Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton is the best Australian novel I’ve read in several years. I preface that by saying I don’t read many Australian novels, having been disappointed in the past and wishing to “travel” through my reading.
That said, Winton’s Western Australian setting is unique enough for me to enjoy the experience and his writing is simply superb.
The book traces the fortunes and misfortunes of two rural families who move to the big smoke of Perth after different tragedies. Chronic gambler and loser Sam Pickles lost one hand in a boating accident, while the vivacious favorite son in the Lamb family, named Fish, became retarded after nearly drowning. The time setting is over two decades from 1945.
The relevance of the timeframe is that Sam inherited a large house in Perth, with a sensible covenant that he couldn’t sell it for 20 years. Everyone expected him to sell the house when the time came to cover his gambling debts.
The Pickles need money and rent out half the house to the Lambs. It’s literally split down the middle, including the back yard.
The Lambs are industrious and teetotal. The Pickles are mostly lazy and the mother, Dolly, is an alcoholic. The Lambs convert their front room into a general store and although they live poor, accumulate money and do well for themselves in their own eccentric way.
The families gradually become closer together over time. The marriage of Rose Pickles to Quick Lamb consolidates the union.
A strength of this novel is Winton’s clever development of characters and their sensitive portrayal, including the less desirable ones. Even the minor players have personalities that become likeable. The retarded boy, Fish, commands love as much as pity.
There is much humor. Sam’s philosophy in life is to believe in the “shifting shadow” of luck. He wins rarely and becomes resigned to handing over his salary from the Mint each week to the bookies. A pig given to the Lambs for Christmas fare becomes a pet and “talks” to Fish.
Part of the appeal of this book for me was the credibility of the characters; their language and idiosyncrasies. I saw some of my father’s family from the same era in both families.
Winton writes with a tight narrative, which always flows logically and in a captivating way that teases you into turning the next page.
His use of dreams and a cameo “Blackfella” confused me a little, but didn’t distract from the overall mood. I understood the imagery of a resident ghost in the house. She represented the spirit of the home, which was initially dark and gloomy. She disappeared when Rose and Quick created a window in the library and moved in with their baby Harry, thereby bringing the families together in love and happiness.
The cover of this book describes it as a “modern Australian classic”. I have to agree.
Tags: Books, cloudstreet, tim-winton, winton
Another note: if people are to be criticized for labelling characters in the book “hot”, this criticizm is wrongly directed. Why not blame Australian society which seems to be morphing into mini-America or better still, Winton himself. He wrote just as simply as these people and look where that got him, quite far actually. I reiterate the point: no witty remark is valued as much as the simple language of Cloudstreet.
Maybe if people learned to read the gaps in between the lines of what i wrote Miss.Cecily, they wouldnt need to frown themselves.
Nor cause me to frown.
forgive me if anyone else took my comments parrallel to Miss.Cecily’s “one-mided” manner.
There have been several misunderstandings and inconsistencies that have lead to unneccessary comments from a few of the critics here. Obviously as Nutter has pointed out that this site has turned into a bit of a bloodbath. But why join into a fight that is not yours? I am not going to assume anything, but I believe Miss Cecily was addressing Mr. Smile and no one else. Quite clearly then we can conclude that the subject matter of her post would have little to do with Cloudstreet, as were the dozen or so posts above it made by many of us, myself included. In no way did she, or any of us, attempt to compare our literary skills with that of Winton’s but it seems it was imperative for you to draw that connection. I need not remind anyone that all the posts and comments are of his or her own opinion; so whilst I take into consideration your opinion that Winton’s work is far superior to any of the remarks made here and I will say that I must agree to some extent (I certainly could not write a novel or anything close to it), you must also agree that the aobve discussion had nothing to do with who’s work is better than who’s. In a nutshell: your own lines, sarcastic or otherwise, may hold value but are irrelevant. This is war and I believe you were neutral, unless your going to take sides.
