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The Slap [Paperback]

Christos Tsiolkas (Author)
2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (416 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Book Description

Publication Date: 17 Mar 2011
At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy.

The boy is not his son.

It is a single act of violence, but this one slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 488 pages
  • Publisher: Atlantic Books; Reprint edition (17 Mar 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1848873565
  • ISBN-13: 978-1848873568
  • Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 19.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (416 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

The must-read novel of the summer. --Guardian

Honestly, one of the three or four truly great novels of the new millennium. --John Boyne

The Slap is nothing short of a tour de force. --Colm Tóibín

About the Author

Christos Tsiolkas is the author of four novels: Loaded (filmed as Head-On) The Jesus Man and Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. The Slap won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2009 and was shortlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the ALS Gold Medal. He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer. He lives in Melbourne.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
293 of 324 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Throw another Point Of View on the barbie. 30 May 2010
By doublegone TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This is a long book and it took me a while to get into it. I was in fact on the point of abandoning it when it eventually did pick up a bit. One of the problems is that at the start you are confronted by a large cast of characters and I for one was a bit bewildered trying to keep up with who everyone was to begin with. Anyway, I did persevere and I am quite glad I did although this is by no means a perfect book.

An adult smacks someone else's misbehaving child at a barbecue and the ripples from this event spread out through a chain of eight different people whose point of view we are given one after the other. If you pick up the book and have a glance at the blurb you might get the impression that it sets out to explore the rights and wrongs of the slapping incident - but the smack seems to be there merely to offer a link between the characters. The book is really a portrait of contemporary and cosmopolitan Australia. As such it is reasonably interesting but plot wise its difficult to glean any point to the story as we meander through the lives of the eight narrators.

I must add that I am quite surprised how many other reviewers have been upset by some of the language used in this book. The dialogue contains fairly run of the mill swearing and its puzzling to imagine there are poor flowers out there over the age of 8 and outside of a convent who are offended by this. Similarly some of the characters exhibit casual racism but we are it seems to me supposed to disapprove of them for this. Exposing such racism makes this an anti-racist book in my opinion. There is racism in Australia, and sometimes people swear. Its odd to think some readers think this is the author's fault. It seems an honest and accurate depiction of a society to me.

This is a flawed book though, and not as engaging as I would have wished.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Australian Novel 19 Feb 2012
By Aidan G
Format:Paperback
I'm surprised at the level of negative criticism on Amazon directed at this book - although it makes a pleasant change from the usual uniform plaudits. I really enjoyed this book and thought that the author really captured the zeitgeist of his class and generation in Australia. It really gave a good insight into Australian urban society especially with regard to the ethnic diversity.

Alot has been said about the unsympathetic characters - I disagree. I think the author painted a well rounded picture of their flaws - mainly pride and stubborness - all quite true to reality. It takes a while to really get going - it wasn't until the "Connie" chapter that the book really gripped me. My favourite chapters were those centering on Connie and Rosie. Rosie, in particular, comes accross as vulnerable and her relationship with her deadbeat husband is so well portrayed it is eerie in its grittiness.

I think this is a book that speaks to a certain generation, what used to be descibed as Generation X. Those that came of age in the late 80's and 90's (my generation). It reminded me alot of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, that other great zeitgeist defining novel. Whereas Trainspotting explored the lives of the Scottish underclass, the Slap's characters are largely middle class.

Readers of a sensitive dispostion should probabaly steer clear. Like Trainspotting there is lots of gratuitous sex and drug taking. No doubt many of those prudish book club members who were given this as their novel for the month came in for a nasty shock. That can only be a good thing. A classic.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Aweful 9 April 2012
By boris
Format:Kindle Edition
A soft porn book written by a man for male readers. Stupid slutty drug using women characters and "macho" sex mad swearing unfaithful men. All this seems to have little relevance to the original Slap incident.
I have never been to Melbourne and have to presume that this is not a snapshot of the general population of this city.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Not a true representation of Australians
I did not buy this book on Amazon but after the comments I have read I felt I needed to write something. Read more
Published 2 days ago by paulelk
1.0 out of 5 stars Unpleasant book but, perhaps, an accurate reflection of middle-class...
This book is written badly and the author ( or the publisher) was too lazy to edit it properly.

The main theme is not a bad one and, together with the characters,... Read more
Published 12 days ago by J.G. Tarr
2.0 out of 5 stars Unnescessary use of bad language
The subject was really interesting and I was dissapointed in the way it discussed in the book. The plot was ok.
Published 26 days ago by J B Richards
4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking
This is a very thought provoking book which held me throughout, giivng different perspectives to a understandable, yet obviously wrong, action.
Published 27 days ago by M. W. Miles
3.0 out of 5 stars Too australian for me.
A bit long winded and the characters didn't really engage me at all. Much ado about nothing but alright at times.
Published 1 month ago by marion
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I had high hopes for this book after hearing much hype about how it dealt with a very important subject matter. Read more
Published 1 month ago by London_Buyer
1.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Unenjoyable
Hopefully this story is not truly representative of Australian society! I really did not enjoy this rambling tale of the lives of a wide cast of horrid characters. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dublingirl
1.0 out of 5 stars I hated it!
DO NOT BOTHER READING THIS BOOK. How on earth it came to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize I do not know. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Book Worm
1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful
This book is a complete and utter waste of time. It's a pity, because the concept itself is really quite good, and a lot could have been made of it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by kublakat
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Not what you think it will be . Would and have recommended this book. You will not want to put it down
Published 1 month ago by sandra mudd
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