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Town
by
James Roy (Goodreads Author)
Everyone has a story.
In Town, James Roy turns his hand to the short story, using it to explore the lives of the young residents of an Australian town. This town doesn't have a name. But if it seems familiar, it's because we recognise the people who walk its streets.
From the serendipity of an unexpected moment of connection, to the sadness of leaving home, and the pain of t...more
In Town, James Roy turns his hand to the short story, using it to explore the lives of the young residents of an Australian town. This town doesn't have a name. But if it seems familiar, it's because we recognise the people who walk its streets.
From the serendipity of an unexpected moment of connection, to the sadness of leaving home, and the pain of t...more
B Trade paperback, 312 pages
Published
2007
by UQP
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Amazing...
Let me start by saying that this isn’t the sort of book that I would normally read. The only reason I read it was for my English class, and boy am I glad I read it. This book was amazing and I decided to review it because the term is over, so we’ll be starting a new book next term. And I thought, really am I going to let all those lessons analysing each short story go to waste? I think not! So enough of my rambling, onto the actual review:
What the book was about:
The book is set over th...more
Let me start by saying that this isn’t the sort of book that I would normally read. The only reason I read it was for my English class, and boy am I glad I read it. This book was amazing and I decided to review it because the term is over, so we’ll be starting a new book next term. And I thought, really am I going to let all those lessons analysing each short story go to waste? I think not! So enough of my rambling, onto the actual review:
What the book was about:
The book is set over th...more
"Town" erzählt in 13 Kapiteln von 13 Jugendlichen. Jedes Kapitel gehört der Geschichte eines Jugendlichen, wobei sie alle lose mit einander bekannt sind und man hin und wieder Kleinigkeiten von anderen erfährt. Sie erzählen in Ich-Perspektive, was manchmal auch den Stil des Erzählens beeinflusst. Ein Jugendlicher spricht nicht so gut die Sprache, ein anderer macht setzt selten Komma und Punkt. Wenn allerdings die Figur keine Sprachschwäche hat, reden sieeigentlich alle gleich. Darin ist auf jede...more
2 likes · like · see review
Before this week I had never read a James Roy novel. I had heard his name of course, he had won the NSW Premier's Literary Award in 2008 for this title, but I had never had the pleasure of reading one of his books.
Town is a curious little creature comprised of a series of short stories all revolving around the teens in one small Australian town. Each vignette is from one teen's perspective, written in their voice, telling their story. You'd have to be a complete sourpuss not to revel in the auth...more
Town is a curious little creature comprised of a series of short stories all revolving around the teens in one small Australian town. Each vignette is from one teen's perspective, written in their voice, telling their story. You'd have to be a complete sourpuss not to revel in the auth...more
I wanted to love this book. As much as I wanted to love "Dubliners" by James Joyce. Both books are much-praised collections of short stories about a small town and they are supposed to paint a complete story when viewed as a whole. There is no doubt that James Roy is a writer of considerable talent. He has a wonderfully realistic, down-to-earth and deceptively simple style of narrative, full of sombre pathos and depth.
As opposed to a novel, which you choose because the subject matter interests...more
As opposed to a novel, which you choose because the subject matter interests...more
James Roy's interwoven series of short stories explores the struggle for young people to find direction in a town which by its own nature wanders aimlessly. The characters keep popping up in others' stories, much like in a real country town where everyone knows everyone, somehow.
Mr Roy's stories drew me in. I finished "The Whistleblower" feeling frustrated and unsatisfied - I think this was the author's aim. I held my breath most of the way through "The Clearing".
I could see where some of the st...more
Mr Roy's stories drew me in. I finished "The Whistleblower" feeling frustrated and unsatisfied - I think this was the author's aim. I held my breath most of the way through "The Clearing".
I could see where some of the st...more
I generally dislike short stories. I just get interested in the characters and the story is over. The story never seems to have enough STORY for me. But I think, in a way, that is part of the point of this collection. The stories are interrelated, but there isn't an overarching plot. It is just a series of vignettes about kids who are near the end of their high school years. The point, for me, is that, in general, this IS all you get. You see snippets of people's lives, but you never know their...more
This was my first taste of James Roy and I liked it. When it comes to short story anthologies it's very rare that I read them from cover to cover. I prefer to pick and choose depending on whether or not the opening of the story grabs me, but this collection had me reading all the way through.
