About this ebook
At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy.
The boy is not his own.
It's a single act of violence, but the slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it.
Told through the eyes of eight of those present at the barbecue, this acclaimed bestseller is an unflinching interrogation of the life of the modern family. Poignant and provocative, The Slap makes us question the nature of commitment and happiness, compromise and truth. Whose side are you on?
Now a major ABC TV series, prepare for The Slap to be the thing everyone's talking about - again!
'. wildly energetic and fearless, thrillingly about our lives now' - Helen Garner
'Whose side are you on? Honestly, one of the three or four truly great novels of the new millennium.' - John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
'. nothing short of a tour de force . a novel of immense power and scope.' - Colm Toibin, author of Brooklyn
'A cool, calm, irresistible masterpiece.' - Chris Cleave, author of The Other Hand
The boy is not his own.
It's a single act of violence, but the slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it.
Told through the eyes of eight of those present at the barbecue, this acclaimed bestseller is an unflinching interrogation of the life of the modern family. Poignant and provocative, The Slap makes us question the nature of commitment and happiness, compromise and truth. Whose side are you on?
Now a major ABC TV series, prepare for The Slap to be the thing everyone's talking about - again!
'. wildly energetic and fearless, thrillingly about our lives now' - Helen Garner
'Whose side are you on? Honestly, one of the three or four truly great novels of the new millennium.' - John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
'. nothing short of a tour de force . a novel of immense power and scope.' - Colm Toibin, author of Brooklyn
'A cool, calm, irresistible masterpiece.' - Chris Cleave, author of The Other Hand
Ratings and reviews
3.7
36 reviews
A Google user
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February 12, 2012
When I read the blurb to this I thought it would be an excellent read! I'd read reviews on it and everyone seemed to be saying it was the book to read of 2011.
Sadly, I did not have the same experience.
It all starts at a family barbecue in Melbourne where a man slaps a boy on the face. The child has been misbehaving and his parents don't seem to be doing anything to intervene. The man who slaps the child is Harry and he is the cousin of the barbecue host Hector. Each chapter focuses on one character and how their lives have continued since the event.
I think the problem with this book, or one of them, is that the main event takes place in Chapter One. Therefore, there is nothing to really keep you to the story because it has already happened and it is just each character's thoughts and feelings after that.
There is far too much crude and crass descriptions of sex and there are underlying tones of racism. The language used is sometimes appalling and unnecessary.
I also watched the TV series which was exactly how I had pictured the characters, and unfortunately I thought it was just as rubbish.
A Google user
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April 21, 2012
I cannot understand some of the low ratings on this book. Great writing that really allows you to identify with the central characters (both love and loathing). The tv mini-series of the book was also very good.
Lyn Stokes
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October 21, 2015
Story great I don't find bad language offensive but using it too much for shock value cheapens the book
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Christos Tsiolkas is the author of four novels: Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head-On, The Jesus Man and Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. He won Overall Best Book in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2009, was shortlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize and won the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for his latest novel, The Slap, which was also announced as the 2009 Australian Booksellers Association and Australian Book Industry Awards Books of the Year. He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer. He lives in Melbourne.
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