![]() ![]() Tsiolkas must have known exactly how it would be received. Opening a novel with a middle-aged man fantasising about a teenage girl and using the ‘C’ word twice in the first paragraph is about as provocative as it gets. In practice, the slap is the device that links their stories in a fairly loose fashion, shedding light on their relationships and beliefs. ![]() On the face of it, this is a story about a man slapping someone else’s small child at a barbecue, the fallout being shown in turn through the viewpoint of eight characters who witnessed it. I think it contains examples of both great and dreadful writing. Of course it’s only by reading the book that you can make up your own mind and I’m glad I did. ![]() For a long time I was put off not by that, but by being told it was badly written. When it came out in the UK in 2010 (and made the Booker longlist) a book group in my area decided to read it and halfway through, one of its members sent a bossy e-mail to the others forbidding them to continue because she found it so offensive. ![]() Repellent characters, foul language, horrible sex… More than three years after it was published, The Slap continues to reverberate, not least in its native Australia where the TV series is currently being broadcast. This book has quite a reputation. ![]()
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