the slap

[early80sgirl]

was thinking of buying this , anyone read it , is it any good ?

Not really, no. It's full of very unlikeable characters having lots of very graphic, borderline porn sex (but in a very non-credible way IMO). I think one critic wrote "this is what happens when you let a gay man write about heterosexual, married sex".

oh right thanks , dont think i will bother then , have to look out for something else

I second that- very poor

I enjoyed the series on telly though, cant imagine how it would work so well in a book

It's terrible, the characters are rubbish and the sex stuff way overdone in hamfisted porny style. Avoid.

it's awful

agree with the above, also I hated the swearing (and I managed Vernon God Little fine, which was stuffed with swear-words) it was relentless

Awful awful book completely pointless

The only book that has made me both angry and want to burn it.

Agree. Over-rated. Shame as a good concept for today!s world.

Shit, and the TV show was shit too.

We read this in my book club and the verdict was in this small sample...
The Brits universally hated it.
2 out of 3 Aussies loved it, one on fence.
Other nationalities not bothered either way.

I found it quite depressing, didn't like any of the characters. And not really about "the slap" at all. Just a litany of the sad, unfulfilled lives of a group of unappealing personalities. One of the Australians who loved it thought it was very funny in a dark way - didn't get that myself.

In conclusion, don't bother unless you are Australian!

There was a whole chat with the author/thread on this as part of the book club.
I read it in the Summer and it was better than other books I had bought as part of 2 for 1 in Tesco and Whsmith.
I enjoyed it more than Dawn French which I couldn't finish (whose teenager also used the word mong and no daily hate furore). I enjoyed it more than the sadness of lemon cake (a chair? seriously? a chair?). I enjoyed it more than comfort and joy (cash in for xmas).
The Slap had an interesting premise. It read rather like a soap opera and was therefore not surprised when it was adapted for TV.
But use of the word cunt from the off doesn't bother me tbh.

I'm a Brit...

I thought it was hilarious, the first page made me laugh and laugh.
I'm British and it provoked fascinating discussions with Greek and Austrailian friends.
I loved the author's idea of a new subgroup of people still living like adolescents in their middle age.
I honestly think that a lot of people's internal monologues would read more like these characters than many of us would want to admit.

I did say it was a small sample! I found it interesting that there was such a divide. It was the first time we seemed to split on place of origin grounds! It is an Australian book and it definitely appealed more to the Australian readers in our small group. They weren't as bothered by some of the language for example. It was not so much the swearing per se that bothered me but the terms used for the assorted racial groups. Generalising hugely of course, but whilst the characters were exaggerated they recognised them IYSWIM, and I don't think I did really.

I did like parts of it, the old Greek bloke bit for example, but overall...a miss for me. OP, you have to read it now and report back!

I enjoyed the book. If you can get over all the ccks and cnts it is an interesting read. Yes there's a fair number of unpleasant characters but I'd rather that than a load of bland nice people.

I just didn't find it believable.
I don't think women call their own genitals cunt.
I hated how fixated he (the author) was on breastfeeding-again, I didn't believe it. No way would Connie have liked the smell of it.
We are all probably not so nice on the inside, but I doubt many of us want to smash in a child's face, or whatever it was.

And lastly, Ubud in Bali a village?
Ha, since when?
10 years ago it was a town, a packed crowded one full of tourists, and motorbikes, and people selling things and rabid dogs.

Do not even open the cover of this book. I read it through to the end thinking it would redeem itself. It didn't and was put straight into the recycling bag to be made into mulch. I was so disgusted with it I couldn't even bring myself to pass it to a charity shop. Utter tripe!!!!

I have only heard bad things. I reckon I'd want to slap "The Slap", it would make me so cross is my worry, I'd get all het up and annoyed with all the stupid people (no pre-judging here ) that I could not bring myself to even pick it up.

MIL (who has similar reading tastes) got in a total state over it and was spitting feathers....

Hated it

Bile filled and full of one dimensional characters

Got to the end through gritted teeth