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Original poster

Anyone read The Slap (Christos Tsiolkas)

66 replies

iwantavuvezela · 01/07/2010 20:52

Just finished reading this ..... loved it - anyone else read it?

OP posts:
noddyholder · 26/07/2010 18:26

fab book

thecatatemygymsuit · 26/07/2010 18:25

Read it, loved it, found it edgy and had an air of menace throughout, like a thriller without a plot if that makes sense?
Rather enjoyed hating the characters so much too (bizarrely not Hector!), but I wanted to violently slap Rosie and Hugo am afraid, and I am a pacifist!

TheFoosa · 26/07/2010 18:20

there was too much swearing and shagging , which I',m not normally averse to but it was just so charmless

MrsTink · 26/07/2010 17:15

I'm a short way in and already irritated! Too many characters introduced at the beginning purely to set the scene for the slap. I will persevere but glad I didn't save it for 'special' holiday reading.

Maria2007loveshersleep · 18/07/2010 13:07

TheFoosa: curious to know why you found it annoying?

TheFoosa · 17/07/2010 13:46

it definately isn't funny

it is, however, very very annoying

Maria2007loveshersleep · 17/07/2010 00:50

Funny? No, the last thing I would say about it is that it's funny.

wahwahwah · 16/07/2010 15:04

Is that the one where the kid gets slapped at a party? I have heard that it is very funny.

Maria2007loveshersleep · 16/07/2010 14:58

Am watching this thread as we're reading this book in our book club later this month. Am loving loving loving it so far, I think Tsiolkas is a genius (have almost finished) but don't want to say more in case other book club members (some are MNetters) read this . More later this month.

TheFoosa · 09/07/2010 18:31

didn't finish it, got bored after the kid's mother

you're all going to tell me it gets really good after that, aren't you?

slug · 09/07/2010 15:45

I've just finished it. Aptly named I thought because, quite frankly, I thought every character in the book deserved a slap.

porcamiseria · 09/07/2010 15:40

I rated it! really enjoyed it, the charactars were real, and the story had a good pace to it too. I did not "hate" the characters, well bar a couple...They were human and flawed. I liked his writing style and this is one of the best books Ive read for a while

Original poster
iwantavuvezela · 02/07/2010 09:57

There was a lot about the book i liked! (Although I agree that some of the characters make themseleves hard to like!)
I liked his clever cultural references throughout the book (knowledge of music; drug cluture; tv shows; subtle references to avian flu, experience of immigration etc - it made it very contempary for me)
I felt anxious reading it as some of the characters are "quite near the edge, and their behaviour" and i liked the way he built that up through the book. I found it quite subtle in places, and I loved how he showed the inner workings of relationships, vulnerability of people throughout.

OP posts:
ClaudiaSchiffer · 02/07/2010 08:54

Ooo I want to watch this thread, we have this book for book group this month but so far it seems everyone hates it - I'm yet to start.

Iwantavuvezela why did you like it so much?

ttalloo · 02/07/2010 08:40

Yes, just finished it. Never mind giving Hugo a slap, I could have slapped almost everyone else at that barbecue, starting with Rosie and Gary. I shudder to think how Hugo is going to turn out being taught that every emotion of his is legitimate and that discipline is a dirty word.

And as someone of Greek-Cypriot descent, I found it fascinating that the immigrant experience of Greek-Australians was so similar to mine (although with a bit less drug-taking, infidelity, violence!)

TheFoosa · 02/07/2010 08:30

yes, half-way through
I hate everyone but I'm still reading