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Scission
Tim Winton's first collection of stories deals with men, women and children whose lives are coming apart and whose hearts are breaking. These spare, jagged stories, in which people struggle with change and disintegration, are vintage Winton.
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First published January 1, 1985
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About the author
Tim Winton
76 books2,369 followersTim Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, but moved at a young age to the small country town of Albany.
While a student at Curtin University of Technology, Winton wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer. It went on to win The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1981, and launched his writing career. In fact, he wrote "the best part of three books while at university". His second book, Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1984. It wasn't until Cloudstreet was published in 1991, however, that his career and economic future were cemented.
In 1995 Winton’s novel, The Riders, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as was his 2002 book, Dirt Music. Both are currently being adapted for film. He has won many other prizes, including the Miles Franklin Award three times: for Shallows (1984), Cloudstreet (1992) and Dirt Music (2002). Cloudstreet is arguably his best-known work, regularly appearing in lists of Australia’s best-loved novels. His latest novel, released in 2013, is called Eyrie.
He is now one of Australia's most esteemed novelists, writing for both adults and children. All his books are still in print and have been published in eighteen different languages. His work has also been successfully adapted for stage, screen and radio. On the publication of his novel, Dirt Music, he collaborated with broadcaster, Lucky Oceans, to produce a compilation CD, Dirt Music – Music for a Novel.
He has lived in Italy, France, Ireland and Greece but currently lives in Western Australia with his wife and three children.
While a student at Curtin University of Technology, Winton wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer. It went on to win The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1981, and launched his writing career. In fact, he wrote "the best part of three books while at university". His second book, Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1984. It wasn't until Cloudstreet was published in 1991, however, that his career and economic future were cemented.
In 1995 Winton’s novel, The Riders, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as was his 2002 book, Dirt Music. Both are currently being adapted for film. He has won many other prizes, including the Miles Franklin Award three times: for Shallows (1984), Cloudstreet (1992) and Dirt Music (2002). Cloudstreet is arguably his best-known work, regularly appearing in lists of Australia’s best-loved novels. His latest novel, released in 2013, is called Eyrie.
He is now one of Australia's most esteemed novelists, writing for both adults and children. All his books are still in print and have been published in eighteen different languages. His work has also been successfully adapted for stage, screen and radio. On the publication of his novel, Dirt Music, he collaborated with broadcaster, Lucky Oceans, to produce a compilation CD, Dirt Music – Music for a Novel.
He has lived in Italy, France, Ireland and Greece but currently lives in Western Australia with his wife and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
September 3, 2023
4.5★
Some of these early Winton stories are first-rate: "Getting Ahead", "My Father’s Axe". But some didn’t hold my attention as well: "The Woman at the Well", "Scission". Might be just me.
Winton has a way of blending the mundane and everyday with secrecy and horror and then overlaying all of it with a sense of nostalgia. I didn’t ever live where these stories take place, but I was a kid and I did have those mixed feelings of awe and distaste for what my parents were doing.
There are stories about children, a Vietnamese refugee (misunderstood by his Aussie hosts and friends), and some quite mad people.
There’s a lot of humour, too, which I think is part of what I find appealing. In “Getting Ahead”, the lone mother of 5 children decides she must Get Ahead and the way to do it is to let their house out and rent a small flat for themselves, thereby clearing $15 a week.
“‘A flat!’ Jilly cried. Flats were where you got yelled at from balconies as you cut across the mangy lawns on your way to school. Flats were where ladies without husbands had to live. Flats had no backyards.”
Oh the horror and shame of it all! Winton has a way of capturing how young minds think. Our narrator says “She was a big woman, my mother. In poor light she resembled an untidy stack of tea-chests.”
And I’m sure many of us can relate to:
“I was skirmishing with algebra, trying for the teacher’s sake to pretend that x was the number 2 in disguise. . . .”
