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Barracuda
From the author of The Slap.
Fourteen-year-old Daniel Kelly is special. Despite his upbringing in working-class Melbourne, he knows that his astonishing ability in the swimming pool has the potential to transform his life. Everything Danny has ever done, every sacrifice his family has ever made, has been in pursuit of this dream--but what happens when the talent that makes you special fails you? When the goal that you’ve been pursuing for as long as you can remember ends in humiliation and loss?
Twenty years later, Dan is in Scotland, terrified to tell his partner about his past, afraid that revealing what he has done will make him unlovable. Haunted by shame, Dan relives the intervening years he spent in prison, where the optimism of his childhood was completely foreign.
Fourteen-year-old Daniel Kelly is special. Despite his upbringing in working-class Melbourne, he knows that his astonishing ability in the swimming pool has the potential to transform his life. Everything Danny has ever done, every sacrifice his family has ever made, has been in pursuit of this dream--but what happens when the talent that makes you special fails you? When the goal that you’ve been pursuing for as long as you can remember ends in humiliation and loss?
Twenty years later, Dan is in Scotland, terrified to tell his partner about his past, afraid that revealing what he has done will make him unlovable. Haunted by shame, Dan relives the intervening years he spent in prison, where the optimism of his childhood was completely foreign.
516 pages, Paperback
First published October 26, 2013
273 people are currently reading
5779 people want to read
About the author
Christos Tsiolkas
38 books977 followersChristos Tsiolkas is the author of nine novels: Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head-On, The Jesus Man and Dead Europe,which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. He won Overall Best Book in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2009, was shortlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, long listed for the 2010 Man Booker Prize and won the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for The Slap, which was also announced as the 2009 Australian Booksellers Association and Australian Book Industry Awards Books of the Year.
Barracuda is his fifth novel. Merciless Gods (2014) and Damascus (2019) followed.
He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer. He lives in Melbourne.
Barracuda is his fifth novel. Merciless Gods (2014) and Damascus (2019) followed.
He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer. He lives in Melbourne.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,054 reviews
November 16, 2013
Reading Barracuda was a profoundly uncomfortable experience. Initially it is unclear whether Tsiolkas is celebrating or critiquing the culture of winner-takes-all, class warfare, emotional repression, power as currency, hate as fuel and survival of the fittest. The sex, real and imagined, is tawdry. The prose is often a steady, bracing stream of f*** this and c*** that, which is not how people like me speak. But Barracuda is not a story about people like me. It is, however, the best novel I have read in quite some time.
Danny Kelly is a champion swimmer, obsessed with winning, on scholarship to a private school where his swimming prowess is grudgingly admired, but his working class, Greek heritage is the stuff of isolation, and desolation. He draws on the bullying and violence and hatred of the other boys to fuel his dream of winning or, more specifically, beating them. Beating everyone. The complex mixture of bravado and self-loathing, fed by struggles with racial and sexual identity is disturbing and this makes the familiarity of the Melbourne setting (Lygon St, Toorak mansions, summers on the Mornington Peninsula) and the cultural references of the 1990s and beyond (the death of Kurt Cobain, Perkins v. Kowolski, the Sydney Olympics) strangely comforting.
There were unexpectedly moving reflections on the nature of home and belonging and, conversely, homesickness and isolation. But the book's most pervasive and poignant theme is shame, and this is as insightful a portrayal of its destructive power as I have ever read. It is an ever present reminder that the characters who dream and act with violence and brutality and apparent narcissism are human and vulnerable and even likeable; that even those actions we are tempted to judge most harshly are not so dissimilar from all the other things we do to either lose or find ourselves. It is a perfectly structured novel, slowly unfolding (or unravelling) as the different eras of Dan's life meld together. An extraordinary and, finally, redemptive book for those who can stomach it.
Danny Kelly is a champion swimmer, obsessed with winning, on scholarship to a private school where his swimming prowess is grudgingly admired, but his working class, Greek heritage is the stuff of isolation, and desolation. He draws on the bullying and violence and hatred of the other boys to fuel his dream of winning or, more specifically, beating them. Beating everyone. The complex mixture of bravado and self-loathing, fed by struggles with racial and sexual identity is disturbing and this makes the familiarity of the Melbourne setting (Lygon St, Toorak mansions, summers on the Mornington Peninsula) and the cultural references of the 1990s and beyond (the death of Kurt Cobain, Perkins v. Kowolski, the Sydney Olympics) strangely comforting.
There were unexpectedly moving reflections on the nature of home and belonging and, conversely, homesickness and isolation. But the book's most pervasive and poignant theme is shame, and this is as insightful a portrayal of its destructive power as I have ever read. It is an ever present reminder that the characters who dream and act with violence and brutality and apparent narcissism are human and vulnerable and even likeable; that even those actions we are tempted to judge most harshly are not so dissimilar from all the other things we do to either lose or find ourselves. It is a perfectly structured novel, slowly unfolding (or unravelling) as the different eras of Dan's life meld together. An extraordinary and, finally, redemptive book for those who can stomach it.
March 11, 2020
Barracuda by Australian author Christos Tsiolkas is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a very long time. I loved The Slap by the same author but have dragged my heals over this one.
The Barracuda of the title is Daniel Kelly, a boy from an ordinary, working class background who, through his top swimming skills, wins a scholarship at a prestigious private school. Once in the care of Coach Torma he is pushed hard within an intense training regime and his overriding (only) aim in life is to make the Australian Olympic team.
All doesn’t run smoothly though as he immediately feels out of place, imperfect and unworthy amid the rich, golden limbed superiority of those around him.
Dan isn’t a likeable character. He fights his way to acceptance, in the water and out. He only feels truly powerful when swimming, when a godlike euphoria takes over. He becomes a sleek, unblemished figure cutting through water and air, aggressively pushing towards perfection. He’s single minded and selfish, prone to shame and self loathing when things don’t go his way.
Adding to the turbulence of Dan’s messy' testosterone fuelled youth is the gradual realisation that he is gay.
Early on in the novel we become aware that a life shattering event will take place, an event on which the novel will turn.
The sections following Daniel’s highs and extreme lows as a school boy are written in third person. The sections that randomly intersperse the novel, set later in Daniels life, are mostly written in first person. An interesting effect maybe used to show the difference between the two Daniels.
Barracuda is dramatic and full of incident but it’s not for the squeamish - Tskiolkas writes beautifully with a hard lyricism that doesn’t shy away from clinically detailed descriptions of unhealthy relationships, violence and sexual behaviour.
Tskiolkas’s wordy descriptions of Daniel swimming are arguably a little overwritten but I was ok with that and found it quite hypnotic, in fact I love Tsiolkas’s writing and was continually impressed how deeply realised his characters were.
Barracuda painstakingly examines how unhealthy sporting obsession and the fear of failure can impact on the lives of young individuals and their family and friends. It’s also a novel of redemption and self acceptance. This was a wonderful, unflinching and very powerful read.
The Barracuda of the title is Daniel Kelly, a boy from an ordinary, working class background who, through his top swimming skills, wins a scholarship at a prestigious private school. Once in the care of Coach Torma he is pushed hard within an intense training regime and his overriding (only) aim in life is to make the Australian Olympic team.
All doesn’t run smoothly though as he immediately feels out of place, imperfect and unworthy amid the rich, golden limbed superiority of those around him.
Dan isn’t a likeable character. He fights his way to acceptance, in the water and out. He only feels truly powerful when swimming, when a godlike euphoria takes over. He becomes a sleek, unblemished figure cutting through water and air, aggressively pushing towards perfection. He’s single minded and selfish, prone to shame and self loathing when things don’t go his way.
Adding to the turbulence of Dan’s messy' testosterone fuelled youth is the gradual realisation that he is gay.
Early on in the novel we become aware that a life shattering event will take place, an event on which the novel will turn.
The sections following Daniel’s highs and extreme lows as a school boy are written in third person. The sections that randomly intersperse the novel, set later in Daniels life, are mostly written in first person. An interesting effect maybe used to show the difference between the two Daniels.
Barracuda is dramatic and full of incident but it’s not for the squeamish - Tskiolkas writes beautifully with a hard lyricism that doesn’t shy away from clinically detailed descriptions of unhealthy relationships, violence and sexual behaviour.
Tskiolkas’s wordy descriptions of Daniel swimming are arguably a little overwritten but I was ok with that and found it quite hypnotic, in fact I love Tsiolkas’s writing and was continually impressed how deeply realised his characters were.
Barracuda painstakingly examines how unhealthy sporting obsession and the fear of failure can impact on the lives of young individuals and their family and friends. It’s also a novel of redemption and self acceptance. This was a wonderful, unflinching and very powerful read.
August 2, 2018
I'm totally loved it ❤️❤️❤️❤️'
December 15, 2013
Barracuda – Really?
What can I sat about this book? Well it is the first time since I left school with my A level in English Literature that I have really had to force myself to finish a book. I am sure that the anal retentive literary critics will love this book, but the book buying public will not be impressed. This book forced me to read others reviews to see if I was missing something and those who have bought the book regret their purchase and clearly it is not just me that is not impressed with Barracuda. Too start with the prose does not flow it is not easy to read and my personal opinion is that the book could be better with an honest editor who could have dumped about 300 pages and cut out a lot of the repetition. Yes he is a swimmer and we know he feels powerful and a winner in the pool you do not have to keep telling us in every other chapter.
