DEEP BREATH (May 2008)

Just a few days after finishing a water-related story in which I allude to Tim Winton, up bobs his new surfing novel Breath. For years now Tim has been saving me a lot of strain by punching out the novels I could/should have written, if only I had the talent, dedication, a flowing pony tail and, in this case, the nerve to plunge into wild surf. (As it happens the story I was working on sketches my aversion to thrashing about in cold water.) Anyhow - Breath ripples with Tim's trademark mix of poetic gristle and matey vernacular. By the by, it seems to me there's a doctoral thesis up for grabs for someone who wants to divine acquatic themes in Aus Lit. As well as Tim's extensive coastal ouvre there's Richard Flanagan's, Death of a River Guide, Robert Drewe's The Drowner, Roger MacDonald's Water Man and doubtless many more.