The Slap

I had been wanting to read The Slap ever since it was published but for some reason or another it never happened. Then when I saw the TV series was going to air I really really wanted to read it before watching but again that didn't happen due to assignments etc. Finally I purchased an ebook and read it within two days. How great are ebooks! This was my first and I loved the fact I could browse, buy and be reading within minutes. This is fantastic considering our nearest bookstore is 3 hours away. The public library is well stocked but I didn't even try finding The Slap there, due to the current resurge in popularity. Anyway back to the book...

I liked the way we learn the story through different people (I've read a few books like that) but I found the ending disappointing. I don't want to go into too much detail in case anyone reading my blog hasn't read it but I felt the ending was a bit washy and didn't wind up the story as well as it could have. Perhaps I've grown to accustomed to what my husband and I call "french endings", which refers to movies and books (named from the ones we've watched on SBS) that finish without telling you all the details and you have to use your imagination and decide for yourself how it ends. The story is good in the way it brings up many debatable issues - discipline, private schooling, drugs etc and the author's references to the characters' Greek family background seem authentic. With each character, however, there were times I just wanted to "slap" them to wake them up from their own complacency or whatever it was holding them back. Perhaps this is what the title really refers to, and the actually slapping of the child is a mere visual clue. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the TV episodes pan out compared to the book, but I do recommend reading the book if you are interested in the TV episodes. Note: the book contains quite a bit of drug use and sexual references so I'd probably give it a MA rating. LOL.

You can also watch an interview with Christos Tsiolkas on Compass via this link:

http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/837976