If this book had been shorter it would have been easier to see some of the themes that run through the book such as the examination of class in Australian society. How we all have dreams and the disillusionment that can come through this especially when we manage to screw things up ourselves. There is also an interesting examination of family units and friendships and that it is not until we have lost everything what it really means to be a good person.
If this book had been shorter with less repetition then this would have been a good read rather than a struggle to the end.
What can I sat about this book? Well it is the first time since I left school with my A level in English Literature that I have really had to force myself to finish a book. I am sure that the anal retentive literary critics will love this book, but the book buying public will not be impressed. This book forced me to read others reviews to see if I was missing something and those who have bought the book regret their purchase and clearly it is not just me that is not impressed with Barracuda. Too start with the prose does not flow it is not easy to read and my personal opinion is that the book could be better with an honest editor who could have dumped about 300 pages and cut out a lot of the repetition. Yes he is a swimmer and we know he feels powerful and a winner in the pool you do not have to keep telling us in every other chapter.
If this book had been shorter it would have been easier to see some of the themes that run through the book such as the examination of class in Australian society. How we all have dreams and the disillusionment that can come through this especially when we manage to screw things up ourselves. There is also an interesting examination of family units and friendships and that it is not until we have lost everything what it really means to be a good person.
If this book had been shorter with less repetition then this would have been a good read rather than a struggle to the end.
November 9, 2013
The thing about anything written by Tsiolkas is that it's difficult to rush to a quick and facile review.
On the contrary I always need to think long and hard about what I have read. Of course I liked the writing very much and the overall story, exploring characters and issues of failure ring very true.
Some sections I thought were quite brilliant, where Tsiolkas portrays characters bumping up against each other uncomfortably.
One section where the young Danny visits the home of an upperclass family is wonderful to witness - dialogue funny and sharp.
Tsiolkas always treats his charcters roughly but with compassion at the same time.
Despite the idea of Danny being a failure in wanting to be an Olympic swimmer, he's obviously a wonderful ( but struggling) human being.
You can't help but love him.
Oh and Tsiolkas too for taking risks which pretty much all pay off.
In recent days I've heard lots of complaints about the 'language' used in 'Barracuda' - not very nice, some say!
Surely books have to reflect reality and people DO speak as Tsiolkas gives them to speak. Strong language is often an indication of deep emotion and in this case necessary to the story.
Maybe these opposers of strong language should get out more into the real world.
On the contrary I always need to think long and hard about what I have read. Of course I liked the writing very much and the overall story, exploring characters and issues of failure ring very true.
Some sections I thought were quite brilliant, where Tsiolkas portrays characters bumping up against each other uncomfortably.
One section where the young Danny visits the home of an upperclass family is wonderful to witness - dialogue funny and sharp.
Tsiolkas always treats his charcters roughly but with compassion at the same time.
Despite the idea of Danny being a failure in wanting to be an Olympic swimmer, he's obviously a wonderful ( but struggling) human being.
You can't help but love him.
Oh and Tsiolkas too for taking risks which pretty much all pay off.
In recent days I've heard lots of complaints about the 'language' used in 'Barracuda' - not very nice, some say!
Surely books have to reflect reality and people DO speak as Tsiolkas gives them to speak. Strong language is often an indication of deep emotion and in this case necessary to the story.
Maybe these opposers of strong language should get out more into the real world.
July 31, 2021
This was an amazing read! The main character Daniel puts some readers off, for being what is now considered unevolved, but the novel really dives deep into the topic of toxic masculinity, generations of it, in all its forms, without ever mentioning those words. It never mentions internalized homophobia, either, but that is another recurrent theme, another toxic brew that irrevocably shapes Daniel's life.
Mostly set in Australia, but plot threads also connect Australia to the larger world. As in Tsiolkas' earlier novel "Loaded" this one explores class issues and the stigma and challenges of being working class and from a non-Anglo Saxon immigrant family.
This is my second novel by Christos Tsiolkas, and both have been impressive!
Mostly set in Australia, but plot threads also connect Australia to the larger world. As in Tsiolkas' earlier novel "Loaded" this one explores class issues and the stigma and challenges of being working class and from a non-Anglo Saxon immigrant family.
This is my second novel by Christos Tsiolkas, and both have been impressive!
March 12, 2020
‘‘He was swimming and he was flying into his future.''
‘’Always answer back. Take control, always take control.’’
Some of you really need to learn how to drag people. You need to be able to answer back. You don’t want to be weak ass bitch do you now?
‘‘She swore in Greek.''
Say Γαμώ το σπίτι σου γαμώ you pussy. We are all adults here, we can handle it.
Danny… Dan… he is such a narcissistic cunt and I kinda love him.
Look, the first part was in my opinion amazing. The second was just okay tho. Didn’t need to be over 500 pages... I still loved it. I would have finished it in like 2 days but Chain Of Gold came out and I also wasn’t really home.
I read it while listening to Christine And The Queens. Great mood setter.
I don’t wanna say much because I think that reading it without really knowing what the fuck is up is better. I legit got it because of the cover and the fact that it was really cheap.
‘’Always answer back. Take control, always take control.’’
Some of you really need to learn how to drag people. You need to be able to answer back. You don’t want to be weak ass bitch do you now?
‘‘She swore in Greek.''
Say Γαμώ το σπίτι σου γαμώ you pussy. We are all adults here, we can handle it.
Danny… Dan… he is such a narcissistic cunt and I kinda love him.
Look, the first part was in my opinion amazing. The second was just okay tho. Didn’t need to be over 500 pages... I still loved it. I would have finished it in like 2 days but Chain Of Gold came out and I also wasn’t really home.
I don’t wanna say much because I think that reading it without really knowing what the fuck is up is better. I legit got it because of the cover and the fact that it was really cheap.
November 9, 2014
In Barracuda, Christos Tsiolkas tells a tragic story of a 14year old boy, Danny Kelly; his hopes and dreams of becoming a ‘golden boy, representing Australia in the Olympic games in the swimming competitions. Born into a working class family with Greek and Scottish parents, Danny earned a scholarship to a prestigious boys school for his strength in swimming. Danny was being bullied in his new school, but he’s caught on early that the only way to earn respect is to adapt ruthless attitude and more importantly, he must succeed in the pool. In Danny’s mind, failure is not an option - he is the ‘Barracuda’, the strongest, the fastest, the best – but when faced with failure, he can’t deal with it, he becomes destructive.
The story is told in the three stages of Danny’s life; from his earlier years when he was driven, dedicated and full of hope; to his middle years and his down fall, he’s thoughts and behaviour at this time were brutal and sickening, he became paranoid and violent; it then switches to the present years, a man in his 30’s, broken, deeply ashamed, and who is seeking redemption and a purpose in life. These stages were told out of sequence and there was a slight unknown to it. Danny had the perfect chance in life, he was surrounded a supportive family – who weren’t pushy – and childhood friends whom liked Danny for who he is (not if you win or lose). Seeing these different stages earlier on, it had me thinking what could’ve possibly happened to a man, full of hopefulness to hit rock bottom so severely?
However, in saying that, the structure didn’t suit me. With a book like this I would’ve liked to have grown WITH Danny through these stages, yet some how I felt like I was only seeing fragments of life, not the whole picture. I was terribly annoyed. In my opinion, Christos is an amazing storyteller and Barracuda (like The Slap) is a multilayer storyteller that does cover so many important issues/themes you can talk about and debate on; racialism, parenting, homosexuality, class, sports and Australian culture and beliefs – and the list goes on - I could feel myself disconnecting with it and losing interest.
If you are a bit hesitant to read a Christos Tsiolkas book, because of what you’ve heard or experience with The Slap, Barracuda is certainly gentler. There is a softness, balance with the distinctive characters and eloquently described backdrop, places that were familiar to me (being Melbourne born and raised) and I could visually see the contrast – richness of Toorak and working class of Coburg/Reservoir.
I personally preferred The Slap, I think the characters and the plot were tightly developed and well written. Barracuda was okay for me - some remarkable and thought provoking moments came of it, and some not so good.
The story is told in the three stages of Danny’s life; from his earlier years when he was driven, dedicated and full of hope; to his middle years and his down fall, he’s thoughts and behaviour at this time were brutal and sickening, he became paranoid and violent; it then switches to the present years, a man in his 30’s, broken, deeply ashamed, and who is seeking redemption and a purpose in life. These stages were told out of sequence and there was a slight unknown to it. Danny had the perfect chance in life, he was surrounded a supportive family – who weren’t pushy – and childhood friends whom liked Danny for who he is (not if you win or lose). Seeing these different stages earlier on, it had me thinking what could’ve possibly happened to a man, full of hopefulness to hit rock bottom so severely?
However, in saying that, the structure didn’t suit me. With a book like this I would’ve liked to have grown WITH Danny through these stages, yet some how I felt like I was only seeing fragments of life, not the whole picture. I was terribly annoyed. In my opinion, Christos is an amazing storyteller and Barracuda (like The Slap) is a multilayer storyteller that does cover so many important issues/themes you can talk about and debate on; racialism, parenting, homosexuality, class, sports and Australian culture and beliefs – and the list goes on - I could feel myself disconnecting with it and losing interest.