“My Father’s Axe” is probably my favourite I know I’ve read it before somewhere and loved it. It was in Playboy in 1983 and won the 1983 State of Victoria Award.
Fathers and sons are a common theme in Winton’s work, whether the boy idolises his heroic dad or can’t wait to get away from a brute of a father. Occasionally they are one and the same. In Axe, there is a scene (nothing to do with the axe but everything to do with how the narrator feels about the old man), where he says that when he was eight, his dad took him down to the rivermouth to haul the craypots.
“The water reached my waist though it was only knee-deep for my father. He taught me to brace myself side-on to the waves and find footholds in the reef and I hugged his leg and felt his immovable stance and moulded myself to him.”
I think that just about says it all. Dad can do anything. While some of these don’t measure up to my favourite Winton pieces, this early work is well worth a read, and by golly didn’t he Get Ahead?!
Some of these early Winton stories are first-rate: "Getting Ahead", "My Father’s Axe". But some didn’t hold my attention as well: "The Woman at the Well", "Scission". Might be just me.
Winton has a way of blending the mundane and everyday with secrecy and horror and then overlaying all of it with a sense of nostalgia. I didn’t ever live where these stories take place, but I was a kid and I did have those mixed feelings of awe and distaste for what my parents were doing.
There are stories about children, a Vietnamese refugee (misunderstood by his Aussie hosts and friends), and some quite mad people.
There’s a lot of humour, too, which I think is part of what I find appealing. In “Getting Ahead”, the lone mother of 5 children decides she must Get Ahead and the way to do it is to let their house out and rent a small flat for themselves, thereby clearing $15 a week.
“‘A flat!’ Jilly cried. Flats were where you got yelled at from balconies as you cut across the mangy lawns on your way to school. Flats were where ladies without husbands had to live. Flats had no backyards.”
Oh the horror and shame of it all! Winton has a way of capturing how young minds think. Our narrator says “She was a big woman, my mother. In poor light she resembled an untidy stack of tea-chests.”
And I’m sure many of us can relate to:
“I was skirmishing with algebra, trying for the teacher’s sake to pretend that x was the number 2 in disguise. . . .”
“My Father’s Axe” is probably my favourite I know I’ve read it before somewhere and loved it. It was in Playboy in 1983 and won the 1983 State of Victoria Award.
Fathers and sons are a common theme in Winton’s work, whether the boy idolises his heroic dad or can’t wait to get away from a brute of a father. Occasionally they are one and the same. In Axe, there is a scene (nothing to do with the axe but everything to do with how the narrator feels about the old man), where he says that when he was eight, his dad took him down to the rivermouth to haul the craypots.
“The water reached my waist though it was only knee-deep for my father. He taught me to brace myself side-on to the waves and find footholds in the reef and I hugged his leg and felt his immovable stance and moulded myself to him.”
I think that just about says it all. Dad can do anything. While some of these don’t measure up to my favourite Winton pieces, this early work is well worth a read, and by golly didn’t he Get Ahead?!
August 2, 2024
5/5
This is Winton's first collection of short stories, they are spare narratives that deal with people whose lives are coming apart. I thoroughly enjoyed almost every story, 'The Woman at the Well' being the only exception.
My favourites of the collection:
Secrets
Getting Ahead
Thomas Awkner Floats
Wilderness
Scission
This is Winton's first collection of short stories, they are spare narratives that deal with people whose lives are coming apart. I thoroughly enjoyed almost every story, 'The Woman at the Well' being the only exception.
