Sleeping Dogs

Read it yourself before encouraging your young teen to read it.?á Very intense, as every book by Hartnett that I've read has been.?á I don't even like this kind of story, but the writing, omg, brilliant, I can't keep away... it's like being, as the traditional tales go, being hypnotized by a snake.?á A bit like Poisonwood Bible, but less than 20% (I guess) the length, another book that I loved and hated at the same time.?á

Compared to the other Hartnett's that I've read, this one seems, to me, just a bit exaggerated, a bit implausible, a bit soap opera.?á But, unfortunately, it's probably all too realistic.

Yes, I'm not-so-slowly working my way through Hartnett's oeuvre.

This is one of her earlier titles, and it's fairly obvious. The characters aren't as richly drawn as in her more recent books, and her language isn't as poetic. It's still recognizably her, but somehow this novel feels like a prototype for the far-superior Thursday's Child--the same bleak landscape and poverty-stricken farm, a similar dysfunctional family. Somehow, though, despite the absence of any small feral child digging subterranean tunnels, Sleeping Dogs feels less realistic, less believable. Still, though, a good effort--just not one I'd recommend as a starting point into Hartnett's body of work.

Not my favourite novel from this author, but i still liked it. Quite rough and harsh in places but she paints a good portrait of Australian life, even if the tale is somewhat more twisted than reality.