Mr. Smile, read carefuly before you make your replies. Although I regard your short and sweet responses as I nice tactful way of avoiding the argument they leave much to be desired. I am most curious about your first statement. Would you care to elaborate? As far as I’m concerned the only meaning I derive from reading between “the lines” of what you wrote earlier is that there is an arragont streak in your writing. So what are you trying to portray between the lines? You are also quite the strategist Mr. Smile. That last line of yours was a clever ploy to gain the support of the rest of the posters on this site: “forgive me if anyone else took my comments…”. If everyone said that after making a statement that was critical of others the words “forgiven” and “sorry” would lose their meanings. In any case, you have only shown your weakness. Sucking up to others is not going to help you.
Oh of course by the way, FORGIVE ME FOR BEING MEAN I NEED HELP TOO. What a laugh up Mr. Smile, a laugh up.
Now, time to get out and see for myself what this amazing sunlight is that Lobster speaks of.
Mr. Frown
A slight misunderstanding has taken place, although i did indeed make remark about how well any attempt at comment on this site compares to the work of Winton, i had no intention at taking sides in this war of words. I admit fault, however, the point i had been meaning to make was the obvious hypocrasy of commentators on this site. I admit that a scapegoat was made of Miss Cecily, not due to any personal bias (an almost impossible reality in this sunless world) but merely due to the fact that she was the nearest example i could find. The comment that the discussion was nothing to do with comparing these comments with Winton’s work i find slightly faulty. This is because the current war – Word War I, uses ammunition directly concerned with writing ability and i merely meant to display the futility of such a war (being a self professed peace activist). Before i am accused of aspiring to higher moral standards than anyone else, i wish to say that my aversion to war may actually be due to cowardice.
I found Cloudstreet to be an extremely emotional book, based on the self-exploration of the various characters. It was a change from what I usually read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I appreciated the descriptive talent showed by Tim Winton and wish that there where a page that helped with the analysis of the book for high school essays, it would make life easier.
I know what you mean Anthony, i had to do a couple of essays for Cloudstreet and one was for an exam. I looked and looked but all i could find was this site. It is a really complex book and there are so many ways of interpretting it. I found there were a lot of details, i hardly even noticed the name meanings until it was brought up by our teacher but once you get started you usually keep finding new things. All i can say is good luck and if you want any help ask someone here.
Its the art of communication, that can heal all wounds. or: It is the filling of communication gaps that mends the broken furniture…
things go on in this world that many people do not realise. or, more correctly, “others” do not realise. and, the fake smiles that most people wear, can be quite decieving…
but, when, you find out, that the smile, that you thought was illusory, was just your mind playing tricks on you…..a feeling takes over you….
the same feeling….that you feel, when the Rose Blooming Season begins….
As it just did.
Note: 6.49pm Sunday 7th August 2005 – Tiny Rose Blooming Season Begins.
Mr smile could you please refrain from polluting this site with your emotional garbage. You seem to have alot of time on your hands, so why dont you do us all a favour and find a thread along the lines of ’sooky jibberish for try hard people who think theyre quirky’?
Now, back to the reason i came to this site, Cloudstreet. Is it just me or do you guys find it hard to pinpoint the generic elements working throughout the text (other then characterization)?
My my, “Elogantbeast”, that was completely uncalled for. Mr Smile neither meant you, nor anyone else any harm, or so I believe. Whilst many of us on this site have been fairly subtle with our jibes and barbs, I believe your outright dismissal of Mr Smile was slightly unnecessary. However, if he feels that this is quite alright, then I have no problem also.
And it is just you, I don’t think any of “these guys” find it hard to “pinpoint the generic elements working throughout the text other than characterisation”. Perhaps they just choose not to talk about it. Can you, “pinpoint” these “generic elements”? And if the last comment of your post was not meant to be a nasty comment and rather, was a point that you wished to be discussed, please accept that I did not mean the last two sentences of this post.
