Highly recommended - Boy Swallows Universe

[Bridget]

Boy Swallows Universe

I thoroughly recommend this book! It's such an enjoyable read. I finished it yesterday and I can't stop thinking about it!

The author is a journalist for The Australian and this is his first novel. In an interview on RNZ a lady called in and said she had read many books in her time but she's now 80 and she understands that he's writing a second book and that it takes time but she'd really appreciate if he could move quickly because she'd desperately like to read his next book before she dies because Boy Swallows Universe is the best book she’s ever read.

There's 3 reasons I loved this book:
* The world
* Humour / Enjoyment
* The discussions of time

It took me a few chapters to get into this book. I think it's because it creates a world that I had to spend the first few chapters understanding, but once I was in, I couldn't put it down. It's set in the 80's in Australia in a drug family - but the "world" that exists around this is so magic. There were some recurring images that helped create this world, in particular "bitumen" and "Dunlop kt-26s from Kmart" - at first I was confused as to why he mentioned 'bitumen' multiple times early on in the book, but i recognise now the the hot ashphalt in Brisbane heat and the poor kids cheap but trusty Kmart shoes are part of the creation of this world, and part of the detail and reason why I loved this book. I just started another book and I was almost disappointed to find that the "world" was so obvious. I enjoyed that this was set in a world different to my own but the details in it were so incredible that and in reading it I was taken into that world every time I picked it up. The descriptions in this book are incredible. In particular there's a scene set in a Vietnamese restaurant with the white plastic chairs and all the descriptions given in this scene about the creepy guys in white that remind him of bones and the whole chapter is incredibly vivid!

The book deals with heavy shit, it's set among heroin dealing, murder and gang violence but I still felt like I smiled the whole way through it! The author has found a magic way of interweaving the dark and the humour so they exist right next to each other.. The book was filled with moments where I read a sentence and then I'd grin thinking "ha, that's clever". For example, there's a mute kid who speaks without words, and little phrases like ""let's go" he didn't say to me" just feel clever and make me chuckle. The story is told through Eli, as he ages from about 13 years old to 20 years old. Given the dark world he’s living in I felt nervous about the inevitable fall from innocence, but somehow this book carries on a kind of hope throughout.

The strong “theme” of the book (haha year 10 English lol) was time and I think that was particularly relevant in isolation. In particlar on pages 87 and 88 a prison innmate talks about his ability to manipulate time, how he can speed it up by making himself feel busy, and slow down time for the special moments by noticing all the details around you and viewing the scene you’re in from all the possible different angles and perspectives. It might not sound relevationry, but I think it really hit home for me at my current time in life (not in prison clearly, but in isolation in a very enjoyable time of my life that I want to hold on to!)

I borrowed this book from Mark Sturgiss and was struggling to put it down so at one point I was trying to entertain Miller on my knee whilst also reading and he ripped the bottom of the page off. The sentence he ripped away was a debate on how banana paddlepops are the best bang for your bite.

I feel like this is a childish review compared to Gerard's intellectual ones, and it's highlighted to me that I need to read more books because I have lots of words in my head but I'm struggling to articulate these on paper.

Added into the isolit conversation based on the award winning category.

Definitely read I say!