Review: The Slap

I have so many things I want to review at the moment, so I'm just going to jump right in. First off, The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.

Imagine you're at a suburban barbecue and someone's terrible child proceeds to ruin everyone's (probably already precarious) good time by throwing fits whenever an adult or older child refuses to give in to his every whim. Now, imagine someone actually gives the kid what he deserves - like a swift slap across the face. Is that going too far?

This question, posed in The Slap, is answered in pretty much every way imaginable by the novel's characters. All are present at barbecue, and all are affected by the incident in some small (or large) way. I read several reviews that accused this book of being misogynistic, but to me it is more anti-human than anti-woman. Everyone in this novel is downright terrible, with the possible exception of two teenaged characters. (And if this is supposed to inspire an inkling of hope in readers it certainly does a luke-warm job of it.)

I didn't dislike this book, but I thought I would like it a lot more than I did. I appreciate gritty realism as much as I do idealistic literary "candy" (if you will), but The Slap is just so extreme in its unpleasantness. I do think Tsiolkas tried to give certain characters some redeemable qualities, but such traits become lost in a sea of repugnance.

Another aspect of the book that didn't really work for me is the rampant drug use. Maybe things are different in Australia, but most people I know don't exactly go around dropping E and popping speed at family barbecues with aged grandparents, etc present. And the condoning of such behaviour in teenagers by parental figures is an entirely foreign concept for me. I don't know - maybe the people I hang around are just a bunch of narcs, but I still didn't buy it.

But yeah, not a bad book all in all. Read it to feel good about your own life.

May I Confess...

Today is the first day of fall. Normally I’m all about the summertime, but for the first time in my life its departure makes me giddy with happiness.

I’ve mentioned in passing that things have been a little rough for the Campbell family this past summer. We learned the hard way that living in some far-flung corner of Toronto as a working couple with real jobs, real commutes, and real responsibilities is entirely unrecognizable from our life as blithe, gloriously cynical graduate students living in the heart of downtown. It’s not that either of us exactly disliked our jobs, our neighbours, or our home in Toronto. (Well, maybe some of our neighbours, but that’s another story…)

Personally, the main thrust of my anxiety and unhappiness came from the fact that I was essentially robbed of quality time. By quality time I mean this: time that is spent either doing something I enjoy, or something that is rewarding. For example, I used to enjoy driving, until I started doing it for approximately an hour and a half each day, always during rush hour in the inner city.

Now we are officially moving home to Kingston. Despite the fact that we have known moving was possible for a while now, and certain for over a month, the reality of what is happening only hit me a couple weeks ago.

If only I could think of a word for an intense, positive emotion that simultaneously describes joy, excitement, and relief. I am joyful because we are going home (quite literally, actually, as we are moving back into the house we love.) I am excited because I have a good job lined up that I know I will enjoy. Finally, I am relieved that I will no longer have to battle with Toronto traffic, and no longer have to spend all day worrying about whether Stella has been let out, and whether she and Napoleon have enough water.

So yeah, that's what's happening.

Bliss

I am delighted that this past weekend happened before the summer officially ends.

Not only did it contain my aunt Michelle's beautiful St. Lawrence wedding (where I had real fun for the first time in months), but I also found out that Steve and I will BOTH have good jobs to go to upon returning to Kingston. Do you realize what this means for us?...How LONG it has been since things have worked out for both of us at the same time, in the same city?

Yes, my dears, life is good. Writing and photo-taking finally seem possible again! Here are some of my favourites from the wedding...

Double Chocolate

Have I ever mentioned that I love long weekends? Especially when they're full of baking and birthdays and brand new MacBooks. Steve's birthday was actually Thursday, but I ended up baking his cake yesterday instead due to lack of time during the week. I used this recipe from the Oprah website and it was absolutely delicious! The cake contains the tiniest bit of espresso that gives it a wonderful little kick.

This summer has been long, hot, and exhausting, but I feel as though I'm finally coming back to life. Seriously, I love the heat and all but this year has been a little excessive.

Anyway, here's the cake I made, aglow with all the candles I could find between our cupboards and my parents'...

The birthday boy...

A rare half-decent photo of me from our bi-annual, tri-generational downtown Toronto shopping excursion earlier this summer. (For the record I am NOT naked - it's just a strapless dress!!!)

My adorable Grandma!

Last but not least, my beautiful new purchase. Obviously, I will now be much more inspired to write and engage in other productive activities...that is when I'm not obsessively watching frivolous videos on YouTube over and over and/or jumping from blog to blog admiring various pretty items and salivating over delicious-looking food...