My favourites of the collection:
Secrets
Getting Ahead
Thomas Awkner Floats
Wilderness
Scission
April 10, 2019
One of my all-time favorite short story collections. The title story is nearly novella length and is composed in sections and represents fragmentary experience in the matter that "scission" suggests. "A Blow, A Kiss" is just an awesome story—when the dying motorcyclist reaches up for Albie, wow. "A Measure of Eloquence" mingles love and death and a young couple's awakening when they honeymoon in the wrong place. Somehow Winton manages to avoid the easy trap of sentimentality and cliché, so it's a story that bears close study to see just how he did that. "Secrets" beautifully captures the child's perspective and is draped with ominous tones because of the parallels between what is happening to her and what is happening to the chickens. The ending is a surprise, but not in a tricky way—it's surprisingly right. "Getting Ahead" is pretty funny, which it seems to accomplish by the use of props (like the Dymo labels) and details. There's a great climactic moment when they are out killing the cats and the neighbor lady goes: "Psst. There's one under the woodpile." Just beautifully built, held, and released tension. "Lantern Stalk" starts off with a contemporary tone and then does a dream-like shift into 19th century Russian realism with a scene reminiscent of Chekov.
March 31, 2025
Raw and powerful material and expression from Winton when he was in his early twenties. Quite extraordinary to be so gifted and wise so young.
May 22, 2011
Scission is the first collection of short stories published by Winton. They were written in the first half of the 1980s and are probably, along with his novel “An Open Swimmer”, among the first of his literary efforts.
I have read almost all of Winton’s adult works and have enjoyed the entire lot. These 12 stories are among my least favorite, not because they are less than engaging but because they are not enveloped in the exquisitely dynamic, lyrical prose that is one of his hallmarks. This collection is not as thoroughly mesmerizing as his 2005 Collection. “The Turning”, for example, clearly charts Winton’s emergence as a unique voice.
Although the collected stories are not as creatively honed as his later short stories, they are still well-crafted. Many are quite edgy, filled with characters whose lives are often barren, people struggling with their relationships and their self-identity. In “ Secrets”, a young girl lashes out at her isolation by destroying what gives her temporary hope and meaning; in “Wake”, a husband struggles ineffectually with his wife’s abandonment; in “Wilderness”, three marginal people find themselves linked momentarily in an act of salvation; in “The Woman at the Well”, one of the best of the twelve, two foreigners find their lives linked in wordless dissolution; in the final story, “Scission”, a dysfunctional family dissolves into raw violence.
Not all of the stories end in bleakness. “ Getting Ahead” underscores the humor in life’s daily struggles; “A Blow, a Kiss” establishes the depth of a father’s love; the protagonist in “Thomas Awkner Floats” finds independence and joy if only fleetingly; “Neighbours” highlights the strengths of community; “The Oppressed” highlights the gifts of friendship.
Winton’s worlds are always worth the effort to explore.
I have read almost all of Winton’s adult works and have enjoyed the entire lot. These 12 stories are among my least favorite, not because they are less than engaging but because they are not enveloped in the exquisitely dynamic, lyrical prose that is one of his hallmarks. This collection is not as thoroughly mesmerizing as his 2005 Collection. “The Turning”, for example, clearly charts Winton’s emergence as a unique voice.
Although the collected stories are not as creatively honed as his later short stories, they are still well-crafted. Many are quite edgy, filled with characters whose lives are often barren, people struggling with their relationships and their self-identity. In “ Secrets”, a young girl lashes out at her isolation by destroying what gives her temporary hope and meaning; in “Wake”, a husband struggles ineffectually with his wife’s abandonment; in “Wilderness”, three marginal people find themselves linked momentarily in an act of salvation; in “The Woman at the Well”, one of the best of the twelve, two foreigners find their lives linked in wordless dissolution; in the final story, “Scission”, a dysfunctional family dissolves into raw violence.
Not all of the stories end in bleakness. “ Getting Ahead” underscores the humor in life’s daily struggles; “A Blow, a Kiss” establishes the depth of a father’s love; the protagonist in “Thomas Awkner Floats” finds independence and joy if only fleetingly; “Neighbours” highlights the strengths of community; “The Oppressed” highlights the gifts of friendship.
Winton’s worlds are always worth the effort to explore.
