Tim Winton, BREATH

Hamish Hamilton
224pp hardback $45.00

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Tim Winton has published 20 books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into 22 languages. Since his first novel An Open Swimmer won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award three times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet and Dirt Music) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). His latest novel, Breath, is his first in seven years. He lives in Western Australia.

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POSTED: 08 AUGUST 08

Tim Winton's Breath

My grandfather described his time as a WW1 soldier in North Africa as endless days of heat and boredom with a hidden tension of imminent danger, then a few hours of madness and panic.

I get the same feeling reading Tim Winton's latest novel Breath.

Winton somehow portrays the monotonous stretch of adolescence and the ennui of doin' nuthin' with an on-the-edge-of-your-seat quality that had me convinced that a disaster was surely coming — probably on the next page.

The story starts when the main character, Bruce Pike (Pikelet), and his mate Loonie (work it out yourself) are around 12 years old and are living in a small, ordinary, West Australian town. From the beginning the characters are established as risk takers, holding their breath in murky river water until they vomit and pass out just for the dare of it — and to scare the tourists. 

The boys sneak off to the nearby coast and meet Sando, a surfing legend much older than them, and any hope they will grow out of their risky behaviour evaporates. The risks grow and they push the boundaries further as the story progresses. First by surfing in remote bays, then in an area spooked by a great white shark, then taking on huge waves and finally the ugly and perilous Nautilus — a rock that can wreck ships, eat surf boards, and surfers too if the mood takes it.

This last is too much for Pikelet and he 'pikes', leaving Sando and Looney to the insane challenge. 

It is this event that changes the dynamics of the threesome and Sando and Looney disappear without notice to Indonesia where more dangers than just surfing lie.

Pikelet is left behind, feeling lonely and rejected.  Much the same as Sando's wife, Eva, a former ski champion with a chronic knee injury who suffer s from both mental and physical pain. Her earlier aloofness and hostility to Pikelet changes and a sexual relationship develops, one that ends up being far too much for a teenage boy to handle, even one who likes taking risks.

All of this could be the making of a rites of passage book just a tad unbelievable if it weren't for Tim Winton's great writing. His style is clear and sharp, his theme perceptive. 

The book is about far more than adolescence. It is about fear and overcoming fear, about the desire for acceptance while yearning to be different, and about coming to terms with your own ordinariness.