If you are a bit hesitant to read a Christos Tsiolkas book, because of what you’ve heard or experience with The Slap, Barracuda is certainly gentler. There is a softness, balance with the distinctive characters and eloquently described backdrop, places that were familiar to me (being Melbourne born and raised) and I could visually see the contrast – richness of Toorak and working class of Coburg/Reservoir.
I personally preferred The Slap, I think the characters and the plot were tightly developed and well written. Barracuda was okay for me - some remarkable and thought provoking moments came of it, and some not so good.
November 3, 2018
Το κάθε βιβλίο πρέπει να έρχεται και να σε βρίσκει στην ώρα του. Είχα δώσει-ίσως λίγο υπερβολικά- 5αρι στο αναλόγου όγκου Χαστούκι του ίδιου συγγραφέα, αλλά το συγκεκριμένο το παλεύω εδώ και ένα μήνα σε μια μάλλον πιεσμένη για μένα περίοδο, έχω και τα δικά μου Χρηστάκη, δεν μπορώ και την κλαψομουνίαση σου.
Είναι όλα τα γνώριμα θέματα εδώ-η ομοφυλοφιλία, η μετανάστευση, η πάλη των τάξεων,η οικογένεια-κάτι σαν Ελληνοαυστραλό συριζαίο. Και είναι και αυτή πνιγηρή αίσθηση να μην ανήκεις πουθενά. Αλλά 584 σελίδες μπρος και πίσω-ένα ταραντινικό πείραμα που δεν λειτούργησε-και μια απίστευτη ελληνοαυστραλή μίρλα, όχι, βαρέθηκα πολύ πριν τα μισά. Γιατί ακριβώς παράτησε την κολύμβηση ο κεντρικός ήρωας, μάλλον ο συγγραφέας δεν βρήκε χώρο να το πει σε 584 σελίδες, εκτός από το γεγονός ότι ήταν pain in the ass (no pun intended). Άνευρο τέλος, ανακατεύει φυλή, σεξ, επιτυχία, εργατική τάξη,αναπηρία, οικογένεια στο ίδιο καζάνι, αλλά βαριέμαι,βαριέμαι, βαριέμαι. Κάπου προς το τέλος έρχεται υποτίθεται σαν climax η confrontation πατέρα-γιου, αλλά το αποτέλεσμα είναι κάπως "Ε όχι πατέρα. Η αλήθεια βρίσκεται στους Sex Pistols. Γκέγκε ;"
Κρίμα. Κρίμα. Κρίμα. Να ακούτε τους editors σας και να κόβετε από τα βιβλία σας.
Με προοπτικές, αλλά όπως θα έλεγε και η Ηλιάνα, από μένα είναι όχι.
Είναι όλα τα γνώριμα θέματα εδώ-η ομοφυλοφιλία, η μετανάστευση, η πάλη των τάξεων,η οικογένεια-κάτι σαν Ελληνοαυστραλό συριζαίο. Και είναι και αυτή πνιγηρή αίσθηση να μην ανήκεις πουθενά. Αλλά 584 σελίδες μπρος και πίσω-ένα ταραντινικό πείραμα που δεν λειτούργησε-και μια απίστευτη ελληνοαυστραλή μίρλα, όχι, βαρέθηκα πολύ πριν τα μισά. Γιατί ακριβώς παράτησε την κολύμβηση ο κεντρικός ήρωας, μάλλον ο συγγραφέας δεν βρήκε χώρο να το πει σε 584 σελίδες, εκτός από το γεγονός ότι ήταν pain in the ass (no pun intended). Άνευρο τέλος, ανακατεύει φυλή, σεξ, επιτυχία, εργατική τάξη,αναπηρία, οικογένεια στο ίδιο καζάνι, αλλά βαριέμαι,βαριέμαι, βαριέμαι. Κάπου προς το τέλος έρχεται υποτίθεται σαν climax η confrontation πατέρα-γιου, αλλά το αποτέλεσμα είναι κάπως "Ε όχι πατέρα. Η αλήθεια βρίσκεται στους Sex Pistols. Γκέγκε ;"
Κρίμα. Κρίμα. Κρίμα. Να ακούτε τους editors σας και να κόβετε από τα βιβλία σας.
Με προοπτικές, αλλά όπως θα έλεγε και η Ηλιάνα, από μένα είναι όχι.
September 17, 2014
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
3.5 Stars
“I see a beautiful gigantic swimmer swimming naked through the eddies of the sea,
His brown hair lies close and even to his head, he strikes out with courageous arms, he urges himself with his legs,
I see his white body, I see his undaunted eyes,
I hate the swift-running eddies that would dash him head-foremost on the rocks.
What are you doing you ruffianly red-trickled waves?
Will you kill the courageous giant? Will you kill him in the prime of his middle-age?
Steady and long he struggles,
He is baffled, bang’d, bruis’d, he holds out while his strength holds out,
The slapping eddies are spotted with his blood, they bear him away, they roll him, swing him, turn him,
His beautiful body is borne in the circling eddies, it is continually bruis’d on rocks,
Swiftly and out of sight is borne the brave corpse.”
from The Sleepers by Walt Whitman
Before I begin an actual review I’m going to be really rude and say this yet another case of a horrible "official" synopsis. Danny’s mother isn’t single and his family isn’t middle class – in fact, his father is one of the driving forces behind the story and the family is very much lower/working class people. The blurb is what draws the audience to new books, it’s pretty important to get the basic facts correct. Grrrrr.
That being cleared up, the rest of the synopsis is true. This is the story of Danny Kelly – a promising young Australian swimmer who is discovered at a competition at the local pool. Danny is given a full scholarship to a prestigious private school that focuses on training athletes for various Olympic events. It is there that Danny will have to learn to deal with success and failure, being good enough for some, but never good enough for all (including himself), figuring out who/what to be proud of and what should make him feel shame.
This was a notable book. I’d never heard of Tsiolkas (or his previous book, The Slap) before and simply picked this one up because I got it for free. I love a good coming of age story, and this one was exceptional. All of the details of life as a swimmer added depth to the story, the past to present narration was made fresh with the story being told in both third and first person (depending on whether you were hearing “Danny” or “Dan’s” story), and to read a solid homosexual main character? One where being “homosexual” is not the defining (or only) factor of his personality? Those kind of stories are way too few and far between.
I won’t go so far as to say this is a book for everyone. It’s very “book clubby” (for lack of a better term) and I can picture a series of Q&A/talking points being added to later editions at some point. There aren’t a lot of plot twists or outrageous scenes to propel the reader – Barracuda is very much driven by how remarkably well-written it is. Its simplicity and raw emotion are what make it so striking.
Oh, and I can’t wrap this up without saying PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE make the song by Heart stop playing on a loop in my brain now that I’m done with this book!!!! Please???????
“Ooooooooooooooooh, Barracuda!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0OX_8...
ARC provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review
3.5 Stars
“I see a beautiful gigantic swimmer swimming naked through the eddies of the sea,
His brown hair lies close and even to his head, he strikes out with courageous arms, he urges himself with his legs,
I see his white body, I see his undaunted eyes,
I hate the swift-running eddies that would dash him head-foremost on the rocks.
What are you doing you ruffianly red-trickled waves?
Will you kill the courageous giant? Will you kill him in the prime of his middle-age?
Steady and long he struggles,
He is baffled, bang’d, bruis’d, he holds out while his strength holds out,
The slapping eddies are spotted with his blood, they bear him away, they roll him, swing him, turn him,
His beautiful body is borne in the circling eddies, it is continually bruis’d on rocks,
Swiftly and out of sight is borne the brave corpse.”
from The Sleepers by Walt Whitman
Before I begin an actual review I’m going to be really rude and say this yet another case of a horrible "official" synopsis. Danny’s mother isn’t single and his family isn’t middle class – in fact, his father is one of the driving forces behind the story and the family is very much lower/working class people. The blurb is what draws the audience to new books, it’s pretty important to get the basic facts correct. Grrrrr.
That being cleared up, the rest of the synopsis is true. This is the story of Danny Kelly – a promising young Australian swimmer who is discovered at a competition at the local pool. Danny is given a full scholarship to a prestigious private school that focuses on training athletes for various Olympic events. It is there that Danny will have to learn to deal with success and failure, being good enough for some, but never good enough for all (including himself), figuring out who/what to be proud of and what should make him feel shame.
This was a notable book. I’d never heard of Tsiolkas (or his previous book, The Slap) before and simply picked this one up because I got it for free. I love a good coming of age story, and this one was exceptional. All of the details of life as a swimmer added depth to the story, the past to present narration was made fresh with the story being told in both third and first person (depending on whether you were hearing “Danny” or “Dan’s” story), and to read a solid homosexual main character? One where being “homosexual” is not the defining (or only) factor of his personality? Those kind of stories are way too few and far between.
I won’t go so far as to say this is a book for everyone. It’s very “book clubby” (for lack of a better term) and I can picture a series of Q&A/talking points being added to later editions at some point. There aren’t a lot of plot twists or outrageous scenes to propel the reader – Barracuda is very much driven by how remarkably well-written it is. Its simplicity and raw emotion are what make it so striking.
