The Turning: New Stories

By Tim Winton

Book Overview

Set on a coastal stretch of Western Australia, Tim Winton's stunning collection of connected stories is about turnings of all kinds -- changes of heart, slow awakenings, nasty surprises and accidents,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743276930
• ISBN13: 9780743276931
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Scribner
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful

If you are looking for writing that takes your breath away and stories that make you look deeply into yourself and your life and the lives of others, then read this book. You will not be disappointed.

Not always a fan but this book may be one of the finest collections

Sometimes Mr Winton seems to be straining to be profound riddling his books with impressive literary devices - or maybe I'm too dumb to recognise great art. But with THE TURNING he seems completely at ease and as a consequence the stories ring with a truth - an emotional and spiritual truth firmly set in a believable landscape. The title story about Raelene's physical and spiritual journey, is in the patois of we Australians - a ripper! Mr Winton's great contribution to world literature may indeed be the way in which he is liberating the Australian language and bringing the voice and stories of our caravan dwellers, fishermen, and other inhabitants of small town Australia - working and otherwise - to the fore. The Lockie Leonard trilogy and THE TURNING I expect have joined or will be joining our collective memories much as Blinky Bill, Ginger Meggs and Voss already have.

Life's Turning Points

Tim Winton's latest book 'The Turning' is a collection of short stories, narratives that are to some extent connected, in that the same places feature in the book and the same characters come in and out of the stories. Most of the characters in the stories have been in some sort of trouble of one kind or another and have been damaged. They are all at some turning point in their lives, where they are facing up to what has happened to them in the past and trying to work out who they are, before they set off into the future. "There are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they've made for themselves." Winton's depiction of the world of small-town Western Australian life is expressed with precise realism. He uses sensory detail to convey the atmosphere of the setting. Winton's use of the senses lets the reader share the intimacy of living in a small-town. However, Winton also illustrates the drawbacks of small-town life. Winton's prose is simple and yet powerful. The characters are all interesting and he makes the reader think. You will read this book and want to read Winton's other books as well. Highly recommended.

do yourself a favour

for those of you who are yet to discover Tim Winton he is a legend here in Australia and you are in for a treat! Most of his novels are set in Western Australia - our country's largest,yet least poplutated state which is dreadfully hot in summer but full of magnificent surf beaches, stunning scenery and some of the best wineries in the world. I spent much of my childhood in Perth and Winton writes so well I spend weeks having flashbacks - I can smell the sand during our summer holidays. The book is a series of short stories that turn out to be linked in some (often very subtle) ways. I cant recommend it enough - or any of his books for that matter - see Dirt Music.