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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Wednesday, 5th March, 2014 - Eyrie by Tim Winton, chosen by Je







  • Set in Fremantle and Perth, Western Australia
  • Many themes explored eg politics, environment, class and struggle, isolation, sacrifice, redemption,  ....
  • A page- turner for some who wanted to find out how the story would evolve around the characters.
  • Audio book (read by Michael Veitch) was excellent. 






We might be biased as we do enjoy Winton's books.  We went into this one with high expectations and it was one that held our attention right up till the end.  We could picture some of the places mentioned as the book is set in our city. At times we would question "Was it there that this happened?"  "Could it be over there?" etc  Stumbling upon this link helped with visualising the journey for us:

Eyrie - Narrative Locations (Australian Cultural Atlas)


Everyone had their own interpretation about the ending.  Some were confused and still are.  Perhaps it is best left as is for we do not want to reveal too much.

Characters in the book were fascinating.  We explored each character in detail, at times one had to fight to get a word in as everyone had a lot to say.

We also watched the (10/10/13) interview on ABC which had recently been aired for the second time - Jennifer Byrne Presents: Tim Winton


Links to explore:

Eyrie (pronunciation)

The Guardian Review   (Opening paragraphs mentions the title)

Reading Notes with discussion questions (Penguin website)

Simon Smart's aritcle on The Drum

Lyn McCredden on Eyrie (Sydney Review of Books)





Besides discussing Eyrie, we must also mention that the highlight of this evening was trying to get An's new prayer bowl to sing.  What a wonderful and strange sensation it was to do this.  Everyone had smiles on their faces too!












Also here  are some images from the recent Perth Writers Festival which was from 20th - 23rd February, this year. There were so many interesting events and we were lucky to attend a few.






Hannah Kent talked about how the writing of Burial Rites and also about her experiences in Iceland in Winthrop Hall under the enormous pipes of the organ above the stage. The event had a full house as many came to hear her speak.

We also attended the session with Delhi resident Jeet Thayil, Canadian/Indian Jasprit Singh, Jaipur resident Robyn Davidson as they talked about modern India and her future. Jeet Thayil did a reading from his book Narcopolis which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2012. You can hear a reading of it Here  Jasprit Singh read from his book Helium ((Link here) Robyn Davidson Interview 2014 also talking at Sydney Writer's Festival 2013

In the beautiful Tropical Grove, we listened to a discussion on the 2014 Stella Prize between last year's winner Carrie Tiffany, 2014 judge Brenda Walker, chair of the 2014 Stella judging panel Kerryn Goldsworthy and publisher, founding member and chair of the Stella Prize, Aviva Tuffield.


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