Oh, and I can’t wrap this up without saying PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE make the song by Heart stop playing on a loop in my brain now that I’m done with this book!!!! Please???????
“Ooooooooooooooooh, Barracuda!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0OX_8...
ARC provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review
April 16, 2018
At around page 50 I was thinking ok this is going to be three stars, then four and by the time I reached the final part I knew this was a masterpiece. It’s raw, honest, moving, heartbreaking, at times too crude or unsophisticated even, but complex and really, deeply profound. And it’s all there: failure, despair, hope, disillusionment, shame, love, repression, angst, cruelty, regret, guilt, atonement.
I am very, very impressed. It has honestly been a very long time since any book has moved me so much.
I am very, very impressed. It has honestly been a very long time since any book has moved me so much.
December 31, 2013
Review posted on my blog:
http://www.pagetostagereviews.com/201...
When I received Barracuda in the post and noticed the sticker on the front proudly advertising that is was written by the same author as The Slap my heart sank a little bit, as that is one of the worst books I've ever read. It's a novel that made me very, very angry and for all the wrong reasons too - even over two years later I still feel the annoyance bubbling up just thinking about it. For that reason I seriously contemplated not picking up this book, but then I figured that everybody deserves a second chance and I would give it at least a few chapters before dismissing it altogether.
I was very surprised then that I actually enjoyed the story of Danny Kelly, the titular character, at first. It properly focussed on him and didn't wander off into a pointless and unrealistic drug-fuelled and sex-driven territory as much as The Slap did. Another major positive was that this time around I didn't feel the desperate need to slap sense (no pun intended) into every single one of the characters because they were such dreadful and unlikeable human beings.
Unfortunately my enjoyment of the book didn't last for very long for a variety of reasons. For one there was an important event allured to for the duration of the story (why Danny went to jail) but it wasn't until the very end that some light was shed on the situation, and even then it wasn't explained in full and required a lot of guess work from the reader, piecing together an offhand comment from one of the earlier chapters to a scene much further down the line that seemed like it was going to escalate. The unnecessary padding in between was distracting and made it all far more complex than it could have and should have been.
Furthermore there is a lot of going back and forth in time, and while sometimes a date was listed at the top of a new section this wasn't consistently used throughout which added gratuitous confusion to what was already a far too filled out novel for quite a basic story. In fact, on more than one occasion I was lost about where we were in Danny's life and what had already happened in his time line and what had yet to take place.
As for the overall themes within the novel, while I can appreciate the brutal honesty of the coming of age story which reflects on Australian society, rather than hitting the mark with an evocative piece of writing, Tsiolkas preaches his own disillusionment with people, and the world as a whole, making it all dwindle down into tiresome and pretentious repetition.
So while the novel had a promising start, it has in the end done nothing to change my view on the author and I fear it unlikely I will give his work yet another chance in the future.
http://www.pagetostagereviews.com/201...
When I received Barracuda in the post and noticed the sticker on the front proudly advertising that is was written by the same author as The Slap my heart sank a little bit, as that is one of the worst books I've ever read. It's a novel that made me very, very angry and for all the wrong reasons too - even over two years later I still feel the annoyance bubbling up just thinking about it. For that reason I seriously contemplated not picking up this book, but then I figured that everybody deserves a second chance and I would give it at least a few chapters before dismissing it altogether.
I was very surprised then that I actually enjoyed the story of Danny Kelly, the titular character, at first. It properly focussed on him and didn't wander off into a pointless and unrealistic drug-fuelled and sex-driven territory as much as The Slap did. Another major positive was that this time around I didn't feel the desperate need to slap sense (no pun intended) into every single one of the characters because they were such dreadful and unlikeable human beings.
Unfortunately my enjoyment of the book didn't last for very long for a variety of reasons. For one there was an important event allured to for the duration of the story (why Danny went to jail) but it wasn't until the very end that some light was shed on the situation, and even then it wasn't explained in full and required a lot of guess work from the reader, piecing together an offhand comment from one of the earlier chapters to a scene much further down the line that seemed like it was going to escalate. The unnecessary padding in between was distracting and made it all far more complex than it could have and should have been.
Furthermore there is a lot of going back and forth in time, and while sometimes a date was listed at the top of a new section this wasn't consistently used throughout which added gratuitous confusion to what was already a far too filled out novel for quite a basic story. In fact, on more than one occasion I was lost about where we were in Danny's life and what had already happened in his time line and what had yet to take place.
As for the overall themes within the novel, while I can appreciate the brutal honesty of the coming of age story which reflects on Australian society, rather than hitting the mark with an evocative piece of writing, Tsiolkas preaches his own disillusionment with people, and the world as a whole, making it all dwindle down into tiresome and pretentious repetition.
So while the novel had a promising start, it has in the end done nothing to change my view on the author and I fear it unlikely I will give his work yet another chance in the future.
December 31, 2013
This is a rich and multilayered book, On one level it is a very honest book about the sacrifices we are prepared to make and their consequences and it is also about a lot more than that.
Christos Tsiolkas creates characters who live and breathe, sweat and feel in complex ways. In this book he examines the nature of love; love for family, parents and siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, love for friends and for lovers. The writing zips along, like a muscle bound jock on roller skates, fast furious and dangerous.
As always Tsiolkas digs around in the yin and yang of Australian cultural and class mix. Tsiolkas describes Melbourne as a city with great cultural richness in which the strings are pulled by an elite class to which an entry pass can only be inherited. There are dangerous rapids where these cultures intersect.
I started reading this book with some trepidation. I know the power of Tsiolkas' writing, I have been scarified by it before and was not sure that I was feeling strong enough to cope with that again, but I was given the book for Christmas and had some free time and picked it up. I was dragged into Danny Kelly's turbulent wake, barracking for barracuda, crying for him, worrying over him, knowing that there wasn't going to be a good time ahead. Tsiolkas warns us of that in the very beginning as an older Dan is witnessed trying to get on with his life. But I survived this book and feel the better for taking it on. Good on you Christos Tsiolkas, you have created a novel for modern Australia!
For other tender hearted souls out there, read this book, like a hard work out, it is absolutely worth the pain!
Christos Tsiolkas creates characters who live and breathe, sweat and feel in complex ways. In this book he examines the nature of love; love for family, parents and siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, love for friends and for lovers. The writing zips along, like a muscle bound jock on roller skates, fast furious and dangerous.
As always Tsiolkas digs around in the yin and yang of Australian cultural and class mix. Tsiolkas describes Melbourne as a city with great cultural richness in which the strings are pulled by an elite class to which an entry pass can only be inherited. There are dangerous rapids where these cultures intersect.
I started reading this book with some trepidation. I know the power of Tsiolkas' writing, I have been scarified by it before and was not sure that I was feeling strong enough to cope with that again, but I was given the book for Christmas and had some free time and picked it up. I was dragged into Danny Kelly's turbulent wake, barracking for barracuda, crying for him, worrying over him, knowing that there wasn't going to be a good time ahead. Tsiolkas warns us of that in the very beginning as an older Dan is witnessed trying to get on with his life. But I survived this book and feel the better for taking it on. Good on you Christos Tsiolkas, you have created a novel for modern Australia!
For other tender hearted souls out there, read this book, like a hard work out, it is absolutely worth the pain!
November 9, 2013
Look, I loved it. After really struggling with a few books lately - just finding it hard to kick on through the middle, I simply devoured this thing on a couple of flights. I love his writing, always have. It is literary in how it moves and what is beneath it but at the same time it is brutal and honest and . It just is. This follow up to The Slap, which could easily be called The Splash, in that it is about swimming, is an epic journey of a kid called Danny Kelly who gets inserted into a fancy college due to his incredible talents in the pond. But despite his excellent coach and natural talent for winning, Danny rubs up against his more entitled peers which soon awakens a raw anger in him that may or may not lead to a sort of destruction, at the height of his reign. This book is about winning, about class, about anger, and about Australia. An Australia that hinges it's identity on glory above all, but who has no real connection to life beneath its surface. Christos is Thorpedo of the craft now, he is a master, and having read all his novels I can say this is the 400 metre butterfly gold.
April 30, 2020
My rating is a 4,5
I was surprised at how good this book was. I wasn't so sure this one was going to be for me after reading the first 40 pages but after that something clicked and I was hooked. Barracuda is the story of Danny Kelley. He's a gay Australian boy that's been accepted into a fancy school on a full scholarship to swim. All goes well until he has a melt down at a competition when he places 5th. From there the downward spiral of Danny and how all those around him family and friends react to him make for an engrossing story. The themes are varied from class, homosexuality, being a man, swimming, etc. The most astonishing part of this novel is its structure since Tsiolkas chooses to tell it through third and first person and in a non linear fashion. There's a bit of mystery and discovery of Danny's family and all their imperfections. I recommend Barracuda to those who love reading literary fiction and who aren't afraid of the non linear narrative and its lengthiness. Weighing in at 513 pages there was only two areas that appeared to lag - the beginning and the very brining of part 2 but not for long.
