked and they meet an older man named Sando who they eventually find out was a world-famous surfer. He takes them under his wing and they seek out harder and more dangerous spots to surf. Sando has a mysterious American wife who he ends up leaving for some time as he goes surfing with Loonie out of the country and Bruce ends up becoming close with her. A great book that moves along quickly and is a very good read. You get a sense for how far a person will go to push himself to the next level and seek adventure. I highly recommend it.

Australian writer Tim Winton's latest short novel (217 pages), unlike some of his previous novels--CLOUDSTREET and DIRT MUSIC come to mind-- is one that you can devour in one sitting for it will pull you down into it like the undertow that this fantastic writer writes about with such breathtaking beauty. We see the events unfold through the eyes of Bruce, now a gnarly-- one of Winton's favorite words-- paramedic in his 50's who recalls events that transpired when he was a budding teenager in the small town of Sawyer, Australia.The novel begins with Bruce and a woman partner answering an emergency call from a distraught family whose teenaged son apparently has committed suicide by hanging. Then the narrator jumps back in time to his youth and talks for many pages about his friend Loonie and their strange relationship-- a sort of hero worship on the part of Bruce-- with an exotic former surfing champion Sando who pushes the boys to newer and more dangerous heights as they take on more and more difficult waves as they strive to rise from being just ordinary. Then there is Sando's American wife Eva.BREATH is a strange novel indeed. If you are wondering what a teenager's suicide has to do with all this surfing on the Australia coast, as I was, just be patient for Mr. Winton ties up all the loose ends with a powerful wallop. The novel is a coming-of-age novel about sexual awakening, the danger associated with the emotions if they are left to run rampant when you are thirteen or fourteen, the scars that remain in adulthood.I am always fascinated when writers from other parts of the world write about Americans. Eva tells Bruce what it was like growing up in Salt Lake City, Mormons and American ambition. "But the way Eva told it, her countrymen were restless, nomadic, clogging freeways and airports in their fevered search for action. She said they were driven by ambition in a way that no Australian could possibly understand. . . She made her own people sound vicious. Yet God was in everything - all the talk, all the music, even on their money. Ambition, she said. Aspiration and mortal anxiety." Mr. Winton has homed in admirably on the contemporary American psyche.Tim Winton's language is always appropriate and often completely beautiful--from creating new verbs (rag-dolling) to describing surfing when Bruce contrasts the practicality of Sawyer's farmers, loggers and millers who "did solid, practical things" with the beauty and grace of surfers. "How strange it was to see men do something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant, as though nobody saw or cared." And he expresses his own feelings about surfing: "but for me there was still the outlaw feeling of doing something graceful, as if dancing on water was the best and bravest thing a man could do."Tim Winton is one terrific writer.

I was intrigued by the movie and hoped for some more depth out of the book. There is a fair bit of nostalgia for the days before video games trapped folks inside, a time when adventure was a synonym for youth. The book brought back memories of the thrill of finding a mentor, and the time when you start to see a mentor's faults and realize you are growing up.I was nervous that the sexual abuse themes would be poorly done, but you could use the last 10 percent of this book as a primer on the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse on boys and why there are age of consent laws in general.The narrative voice is nearly perfect: vivid without being lurid, alternating between the vibrancy of adolescence and the mature understanding of adult hindsight.I wouldn't recommend this book for everyone, but those who can handle the subject matter will find this well worth their time.

I came across this book and author at random. Have no interest in surfing, but the surfing is somewhat peripheral to a very well written coming of age story. The characters are fascinating, and the story sufficiently out of the ordinary, all of which had me devour the book end to end very rapidly.

Acquistato per un regalo. E' stato molto gradito

Li em menos de 1 semana. Uma história cativante e que te faz sentir a emoção do personagem. Recomendo a leitura pra quem gosta de surfe e pra quem não conhece também. É uma história sobre se auto conhecer.

There are only a few novelists that compel you to read everything that they have written, and Mr. Winton is surely one of them. This disturbing but beautifully written novel is a coming of age story of a young Australian boy who is addicted to the adrenaline rush of surfing and who becomes enmeshed in a world of like minded risk junkies with disastrous and profound results. This novel in particular is tightly written, suspenseful, surprising and ultimately shocking but has a resolution that almost lets you breathe for its hero. Almost. The descriptions of ultimate surfing are unsurpassed (and I am a couch surfer). Superb in every respect.

This is our version of 'Catcher in the Rye'. Sando and Eva initiate Loony and Pikelet into their adult world. Written by an accomplished surfer, this is an unforgettable read. The surfing descriptions are brilliant.