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The Slap

Christos Tsiolkas

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Jul 29, 2010 Cait rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

The people in this book are all kinds of fucked up. Take this exchange between a mother and her teenage son:

She cleared her throat and suddenly barked out, 'Are you going to take drugs?'
He looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked small, a little afraid. Slowly, he nodded.
'What kind?'
'Weed, I guess.'
'What else?'
He shrugged. 'Stuff.'
'What stuff?'
'Speed. Maybe an E.'
'Oh, baby.' She began to reach out to him then abruptly withdrew her hand. 'I guess you're all grown up.'
He eyed her refecti The people in this book are all kinds of fucked up. Take this exchange between a mother and her teenage son:

She cleared her throat and suddenly barked out, 'Are you going to take drugs?'
He looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked small, a little afraid. Slowly, he nodded.
'What kind?'
'Weed, I guess.'
'What else?'
He shrugged. 'Stuff.'
'What stuff?'
'Speed. Maybe an E.'
'Oh, baby.' She began to reach out to him then abruptly withdrew her hand. 'I guess you're all grown up.'
He eyed her refection warily. Was she pissed off with him?
She stood up and kissed him quickly on the cheek. 'Just be careful.' She stopped at the door. 'I heard on the radio there's going to be sniffer dogs. Better put the gear up your arse.'

Good advice there, mom. Way to be looking out for your little dingo baby.

Many people have complained about the explicit language and sex scenes. The truck driving sailor in me couldn't care less; there wasn't a single word printed in this book (other than the Australian slang, which flew right over my head) that I haven't said once, twice, a million times before. However, my critical reader side isn't as forgiving. Have you ever overheard a group of teenagers loudly "conversing" in public and every other word out of their mouth is 'fuck' and it's so obvious that they think it makes them look cool but in reality they just look like asshats?* That's what this book reminded me of. I wasn't offended in the slightest, just bored by it. Once I've read the word 'c*nt' in a book for the 20th time, I'm pretty desensitized.

The characters are all morons/assholes/douche bags/suckers, but that was ok. I like flawed characters. I also like totally messed up story lines and unhappy endings, so I should have been more into this. Too uneven I guess, with sections that were very compelling and others that I forced myself not to skim through (too much). Regardless, it took me a week and a half to get through this and that is way too long.

*Upon typing this sentence I realized that I've become my mother. ...more

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Feb 09, 2024 Heather(Gibby) rated it really liked it

This is a well written interesting story revolving around a group of friends and family who were all at a barbecue when one person slaps the child of another. The subsequent ramifications on their lives makes for a very interesting examination of human relationships.

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