August 16, 2017
Depressing as all get out. Really really can't recommend these to people. This collection of short stories starts with a little girl murdering the neighbours chickens, and ends up with a puzzle within a puzzle style story that ends up being a domestic murder. Nothing redeemable in this collection. Nothing I think I needed to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
May 24, 2010read first short story ... depressing. Might not read more ... will see.
September 4, 2023
I tried. I genuinely tried.
I wanted to give this anthology of short stories another go before I gave it away. And 3 stories in, I now remembered why I didn't take to this book, and wanted to give it away.
DNF, with prejudice.
Secrets: 2
That, was not a fun read. Kylie, our young protagonist, has a pretty messed up family life. Uncertain of how to handle matters, she seeks refuge where she can, especially moreso, once she chanced upon a broody hen, who had laid eggs outside of the coop. What happens in the end is rather bleak... and as I recall, It sets the tone for the rest of the anthology.
A Blow, A Kiss: 2
Another bleak one. Through the eyes of our nameless and again young protagonist, we witness a terrible motorbike accident. He and his father find the father of the motorcyclist, drunk in a pub. It feels like an examination of the endless cycle of alcohol abuse.
Getting Ahead: 1
This story is particularly nasty, and comes with a word of warning that it involves animal deaths. The protagonist's mother, on losing her husband, rents out their house to a dotty cat lady, who had been avoiding paying months' worth of rent.
I wanted to give this anthology of short stories another go before I gave it away. And 3 stories in, I now remembered why I didn't take to this book, and wanted to give it away.
DNF, with prejudice.
Secrets: 2
That, was not a fun read. Kylie, our young protagonist, has a pretty messed up family life. Uncertain of how to handle matters, she seeks refuge where she can, especially moreso, once she chanced upon a broody hen, who had laid eggs outside of the coop. What happens in the end is rather bleak... and as I recall, It sets the tone for the rest of the anthology.
A Blow, A Kiss: 2
Another bleak one. Through the eyes of our nameless and again young protagonist, we witness a terrible motorbike accident. He and his father find the father of the motorcyclist, drunk in a pub. It feels like an examination of the endless cycle of alcohol abuse.
Getting Ahead: 1
This story is particularly nasty, and comes with a word of warning that it involves animal deaths. The protagonist's mother, on losing her husband, rents out their house to a dotty cat lady, who had been avoiding paying months' worth of rent.
February 8, 2024
Ano ba to, yung mga recommendation naman ng local library namin. Agiiii.
First story down, and I was like, "Wtf am I reading!?"
But it keeps you engrossed though.
I'm pretty sure TW is a great storyteller. But I just don't think his themes are my cups of tea.
But I did like some of them: Neighbours was my favorite.
And I kinda enjoyed reading the other stories like Secrets and Getting Ahead, which I would call the "Wtf Stories".
Overall, it's good to meet Australian authors through their literature.
---
The wine had fuelled their sadness and apprehension.
First story down, and I was like, "Wtf am I reading!?"
But it keeps you engrossed though.
I'm pretty sure TW is a great storyteller. But I just don't think his themes are my cups of tea.
But I did like some of them: Neighbours was my favorite.
And I kinda enjoyed reading the other stories like Secrets and Getting Ahead, which I would call the "Wtf Stories".
Overall, it's good to meet Australian authors through their literature.
---
The wine had fuelled their sadness and apprehension.
October 22, 2024
A good collection of thirteen short stories. The stories are plot driven character studies.
In ‘Secrets’, a young girl is left to lay on her own while her mother and her mother’s boyfriend disappear into the bedroom.
‘A Blow, a Kiss’ is about the narrator and his father finding a motorbike rider on the side of the road, having crashed his bike. They deliver the injured man to his brutal, unforgiving father.
‘Getting Ahead’ involved a widowed mother deciding to rent out her government home and move into a cramped flat in order to make money. The old lady they rent their home out to is a cat lover and non payer!