On another note: POLYPHONIC NARRATIVE.
There’s a generic technique. Have I astounded you all with my Literary Genius ? (which I am told, is not signified undoubtedly by my Alliterative Abillity, which is a tremendously top-notch talent, if I do say so myself ).
Polyphonic narrative enhances the reading experience, as the reader is enabled to See All. Just like God. (or Fish/Pig, the New Age Messiah). Poplyphonic narrative gives you voices;there is no objective truth, there is no subjective truth. There are only the things that are said. The post-modernist approach.
Mr Smile; “Nonsensicality”, is a word.
Yours in the Arts,
Miss C. Twat
(Please note, Miss Cordelia Twat may actually choose to make sense/talk about the text next time, when she is well, and suffers not from a Serious Cold.)
(Also,Miss C. Twat wonders, is “Elogantbeast” meant to be ” Elegant Beast” ? She has no inkling to be rude, she asks out of curiosity.)
Thanks for the feedback, ill remeber to visit this page if ever i get lost in cloudstreet
hey,
i’m studying the text at the moment and i really need to know what the pig means.
Ta
Good question Jess. I’d like to know that too. Miss Cecily may have an opinion. Mr Frown and Mr Smile might also like to comment.
The pig is a joke. Or so I’ve heard through the grape vine.
And as for the rest of you:
Whoever you people are, just STOP IT. GET LOST!! Whoever, from Miss Cecily, to Mr Frown to Miss Cordelia Twat just give up, and stop being such bloody try hards.
You’re not funny if thats what you’re trying to do, and i and everyone else who uses this site would appreciate some actual insights into the text. You all seem smart enough and if you could try and use your brains for something productive and help some of us lesser brained ones it would be great. Miss Cordelia Twat thanks for the tip on the polyphonic narrative.
From what I have read about the pig, it seems to be the only being that can communicate with fish. The emotional attachment fish feels towards the pig is that of a friendship he is denied by his disability. I haven’t read the whole book so id be happy if my views weren’t criticized.
I interpretted the pig to be interconnected with the faith of the Lambs. The Lambs lose their faith in God when Fish is taken and i think in some ways, the pig comes to represent the mysterious nature of God. To back this up is a conversation between Lester and Fish when the pig first arrives at Cloudstreet:
‘The pig snuffles, lets off a few syllables: aka sembon itwa.
It’s tongues, that’s what it is. A blasted pentecostal pig.
And you understand him?
Yep. i likes him.
Always the miracles you don’t need. It’s not a simple world, Fish It’s not.’
I agree Anthony, there is a friendship of sorts between the two. It is also connected to the spirituality of the book; the aboriginal ma, the house, the river and the pig are often grouped together.
Thank you for that Nutter, I never saw it that way. I always thought that the faith of the Lamb family was constantly rekindled by Oriel. I am keen to discover what she i doing in that tent of hers. I see now how the lake, the pig and the aboriginal man are connected thay are the reasons for the two families to stay together and continue on at Cloudstreet.
Where exactly are you up to in the book Anthony? Don’t want to spoil your interpretation of Oriel’s tent stay but you will learn eventually
If you wanted help all you needed is to ask then have some patience Kate. There is no need to be so hostile, none of this was directed towards you except for a few misguided comments. So, to be productive and less of a “bloody tryhard” lets get on to this question about the pig.
Indded what you said is correct from a contextual point of view. Our beloved pink friend is indeed a humorous invention of Winton’s. The man himself said that he had no idea why the pig was constructed and that it was merely included out of boredom. However the keener analysts of literature will realise that whether or not the pig was intentional, it is still a creation of the composer. Now let us not get bogged down with the rather semantic discussion of whether it is the “text” or the “composer/writer/author” which governs the constructions of characters (human or not) the important thing to note is how we respond. So essentially the question should not be what the pig means, but what it means to you. So fellow critics search into the depths of your primedal context and discover how the implementation of a farm animal in the text affects yourself.
