Bluebird
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3.6 • 22 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
'If Winton is an aria, Knox is early Rolling Stones.' The Guardian
A stunning new novel about longing, regret, redemption and the terrible legacy of decades of secrets buried in an Australian beachside suburb.
A house perched impossibly on a cliff overlooking the stunning, iconic Bluebird Beach. Prime real estate, yet somehow not real estate at all, The Lodge is, like those who live in it, falling apart.
Gordon Grimes has become the accidental keeper of this last relic of an endangered world. He lives in The Lodge with his wife Kelly who is trying to leave him, their son Ben who will do anything to save him, his goddaughter Lou who is hiding from her own troubles, and Leonie, the family matriarch who has trapped them here for their own good.
But Gordon has no money and is running out of time to conserve his homeland. His love for this way of life will drive him, and everyone around him, to increasingly desperate risks. In the end, what will it cost them to hang onto their past?
Acclaimed writer Malcolm Knox has written a classic Australian novel about the myths that come to define families and communities, and the lies that uphold them. It's about a certain kind of Australia that we all recognise, and a certain kind of Australian whose currency is running out. Change is coming to Bluebird, whether they like it or not. And the secrets they've been keeping and the lies they've been telling can't save them now.
Savage, funny, revelatory and brilliant, Bluebird exposes the hollowness of the stories told to glorify a dying culture and shows how those who seek to preserve these myths end up being crushed by them.
Customer Reviews
Surf city
Author
Australian journalist, non-fiction writer, and novelist who has worked for the Sydney Morning Herald since 1994. His novels have received critical acclaim. His non-fiction about cricket (e.g. Bradman's War, and a biography of Phillip Hughes) has been published in the UK, India and the West Indies as well as Australia (I wonder why).
Plot
Bluebird is a small, sleepy beachside enclave popular with surfers, especially those of a certain vintage. It is not far away as the crow, or the seagull, flies from a metropolis called Ocean City (read Sydney), but harks back to a different era. Mr K abbreviates Ocean City as OC. It is unclear whether he ever watched The O.C. when it was a thing, but I suspect he is unlikely to admit it if he did. I wouldn’t. Basically, assorted stuff happens (dodgy dealings, rapacious development plans, adultery) to various locals with an array of secrets and foibles. Themes include mateship, settling old scores, keeping secrets, and surfing. Did I mention Mr Knox's publicity photo shows him in a wet suit holding a board with breakers crashing behind him?
Narrative
Third person. Various POV's. The opening is narrated by a seagull. (Not Jonathan Livingston)
Characters
There are some characters all right, and if you're a long term surfer at Bondi or sundry other iconic Aussie beaches, you'll probably recognise most of them. I'm not and didn't, but I appreciated what Mr K was getting at.
Prose
While Mr Knox exhibits a deft touch with his non-fiction and journalism, I think he lays it on a bit too thick in his fiction.
Bottom line
Not my cup of guava juice. A good writer who needs to get over the fact that he's not Tim Winton.