Dirt Music in Aussie Readers

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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Aug 25, 2013 Jacinta Hoare rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-author, audio-book, 2013

I just didn't get it.

I liked Winton's descriptions of the landscape and how it feels to be hot and uncomfortable in the Australian sun.

However I just didn't get the characters, their motivations or why they did what they did.

Simply no idea. ...more

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