Book+15+-+Eyrie

Discussion Dates: Friday 4th July to Friday 18th July

Michelle: I haven't read it yet, but I look forward to seeing your comments to see whether or not I should!

Jane: Hello bookies, my copy of Eyrie has yet to arrive from BD. This will be a lesson in shopping locally! SORRY.

Mel: This is our 15th book club book and the first that I have not read. I ordered Eyrie at the start of May and it had not arrived by the time we flew out on the 12th June. Gen gave me her copy (which she had read!) last week. I am loving The Narrow Road to the Deep North so much that I didn't want to put it down half way through and start Eyrie. I have nearly finished now though and plan on taking Eyrie to Noosa with me and diving head first into it while Ben makes up for his absence of the past week by parenting on behalf of both of us. Hopefully I will have something to say about Eyrie by the middle of next week.

Lynne: I'm afraid I am a victim of the End-of-Financial-Year madness that grips exporters and turns us into shipping machines for the month of June. So I have not read the book. Hell, I haven't even tried to buy or borrow the book. I think my opinion of previous Tim Winton book's (ho hum) also contributed to my inability to make time for this one. And that photo above is reason enough not to read this book. Sorry bookclubbers. I'll be back in for Book 16. On a side issue; great to see so much of Mel during this trip home and awesome to catch up with Gen last week. For Gen's benefit - Walkerville's coastal vegetation did not disappoint! And a 2nd side issue (can you see that I have been starved for intelligent conversation in the month of June?) - has anybody read The White Tiger? If nobody else nominates it in future, I am going to....be warned. I __**loved**__ it.

Gen: Funny Lynne!!!! Yes I have read Eyrie and I thought it was impressive - I am also not a massive Winton fan but I thought the writing in this was amazing, however the story was disturbing and evocative so much so that I had a nightmare about it after reading it one night!

Sharyn: Yes I have read White Tiger. Hilarious book. So sharp and witty. I would be keen to read it again. Gen, I would be keen to hear about your Eyrie nightmare!

Mel: White Tiger was just ok for me. I expected to love it but found myself looking forward to finishing it. Am about 90 pages into Eyrie. Am quite enjoying it. Winton is painting a different picture of WA than the usual windswept landscapes. It is more urban and to me more real.

1. What would you rate this book out of 10 and why?

Gen: 8/10

Sharyn: 7/10. I was disappointed with Eyrie. I am a Tim Winton fan (The Riders is one of my favourite books and I also enjoyed Dirt Music) and so I was expecting good things. I didn't think the storyline was particularly interesting and didn't find any important messages in the book. I usually enjoy Winton's laconic writing style but this time I found it just too...um, low key, lacking in vibrancy, uninspiring or something (can't quite describe it). Having said that, I found it an easy read and, living away from home, it's always comforting to read about Australia.

2. What do you think drives Keely? What, for example, is behind his refusal to seek medical advice?

Gen: His rejection of the world? His self-defeating attitude to everything?

Sharyn: It's hard to say what drives Keely because he was pretty lacking in motivation throughout the book, except at the end when he was driven to act to protect Gemma and Kai from violence. Just like his father who was motivated to protect Gemma and her sister from violence. I agree with Gen that he had a self-defeating attitude to life. It was almost as though he couldn't be bothered trying to help himself because that would show he cared about life and he was too proud and hurt by the injustice of his situation to admit that.

3. What do you make of Kai? What do you think is going on between him and Keely?

Gen: A sad little boy, a found it difficult to read about him because it was clear what terrible things he had seen. Interesting to think about whether he was the way he was as a way of coping with his life experiences or was like that anyway...

Sharyn: Yes, it's hard to tell whether he was an introverted child by nature or whether he was withdrawing into himself as a way of coping. Either way, he was clearly internalising all the drama around him. I thought he was quite resilient in the circumstances. It was surprising how bright he was given the education level of his parents and grandmother. Keely was a father figure to him but, more importantly, Kai thought that Keely would save and protect him just like Keely's parents had protected Gemma and her sister.

4. One of the questions //Eyrie// poses is how best to help – others, yourself, the planet. Discuss the many ways in which this issue is presented in the novel. Is Doris right not to give Gemma the money demanded by Stewie, in your opinion?

Sharyn: Doris was right not to give Gemma the money. It would not have solved the issue at all as Stewie would have just kept coming back for more. I loved the character of Doris and loved how philosophic and wise she was.

5. How do you interpret Keely's demon-possessed next-door neighbour? What role does her fighting off of evil play?

6. What does //Eyrie// show about social class in contemporary Australia? Discuss this particularly in respect of the diverging paths of Doris and Gemma, both women of working-class origin; in respect of Doris and Keely's differing views of themselves; and in respect of the subclass represented by Stewie and Clappy. If you are not Australian then discuss how the depitction of social classes is similar or different to that of your home country?

Sharyn: The book highlights the difference in social class in contemporary Australia but also shows how social class can change as a result of education (in the case of Doris) or money (in the case of people who had profited from the W.A. mining boom, or "nouveau riche" as Winton describes them). Gemma, Stewie, Carly and Clappy were not particularly likable characters - they did not have a larrikin element to them or many other qualities to endear us to them. While I was sympathetic to Gemma's plight in bringing up Kai on her own, her work ethic and the fact that she was able to financially support both of them, I disliked her prickliness and defensiveness. She resented Doris's success in a way that reminded me of the tall poppy syndrome that exists in Australia. I found Winton's portrayal of Gemma's 'voice' and her manner of speak so familiar and true to life. I am interested to hear from the non-Australian book club members whether you recognise this character from your own country, or whether Gemma is a uniquely Australian character.

7. Consider the ways in which birds feature in the novel. What does the osprey symbolise for you?

Gen: freedom, nature

8. A large part of //Eyrie// is a father-son story: Keely's relationship with his own father, his father-like role to Kai. What does the novel have to say about men and fatherhood? And how alike do you find Keely and his father? How similar are their trajectories?

Gen: I liked this part of the story as Keely struggled with his own identity, his role as a son, brother, and 'father' to Kai. I think the novel is depicting the changing role of men in society and how difficult that can be for some as women have increasingly become equals in terms of working, earning money, having power etc.

Sharyn: Keely's father loomed large in Keely's life and his death clearly had a big impact on him. That's a beautiful thing considering that men of that era did not often play a big role in parenting. The fact that Keely had a positive relationship with his father was probably why Keely was so desperate to have children. It was refreshing to read about a man who desperately wants a child because it's so often portrayed as a female urge.

9. What does the stain on the carpet signify to you?

Sharyn: The way that Gemma and Kai managed to get under Keely's skin despite the fact that he was trying to shut himself off from the world.