Just finished reading . . .

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (2008)

9 out of 10


When this book was long-listed for the Booker Prize in 2010 it was said to be controversial, being about a child being slapped. On the front cover we are asked to consider whose side we are on i.e. those who think an out-of-control naughty child should have boundaries imposed by a slap, or those who think that this is outright abusive violence.
I think this is a very clever book. Each chapter is written about one of the key characters of the story. The key character who is notably left out is Hugo, the naughty brat who isn't learning how to behave appropriately in society. I am currently reading 'Room' by Emma Donaghue, which is written completely from the viewpoint of a 5 year old - I'm glad I have read the two next to each other, because it forces me to think about por Hugo with more kindness. My partner, Paul, read 'The Slap' before me, and after I had completed the first chapter, in which the slap occurs, he asked me whether I thought it was right that he was slapped and I said 'oh yes - naughty, out of control, needs boundaries'. Paul smirked, (no, he laughed) because he knew how the author was going to play with my thinking throughout the book.
I come from a generation which was slapped and hit for naughtiness. I still remember Miss Heap's stinging slap on my leg, when she caught me talking in P.E. I'm not sure that I needed that kind of physical violence-type control, but I'm also not sure that others didn't. I still don't know whose side I'm on, but I do think that if Hugo had been shot at the beginning, then some critical incidents wouldn't have upset some nice people.
I like this book because Tsiolkas does a good job, a really good job, of exploring some issues that I find interesting and current for society (Do women who aren't mothers have a right to a view on parenting? Are friends the new family? What place do drugs have in recreation and in the casual, everyday regulation of mood? How is equality and mutual respect managed in male-female relationships?). In the past I would have gone to female authors like Fay Weldon for this kind of commentary. Also he explores relationships between friends, between spouses, generations etc, well. And finally, he offers us an exploration of what hits many people at different life-stages (identity crises, sexuality, fidelity, separation, parenting, illness, death). WOW! So it is a big book for these reasons.
I deducted marks because I'm not sure if the author was just trying to shock us with all the sex 'n' drugs.