As the blurb says, a collection of stories centered around the lives of a group of adolescents in a small unnamed Australia country town. Some of the stories stayed with me long after I read them (The New Gi...more
As the blurb says, a collection of stories centered around the lives of a group of adolescents in a small unnamed Australia country town. Some of the stories stayed with me long after I read them (The New Gi...more
I thought this book was interesting how all the stories had a small number of characters and a problem. The problems were all different and interesting to read. Having different characters in each chapter and hvaing them links to other parts of the book also made it interesting. My favourite month of this story was June (Veronika) because this story was intense, by having Veronkia under a lot of pressure. I also liked how she stood up for herself and found a way out of her problem.
Jun 02, 2010
Barbara Philip
added it
Annotation:
Thirteen linked stories told by thirteen different adolescents over thirteen months (February to February) in an unnamed Australian town.
These stories, which vary in length, create a jigsaw-like effect as various characters are shown from the perspective of the teller. The interactions, slowly revealed, are fascinating.
Themes in this book:
Adolescents. Country children. Individuality. Relationships. Year.
Source: Magpies
Thirteen linked stories told by thirteen different adolescents over thirteen months (February to February) in an unnamed Australian town.
These stories, which vary in length, create a jigsaw-like effect as various characters are shown from the perspective of the teller. The interactions, slowly revealed, are fascinating.
Themes in this book:
Adolescents. Country children. Individuality. Relationships. Year.
Source: Magpies
This book reminded me of exactly what I hate about short stories.
I was left with the feeling that these were all ideas the author didn't bother fleshing out.
Maybe 3 stories were good, 3 were okay, and the rest were not worth printing.
For the 3 characters that were very good deserved much better treatment and the rest deserved far less than they got.
I was left with the feeling that these were all ideas the author didn't bother fleshing out.
Maybe 3 stories were good, 3 were okay, and the rest were not worth printing.
For the 3 characters that were very good deserved much better treatment and the rest deserved far less than they got.
I thought this book was good. It was basically 13 short stories about an event or a time in one of the teenagers life. They all were related through eachother and lived in the same town. Which made it sometimes hard to get into the book but it was intresting because I hadn't ever read a book like town before.
Set in a fictional town, Town is a string of thirteen linked stories revolving around the lives of the young adults who live there. Each character is diverse in their background, personality, gender and age thus illustrating the characteristics of the town and the individual struggles, wants and desires of its residents.
Town is also an illustration of no matter what our background, we all share the common need for love, security, acceptance and a sense of belonging. Many of the stories revolved...more
Town is also an illustration of no matter what our background, we all share the common need for love, security, acceptance and a sense of belonging. Many of the stories revolved...more
i thught that this book was well written as it summarised the events during the year. it was good in the way that the stories among the book can rlate to myself and my fellow classmates. this is a great book.
Shot JAMES ROY, you beauty.
Shot JAMES ROY, you beauty.
Great story. I think this book should be aimed at audiences that are in their teens. I find the content in some part's somewhat disturbing though.
A collection of short stories which combine beautifully into a whole. A celebration of life in all its earthy grief andwonder. An impressive read.
This collection of linked short stories won the 2007 New South Wales Premier's Award for Young Adult Fiction. And rightfully so, too.
It took me awhile to figure out how this book fitted altogether, but once I picked it I really enjoyed it. He's got a brilliant way of putting each persons personality together.
James Roy is a consistently good, but somewhat overlooked, writer for children and teenagers. I am hoping that "Town" will be his break-through book. It's a collection of short stories, each one about a different young adult character from a small rural town somewhere in Australia.
The thirteen stories span a year in the life of these people in this community, and the cumulative effect of the stories layering upon each other create a rich and involving read. Beautiful writing and excellent charac...more
The thirteen stories span a year in the life of these people in this community, and the cumulative effect of the stories layering upon each other create a rich and involving read. Beautiful writing and excellent charac...more
Australian fiction. Bleak collection of stories about the inhabitants of an unnamed town.
This was a really bad book. I hate it.
1 like · like · see review
Read this because I'm tutoring a student, but was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, especially the latter chapters. It's a book of short stories set in an Australian town. I enjoyed figuring out the connections between the characters in the different chapters and the feel of home town stories.
Lovely interconnected stories, just right for the teen reader. Not so shabby, either, for the adult who appreciates a skilled short story craftsman.
Interesting collection of short stories. Not the best book to read, but still better than some other I've read.
For saying that this collection of short stories has won two awards, I was left very disappointed.
Sep 19, 2012
Rebecca
added it
HORRIBLE BOOK.
May 15, 2013
Mina Kang
is currently reading it
May 11, 2013
Carmel
added it
May 06, 2013
Beck
marked it as to-read
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Oct 08, 2011 08:15pm