The Slap cover art

The Slap

A Novel

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The Slap

By: Christos Tsiolkas
Narrated by: Alex Dimitriades
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About this listen

The best-selling cult author of Loaded and Dead Europe here turns his blowtorch onto the belly of middle-class suburban Australia and its notions of child-rearing and acceptable behavior.

At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the incident. In this remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas turns his unflinching and all-seeing eye onto that which connects us all: the modern family and domestic life in the 21st century. The Slap is told from the points of view of eight people who were present at the barbecue. The slap and its consequences force them all to question their own families and the way they live, their expectations, beliefs and desires. What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex and marriage, parenting and children, and the fury and intensity - all the passions and conflicting beliefs - that family can arouse.

In its clear-eyed and forensic dissection of the ever-growing middle class and its aspirations and fears, The Slap is also a poignant, provocative novel about the nature of loyalty and happiness, compromise and truth.

©2008 Christos Tsiolkas. (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Crime Fiction Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Crime

Critic Reviews

"With The Slap, Tsiolkas secures his place as one of Australia's most important novelists." ( The Age)
All stars
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I really enjoyed The Slap. It was thought provoking, challenging and heart breaking. Beware the C word!

A thought provoking tale.

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Since I experienced the works of Tsiolkas I have been searching for his essence in every other book I approach. He is remarkable.

Also Alex Dimitriades was the perfect voice for this.

A must!

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One of the best narrators I have listened to ... brilliant across the board - his ability to do kids, males and female voices is incredible. The author and narrator make every day life come alive. Tsiolkas' ability to convey what characters are thinking (but not saying aloud) is phenomenal 👏.

Brilliant narration

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Really enjoyed this book but found the descriptions of sex unnecessary & pornographic. The story itself was great.

Good but racy

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This great story is read so well, in a perfect narration by Alex Dimitriades, who brings the subtleties of the depicted cultures to life.

Obsessed

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the story takes you through the lives of a few families, their worries, troubles, views - all entangled into captivating plot. really enjoyed

very good!

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Once I got past the very raw and excessive language and explicit drug use it was a very interesting story. A whole group of people behaving very badly. It made for a good story.

Crass and authentic

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no good, no morals no consequences. every character is unlikable. Unnecessary smutty, don't know why it got turned a series

writer seems to like every character to be awful

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How is it even possible for the author, a man, to know women so intimately? Christos Tsiolkas shows unnerving genius in revealing every complexity of the female body mind and heart. Sitting with his characters as they get drunk together, seek intimacy and find life’s true meaning feels like eavesdropping in every sense. And as if this wasn’t enough he fleshes out this extraordinary book with the stories of people - good people- who struggle with the fallout from a polarising moment when a young child is slapped at a family gathering.
You take sides. You question your beliefs about appropriate behaviour and punishment. You crave forgiveness for the guilty and feel breathlessly tense when it rushes to an agonising moment of potential disaster.
Read by actor Alex Dimitriades, who went on to play Harry in the TV mini series, this book is rich warm and unflinching- taking the reader into the homes of a middle class Australia soaked in alcohol and soothed by family loyalties.
I think this is a masterpiece. I adored Alex’s read - although for the first few chapters it felt rushed. By the time he reads the story of Manoly his accents are delightfully, wickedly, heartwarming.
Thoroughly recommended!

A masterpiece of truths from the kaleidoscope of this authors lens

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Attempted this years ago and put aside early. Now read and finished in two long bursts. Definitely not what I was expecting, i.e. follow up on a child slapped, (which eventually brought about a law in New Zealand where to slap a child became illegal.. another story lies hidden here!). Instead it harrowingly delves into the lives of a group of multicultural people in Melbourne from mainly Greek and Aussie backgrounds who witnessed the slap. Most characters are portrayed by highlighting their generally ugly inner thoughts both of their peers and their world, their baseless self-arrogance, their lack of control or any care and empathy, and express themselves crudely in foul language. The nicer characters are overridden and struggle weakly beside these others. I hated this book and most the characters so intensely it compelled me to keep reading.. human nature can be so challenging, disheartening and disturbing.

High rating for a book I hated

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