I was surprised at how good this book was. I wasn't so sure this one was going to be for me after reading the first 40 pages but after that something clicked and I was hooked. Barracuda is the story of Danny Kelley. He's a gay Australian boy that's been accepted into a fancy school on a full scholarship to swim. All goes well until he has a melt down at a competition when he places 5th. From there the downward spiral of Danny and how all those around him family and friends react to him make for an engrossing story. The themes are varied from class, homosexuality, being a man, swimming, etc. The most astonishing part of this novel is its structure since Tsiolkas chooses to tell it through third and first person and in a non linear fashion. There's a bit of mystery and discovery of Danny's family and all their imperfections. I recommend Barracuda to those who love reading literary fiction and who aren't afraid of the non linear narrative and its lengthiness. Weighing in at 513 pages there was only two areas that appeared to lag - the beginning and the very brining of part 2 but not for long.
November 5, 2024
Danny is a teenage competitive swimmer. He loves to swim. Wanna know how I know this? Because it’s the only thing he talks about. It felt like I was being hit in the head over and over again with that fact. He also thinks he’s the best. Wanna know how I know that? 😂 Because he never shuts up about it. Lol I’m exaggerating but barely. It was good in the first third of the novel when I was rooting for him. He was the underdog, the poor kid at a snobby school. But, as the story went on I realized that Danny was an absolute jerk. Violent and defiant. Huge chip on his shoulder. Selfish. I stopped caring after a while.
This book is ALMOST good. But the longer it went on the more I didn’t like it. This book is much longer than it needed to be. I’m glad it ended when it did. It also has many confusing narrative leaps in time. They seemed arbitrary and didn’t seem necessary. Just my opinion of course.
This book is ALMOST good. But the longer it went on the more I didn’t like it. This book is much longer than it needed to be. I’m glad it ended when it did. It also has many confusing narrative leaps in time. They seemed arbitrary and didn’t seem necessary. Just my opinion of course.
April 8, 2015
Christos Tsiolkas’s brilliant Barracuda will make you think about what Olympic athletes sacrifice to be faster, higher and stronger. It’s not as savagely satirical as his breakthrough novel, The Slap (now a TV series), but it does offer an intriguing look at contemporary Australian life.
Danny Kelly is a gifted swimmer who earns a scholarship to train at a posh Melbourne boys school, where he’s bullied because of his working-class background and his ethnicity – he’s part Greek, part Scots-Irish. Eventually he earns respect – and the eponymous nickname – for his swimming ability.
At home, things are equally complicated. His Greek-Australian mom, a hairdresser, caters to his every need, and his younger siblings look up to him, but his father, a long-haul truck driver, resents the fact that he’s getting so much attention.
Danny has a few friends, and his Hungarian emigré coach becomes a bit of a father substitute, but mostly he finds solace in the water.
Until something drastic happens.
The book’s complex structure interweaves the younger Danny’s progress as a competitive swimmer with his present-day life as an ex-con, and much of the tension in the absorbing first half comes from wondering what crime he committed.
But even after his transgression is revealed, there’s lots to explore about shame, family, ambition and class – this is one of the most convincing depictions of working-class life since D.H. Lawrence’s Sons And Lovers. The book’s final quarter, focusing on Danny’s relationships, becomes richly emotional as the man’s protective layers begin to crumble.
The many descriptions of swimming and competing are vivid, making you feel like you’re in the pool. Tsiolkas is less successful in evoking Danny’s adult inner life – particularly around his lover Clyde. But that could just be because Danny doesn’t quite know who he is. Eventually he begins to find out, and it makes this poignant novel even richer.
Review published here: http://www.nowtoronto.com/books/story...
Danny Kelly is a gifted swimmer who earns a scholarship to train at a posh Melbourne boys school, where he’s bullied because of his working-class background and his ethnicity – he’s part Greek, part Scots-Irish. Eventually he earns respect – and the eponymous nickname – for his swimming ability.
At home, things are equally complicated. His Greek-Australian mom, a hairdresser, caters to his every need, and his younger siblings look up to him, but his father, a long-haul truck driver, resents the fact that he’s getting so much attention.
Danny has a few friends, and his Hungarian emigré coach becomes a bit of a father substitute, but mostly he finds solace in the water.
Until something drastic happens.
The book’s complex structure interweaves the younger Danny’s progress as a competitive swimmer with his present-day life as an ex-con, and much of the tension in the absorbing first half comes from wondering what crime he committed.
But even after his transgression is revealed, there’s lots to explore about shame, family, ambition and class – this is one of the most convincing depictions of working-class life since D.H. Lawrence’s Sons And Lovers. The book’s final quarter, focusing on Danny’s relationships, becomes richly emotional as the man’s protective layers begin to crumble.
The many descriptions of swimming and competing are vivid, making you feel like you’re in the pool. Tsiolkas is less successful in evoking Danny’s adult inner life – particularly around his lover Clyde. But that could just be because Danny doesn’t quite know who he is. Eventually he begins to find out, and it makes this poignant novel even richer.
Review published here: http://www.nowtoronto.com/books/story...
April 11, 2014
I'm glad Christos Tsiolkas exists - he's a writer who sets out to tackle big themes: class, race, competition and sexuality. The Slap was very successful at wrestling with these big topics while drawing a set of fascinating (if largely horrible) characters. Barracuda tries the same thing with a slightly narrower focus, centering on Danny Kelly a young, working class swimmer whose talent transports him into a privileged world (fancy high school, elite sports squads) and whose failures (both sporting and social) tear him apart. It's a bold effort, with moments of real brilliance, but the key moment where Danny's fate turns is unconvincing and his spiral downwards from there very hard to believe. You can see the point Tsiolkas is trying to make about the dangers of obsessive ambition and the impact of class and race on self-belief and resilience, but it all seems a bit over the top and unlikely, undermining much of what follows.
Still, there's lots to enjoy here - it's immensely readable (I knocked it off all 500 pages in a day, which is some indication) and it's refreshing to feel as though big questions about life in Australia are being addressed. Definitely worth a look.
Still, there's lots to enjoy here - it's immensely readable (I knocked it off all 500 pages in a day, which is some indication) and it's refreshing to feel as though big questions about life in Australia are being addressed. Definitely worth a look.
July 23, 2020
Family, working class life and immigrant woes continue to preoccupy Tsiolkas who tackles sporting ambition and its aftereffects in Barracuda. This is classic Tsiolkas, with his trademark rage and a riveting story. Alienation is a predominant theme here, with the protagonist struggling to fit in Australia with his half-Greek identity, struggling to fit in as a scholarship student among the rich kids at his expensive school, struggling to fit in his own unassuming family as an ambitious man. The narrative shuffles between first person and third person. The first person narrative chronicles the past and it relates the protagonist living his life with all his hopes and dreams. The third person narrative is set in the present and it's about life happening to the protagonist, in a passive manner. He isn't as alive in the present and we trace the trajectory of his life through these alternating timeframes and perspectives. In his coming of age, we get a taste of most of Australia's national interests and preoccupations. All the characters are sketched well and the dynamics of all the relationships ring very true.
Tsiolkas' protagonists always express their anger on anyone by mentally threatening physical harm, and that trope is getting a bit old for me now, after reading 4 of his other novels. SPOILERS AHEAD::::: While most of the narrator's actions are clearly explained, his disenchantment with swimming could have used better focus. With the shifting timeframes, we don't exactly understand why he lost all his ambitions, after just one dishonourable defeat. This inexplicable fragility does not sit well with the rest of his characterization. Barracuda reminded me of A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz and Double Fault by Lionel Shriver. These novels also deal with faltering of sporting ambitions (Fraction, in part) and they sort of form a triumvirate of tales about ex-successful sportsmen in the valley of broken dolls. A Fraction of the Whole is also set in Australia and shares many common themes with Barracuda. ::: SPOILERS END
Barracuda is my 5th Tsiolkas, and I can be counted as having read all his novels and short story collections if not for the recent release of Damascus. Who would've thought Tsiolkas would write a religious novel? He continues to impress me with all his brilliant work and has a firm footing in the list of my personal favourites. One day, I wish to read all his novels in the order of their publication and capture the essence of his oeuvre.
Tsiolkas' protagonists always express their anger on anyone by mentally threatening physical harm, and that trope is getting a bit old for me now, after reading 4 of his other novels. SPOILERS AHEAD::::: While most of the narrator's actions are clearly explained, his disenchantment with swimming could have used better focus. With the shifting timeframes, we don't exactly understand why he lost all his ambitions, after just one dishonourable defeat. This inexplicable fragility does not sit well with the rest of his characterization. Barracuda reminded me of A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz and Double Fault by Lionel Shriver. These novels also deal with faltering of sporting ambitions (Fraction, in part) and they sort of form a triumvirate of tales about ex-successful sportsmen in the valley of broken dolls. A Fraction of the Whole is also set in Australia and shares many common themes with Barracuda. ::: SPOILERS END
Barracuda is my 5th Tsiolkas, and I can be counted as having read all his novels and short story collections if not for the recent release of Damascus. Who would've thought Tsiolkas would write a religious novel? He continues to impress me with all his brilliant work and has a firm footing in the list of my personal favourites. One day, I wish to read all his novels in the order of their publication and capture the essence of his oeuvre.
