2010 / 2011 Book Reviews

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

Book Club Rating: 1.5 / 5

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas is a provocative novel set in contemporary Australia. The story centres on the different characters (Harry, Aisha, Hector, Rosie, Connie and Manolis) and ramifications of Harry slapping a child that is misbehaving; however, Harry is not the father of the child. One of the results of Harry's action is a court case and watching how difficult family and friend loyalties evolve as the story progresses along side the cultural differences amongst the many nationalities (Greek, Indian, European and Aboriginal) in the story.

The book tells the story from the perspective of the main characters in the story. There are many underlying themes of modern life including infidelity, domestic violence and alcoholism. The group felt that the book contained too many gratuitous sex scenes, contained expressions that were unique to Australian society and the introduction of practically all the characters at the start of the novel (some of which had no redeeming qualities) made it difficult to establish the various identities.

The summary was that it might not be a book that you would recommend; however, it is a book worthy of discussion after reading!