Having a knowledge of Winton’s context is of great aid here if you are looking into the spiritual notions conveyed in the text. This article should be of great help if thats what you are after: http://www.media.anglican.com.au/tma/1999/1999_09/winton.html
Yes, I love the post-modernist approach, you’re never wrong!
Oh and Mr Smile, that is emotional garbage. Perhaps you should become a garbologist.
If Winton introduced the pig as a joke, then it quite literally can mean anything the reader wants it to mean.
We probably don’t want to get into Dan Brown territory here, but symbols are important. A fish is a significant Christian symbol.
Pigs are generally ignoble in symbolism. St Anthony, however, presented a good pig to show victory over gluttony. A pig also symbolises good luck, thriftiness and savings.
In the Gospels, a curious story is told in which Christ allows the many demons he casts out of two men to enter a herd of Gadarene swine. The demons promptly caused the whole herd to run “violently down the steep place into the sea” in which they drowned.
Perhaps Winton is just playing with our minds?
Why oh why my friends does the pig have to “mean” something?
If you walked into a suburban Perth backyard and saw a pig down in the weeds, snorting to itself and snacking on old pieces of corn, would you stand there pondering it as a symbolic construct? Of course not, but please, if any one would do or has done that, tell us all. It would be extremely intriguing.
Less is sometimes more. Perhaps the pig means absolutely nothing. If this is indeed the case, which i suspect strongly it is, then such a notion accurately parallels the proposed overall crux of the text. The characters of Cloudstreet don’t follow a set path. Fate and destiny aren’t controlled. Things ‘just happen’.
What works as a driving force behind the text and develops it as such a highly credible and thus widely accessible novel is the fact things don’t, can’t and won’t make sense.
If everything had meaning, symbolically represented something else and was simple enough to articulate properly in an English Literature essay…..life would be more boring than listening to John Howard ramble on about taxation.
Winton himself even said
“Events just unwind, moving here, moving there, without logic”
The pig is a pig
Period.
if a pig is a pig.
then a pen is a pen.
hence, a book is a book.
consequently, a heart is a heart.
this could almost be considered as a mathematical formulae, proven through words rather than numbers.
Fermats last theorem puzzled the greatest of minds from the early 1800s, until it was finally solved in 1993.
does it matter what he proved? or wrote about? or concluded??
to me. no.
to you. maybe.
to me. no.
it was not his theorem, which made him important. It was his act. What he wrote in the margin. It was in his margin that he wrote, the words which no-one could understand…but could not possibly shake the feeling, that he had gained a piece of knowledge that made him happier in life, and they were left in this world without….
It was his actions that provided him the symbolical status as a great mathematician. Not his work.
No-one even got to see it.
Similarly, the pig. Everyone seems to be forgetting, that its not the pig that is important. It is what he does, and says. It is his actions. Its what he thinks.
Parallel to Miss.Cecily, to me, the pig is a pig. Period.
But that fact that he speaks to the certain few in the text, and not to others, is what matters. Fish being one of those he talks to , and Oriel being one of those he doesn’t.
Concentrate on that.
I think everyone here needs is the “obvious”.
That’s what all of you need. The “obvious”.
If Winton isn’t messing with our minds it’s probably right to say the pig is just a pig. I wonder why he used a pig though, and not a cow, rabbit, sheep, or something else?
Miss Cecily,
Who exactly are you to say the pig means nothing? Yes to you the pig can be simply the pig. Period. To me however, the pig has a meaning and i think that before you project your interpretation this note is necessary. The beauty of literature is that the reader gives the words, characters and environment a meaning. The reader makes the book into a success by allowing themselves to be challenged by the text. What separates Winton’s work from the work of a magazine, is that Winton’s work is so much more than a story.
Another note: Mr. Smile, although the pig doesn’t have to have a meaning, you can’t block free thought.
