<![CDATA[Breath: A Novel]]>

false <![CDATA[Breath: A Novel]]> 2176735 15 <div><div>Tim Winton is Australia’s best-loved novelist. His new work, <i>Breath</i>, is an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one’s limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. It’s a story of extremes—extreme sports and extreme emotions.</div><div> </div><div>On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrillseeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Why is their mentor’s past such forbidden territory? And what can explain his American wife’s peculiar behavior? Venturing beyond all limits—in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behavior—there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Full of Winton’s lyrical genius for conveying physical sensation, <i>Breath </i>is a rich and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of world literature’s finest storytellers.</div></div> 1405064 27 5 2007 Breath: A Novel total:713|5:157|4:292|3:201|2:52|1:11| 713 2671 1179 222 4 6 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 18:39:54 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 08:28:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 10:11:05 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 07:48:32 -0700 2008 2 1 false false Thu Nov 20 12:09:59 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 12:28:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 07:45:12 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 21:58:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 08:50:21 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 09:02:16 -0800 2009 bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story, and a very captivating one at that. It's quite simply a story well-told, with characters that remain mysterious despite being sharply drawn in the narrative and a setting that seems both alien and familiar at the same time. It's ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Aug 05 18:56:56 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 19:13:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 08 08:47:08 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 10:58:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Jan 11 20:50:56 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 20:56:05 -0800 2009
I’m ashamed to say that I only heard of Tim Winton when a blogger recently wrote that Saltwater Buddha: a surfer's quest t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 27 17:12:21 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 27 17:13:18 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 16:15:33 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 16:16:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 25 06:04:41 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 06:11:03 -0700 2009 get the places they portray. If you think of novels you love, often there is a really strong sense of place, and you feel as if you're there as soon as you begin to read.

I know of only one author who simply gets Austral...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Aug 04 13:27:58 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 13:34:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Apr 29 15:10:16 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 15:30:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 18:11:37 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 12:04:33 -0800 2009 Setting: the rugged coastline of western Australia and the beautiful (shark-infested) waters off of it.

Characters: Pikelet (14-yr-old protagonist, sensible, conservative, wide-eyed and taking it all in)

Loonie (Pikelet's dangerous sidekick, the type of "friend" who l...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 16:03:01 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 16:23:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 04:55:39 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 16:30:26 -0700 2009
Bruce Pike, a man with a complicated past full of addiction and regret, recalls for us his adolescence in Western Australia d...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:58:20 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:58:20 -0800 2009 Despite the novel's emotional tangles and amours, critics were most impressed with Winton's wonderfully limpid style. It echoes through a lonely, often isolating world, and there seems to be nothing in nature he can't transform into prose. The story and characters received slightly more mixed review...

more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue May 20 08:12:45 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 08:14:42 -0700 2008 Dirt Music was the first of his books that I read, and I loved it.
Breath, his latest is amazing. A coming of age novel featuring a teenage boy in Australia, his desire to fit in, to be himself, to challenge his limits, all wrapped up in the most vivid description...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 22 13:57:14 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 08 11:21:04 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 14:39:47 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 14:46:01 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2176735