October 29, 2013
Ideally I would have liked to have given this book 4.5 stars. It was a real rollercoaster ride of emotions.
It was a very raw and heartbreaking read and at times quite confronting. I loved all the characters but especially my heart went out to Danny. Mind you at times I just wanted to thump him!!! I feel that the book leaves you with a sense of hope and shows that no matter what a person experiences, how downtrodden they may be the human spirit is quite resilient and can rise above almost anything. I loved this book and although at times it had me cringing....I wouldn't expect anything less from Christos Tsiolkas...for me this is by far my favourite book of his to date.This book was about so many things and touched on so many different themes that I don't feel I can do it enough justice in this small review. I would highly recommend it to fans and first time readers of this author without any hesitation.
It was a very raw and heartbreaking read and at times quite confronting. I loved all the characters but especially my heart went out to Danny. Mind you at times I just wanted to thump him!!! I feel that the book leaves you with a sense of hope and shows that no matter what a person experiences, how downtrodden they may be the human spirit is quite resilient and can rise above almost anything. I loved this book and although at times it had me cringing....I wouldn't expect anything less from Christos Tsiolkas...for me this is by far my favourite book of his to date.This book was about so many things and touched on so many different themes that I don't feel I can do it enough justice in this small review. I would highly recommend it to fans and first time readers of this author without any hesitation.
January 2, 2016
I absolutely loved this book. I cried, I smiled, was enraged, upset, shocked but overall enjoyed the story and the writing so much, that this must be the best book I have read this year.
The story of the fall and rise of Danny Kelly, a boy with the potential to become the fastest, strongest and quickest Olympic swimmer is so well told, it just sweeps you along. I didn’t want it to end.
Danny story is one that most people should be able to relate to, as so much of it has happened to all of us – high’s, low’s, family drama’s, death’s, relationship breakups.
The writing is wonderful, and this must be Christos Tsioklkas’s best book to date.
I loved it.
The story of the fall and rise of Danny Kelly, a boy with the potential to become the fastest, strongest and quickest Olympic swimmer is so well told, it just sweeps you along. I didn’t want it to end.
Danny story is one that most people should be able to relate to, as so much of it has happened to all of us – high’s, low’s, family drama’s, death’s, relationship breakups.
The writing is wonderful, and this must be Christos Tsioklkas’s best book to date.
I loved it.
February 13, 2015
Είναι πραγματικά κορυφαίος συγγραφέας ο Τσιόλκας, και το χω ξαναπεί πως γράφοντας αυτός ο ανθρωπος κάνει όλη την ελληνική πεζογραφία να χλωμιάζει. Του αξίζει το Booker κι όλα τα καλά του κόσμου.
Παρατηρηση:μου κάνει εντύπωση γιατί βγήκε με άλλο εξωφυλλο εδω. Μάλλον γιατί ήθελαν να του δώσουν μιαν αλλη διάσταση πιο προχώ, ο,τι εντάξει, δεν είναι τόσο γκευ όσο γράφει η όσο φαίνεται το βιβλίο. Απο την άλλη μπορεί να παίζει θέμα με τα δικαιώματα. Οι ξένες εκδόσεις αλλωστε είναι πιο φτηνές. Αξίζει πάντως
κανείς το διαβάσει.
Παρατηρηση:μου κάνει εντύπωση γιατί βγήκε με άλλο εξωφυλλο εδω. Μάλλον γιατί ήθελαν να του δώσουν μιαν αλλη διάσταση πιο προχώ, ο,τι εντάξει, δεν είναι τόσο γκευ όσο γράφει η όσο φαίνεται το βιβλίο. Απο την άλλη μπορεί να παίζει θέμα με τα δικαιώματα. Οι ξένες εκδόσεις αλλωστε είναι πιο φτηνές. Αξίζει πάντως
κανείς το διαβάσει.
November 2, 2013
This isn't The Slap, but it's certainly an equally emblematic novel for our times. Barracuda tells the story of Danny Kelly - it is focused so brightly on him as a teenager - rather than the ensemble cast of The Slap. However, Tsiolkas' writing is such a slow-burning, irrepressible thing that the focus on one character actually makes this book better, more impressive, than the previous one.
It's not all an easy read, though. I struggled in the beginning to care about Danny, but that's the point, I think. He is obsessed with being the strongest, the fastest, the best, that his selfishness alienates him from the reader. However, the story is told in a fractured time slip which allows us into the different periods of Danny/Dan's journey so we can see his selfish narcissism, his spiral, his breaking, his slowly shifting move towards self repair.
It's certainly driven by a sense of isolation, a gap between fathers and sons; but as with The Slap, there is the strong, undercurrent message of getting better through adversity.
It hurts. It's shitty. Yes, but even when everything's going to Hell, there are glimpses of redemption, opportunities for a change in direction.
Forgetting Kelly for a minute, the supporting cast of characters are also compelling. Danny's brother and sister are so clear, so real to me that I can't help but sympathise. And his parents are also easily and readily recognisable. The private school world which Danny is handed over to is less welcoming. Again, that's the point. Even at its most accepting, the people Danny meets will never really think he belongs in their world - although Tsiolkas is quick to criticise even the Taylor's clutching for status - The Portsea house is actually more likely to be in Sorrento (just don't mention that at dinner).
Loved the ending.
Bit of a tear jerker, but that's probably because Tsiolkas knows how to write tragedies.
It's not all an easy read, though. I struggled in the beginning to care about Danny, but that's the point, I think. He is obsessed with being the strongest, the fastest, the best, that his selfishness alienates him from the reader. However, the story is told in a fractured time slip which allows us into the different periods of Danny/Dan's journey so we can see his selfish narcissism, his spiral, his breaking, his slowly shifting move towards self repair.
It's certainly driven by a sense of isolation, a gap between fathers and sons; but as with The Slap, there is the strong, undercurrent message of getting better through adversity.
It hurts. It's shitty. Yes, but even when everything's going to Hell, there are glimpses of redemption, opportunities for a change in direction.
Forgetting Kelly for a minute, the supporting cast of characters are also compelling. Danny's brother and sister are so clear, so real to me that I can't help but sympathise. And his parents are also easily and readily recognisable. The private school world which Danny is handed over to is less welcoming. Again, that's the point. Even at its most accepting, the people Danny meets will never really think he belongs in their world - although Tsiolkas is quick to criticise even the Taylor's clutching for status - The Portsea house is actually more likely to be in Sorrento (just don't mention that at dinner).
Loved the ending.
Bit of a tear jerker, but that's probably because Tsiolkas knows how to write tragedies.
January 10, 2014
This is a difficult book to write about. It has a personality rather than a plot. It is built upon emotion rather than reason. It is all shouts and whispers and nothing in between.
As a boy Danny Kelly wants only one thing - to be the greatest swimmer of all time. And his dream isn't farfetched. His coach believes he can do it. His mother is behind him, waking early and driving him to the pool. And his peers think he can do it, though they resent him for his talent.
Every waking moment of Danny Kelly's life is lived in pursuit of that single goal - which makes him a bit of a shit.
Christos Tsiolkas doesn't deliver Danny's story in sequence. Because Danny's life isn't linear. There is one central event, one devastating moment in Danny's life and all other moments are either before or after it. He has no past, present, or future. Everything races towards and circles back to that event. If we want to understand Danny we need to understand this.
Barracuda questions our obsession with winning and winners. It examines failure, shame and regret. It asks whether we can ever be truly forgiven for our sins. And it does so in naked fearless prose. This is not an uplifting book, but unlike Eyrie, there is love and there is hope. And it suggests we are only as isolated from others as we allow ourselves to be.
As a boy Danny Kelly wants only one thing - to be the greatest swimmer of all time. And his dream isn't farfetched. His coach believes he can do it. His mother is behind him, waking early and driving him to the pool. And his peers think he can do it, though they resent him for his talent.
Every waking moment of Danny Kelly's life is lived in pursuit of that single goal - which makes him a bit of a shit.
Christos Tsiolkas doesn't deliver Danny's story in sequence. Because Danny's life isn't linear. There is one central event, one devastating moment in Danny's life and all other moments are either before or after it. He has no past, present, or future. Everything races towards and circles back to that event. If we want to understand Danny we need to understand this.
Barracuda questions our obsession with winning and winners. It examines failure, shame and regret. It asks whether we can ever be truly forgiven for our sins. And it does so in naked fearless prose. This is not an uplifting book, but unlike Eyrie, there is love and there is hope. And it suggests we are only as isolated from others as we allow ourselves to be.
August 21, 2022
4.5⭐️
December 17, 2014
This is an extraordinary novel, brutal and tender in equal measure. Flawed, unlikeable protagonists are perennially fascinating; the writer has to strike a fine balance (or is it a trade-off?) between alienating the reader and remaining true to his vision. The reader, in turn, has to be unflinching in his commitment to the novel and his trust in the writer’s journey.
Barracuda is almost unbearable in its intensity at some points. There is horror, pathos and tragedy aplenty; but this is no ‘kitchen sink’ drama. Tsiolkas bravely tells the story of one man’s life, the choices he makes, the consequences stemming from those actions, and his quest for redemption and the ultimate answer to whether or not he is a good man who has done his utmost to live a good life, despite his many failings.