Once again we have proven the fact that humans are like sheep. We follow. This discussion over the pig I believe has run its length and what has said will suffice, but perhaps a few more cultured comments wouldn’t hurt. Firstly, once again I must stress as a reader whatever meanings you derive from the pig is completely subjective and therefore your own. So Nutter, by saying: “Miss Cecily, Who exactly are you to say the pig means nothing?” I could turn it right back on you and ask you along the same lines, why must you say the pig has meaning? Of course opinion will vary from person to person and you will all have your pretty little arguments to back it up with but at the end of the day, nothing will be proven. Much like Fermat’s last theorem it will take several decades if not forever to prove. By the way Mr Smile, Fermat’s last theorem was written in 1630 along with the famous margin note: “I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.” which appears to hold so much meaning to you, as it does me. However, the theorem was not proved in 1993, only for n values up to 4,000,000 by using the fact that the counter-example of Fermat’s Last Theorem would provide the counter-example of the Shimura-Taniyama-Weil Conjecture. It was not until 1994 that a more confident proof was put forward by Wiles which gapped the holes in the calculation of the upper bound for the Selmer group in the case of semisquares. But I digress…
Also Nutter, I’d just like to say that not all books are successes because they are able to challenge a reader, you are over generalising there. Unless of course you are talking about Cloudstreet in particular.
Prudence, the pig did not speak to anyone besides Fish and if you want to talk about the specific case of Oriel, note the similarity as to why Fish can’t recognise her.
Anyway, lets leave the pig and talk about something else…like Fermat’s Last Theorem! Only if everyone doesn’t mind though, for it is much more interesting then the pig. But if we must, we can continue with the street in the clouds.
Mr Smile, why didn’t the pig speak to Oriel, in your opinion?
Mr. Frown,
Yes i agree it was rather hypocritical for me to infer the pig had a meaning in the words that i used. What i meant to express was that meaning is relative, to you christmas dinner to me valued friend (we are talking about a pig). What i mean to say is that if nothing was examined life would be just as boring as Miss Cecily claims it would if everything was examined. Perhaps my general meaning is best summed up in this quote:
“An unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Socrates
A note on my comments – they were personal opinion, that is to say I personally believe that a book is successful because it challenges the reader. Not necessarily going beyond what you know but often delving into your memories – digging up old bones.
Also, you say you want more “cultured comments” but you then go on to criticize our “pretty little arguments”. There is, I believe, a hypocrite in all of us.
Now i finish with something completely unrelated to Fermat’s Last Theorem,
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read.”
— Groucho Marx
Um…was just wondering what y’all reckon the point of the Nedlands Monster is. Is it just to ground the text in reality or is there something more?
I think the Nedlands Monster represents the dawn of a new era. Toby Raven refers to Perth as the world’s biggest country town trying to be a city and until the Nedlands Monster first appeared that was the feel that i had for Perth. People sleep on little verandas and leave doors unlocked but now, these kinds of conditions no longer seem safe. To me, the Nedlands Monster represents a new time, where you can no longer trust the person you meet on the street.
The Nedlands Monster also plays a significant role in the lives of the characters, particularly as a wake-up call for Rose as to how important Cloudstreet really is and to Quick who has so far not properly grieved the loss of Fish as he knew him.
i thought the nedlands monster was put in to make us aware of oriels point that the ‘monster’ is just like all of us…everyone thinks he’s different when in actual fact its a result of his past that turns him into the person he is. Also its an important historical moment as this was a time when alot of freedom was lost in perth as from then on people locked there dorrs and no one felt completely safe.
are the girls that come to stay in the house at the very start aboriginals? just want to know becuase it might mean something about reconciliation
Yes, he is put in to make us aware of that point but it has more connection with Quick because he goes from hating the monster to having a type of sympathy when the boy dies. Oriel’s part is a minor one. Yes the house was for aboriginal girls.
thanks
also i dont quite understand what the book is about..like how i could say that in a sentence…working on an intro
Essay huh? I have one to do too. It is a really complex book, not only because of the many characters but also because it spans over such a long amount of time. Do you have to write about the book as a whole or just a particular theme from the book?
well we have to do an inclass one soon..over the whole book.we’ve already had 4 lessons on it and all we did was get into a debate about reconciliation and what we as individuals define as forgiveness.i understand the themes and that i love the book and it celebrates life and all its hardships and yada yada but talking about the whole book in one essay seems like the impossible…..
