Comments on: Breath: Pushing beyond fear http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/ thoughts on psychology, reading, blogging, life Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:22:52 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Breath by Tim Winton « RedHead Ramble http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/#comment-224 Breath by Tim Winton « RedHead Ramble Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:41:31 +0000 http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/?p=124#comment-224 [...] Couchtrip [...] [...] Couchtrip [...]

]]> By: couchtrip http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/#comment-188 couchtrip Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:29:44 +0000 http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/?p=124#comment-188 Ted - thanks and yes I agree about Loonie and Pikelet. It's never too late to find one's meaning and balance (I hope) in life. And Winton has a such a good way of allowing his male characters to live on the page that you can't help but empathise with them. Seachanges - Thanks, that's an aspect that I didn't mention, that Pikelet's view of Eva (and women generally) will naturally be coloured by his adolescent sense of women as alien beings (as you aptly put it). Ted – thanks and yes I agree about Loonie and Pikelet. It’s never too late to find one’s meaning and balance (I hope) in life. And Winton has a such a good way of allowing his male characters to live on the page that you can’t help but empathise with them.

Seachanges – Thanks, that’s an aspect that I didn’t mention, that Pikelet’s view of Eva (and women generally) will naturally be coloured by his adolescent sense of women as alien beings (as you aptly put it).

]]> By: seachanges http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/#comment-179 seachanges Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:19:00 +0000 http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/?p=124#comment-179 This book is just great and you touch on some interesting aspects of it: you are so right about the gender divide. This is partly I think because the book is really about Pikelet and how, as a teenager, he sees the world and people around him: for him, at his age, women are still alien beings I think.... This book is just great and you touch on some interesting aspects of it: you are so right about the gender divide. This is partly I think because the book is really about Pikelet and how, as a teenager, he sees the world and people around him: for him, at his age, women are still alien beings I think….

]]> By: Ted http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/#comment-178 Ted Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:32:55 +0000 http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/?p=124#comment-178 Nice post, Pete. If one considers someone else's life a wreck then anything that they haven't done might be called passivity with hindsight but sometimes not doing isn't negative. Loonie does nothing but act by taking risks, but his actions seem to me pointless and foolhardy. Winton does write many of these male characters who never work their way out of the pit, so it does seem to be a theme that obsesses him. It seems that, although it took a while, that Pikelet ends up finding some balance and meaning in his life, albeit later than many get around to it. Nice post, Pete. If one considers someone else’s life a wreck then anything that they haven’t done might be called passivity with hindsight but sometimes not doing isn’t negative. Loonie does nothing but act by taking risks, but his actions seem to me pointless and foolhardy. Winton does write many of these male characters who never work their way out of the pit, so it does seem to be a theme that obsesses him. It seems that, although it took a while, that Pikelet ends up finding some balance and meaning in his life, albeit later than many get around to it.

]]> By: Pete http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/#comment-177 Pete Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:56:18 +0000 http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/?p=124#comment-177 Yes, I would say the gender divide is very much in evidence. Interesting that Eva has signs of an external woundedness while the male characters are wounded internally (although Eva clearly has internal wounds of her own). It's a fair criticism that his female characters are not developed more fully, and so we don't develop any empathy for them. Yes, I would say the gender divide is very much in evidence. Interesting that Eva has signs of an external woundedness while the male characters are wounded internally (although Eva clearly has internal wounds of her own). It’s a fair criticism that his female characters are not developed more fully, and so we don’t develop any empathy for them.

]]> By: Litlove http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/breath-pushing-beyond-fear/#comment-176 Litlove Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:43:15 +0000 http://couchtrip.wordpress.com/?p=124#comment-176 What a wonderful review! Is the gender divide much in evidence? I know Eva was a champion skier but it's interesting that she should be the real wounded person, while the men still tough it out, one way or another. What a wonderful review! Is the gender divide much in evidence? I know Eva was a champion skier but it’s interesting that she should be the real wounded person, while the men still tough it out, one way or another.

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