Peter Temple's Truth reads like an Australian television miniseries. You can even see where they would show the tits.
The novel's beauty comes from the vividness of its writing. We leave it with afterimages of "sharp-toothed skulls" and "beer cartons blown flat against the fences" still glowing behind our mind's I. We can still hear the footsteps on the "gap-planked verandah" and the "rip and flap of a loose truck tarp in the nearest yard".
The plot that it adorns follows well-worn lines. Police detectives with personal problems swear their way through an unfolding series of homicides. As he searches for truth behind the city's mean streets and the life he lives on them, Temple's protagonist guides us through a bloodier, grimier congener of the Melbourne we know. It leaves behind an imprint, marked in luminol.
See also:
- France-Presse, A. "Peter Temple wins Australian literary prize" Edmonton Journal (June 2010)
- Steger, J. "Harsh heart of the truth" The Age (September 26, 2009)
Posts
You didn't like the book?
ReplyDeleteNo, I liked it
ReplyDeleteIt does go a bit bloody thick on "the Australia" though, mate
ReplyDeletePeter Temple Truth (Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company, 2009)
ReplyDeleteWinner of the 2010 Miles Franklin Literary award
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite authors. I stumbled upon him when i was looking to fill time at the melbourne writers' festival last year. He was being interviewed as one of the festival sessions. I had no idea who he was. The queue to his session was the biggest I saw for all the sessions. His interview was one of the few highlights of the festival. He was sharp, self-effacing, witty, interesting, feisty,and his personal history would make a great story in itself. Since then I have read 'truth' and a couple of other books by him.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he lays the Aussie persona on a bit thick, I wondered when reading his books if there were Aussie people who really thought and acted that way.
How do the others compare to Truth?
ReplyDeleteThey are worth reading
ReplyDelete