Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
This iconic Aussie novel is an extremely well constructed story. This was the first Tim Winton novel I had ever read. I entered into knowing of his fame and the power this title carries in literary circles.
I try to put this baggage aside whenever I read things but I find it much easier to do with film as compared to the written word. This multi-generational novel follows the lives of two families, the Lambs & the Pickles. They couldn’t be more different but tragedy throws them together.
Compare & Contrast
Winton introduces us to the two families early on. We see their true colours through total tragedy. Mr. Pickles injures his hand in machinery and one of the Lamb boys almost drowns. Both of these events are totally heart breaking as you see the immediate effect that it has on their respective families.
This setup ends up pushing the families to live together in the same old house, divided down the middle. The way the two families approach their new lives is really interesting and suffering and poverty affect both of them in extremely different ways.
The entire setup from tragedy to the families settling in together is well constructed and excellently told. A psychologist researching the effects of tragedy on families couldn’t have asked for better test subjects.
Racial Prejudice
I have to put my hand up here. I completely racial profiled the Pickles as an aboriginal family. Winton writes extremely well so that we don’t really know what the two families’ backgrounds are. I just made the call and read them as indigenous Australians.
I was literally shocked when towards the end Sam Pickles meets a real black fella near their house. They talk about the vote and from his response Sam cannot be aboriginal himself. I wonder where this came from for me?
I feel that it must be from the stereotypes that Australian literature, especially colonial, and media generates. The norm for us to see or read in the main stream is the impoverished under-achieving layabouts. Winton does brilliantly to challenge this stereotype by using all the same traits but writing them as white – and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Meet The Pickles
The Pickles are completely lazy and do the absolute minimum to get by. Their tragedy is crushing, but all the other members of the family could pitch in and help out. They just don’t – apart from the daughter.
They get handed the house which they aren’t allowed to sell. Thank god because all the money would be gone on the horses and there would be no story. The mother is completely reprehensible. I have never felt so angry at any character ever. She hardly lifts a finger for anyone – even herself.
I also find them so alien myself as they have no drive and no goals. They accept whatever they have, whatever that may be. Sam Pickles is a likable chap. You feel sorry for him after he injures his hand. He is the one who comes up with the idea to split the house AND he works throughout the novel at the mint. Pity about his gambling addiction.
He does have great luck at the end but ends up in massive debt. I think this really needed to be their end. You couldn’t reward their slovenly behaviour through luck.
Meet The Lambs
The Lambs’ tragedy – the mental impairment of their son through near drowning – is arguably much worse. They hit the ground running. They are just happy he is still alive – they see it as a miracle.
They are incredible entrepreneurial. As soon as they move into their side of the house they set up a garden and start raising animals. Self-sufficiency is their household motto. It isn’t too long before they setup shop – literally. They become a corner store for the neighbourhood. They sell produce bought at the markets to save the surrounding suburbs the trouble of the journey.
They even make their own goods for sale – like pasties and the famous ice creams. Their noses are to the grindstone their entire lives. Mrs. Lamb is the slave master who beats the drum – keeping them all in line. Even when she moves into the tent in the backyard. She is an amazing woman who saves them from poverty.
The Lambs are the family you would want in your corner in a pinch.
The Children
The way Winton writes you see the families somewhat as characters themselves. The Lambs and The Pickles. All of the characters are understood within this family context. You sort of focus in on them as individuals but always with the filter of the family name.
All of the children are distinct and interesting. Winton gives us great stories of all of their lives. With the lives of the dual families being the underlying thread that weaves the novel together. Masterful stuff.
The Supernatural
There are strong supernatural elements in the story – which seems odd right!?! Up until now I’ve described a suburban narrative of two families in modern Australia. I felt that these aspects were strange. They took the novel to a completely different place and gave it a very different feeling.
They are almost dreamlike in that they would not be mentioned for chapters and chapters and then they would be the focus of the story. When they drifted away again they were a bit dreamlike and left me wondering: did that really happen?
There were three main standouts for me. The ghost like spirit ladies doing battle in the piano room of the house . The room that everyone but Fish dreads because it feels like death in there. Winton uses powerful imagery and you feel drawn into the spirit conflict taking place right before the families’ eyes.
Much more comical is the talking pig. Fish Lamb talks to the pig all the time – fine – lots of people talk to their animals – but the pig talks back.
There is an another section where Quick Lamb is out shooting roos and he has a vision of himself running out of the darkness into the spotlight and he kills himself. This is a full on scene that Winton paints for us.
The Verdict
Overall I really liked the story. The construction of the novel was great. The characters were all interesting and their motivation was understandable. The multi-generational stories were well handled and all the characters were distinct.
I think that without the supernatural elements I would have enjoyed this more – which is weird for me because I love this sort of thing. It just felt very out of place. Like if a vampire moved onto Ramsay Street. I also really didn’t like the behaviour of a number of the characters but they were honest to themselves even if they were self-destructive. I completely understand the hype. This is a great novel.