That is a bit harsh, my god how long do they expect the essay to be? We got to pick a particular theme
yeh it is harsh…wat theme u doing…im so thankful i love this novel
Ever since I first encountered this site (Aug. 5th, You may recall an essay written by me: “Cloudstreet – A Waste of Time”) I have been intrigued by the characters who devote their time and energy to voice their opinions on a regular basis… It has come to my attention that many of these people may indeed be completely absent from any form of social, or sex, life. My main concern is a certain “Nutter” who may in fact be lacking in the reproductive organs and people skills necessary to comply with social norms and participate in such acts as procreation… I ask you, for the good of mankind, never reproduce… And to your comment about my lack of “life-experience”… I will tell you now that the course of my life has led me to see things that you could not possibly comprehend… I am 17 years old, and yet I have experienced things that the great majority of people will never, in their entire lives, possibly begin to imagine… I have lived in places exhibiting poverty levels that would make the Pickles family seem very well off indeed… I have encountered true loss and suffering that make any of the events of this so-called “Novel” seem as unnoticeable as a cubic centimeter of driftwood floating in the great vastness of the Pacific…
The reason I find this book so dull is because no event on paper could not even begin to compete with the one true adventure; Life…
William Scholl,
If you think that your pity me/respect my superior life experience message will serve as a silencer for me then you are sadly mistaken. I refuse to conform to your little book of social norms and to become like the rest of the flock, you see, if everyone did what you do the world would most likely be a worse place. What, for example, would happen to the liberty of free speech?
I too have seen many things and i find it highly disappointing that someone with such a vast amount of life experience would even consider taking such a narrow minded veiwpoint. I too will be turning 17 this year, I have actually lived in conditions bordering poverty, that you should assume that you are the only person that has seen or experienced anything is simply disgraceful.
The reason i did not mention the above references to my background to anyone on this site who had veiws that i failed to agree with, is that i find it highly manipulative and also displaying a somewhat passive-aggressive method. The reason i believe it is a passive-aggressive method is because you have directly picked out someone whom members of this post may have difficulty liking (for my non-conformity you see)and who has the opposite opinion of the book to you, you have then tried to silence them when what you really intend to do with this statement is silence an entire group. Freedom of speech is for everyone, not just those with so-called "life-experience".
Your idea of an essay was highly amusing.
By the way, I do intend to reproduce – deal with it.
Katie – I’m actually exploring the relationship between Toby and Rose. Our teacher got the entire class to try out the Lambs spinning knife trick, lol.
William Scholl youre my hero.
Prudence. Thats a nice name.
Well.I see in my absence much has flourished on this dear ol’ site…..Michael Gorey…whither art thou?
Yet you have nothing to add to it? Neither do I. I think we need to find an Arcadia site to overrun and inhabit…shotgun first post. Or maybe lets just get Michael to write a review on that too?
-Another note, although i did make a comment on life-experience several posts ago, it seems the direction of that post was not quite adequate – i directed it to people who had dismissed the book as a failure when i actually wanted to direct the comment towards the students who had this opinion. Since then, i have learnt that no mistake goes unseen on this board. I do not retract the statement, as i believe it’s general meaning to be imbued with truth.
I still believe my above analysis of William Scholl’s “dirty tactics” to be correct, however if there is evidence of fault on my part i shall stand corected, as always.
This book is really pushing me to my limits! we have had weeks on end to study this book and im still lost,perhaps I should change my text. This book should be enjoyed not studied.
