Dirt Music in Aussie Readers

Jan 16, 2008 Magdalena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Dirt Music is one of those books that gets under your skin. Comes into your bed with you; changes your dreams; travels with you throughout the mundane details of everyday life. Winton's descriptive prose works both externally in its depiction of the natural land - the sea and desert of Western Australia which makes up its setting, and internally, in the way it goes deep inside the pain and anxieties of its characters, as they struggle to free themselves from tremendous damage, and paralysis. ...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Mon rated it liked it · review of another edition

When I think of Australia, I think of orange desert, furry animals, the ocean, snakes, big rocks, dirt roads, land, a LOT of land. As a country with one of the lowest population density, it is easy to fantasise about vanishing into the endless land ahead and leaving civilisation behind. It is not that romantic though, think about the sun burn, dehydration, windstorm, and boredom that would drive you insane. You know how famous landmarks - bridges, skyscrapers, tend to gather people with suicidal

When I think of Australia, I think of orange desert, furry animals, the ocean, snakes, big rocks, dirt roads, land, a LOT of land. As a country with one of the lowest population density, it is easy to fantasise about vanishing into the endless land ahead and leaving civilisation behind. It is not that romantic though, think about the sun burn, dehydration, windstorm, and boredom that would drive you insane. You know how famous landmarks - bridges, skyscrapers, tend to gather people with suicidal intention? So why do so few people choose say, the Simpson desert, as their final destination? I don't know much about psychology, but I think one of the reason is the effort it would take to consciously die in the wilderness, or rather, the agony of it. There is not instant death but you can't be a permanent hermit either. It is like punishing yourself in a a hotel with five-star view in hell.

Dirt music revolves around three people: Georgie Jutland, the private school educated nurse who is married to Jim Buckridge, a fisherman in small town Western Australia and Luther Fox, a retired musician whom Georgie has an affair with. Dirt music is also much more than the relationship between them, it is a platform of self-reflection and alienation. The connections between the characters are superficial, they are merely titles imposed on them by the intolerant, close-knitted community they exist in. It is no coincidence that the three protagonists are drawn to the wilderness, albeit for vastly different reasons. They seek redemption and enlightenment through the epic journey into this little island at the edge of the Indian ocean where the ending takes place. To me, it is the ending that makes the read remarkable, everything is so obvious, inevitable, they are broken people to start with and end up choosing to exile to the harsh Australian landscape. A down side is that the characters tend to be static like the environment. Dynamic personalities are compromised by constant self-pitying and dull monologues. Most of the time they brood and sulk around in between gorgeous exploration of the outdoor.

Dirt music is a sentimental book and I am absorbed by its rural charm. Imagine yourself, alone at night, overlooking an infinity of messy mangroves, dark water and thick twisted tree. This is what reading the book feels like, you are involuntarily terrified by the mystery and danger, yet the beauty is almost touchable. Winton captures the spirit of the typical Australian bogan culture, but at the same time gives it another dimension that city dwellers are ignorant of. ...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Tracey rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2007, australian

Its Australian, I am meant to like Australian novels (being an Aussie) but I hated this book. At the end I wanted to throw the book out the window and wish for the hours I spent reading this book given back to me.
I truly hated the story, I truly found nothing forgiving or likeable about anybody in this book and the ending!!! That still makes me fume as I write it.

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Aug 18, 2007 Hilde rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, australia, bookcrossing

I found this book a bit difficult to read, probably because English isn't my first language. I had to really concentrate to read it, but when I had time to sit down and focus, it was, as the cover says, compelling. The characters were strange; none of them really likeable, but I found myself hoping it would work out for all of them. I thought some of the minor characters, like Rachel and Beaver, were just as interesting as the major ones, and would have liked to know more about them. Don't think ...more

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Jun 19, 2019 Tien rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australian-author

A few times I was tempted to DNF and I even took a break and started to listen to another audiobook but in the end, I just love the way Winton described 'home' which is Western Australia for him but a lot of it also applies to us in the Eastern side because Australia sings in all our hearts.

Wasn't too keen on either characters or plot in this one (I have 1 wish in that the darkness of White Point was explored deeper but he's taken on a different road) but the uplifted ending is acceptable.

3.5 s ...more

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