It took me a while to find the rhythm of this book, particularly at the beginning, as Tsiolkas interweaves the younger Danny’s life with the older (when he simply calls himself Dan). I was so confused that I thought it was a different character altogether, particularly in that he was living with, and contemplating leaving, a man called Clyde. But this is precisely Tsiolkas’s point, I think: Danny and Dan are indeed two very different individuals, and this is the story of their reconciliation with, and acceptance of, each other.
The story here is quite simple: a school swimming prodigy fails to live up to his reputation and his own expectations of himself. This deals such a fatal blow to his self-esteem that it derails his life, culminating in a shattering tragedy. Another writer would have built up slowly to the tragic event itself, using this narrative tension to propel the story towards its ending and some kind of catharsis.
Not so with Tsiolkas. Instead he takes quite a risk by outlining the tragedy right at the beginning, when the reader has barely begun to know Danny/Dan. Of course, this colours our perception, as human nature is wont to do. Only gradually do we learn the truth, and so our perceptions begin to change.
There is a lot going on in this novel: Tsiolkas uses his characters to make some impassioned statements about the immigrant experience in Australia, and about the entrenched racism and noblesse oblige inherent in such an apparently civilised society.
There is also a lot here about family dynamics, especially between parents and children and the misunderstandings and grudges that can get passed on from one generation to the next.
What I particularly admired about Tsiolkas’s writing here is how tangential Dan’s gayness is to the story. It is simply a facet of who he is, and in no way defines his total identity. Dan’s prison experiences are quite harrowing: he equates discovering the beauty and bliss of being fucked with the beauty and bliss of discovering Shakespeare.
Indeed, it is in prison where Dan discovers a lifelong love of reading as a means to take him out of himself and to suspend time, as swimming did when he was young.
This is not an easy book to read. Tsiolkas demands much of the reader. He pushes a lot of white, liberal, bourgeois buttons. At various times I was affronted, angry and repulsed. But there is a rawness to his writing and a satisfaction to be gleaned akin to a child tearing off half-healed scabs in order to make them bleed again.
And then there is the sheer brilliance of Tsiolkas’s tehnical skill as a writer, which takes you effortlessly from the mind and heart of the teenage Danny to the full-grown failure of the man and his many regrets. Utterly magnificent; this novel will burn a hole in your heart.
Barracuda is almost unbearable in its intensity at some points. There is horror, pathos and tragedy aplenty; but this is no ‘kitchen sink’ drama. Tsiolkas bravely tells the story of one man’s life, the choices he makes, the consequences stemming from those actions, and his quest for redemption and the ultimate answer to whether or not he is a good man who has done his utmost to live a good life, despite his many failings.
It took me a while to find the rhythm of this book, particularly at the beginning, as Tsiolkas interweaves the younger Danny’s life with the older (when he simply calls himself Dan). I was so confused that I thought it was a different character altogether, particularly in that he was living with, and contemplating leaving, a man called Clyde. But this is precisely Tsiolkas’s point, I think: Danny and Dan are indeed two very different individuals, and this is the story of their reconciliation with, and acceptance of, each other.
The story here is quite simple: a school swimming prodigy fails to live up to his reputation and his own expectations of himself. This deals such a fatal blow to his self-esteem that it derails his life, culminating in a shattering tragedy. Another writer would have built up slowly to the tragic event itself, using this narrative tension to propel the story towards its ending and some kind of catharsis.
Not so with Tsiolkas. Instead he takes quite a risk by outlining the tragedy right at the beginning, when the reader has barely begun to know Danny/Dan. Of course, this colours our perception, as human nature is wont to do. Only gradually do we learn the truth, and so our perceptions begin to change.
There is a lot going on in this novel: Tsiolkas uses his characters to make some impassioned statements about the immigrant experience in Australia, and about the entrenched racism and noblesse oblige inherent in such an apparently civilised society.
There is also a lot here about family dynamics, especially between parents and children and the misunderstandings and grudges that can get passed on from one generation to the next.
What I particularly admired about Tsiolkas’s writing here is how tangential Dan’s gayness is to the story. It is simply a facet of who he is, and in no way defines his total identity. Dan’s prison experiences are quite harrowing: he equates discovering the beauty and bliss of being fucked with the beauty and bliss of discovering Shakespeare.
Indeed, it is in prison where Dan discovers a lifelong love of reading as a means to take him out of himself and to suspend time, as swimming did when he was young.
This is not an easy book to read. Tsiolkas demands much of the reader. He pushes a lot of white, liberal, bourgeois buttons. At various times I was affronted, angry and repulsed. But there is a rawness to his writing and a satisfaction to be gleaned akin to a child tearing off half-healed scabs in order to make them bleed again.
And then there is the sheer brilliance of Tsiolkas’s tehnical skill as a writer, which takes you effortlessly from the mind and heart of the teenage Danny to the full-grown failure of the man and his many regrets. Utterly magnificent; this novel will burn a hole in your heart.
February 18, 2014
This book was just like Tsiolkas' other books. It was a sort-of-not-really coming of age story with the usual bad language, descriptions that will make you cringe, sex (especially gay sex) and an element of Greek heritage and language. That's not a bad thing at all though, that's what I expect when I read one of his books. Though, some people will find it hard to read if they are sensitive to words like the 'c' word and detailed descriptions of late night masturbation and many sexual fantasies of a teenage boy. Though, even when there are things like that in the book, Tsiolkas' writing style still manages to make it sound almost poetic and beautiful.
If you are put off by this book it's about swimming, don't be. It's about a boy. We are introduced to him at the beginning of the book when he is 14 years old and the book ends when he is 32 years old. It's about how badly he wants to become the fastest, the strongest and the best and how he wants to win every competition he takes part in. It's about what happens when he doesn't win, when he isn't the best and what kind of a path his life takes after that. It is not about swimming, exactly. It's also about him discovering himself, discovering his sexuality, his hopes and dreams, his strengths and weaknesses etc. As Daniel changed throughout the story, he symbolised that change by changing his name. At the beginning when he was a great swimmer, he was known as Danny. When he gives up swimming, he becomes Dan.
I found it a little confusing to keep up with the timing of this novel. It was a mix of third person narrative and first person. It says the dates of the third person chapters, but the first person chapters don't have dates so it was hard to keep up with what age he was in those chapters. That's one of the reasons I only gave it 4 stars, not 5.
I thought the ending was great. It was very emotional and sad, though but it was perfect for it to end that way. A few loose ends are tied up but there's also a lot that's not mentioned, which leaves the reader wondering once they finish it.
I think my favourite character in this was Demet. Her character was very well developed as she changed through the book while some other characters didn't develop as well.
Overall it was a great book and very well written.
EDIT: I marked quite a few pages in this book which is unusual for me, but that just shows lovely the writing is. Here is one of my favorite quotes:
He preferred the silence, the loneliness that was comfort; he didn't want uproar and infinite noise. Only books, books were all he wanted, and they were strewn across his flat. Books from the local library, books scavenged from boxes and crates at the Sunday markets. In reading he found solitude. In reading he could dispel the blare of the world.
I think all of us can relate to that quote in some way!
And here's another one of my favourites:
"I like you, Dan, I like that you are so into me that fucking with you is like having sex for the first time. Every. Time. I like you so much, Dan, that I am scared I'm falling in love with you. And why it is so terrifying, why I haven't the words before, is because I really don't have a clue what you think, what you feel. I don't have a fucking clue."
If you are put off by this book it's about swimming, don't be. It's about a boy. We are introduced to him at the beginning of the book when he is 14 years old and the book ends when he is 32 years old. It's about how badly he wants to become the fastest, the strongest and the best and how he wants to win every competition he takes part in. It's about what happens when he doesn't win, when he isn't the best and what kind of a path his life takes after that. It is not about swimming, exactly. It's also about him discovering himself, discovering his sexuality, his hopes and dreams, his strengths and weaknesses etc. As Daniel changed throughout the story, he symbolised that change by changing his name. At the beginning when he was a great swimmer, he was known as Danny. When he gives up swimming, he becomes Dan.
I found it a little confusing to keep up with the timing of this novel. It was a mix of third person narrative and first person. It says the dates of the third person chapters, but the first person chapters don't have dates so it was hard to keep up with what age he was in those chapters. That's one of the reasons I only gave it 4 stars, not 5.
I thought the ending was great. It was very emotional and sad, though but it was perfect for it to end that way. A few loose ends are tied up but there's also a lot that's not mentioned, which leaves the reader wondering once they finish it.
I think my favourite character in this was Demet. Her character was very well developed as she changed through the book while some other characters didn't develop as well.
Overall it was a great book and very well written.
EDIT: I marked quite a few pages in this book which is unusual for me, but that just shows lovely the writing is. Here is one of my favorite quotes:
He preferred the silence, the loneliness that was comfort; he didn't want uproar and infinite noise. Only books, books were all he wanted, and they were strewn across his flat. Books from the local library, books scavenged from boxes and crates at the Sunday markets. In reading he found solitude. In reading he could dispel the blare of the world.
I think all of us can relate to that quote in some way!
And here's another one of my favourites:
"I like you, Dan, I like that you are so into me that fucking with you is like having sex for the first time. Every. Time. I like you so much, Dan, that I am scared I'm falling in love with you. And why it is so terrifying, why I haven't the words before, is because I really don't have a clue what you think, what you feel. I don't have a fucking clue."
