Christos Tsiolkas's novels present a striking portrayal of an Australia at odds with the myth borne out of soap operas and popular culture - Ramsey Street this ain't! Instead, Tsiolkas's Australia is visceral, contentious and uncertain but ultimately compelling for the reader.
In the blockbuster novel The Slap we meet a Melbourne suburban community at a family BBQ, so far so recognisable. The switch occurs in a divisive moment when one of the guests, Harry, slaps someone else's child. This highly charged moment sends ripples throughout the BBQ and the lives of the guests whose attitudes reflect deep and strongly held personal beliefs at conflict with each other.
"Whose side will you take?" asks the book's cover - a key reference to the structure of the book in which each chapter offers a different insight into the key characters.
The most compelling relationship is that between the hosts of the BBQ, Hector and Aisha, but the chapter concerning Hector's father Manolis is perhaps the best written. Whilst empathy is in short supply, the pay off for the reader is to see the world through the individual frames of each character - this is where Tsiolkas's talent lies.
Yes, the novel is over-flowing with drug taking, sex and adultery. Some readers have felt that this goes too far but others have argued that, in the themes and language used, the novel is simply holding a mirror up to modern Australia.
Sympathy for the main characters is in short supply leaving the "Whose side are you on?" question possibly unanswered however, the reward for readers is to experience a well crafted story iconic of its time and place.
Flash forward to Tsiolkas's new novel Barracuda and we meet Danny, a talented athlete with a obsessive drive to fulfil his destiny as a world class swimmer. Danny is from a working class family but wins a scholarship, on the back of his prodigious talent as a swimmer, much to his father's antipathy.
The structure of the novel allows the reader to simultaneously witness both Danny's rise to national swimming star alongside his fall into drug taking, crime and prison.
Danny initially uses his unchartered sexuality to his advantage - his adoration of his fellow team mates drives a steely competitiveness that untimely leads to success. Later, in jail, his relations with other inmates turn darker as he spirals into self loathing and resentment. On leaving prison, Danny's skills as a carer, initially for a cousin and later at work, ultimately save him however, the bitter taste of unfulfilled dreams and wasted potential runs throughout the story.
Following a best seller like The Slap was never going to be easy. Having achieved world wide acclaim with the novel and TV adaptation Tsiolkas could have chosen to write a further novel with this same audience in mind. Instead Barracuda is a much tighter story based around one key character rather than the ensemble of The Slap which in itself will alienate some. However, Barracuda's themes of family crisis, class divide and broken dreams in modern Australia pick up right where The Slap finished.
Tsiolkas's work may be raw and dark in places but what is lacking in polish is made up for in truth. The multi-cultural Australia portrayed in these novels depicts a nation at a cross roads - wealthier and more cosmopolitan than ever yet still unable to reconcile a patch-work of ideology and faith.
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