ckcombsdotcom's review against another edition
4.0
It took a couple of chapters, but this book got me by the brain cells and I was hooked. Set in Australia and full of Aussie terms and phrases, there were times I didn't know exactly what kind of tree, animal or person they were talking about, but it didn't matter. The story was great, the characters were revealed in layers, which made the story deeper and deeper the more I read.
One thing that threw me off was the ending. I won't spoil it, but the author introduces a scenario that I think was overly dramatic and unnecessary. And frankly, felt out of place. For me it interrupted the flow he had created and that I was riding with great satisfaction. It didn't ruin the story for me, but I did subtract one star.
One thing that threw me off was the ending. I won't spoil it, but the author introduces a scenario that I think was overly dramatic and unnecessary. And frankly, felt out of place. For me it interrupted the flow he had created and that I was riding with great satisfaction. It didn't ruin the story for me, but I did subtract one star.
oceanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Continuing with my new hobby of reading the books behind the movies Kelly Macdonald has starred in, I finally arrived at Dirt Music and savored every. single. page. Tell me a book has emotionally damaged characters and there’s no need to say more. I’m in.
Though the synopsis centers on the tragic life of Lu Fox, the book is predominantly focused on Georgie Jutland, a woman stuck in an affectionless relationship bound by secrets, hidden pasts, and in general things left unsaid. She’s drawn to Lu from the start, watching him from afar as he poaches in her fisherman boyfriend Jim’s waters. When they finally meet, she throws herself into an impulsive affair.
Alas, in a small town, there are some secrets that can’t be kept for long. When Jim gets an inkling of Georgie and Lu’s relationship, Lu takes off knowing better than to tangle with Buckridge. Georgie, too, feels like she needs to run but continues to feel stuck.
This is a slow, long-winded, description-heavy book. The first chapter alone takes up about a fourth of the book. There’s a lot of nothing going on (most of the time) in terms of action on the page. I don’t normally enjoy this pace, but there was something about the characters that drew me in. I didn’t care much for Georgie at first and she ended up being the one I cared most about. As for her romance with Lu, I didn’t care what happened with it despite it being a key element of the book.
While the book spent a long time on the mundane moments, there was also an abundance of information and characters coming and going. I couldn’t follow or retain a lot of the names and connections despite having taken my time to read and process small sections at a time. My lasting impression is a strange one. Some moments in the book left me perplexed not only wondering if particular moments were necessary to the story. Some of the characters’ actions were also unusual. So while I enjoyed the reading experience immensely, I feel as though I’ve only retained the essence rather than the plot itself.
Though the synopsis centers on the tragic life of Lu Fox, the book is predominantly focused on Georgie Jutland, a woman stuck in an affectionless relationship bound by secrets, hidden pasts, and in general things left unsaid. She’s drawn to Lu from the start, watching him from afar as he poaches in her fisherman boyfriend Jim’s waters. When they finally meet, she throws herself into an impulsive affair.
Alas, in a small town, there are some secrets that can’t be kept for long. When Jim gets an inkling of Georgie and Lu’s relationship, Lu takes off knowing better than to tangle with Buckridge. Georgie, too, feels like she needs to run but continues to feel stuck.
This is a slow, long-winded, description-heavy book. The first chapter alone takes up about a fourth of the book. There’s a lot of nothing going on (most of the time) in terms of action on the page. I don’t normally enjoy this pace, but there was something about the characters that drew me in. I didn’t care much for Georgie at first and she ended up being the one I cared most about. As for her romance with Lu, I didn’t care what happened with it despite it being a key element of the book.
While the book spent a long time on the mundane moments, there was also an abundance of information and characters coming and going. I couldn’t follow or retain a lot of the names and connections despite having taken my time to read and process small sections at a time. My lasting impression is a strange one. Some moments in the book left me perplexed not only wondering if particular moments were necessary to the story. Some of the characters’ actions were also unusual. So while I enjoyed the reading experience immensely, I feel as though I’ve only retained the essence rather than the plot itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Infidelity, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Child death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexism
emmaaxtco's review against another edition
2.0
Gee, what to say really? Winton is a natural when it comes to description. He can prattle on for miles about this rock and that tree. But when it comes to the meat of a story, he likes to blow past the most interesting and provocative bits! What is with that??? To say this is a love story is laughable to me. Where's the love? How did it happen? Did I miss it? Winton drones on for 100s of pages about landscape, wildlife and paints an exhaustively clear picture of Western Australia. But at what point do his characters actually find this love? When it comes to actual plot, the long-winded Winton just brushes past in a veil of ambiguity. I buy into his characters, but not so much their motivations. The love triangle is convoluted and confusing. I hear Winton praised for poetry and description, and that I can agree with definitely. At least in Cloudstreet (a far superior novel in my humble opinion) I was invested in the story and in the characters. Dirt Music gave me a thin plot, characters I didn't care about, and a completely unsatisfying and unrealistic ending.
wajihjaroudi's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
pivle's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
It was so hard to read. There were beautiful parts but wtf it was so unnecessary to be this convulatef. I had to read a summary to understand fully what was going on. It was so up for interpretation.
lidia710's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Death of parent, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Racism, and Infidelity
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship
fateleanor's review
medium-paced
4.0
Quite a surreal story. I struggled to get into the book at first but then found it a page turner! Slightly disappointed by the ending
katemilkshakes's review against another edition
3.0
Really torn between the star ratings on this.
The bad
The ending really rubbed me up the wrong way, it felt like it rushed through the action, slipping too far into metaphor and losing reality. I also didn't buy the connection between characters - just seemed like infatuation, compounded by a bit of forbidden fruit / absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The good
Tim Winton is REALLY REALLY GOOD at writing about landscapes and car crashes, and the bits of the book focused on this were completely riveting. A lot of the book seemed to be about loneliness and isolation - and reading it, it felt almost palpable. The characters, too, felt very real - down to the small-town 'extras', like Beaver, the mechanic.
Maybe the ending just whooshed over my head?
The bad
The ending really rubbed me up the wrong way, it felt like it rushed through the action, slipping too far into metaphor and losing reality. I also didn't buy the connection between characters - just seemed like infatuation, compounded by a bit of forbidden fruit / absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The good
Tim Winton is REALLY REALLY GOOD at writing about landscapes and car crashes, and the bits of the book focused on this were completely riveting. A lot of the book seemed to be about loneliness and isolation - and reading it, it felt almost palpable. The characters, too, felt very real - down to the small-town 'extras', like Beaver, the mechanic.
Maybe the ending just whooshed over my head?