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Dirt Music (Hardcover)

by Tim Winton (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Picador (24 May 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0330490249
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330490245
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 276,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #13 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > W > Winton, Tim

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Arguably one of the finest of all Australian novelists, Tim Winton shows that he remains on top mid-season form with Dirt Music, a wistful, charged, ardent novel of female loss and amatory redemption. The setting is Winton’s favourite: the thorn-bushed, sheep-farmed, sun-punished boondocks of Western Australia. The cast is limited but spirited: the two chief protagonists are a fortysomething adoptive mother with a vodka problem called Georgie Jutland, and a brooding, feral, bushwhacking poacher, Luther Fox.

The plot is something else altogether: an elegantly wearied, cleverly finessed mutual odyssey, that opts to follow the sometimes intertwining, sometimes diverging lives of poor Georgie and Luther, as they try to deal with the odd alliance they comprise, as well as the complex and fractured lives they want to leave behind. The way Georgie deals with her unwitting inheritance of two dissatisfied adopted kids is particularly touching, poignant, and well written.

Best of all, though, is the prose. Somehow it manages to be simultaneously juicy and dry, like a desert cactus. This is especially true when Winton touches on the scented harshness of the Down Under outback: "the music is jagged and pushy and he for one just doesn’t want to bloody hear it, but the outbursts of strings and piano are as austere and unconsoling as the pindan plain out there with its spindly acacia and red soil". This is a wise and accomplished novel. --Sean Thomas



Review

Set in the wild landscape of Western Australia, Dirt Music is a captivating love story of grief, regret and lost dreams, from the author of the Booker short-listed The Riders.
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Dirt Music
42% buy the item featured on this page:
Dirt Music 3.3 out of 5 stars (6)
Dirt Music
26% buy
Dirt Music 4.2 out of 5 stars (18)
£5.98
Cloudstreet (Picador Books)
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Cloudstreet (Picador Books) 4.2 out of 5 stars (13)
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The Riders
9% buy
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Read, 3 Jul 2002
By L A Jones (Manchester, Lancashire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
The beauty in this novel lies in the character definition and wonderful, at times dense prose which IS reason enough to read a book (despite some reviewers insistence on an unnecessarily complicated plot). I think the purpose of the book was to convey the personal odyssey of the central characters and link this to the landscape and lifestyle of Western Australia - a feat which Winton attains succesfully. Not a classic book in the mould of Wintons unsurpassable 'Cloudstreet' but a more than worthy read
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The startlingly harsh beauty of language and landscape, 19 Nov 2002
By ghandibob (Swansea) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
Music. Refrain and lament. Music of words. Music of images. Music of nature. Music worked at, honed, wrought by labour. Such staccato layering forms Dirt Music. It is a book chipped from the landscape of Western Australia and honed like a knifeblade in the beating heat of the White Point sun. Winton has created something singular here, but like a difficult melody heard for the first time, it is hard to tell at once whether you like it. Dirt Music, then, may have to be re-read: replayed on a loop until the rhythm drives its way into your unaccustomed skull.

But this is not to say that Winton's new book is difficult. But it is harsh. Harsh like the habitat in which it is set. Like the people who live there. The language is what is most striking. At times it is as beautiful as the coral reefs of Australia must be up close. At times it seems a little forced. Words borne of the sea, of fishing, are repeated over and over, like a mantra. Clothes are not taken but reefed off, time and time again. And I'll be honest: I'm not sure whether this was an over-laboured device, or simply part of the beauty of a repeated note in a glorious song. But either way, it is in the language that Dirt Music gains its solidity.

The characters occur as a product of the landscape. That is what Winton seems most to love. Western Australia is the biggest character that he could have to write, and so Fox, for instance, becomes like his namesake. He is elusive. He lives on the edge of human life, seeking out scraps on which to feed. Stealing, not chickens from a farmer, but fish from the licensed fishermen. He is very distant, though. His loss is felt by the reader, but not explained to great satisfaction. All the others, from Darkie to Beaver to the Aborigines he meets up north, are all like this. It is where they live, not what the do that is important.

Yet all this tough, unrelenting poetry is capturing. Like the fish watching the dazzling lure, no matter what the consequences, it is hard not to take a mouthful. Winton's words are like that. They cut but they shimmer. And there is no escape.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Trying too hard, 27 Nov 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Dirt Music (Paperback)
I couldn't get to grips with this book at all. I found the characters unengaging and the style stilted and laboured, as if the writer had sweated over the book in 200 word bursts then retired exhausted to gather strength. The short, jerky sentences, self-consciously tough, dense writing and the absence of speech punctuation resulted in a curiously disjointed tone, as if he were clearing his throat. I kept waiting for the true narrative to begin. Nevertheless, I recognise that the gritty writing might well appeal to others even though it's not to my taste. I think it's clear that Winton is a committed writer - there's nothing sloppy about this book: it's been written with care and honesty. And it hasn't put me off his work - I'll give other books of his a try.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Australian literature at its best.
Tim Winton's previous books displayed his mastery at describing the Australian landscape in all its various forms and the sense of place and mind of ordinary Australians,... Read more
Published on 24 April 2005

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, powerful and awe-inspiring novel
This is one of the most beautifully written books that I have read for years. The story touches on deep human frailties and yearnings with an awe-inspiring narrative which holds... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing
I'll get the ball rolling here, but somewhat hesitantly, as this book has received rave reviews in several places. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2002 by johnverp

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