‘Thomas Awkner Floats’, a young simple man is asked to fly across the country to meet his uncle and deliver a parcel for his criminal family in Melbourne.
‘Scission’ is about Rosemary McCollough, a beautiful wife in an oppressive marriage.
Tim Winton fans should find this a satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1985.
In ‘Secrets’, a young girl is left to lay on her own while her mother and her mother’s boyfriend disappear into the bedroom.
‘A Blow, a Kiss’ is about the narrator and his father finding a motorbike rider on the side of the road, having crashed his bike. They deliver the injured man to his brutal, unforgiving father.
‘Getting Ahead’ involved a widowed mother deciding to rent out her government home and move into a cramped flat in order to make money. The old lady they rent their home out to is a cat lover and non payer!
‘Thomas Awkner Floats’, a young simple man is asked to fly across the country to meet his uncle and deliver a parcel for his criminal family in Melbourne.
‘Scission’ is about Rosemary McCollough, a beautiful wife in an oppressive marriage.
Tim Winton fans should find this a satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1985.
April 27, 2018
“Scission” like scissors is about cutting / severing and all these stories are examples of people who are cut off from, or lose, others. As such it’s a pretty depressing set of short stories. While the prose is lovely, I’d recommend reading a story then reading something else then reading another story. It’s feels like you’re being pummelled to read 12 bleak or unhappy stories in a row.
December 7, 2018
Really enjoyed this. Lots of variety to keep me interested. Good read :)
Read
February 19, 2024lowkey disturbing but i had no choice to read it
January 26, 2025
DNF. Disturbing. 13 short stories that were all hard to read, cruel, heartbreaking, highlighting the meanness of humans. Couldn’t read any further than three stories. What was I thinking.
January 21, 2017
Each story a little stab at your psyche. Each story totally memorable and with some horrible human flaw so clearly spelled out even though some of them are only five pages long. Although I'm generally a fan of absorbing things that make me happy rather than feel disturbed I can't help but be a fan of Tim Winton because me makes me feel. This is his first book of short stories, his first. What a freak!
March 14, 2022
Scission, v.
the action or state of cutting or being cut.
Winton’s collection of short stories feature a slice of normal Australian life with an air of unexplainable tension that never truly goes away. Sometimes, the tension is clarified for a moment but then the fog returns, other times there is no answer at all. Still other times, the tension only begins to be resolved before the story is cut with no resolution, as if the end is only the beginning.
Such is Winton's writing style, and why Scission is something you can only have a love-hate relationship with. There is no room for apathy here. No space for tolerance.
It is at times simple lounge reading and other times mind-boggling abrupt narrative that puts Black Mirror to shame.
Relationships are torn apart and badly pieced together like a primary school art project. The moment you think you understand someone, you yourself undergo the very scission the characters undertake.
It is a beautiful mess of a collection, and gives me assurance as a writer that you can mess with structure, narrative, and rarely give the reader the closed answer they want and still create a successful story.
the action or state of cutting or being cut.
Winton’s collection of short stories feature a slice of normal Australian life with an air of unexplainable tension that never truly goes away. Sometimes, the tension is clarified for a moment but then the fog returns, other times there is no answer at all. Still other times, the tension only begins to be resolved before the story is cut with no resolution, as if the end is only the beginning.
Such is Winton's writing style, and why Scission is something you can only have a love-hate relationship with. There is no room for apathy here. No space for tolerance.
It is at times simple lounge reading and other times mind-boggling abrupt narrative that puts Black Mirror to shame.
Relationships are torn apart and badly pieced together like a primary school art project. The moment you think you understand someone, you yourself undergo the very scission the characters undertake.
It is a beautiful mess of a collection, and gives me assurance as a writer that you can mess with structure, narrative, and rarely give the reader the closed answer they want and still create a successful story.
