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'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. ( )

As usual another win from Tim Winton for me , set in Angelus , a whaling port in WA , and how the townspeople are divided against whaling or having jobs , and how they sort out their differences in the sometimes corrupt and divided town. Great descriptions of whaling and the slaughter and processing of the whales , and descriptions of the whales in their natural environment . Loved it . ( )