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Past the Shallows Favel Parrett 9780733626579 Books

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Past the Shallows Favel Parrett 9780733626579 Books

I enjoy reading books about family dynamics and that is what this book focuses on. It takes place on the southern coast of Tasmania off the coast of Australia. It's depicted as inhospitable much of the time. Most of the people are involved in the fishing industry, either fishing for abalone or working in the cannery.

The story focuses primarily on Miles and Harry Curran. Their mother died in a car accident from which the two boys survived. Joe, their 19-year-old brother built a boat and planned to get away from their father. Following their mother's death, their uncle Nick died, although his body was never found. Their grandfather died more recently.

The boys' father fishes for a living. He and his mate dive in the sea for abalone which he sells to the cannery. He dives in places where it is illegal to take abalone and in bad weather that other fishermen avoid. He neglects his sons and is often drunk and abusive, particularly to the younger boy Harry. His mate is also abusive to Harry. After the father's mate is injured, their dad makes Miles drop out of school and work on the boat.

The story is told from the points of view of Miles and Harry and the language is simple as would be expected for young boys. The descriptions allowed me to picture both the beauty and ruggedness of the land and the unpredictability of the sea. At times the story is depressing, but I enjoyed it because of the wonderful descriptions and the focus on the family dynamics.


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Past the Shallows Favel Parrett 9780733626579 Books Reviews

This was a beautifully written novella and an outstanding effort as a first novel. It left much unsaid which was intriguing for the reader and the minimalist approach to filling in all the details heightened the dramatic tension. Authentic characters and a suitably brooding and remote setting - both geographically and socially - added to the appeal. Altogether a very satisfying story which touched upon the humanity and frailty of the human condition and held one's interest in a compelling way.
I was looking forward to reading this book after all the hype I'd heard about it. Sadly, I was disappointed. Whilst I did really feel for the two main characters (brothers) and was upset with some of the events that happened to them, I felt frustrated that so many things were left unanswered. In fact, I read this on and knew that I was about 82% into the book and actually read the last page whilst not realising this was the end of the book - the book finished at about 83% with many extras after it such as book club topics, author interview, a chapter of another book etc. I also thought that several things that happened at the end of the story were very contrived - far too many coincidences that did not sound believable.
As a male reader I felt violated with her interiority of the two boy children. It is so wrong/untrue - just too creepy. She should have left it all in the 3rd person and just described what they do and not try to interpret motive moment by moment. I didn't like the story or the way it was told. Favel writes well enough, but what is it all about? Some of the descriptive bits are quite good - like the shark landing on the deck and the chap breaking his leg - but what was the point of it all - where was the metaphor? The story was depressing and then it got more depressing. Another reader told me that both boys die at the end and I just didn't want to follow to that. I hated that the woman writer was getting into the two young boys heads in the 1st person. 3rd person fine, but cross gender 1st person is a no no. She got selfhood of young boys soo wrong. Equally I hate it when male writers try to be the 1st person female voice - which is the big flaw in Tolstoy's Anna K.
(4.5 stars) Dark, stark, and potent in its story and its message, Past the Shallows reduces life to its most basic elements as perceived by two young brothers, Miles and Harry Curren, who share the story of their uncertain and impoverished lives on an island at the tail end of the inhabited world. Tasmania, off the south coast of Australia, where their father fishes for abalone in the dark water, offers no refuge, either physically or emotionally, from fate and the elements - just open water from there all the way to Antarctica. As difficult as the setting may be, the boys' dysfunctional family life is worse. Their father, a threatening and often intemperate "hard man," offers the young boys no emotional refuge from their difficult lives made worse by his drinking and irrational behavior. Their "Mum" died years ago in a car crash which they themselves survived, but can barely remember.

The narrative line hides itself within episodes told by both Miles and Harry, moving back and forth as they live their everyday lives and as they think about the past. Miles, who appears to be about nine or ten, "could stay out in the water, forever, even if it was freezing," and he "knew there were things that no one could teach you - things about the water. You just knew them or you didn't." He finds some relief in surfing with his much older brother, who lives elsewhere. Harry, the youngest, perhaps six or seven, hates the ocean, and fears it.

The author keeps her writing clean, developing strong contrasts between life at sea, where Miles is required to help his father on the boat, no matter the weather, and the life on land which Harry seeks. As the author continues to show life in all its aspects, Parrett introduces characters from the community, showing how others in the area live their lives, some much more successfully than the people the boys come into contact with in their daily lives. Some people offer them advice about getting out of their home situation while there is still time, while others, like George, Harry's outcast friend, teach them how to fend for themselves more successfully. The father's abuse of Harry leads ultimately to the novel's climax.

Throughout the novel, aspects of nature play a symbolic role in the lives of the characters. The multi-faceted symbol of water; the abalone with its ugly exterior and its beautifully vibrant interior shell; sharks, shark teeth, and shark eggs; the act of surfing itself, and fire and light as elements, especially the "southern lights," or Auroras, and the dawn. The novel's compression and the simplicity of its language make its beautiful images and its horrors that much more vibrant, its messages clear, while its natural dialogue make the young characters both believable and memorable. Lovers of literary fiction and book clubs members will find this novel a never-ending source of lively discussion.
I enjoy reading books about family dynamics and that is what this book focuses on. It takes place on the southern coast of Tasmania off the coast of Australia. It's depicted as inhospitable much of the time. Most of the people are involved in the fishing industry, either fishing for abalone or working in the cannery.

The story focuses primarily on Miles and Harry Curran. Their mother died in a car accident from which the two boys survived. Joe, their 19-year-old brother built a boat and planned to get away from their father. Following their mother's death, their uncle Nick died, although his body was never found. Their grandfather died more recently.

The boys' father fishes for a living. He and his mate dive in the sea for abalone which he sells to the cannery. He dives in places where it is illegal to take abalone and in bad weather that other fishermen avoid. He neglects his sons and is often drunk and abusive, particularly to the younger boy Harry. His mate is also abusive to Harry. After the father's mate is injured, their dad makes Miles drop out of school and work on the boat.

The story is told from the points of view of Miles and Harry and the language is simple as would be expected for young boys. The descriptions allowed me to picture both the beauty and ruggedness of the land and the unpredictability of the sea. At times the story is depressing, but I enjoyed it because of the wonderful descriptions and the focus on the family dynamics.