anyone read The Slap ??

[brimfull]

is it worth getting?
looks good on the blurb

yes - v good. It's a proper literary novel (whatever that means), but also a cracking read, which is rare IMHO... you will stay up late and finish it in two days and it won't sit there accusing you for months like most Booker shortlist oeuvres .

I think Tsiolkas writes the Australian vernacular really well, but you may find some of the male characters a bit full on.

I think it's the favourite to win the Booker this year?

I enjoyed it. Somewhat unpleasant characters, but they don't turn you off from continuing with the book. In that way it is similar to the Corrections by J Franzen with which it has been widely compared.

Have just finished it, very enjoyable.

god if it wins the Booker there is no justice .... badly written, over-hyped tripe imo (couldn't finish it)

loved the Corrections btw though ...

I hope it does win the Booker - it would make a refreshing change from the pompous, overly-written claptrap that normally gets feted. I really enjoyed it, liked the discomfort of some of it and, while I didn't like all the characters, I could sympathise with most of them.

Not as good as Skippy Dies, also on the long list, which I am reading now - much better than The Slap.

i liked the slap

hate skippy

I loved The Slap, and couldn't put it down. Didn't get good reviews though, if my memory serves me correctly. Am surprised it's on the Booker list-agree with lala on that!

I loathed it - sorry. But I did read to the end of it - so it had a bit of grippingness .

Hated nearly all the characters. I thought the sex scenes were repetitively described and clumsily written.

But each to their own - lots of people seem to love it.

I absolutely hated it - so much so that I returned it to the book shop!

Thought all the charachters were vile.

kurrikurri- agree. It should win that bad sex award.

I thought it was "alright" but not a Booker contender IMO.

I think Rosie may have actually been inspired by some MN threads

I loved it. Except the crap sex scenes. An old lady had recently slapped ds (total stranger!) for what she perceived as naughtiness, so was very interesting.

I hated it which was disappointing because I thought it sounded really good from reading the blurb. Hated the characters and the style of writing.

From the posts above it sounds like it's a bit like Marmite (you either love it or hate it)!!!

SerendipityAlways - did they refund you?

I thought it was crap

badly written, poorly-characterised

I gave up after a couple of chapters, just couldn't be arsed with it

Wotznotnow - They know me very well in this particualr book shop over the years and told me to get another book instead! (It would have been a bit cheeky to expect a refund!) They had a good old laugh at it all!

ahhh - I see, I thought you might special powers over bookshop workers!

phew...i've really struggled with this book ever since receiving it in the Book Club offer, plodding on fearing i was turning into a middle aged prude

what a load of tripe..i can't find one endearing feature in any of the characters, and although i applaud the reclamation of the word 'cunt' - the attempt to use as everyday language in this book is clumsy, seems a little childish even.

i'm not going to finish it