The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas (2008)
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had to rewrite this review, since I stalled on the second last chapter gave the book 2 stars and vowed to leave it unfinished. Ater a couple of days of recovery and self reflection I pulled myself over the smelly, drab and suburban finish line. My first impression of this book was superficial, something I accused the book of initially. I recognized all the places and street names since I grew up in Melbourne and rolled around the northern and eastern suburbs area a bit in my 20s (I even played mixed netball a few times at the Northcote High gym) but upon reflection, I recognised myself and the people I have known growing up in Australia. The reason I hated the book so much, especially in the Aisha chapter, was because it exposes me, it exposes us, supposedly decent, nice, kind middle class Australians to our own selfishness, myopia and self-deceit. The character development is rich, every chapter fleshes out a new confronting a