Dear Cordelia, This humble blog entry has exceeded my comment expectations by about 90 so far (now at 94 and climbing).
The number of views on this entry has exceeded past book favorites such as Pillars of the Earth, Wilbur Smith, and Havoc in its Third Year.
I think we’ve just about exhausted discussion here. I will close comments around the 100 mark. Last word anyone?
Well. I never actually expected the apparantley ominiscient Michael (our very own Fish?) to respond, but he has, and I believe he’s right. So goodbye Cloudstreet, goodbye Mr Frown, goodbye Miss Cecily, Mr Smile,Fishiness Abounds, the ubiquitous Nutter and goodbye Michael Gorey.
And contrary to popular opinion I do actually like Cloudstreet. Its a good book.And though some may say its too “Hollywood”, I prefer to call it very surreal, and surreal is always good.
In other news, I’m post number 95.
Numbers ending in 5 are such fun.
Sigh. I’d take you up on that Arcadia offer Mr Frown, if Mr Gorey would so much as care to review it. (I’m joking, if that wasn’t obvious).
All right all, lets raise one last hurrah.
Yours in the Arts,
Miss C. Twat
Ohh lord, I have been forced by my school to read ANOTHER Tim Winton ‘Clasic’. If that book is a clasic my essays should earn me a docterates (and i am not the best student by any means). Which you can already tell by my spelling is a valid commentary.
However, back on topic; is it just me or did Winton seem want to finish this book in such a rush that he left something out, therefore resulting in an ending of dribeled excrement on a sheet of ficies.
Russian Rulet would have more suspense, it was so discriptive and a like Soap Opera you didnt have a sence of any structure or a path to follow. Some say this is the art, but this resulted in me losing my way.
On the contray, i don’t mean to bag the author. If he fooled a shitload of yanks into buying the book and sending Perth some money…sucked in.
Yet, i did seem to enjoy how i could relate to the areas which he wrote about and i must admit he does have a sence of presence when writing humor which makes you on some occurance laugh out loud.
Some of the chracters where extreemly enjoyable – like a hole in the head. They seemed to get on your nerves. Why read about a family with a load of misfortunate crap due to the ’shifty shadow’ when we all have our own lives with equally as valid problems.
If you have read it i hope you have found something i havn’t, because if not…oh well! If you havn’t read it i wouldn’t necisarly waste my time reading about 2 families when you cant act it out in real life.
Lets hope this novel is a one off!
Indeed. That’s the end of that, and yes I always get the last word. WORD.
This post is getting a lot of visits again. I’ll re-open discussion for a couple of months to see if there’s anything new to add.
This site certainly contains some valid discussion (sometimes hidden under layers of ego) but nevertheless I think we should start it up again!! I know there are plenty of HSC students out there just dying to discuss their set text.
Cloudstreet is an excellent novel. The Pickles are no-hopers – Sam drinks and gambles, Dolly is a hussbag…you know I’m right. The Lambs are slightly better – at least they have a work ethic. I think Winton has done an excellent job in writing this novel. He is able to find uniqueness in the ordinary as he highlights the mystery in the lives of these two very peculiar families. I adored this novel. It’s honest, brutal and heart-wrenching, but ultimately a novel of great heart. I heartily disagree with those who have previously posted less than agreeable comments about this book. I will refrain from typing profanity, but remember – Cloudstreet is brilliant!
PS Does anyone else think that the novel contains, in a sense, two Fish Lambs? The one who escapes and whose voice becomes one with that of the river (hence the writing style of Winton), and the one who remains and is imprisoned in the vacant room ay the heart of the house. Is Cloudstreet basically an account given by one of these Fish Lambs to the other? IT would also explain the final scene, which is a continuation of the beginning chapter (wedged between some 400 pages of storyline).
Hello to Ms Tokley’s Year 12 English Class! I know you’re reading these comments. Peace out.
PS The Pig Rocks.