October 9, 2014
I savoured this book from the first page. I had been captivated by The Slap, and once heard Christos Tsiolkas speak, so I had been looking forward to reading this new novel. I was delighted to receive it as a pre-release review giveaway via Goodreads. Tsiolkas is frank about the way he writes, and was the first author I had met who spoke about writing and discarding chapters and perspectives. Knowing how carefully his books are structured means I knew to expect a non-linear story-telling style, and Barracuda does not disappoint.
On one level, parts of the novel are ostensibly unfamiliar, and yet the book is absorbing, consuming and beautifully challenging. I loved the way Tsiolkas moved his style of narration for each chapter to help the reader establish quickly what time we’re in – moving from the first to third person as the protagonist ages.
I felt by the 3rd or 4th chapter that the book and the writing had a beautiful cadence that fitted perfectly as a metaphor for swimming.
“The novel has so shaken him that he’d had to gasp for air, as if he had swum an ocean.”
I was entranced and couldn’t resist finishing it within a few days.
“He read to the point of exhaustion, and with the arrival of the soft light of dawn he was still deliberating on the challenge the question posed for him. He couldn’t think how anyone but himself could be the hero of his own life, but he knew that he wasn’t a hero.”
The book beautifully displays the incredible narcissism of youth: Danny Kelly the teen is painfully self-conscious and self-absorbed, but this is beautifully metered by his awareness and sensitivity in later parts of the book.
“But he and Luke needed more time, they had to draw maps for each other, to mark the borders of their experiences, to show the roads, they had travelled, to shade in the frontiers they had reached, and to plot their cities of work and love and desire. A terrible sadness overwhelmed him, at how far they had travelled from one another, how much time it would take to sort and reconcile their shared past to their individual presents. He wished there was time to explore the kingdom his friend had created.”
The use of repetition is entrancing, and a subtle motif throughout. And the blatant metaphor of breathing is not overworked, and seems fitting.
“He wished he could tell her about discovering words and how words could become song, something he had never understood at school.”
This is the first book in a long time that has left me feeling breathless, and made me want to dive straight back in.
On one level, parts of the novel are ostensibly unfamiliar, and yet the book is absorbing, consuming and beautifully challenging. I loved the way Tsiolkas moved his style of narration for each chapter to help the reader establish quickly what time we’re in – moving from the first to third person as the protagonist ages.
I felt by the 3rd or 4th chapter that the book and the writing had a beautiful cadence that fitted perfectly as a metaphor for swimming.
“The novel has so shaken him that he’d had to gasp for air, as if he had swum an ocean.”
I was entranced and couldn’t resist finishing it within a few days.
“He read to the point of exhaustion, and with the arrival of the soft light of dawn he was still deliberating on the challenge the question posed for him. He couldn’t think how anyone but himself could be the hero of his own life, but he knew that he wasn’t a hero.”
The book beautifully displays the incredible narcissism of youth: Danny Kelly the teen is painfully self-conscious and self-absorbed, but this is beautifully metered by his awareness and sensitivity in later parts of the book.
“But he and Luke needed more time, they had to draw maps for each other, to mark the borders of their experiences, to show the roads, they had travelled, to shade in the frontiers they had reached, and to plot their cities of work and love and desire. A terrible sadness overwhelmed him, at how far they had travelled from one another, how much time it would take to sort and reconcile their shared past to their individual presents. He wished there was time to explore the kingdom his friend had created.”
The use of repetition is entrancing, and a subtle motif throughout. And the blatant metaphor of breathing is not overworked, and seems fitting.
“He wished he could tell her about discovering words and how words could become song, something he had never understood at school.”
This is the first book in a long time that has left me feeling breathless, and made me want to dive straight back in.
November 3, 2013
Reading Barracuda is like treading on a stony shore. It crashes into our consciousness like waves and unsettles us, challenges everything we are. It is unflinching and exposes the in between spaces of Australian society.
Danny Kelly is a working class boy from Melbourne’s north. He is a wog with a dream to win Olympic gold, to emerge from his many labels and be seen. His mother is a “wog Marilyn Monroe,” his farther a Scotch-Irish truckie. Dan is as fearsome in the water as Barracuda, a nickname the boys at a prestigious private school give him when he attends the school on a sporting scholarship. “With his tie so tight, the flat of a knife pressed against his throat so he couldn’t breathe freely…Danny was vanishing.” He was disappearing into the space between working and middle class who owned homes “with front yards as big as football fields.”
Danny Kelly is driven, passionate and angry.
Danny Kelly fails.
Danny Kelly’s future becomes dust.
This is a remarkable book about dreams that disintegrate like sand and the identities that disappear with them. It’s about mistakes and consequences. It’s about re-emerging from the dust to recover oneself, to create a life of integrity.
Christos Tsiolkas’s chapters are not chronological, they are scattered like thoughts. They are fragmented and lodge us in Dan’s turbulent mind. There is empathy for the boy who needs to lose before he can win, a place for him in our hearts that recognises his struggles, his frustrations, and his shame. Dan is the boy we pass at Broadmeadows train station, the one we see through as he walks past on Sydney road in his trackie dacks. Danny Kelly dares us to listen. His voice is unrelenting, his complexities are revealed like scabs. We discover him and in the process we discover ourselves.
Barracuda beats with the rhythms of Australian culture. “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi,” “Barracuda…Barracuda!” the chants question what it is that we really barrack for. In a country driven by sport, could this be the common thread that binds us, that shapes our diversity? What does it mean to win? What does it mean to fail?
Barracuda asks us what it means to be human. The question is present in every lap, in every stroke, “bending and shifting” our consciousness like the water that welcomes Danny Kelly.
Danny Kelly is a working class boy from Melbourne’s north. He is a wog with a dream to win Olympic gold, to emerge from his many labels and be seen. His mother is a “wog Marilyn Monroe,” his farther a Scotch-Irish truckie. Dan is as fearsome in the water as Barracuda, a nickname the boys at a prestigious private school give him when he attends the school on a sporting scholarship. “With his tie so tight, the flat of a knife pressed against his throat so he couldn’t breathe freely…Danny was vanishing.” He was disappearing into the space between working and middle class who owned homes “with front yards as big as football fields.”
Danny Kelly is driven, passionate and angry.
Danny Kelly fails.
Danny Kelly’s future becomes dust.
This is a remarkable book about dreams that disintegrate like sand and the identities that disappear with them. It’s about mistakes and consequences. It’s about re-emerging from the dust to recover oneself, to create a life of integrity.
Christos Tsiolkas’s chapters are not chronological, they are scattered like thoughts. They are fragmented and lodge us in Dan’s turbulent mind. There is empathy for the boy who needs to lose before he can win, a place for him in our hearts that recognises his struggles, his frustrations, and his shame. Dan is the boy we pass at Broadmeadows train station, the one we see through as he walks past on Sydney road in his trackie dacks. Danny Kelly dares us to listen. His voice is unrelenting, his complexities are revealed like scabs. We discover him and in the process we discover ourselves.
Barracuda beats with the rhythms of Australian culture. “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi,” “Barracuda…Barracuda!” the chants question what it is that we really barrack for. In a country driven by sport, could this be the common thread that binds us, that shapes our diversity? What does it mean to win? What does it mean to fail?
Barracuda asks us what it means to be human. The question is present in every lap, in every stroke, “bending and shifting” our consciousness like the water that welcomes Danny Kelly.
May 2, 2019
Danny is a miserable bastard and I couldn't figure out why. From whence came his angst? He's gay but his gayness seemed to pose no challenge for him, so that couldn't have been it. I kept expecting some trauma to be revealed to explain it (his swimming coach is creepy, so molestation was my prime suspect). But nothing did. Readers with an awareness of anxiety/OCD might point out that Danny has these symptoms, but neither mental illness nor its treatment are ever mentioned in the book. That could've been an interesting journey but it's one this book doesn't take. According to this book, Danny is basically just a whiny prick. And I felt it was irresponsible of the author to give Danny the hallmarks of mental illness and then suggest that having an apple thrown at his face by his dad was what he needed to snap out of it, as though mental illness can be cured with a confrontation the way plain old angst might be.
Highlights of the book for me were any time Danny's brain-damaged cousin Dennis was involved; I felt a genuine connection between them. When Dennis mischievously suggests they visit a brothel, I was excited for the adventure. But that plot-line was abandoned right after the suggestion and never mentioned again. I spent a half-dozen pages wondering whether they'd done it off-page or what.
The sex scenes are ugly. One, which involved tissues and which I won't further describe here, was so disgusting I resent the author for putting it in my brain.
I won't read more from this author.
Highlights of the book for me were any time Danny's brain-damaged cousin Dennis was involved; I felt a genuine connection between them. When Dennis mischievously suggests they visit a brothel, I was excited for the adventure. But that plot-line was abandoned right after the suggestion and never mentioned again. I spent a half-dozen pages wondering whether they'd done it off-page or what.
The sex scenes are ugly. One, which involved tissues and which I won't further describe here, was so disgusting I resent the author for putting it in my brain.
I won't read more from this author.
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