Tim Winton's Breath

Breath

Tim Winton
Reviewed by Daniel Groenewald

Tim Winton’s Breath (2008) is a story about big wave surfing, risk and learning to become a man. It is a literary and psychological novel but it contains action and adventure. Breath is aimed at two distinct audiences: fans of Australian literature and surfers.

Breath is told from the perspective of a middle aged man, Bruce “Pikelet”. Pikelet looks back on his childhood and explores the events that led to his nervous breakdown. Pikelet is a tough, experienced and reticent Ambulance driver. The story begins after he arrives at the scene of a dubious teen suicide, which forces him to reflect on similar events from his adolescents. We are then taken back to the town of Sawyer in the 1970s near Albany in Western Australia and are introduced to the four main characters: Pikelet, the narrator, Loonie, his mad friend, Sando, a guru and local surfer and Eva (Sando’s Wife)) a former professional skier. They share in common a desire to escape what Winton calls the “monotony” of “drawing breath”. Life is boring to them and they take extreme risks to feel alive. Their pursuit of danger – particularly, the enormous waves known to South Western Australia – is an addiction. They are compelled to take risks, coming close to danger, being brought to the edge of their own existence. But it is precisely this attitude that initiates the breakdown of the quartet.

Winton has made his name by writing about coastal locations in Western Australia. Winton grew up in Albany and has lived up and down the South and East Coast. His prose reflects his intimate knowledge of both the geography of these unique coastlines and the idiom (language) of surfers and locals. But this language is intertwined with a more rhythmic and literary style that has something in common with the roots genre in music - a similarity he touched on his recent novel, Dirt Music, and the CD collection that accompanied it. WInton's younger brother is also an Australian roots artist.

Breath is an unprecedented novel in Australian literature. Few Australian writers have treated surfing as a literary subject. It is usually written about in glossy magazines full of advertising an ockerisms. But Winton transforms the art of wave writing into poetry. He has touched upon the theme in stories such as Lockie Leonard and The Turning, but here, surfing, and the psychology of risk taking, is a focus in its own right. While there has been a resurgence of interest in surf writing in America, Winton is the first to investigate this topic in great depth in a country obsessed by the beach.

Breath is moving and powerful story of one’s man quest to understand the risks he took as a young man. It is a rare portrait of West Australian manhood, an insight into the psychology of risk taking, and excellent surf writing. The writing about big waves is uncannily accurate. Winton has obviously tackled many himself and knows the horror of a four wave hold down on a lonely kelp-infested reef. This is a wonderful achievement - arguably the best Australian novel in 2008 - and Winton's first masterpiece.