Have you ever read something so beautiful and powerful that you just had to shout it from the rooftops and share it with the world? Is it just me who feels like this?!!! I have been thinking this way since I finished reading Boy Swallows Universe.
Fun fact: I studied English Literature in VCE at high school. I know! I can hear you thinking “she must love reading so much” and yes, I do. I have always loved reading and I have always loved to write. I remember writing short stories when I was in about year 7. They were often romantic fantasies, probably due to that teenager angst period I was going through at the time. Enough about that before I really get myself into trouble.
I posted on social media this morning for Meaningful Monday (every Monday this year I have focused on something that is meaningful to me in some way and written an essay about it) and have been happily surprised with the comments that have ensued. A lot of people wonder how I ever get the time to read but honestly, there is nothing good to watch on television at the moment, so I head off early to bed and read. I would prefer to do this than watch something people have been talking about called MAFS (married at first sight) and when you are reading a book such as Boy Swallows Universe, you find yourself heading off at 8.30 so you can get a good hour and a half in before you sleep! In the depths of winter when it’s freezing cold and we have a rare spare Saturday night, Matilda and I will often head to my bed and read together. It is such a special time and I really cherish these moments we spend together as it won’t be long until she will go totally hormonal on me! I digress.
Once upon a time there was Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, and now there is “Boy Swallows Universe” by Trent Dalton. Set in suburban Brisbane in the 1980s, Boy Swallows Universe is about Eli Bell, a boy growing up with a drug dealer step-father, junkie mum, mute brother who writes fascinating stories in the air and an ex criminal for a baby-sitter. What is absolutely fascinating about this, and something I didn’t know until AFTER I had read the book, is that most of these fictional characters are based on Dalton’s real life family members. It’s a coming of age story, a little bit comparable to Cloudstreet, with a thick plot full of twists and turns that will have you on a rollercoaster of emotions as you delve into the cheeky and humorous life of Eli Bell.
It is a very Australian novel with quirky, loveable characters that are funny, compassionate, dangerous and highly entertaining. There were times where I literally burst out loud with laughter and then cried genuine tears of despair for the characters who are so life like that you feel as if you know them personally. This novel is destined to be a classic. Dalton’s writing is mesmerising and passionate and this is certainly a story that will stay with you for many weeks later as you find yourself waiting for the next installment. I actually am unsure if there will be a next installment but I hope so. I got so caught up in the lives of Eli and his brother August that I really am hanging out to see what happens next.
There is a podcast on Conversations with Richard Fidler that has Trent talking about his dramatic family life and the neighbourhood that he grew up in. It is absolutely fascinating and something I highly recommend to you.
Is there something that you have read that you just thought “wow” I need to talk about this book with others and see what they thought? This is beauty and I hope you enjoy it as much as me. Happy reading and please let me know what you thought about the book if you have read it.
Girl Feels Invigorated
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