The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas and The Man Booker Longlist for 2010

If you’re into reading fiction then here’s something interesting, if you haven’t already caught up with it.

At the end of July the Man Booker longlist for 2010 was announced and it’s exciting because in ‘the baker’s dozen’ is The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, an Australian author who lives in Melbourne.

Do you remember The Slap causing a stir when it was published in 2008? It seemed to catch on so quickly here in Australia, probably because the novel is set in current day suburban Melbourne and deals with the highly emotive action of slapping a friend’s child, amongst other things …

I’ve heard of book clubs where the story caused much discussion - some women loved it, others positively loathed it. It really is a book that confronts us, and many reactions seem to follow - no sitting on the ambivalent fence with this one!

If you want to read a short review I think Jane Smiley’s in The Guardian is great. What is your opinion? Has it changed?

According to The Man Booker website the 2010 longlist is the strongest selling in 9 years, with The Slap the biggest selling of all those listed (over 5,000 copies in the last week alone). Makes me wonder; Why is this year’s list so popular? Why The Slap in particular? The role of prizes in promoting sales … it’s all fascinating stuff don’t you think?

Watch this video on SlowTV of ChristosTsiolkas talking about The Slap if you want to hear more about the book, the characters and the author (it goes for about 20 minutes).

A much shorter version of the same talk can be seen on YouTube below -

16 August 2010/On The Bookshelf

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