January 1, 2018
Some goods stories, some more than others. They all share some degree o subtle violence, and family relationships (father and son mostly). I liked the creepy ones, but the vast majority seem to go nowhere, something more like an exercise of style in writing rather than anything else. I imagined something harsher, direct, less wordy, some of the stories seem taken straight out of a cheesy soap opera, not too many though. I praise his capacity for creating some vivid images, especially the scenery, it does not have any memorable characters or phrases, and most of the time there's nothing on what to reflect on beyond what he has written, the story closes and that's it, often times leaving a not quite thrilling sensation.
I hope to read all of his work or at least his universe of characters in most of his novels. I'm interested in "The Turning" and "The Riders". This was not the best start but it was OK.
I hope to read all of his work or at least his universe of characters in most of his novels. I'm interested in "The Turning" and "The Riders". This was not the best start but it was OK.
January 12, 2021
Delightful. Absolutely delightful. I had just finished reading a couple of post-apocalyptic/fantasy type novels that were - meh, okay - when I felt I needed a break & downloaded this beautiful collection of short stories. I'd read some of the author's novels and was very taken & impressed.
These short stories are just so good. They are little snippets of life. Cross-sections in peoples' lives. A window; snapshot. And though they may be at times a little minimalist, this is attractive. In places, almost Beckettsian in its minimalism, I thought, but it works. In places, there is almost the feel of some of Seamus Heaney's poetry - look at the supposed small things, but see the value in them. The story about the axes is a good example of this.
And after the less than perfect writing styles of the post-apocalyptic stuff, this was silky smooth and a delight to read.
Highly recommended.
These short stories are just so good. They are little snippets of life. Cross-sections in peoples' lives. A window; snapshot. And though they may be at times a little minimalist, this is attractive. In places, almost Beckettsian in its minimalism, I thought, but it works. In places, there is almost the feel of some of Seamus Heaney's poetry - look at the supposed small things, but see the value in them. The story about the axes is a good example of this.
And after the less than perfect writing styles of the post-apocalyptic stuff, this was silky smooth and a delight to read.
Highly recommended.
April 21, 2024
I did not enjoy this, nor do I feel I came away with much. Other reviews here have described the book as depressing, which is accurate, but I don't have much of a problem with depressing books. It's also very pessimistic about humans, which again isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for a great read. I think the problem for me is a kind of relentless, simplistic pessimism about human relationships. Sure, there are nods here and there to how people might end up not being so nice or might end up in crappy situations or relationships; but on the whole I took the message to be: "some (most) people are just messed up arseholes, the rest are self-regarding and pompous or victims". The various shades of violence seem to be the main point, with character arcs very much secondary or absent.
October 19, 2020
this was good! nice and short so an easy read for the diss, and some of the stories were really great. my favourites were probably “a blow, a kiss”, “neighbours” and “a measure of eloquence”. it was really interesting to read this after postcards from surfers because winton and garner are so different in their subject matter. might mention this one in my final draft!
July 23, 2017
I found some short stories to be more gripping than others... but there were some absolute stand outs. "A blow, a kiss" left me with goose bumps. "My Father's Axe" also had me hook, line and sinker. Winton writes with grit, humour, and an ability to make the mundane sound beautiful.
January 19, 2019
The short stories are full of sharp twists without resolutions that demands a re-read to come to terms with the narrative as a whole, the choice of writing style and reflection within your own perception of the story.
January 1, 2018
(2.5/5)
February 26, 2017
I'm a sucker for Tim Winton.
August 8, 2017
Evocative and bleak... in a good way? I'm in an Australiana mood...
August 22, 2018
Brutal at times, burning at the point of conflict, uncomfortable and so true.
March 5, 2019
You can see the kernels that will soon burst into some of Australia's best modern writing but here they are hard and cold.
October 18, 2019
I liked this book. Nice stories. Melancholy.
January 23, 2023
Many of the short stories were peculiar but the last story shocked me couldn't stop reading.
February 9, 2023
A nice compilation of little pieces - the reading of the audiobook really added to the experience.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews