The Slap (2008) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Hector: Father. Son. Husband. Hanging on to memories of a younger self.
• Aisha: Confident, strong willed, mother.
• Anouk: 43-year old, successful screen writer enjoying her younger lover, aspiring to write a serious novel
• Rosie: Middleclass Earth mother.
• Gary: Rosie's husband.
• Harry: Successful business owner. Proud father of Rocco. Husband to Sandi.
• Sandi: Harry's wife; enjoying the spoils of her successful husband.
• Connie: Typically angst-ridden teenager, with the added complications of being orphaned after both her parents passed away. Lives with her Aunt. Best friend is Richie.
• Richie: Connie's best friend.
• Hugo: The child at the centre of the storm.
• Bilal: Muslim Convert. Formerly Terry
• Shamira: Muslim Convert. Formerly Sammi
• Ravi: Aisha's brother.
• Kelly: At what point does being a kept woman cross over the line?
• Manolis: Italian immigrant. Committed to his family above all else.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Hugo pulled away from Rosie’s teat. ‘No one is allowed to touch my body without my permission.’ His voice was shrill and confident. Hector wondered where he learnt those words. From Rosie? At child care? Were they community announcements on the frigging television?”

• “Not for the first time, he sighed inwardly a the innate conservatism of women. It was as if being a mother, the agony of birth, rooted them eternally to the world, made them complicit in the foibles and errors and rank stupidity of men. Women were incapable of camaraderie, their own children would always come first.”

• “There was a long silence. It was as if he could not comprehend what had just occurred, how the man’s action and the pain he was beginning to feel coincided.”

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• Love, at its core, was negotiation, the surrender of two individuals to the messy, banal, domestic realities of sharing a life together.

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• Women were mothers, and as mothers they were selfish, uninterested, unmoved by the world.

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• In this way, in love, she could secure a familiar happiness. She had to forego the risk of an unknown, most likely impossible, most probably unobtainable, alternative happiness. She couldn’t take the risk. She was too tired.

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• Aware of the scandalous nature of such thoughts, he’d never revealed them to anyone.

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• only the young and the deluded would want anything else, believe that there is anything more to love than that.

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• Australian drinking differed from all other cultures in its extremity, in its lack of conviviality, in the way it centred on the pub bar and not the dinner table.

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• Love and family meant nothing to her? Nothing mattered to her at this moment but her pride. Did she think she was being brave in disobeying him? She, Hector, the whole mad lot of them, they knew nothing of courage. Everything had been given to them, everything had been assumed as rightfully theirs. She even believed her defence of her friend was a matter of honour. One war, one bomb, one misfortune and she would fall apart. He meant nothing to her because like all of them she was truly selfish. She had no idea of the world and so believed her drama to be significant.

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• He believed he had glimpsed a truth, a possibility: equanimity, acceptance, a certain peace—in old age, all men were equal. Not in work, not in God, not in politics, only in age. But it was not so. He tried to drown out his wife’s chatter. He wanted a few more minutes in a world where hierarchy and snobbery and vindictiveness did not hold sway.

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• Age was cruel, age was an invincible enemy. Age was cruel, like a woman. Like a mother.

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• bogan parents.’ Connie

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Brunswick
• Carlton
• Sandringham
• Northcote
• Thailand
• Ubud
• Amed
• Bangkok

Organizations edit see section history

• Internation Veterinary Association: Add a description of this organization.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Christos Tsiolkas (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (2008)
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book (2009: South East Asia and Pacific)
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize (2009: Best Book)
• Miles Franklin Literary Award (Finalist, 2009)
• Victorian Premier's Literary Award (2009: Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction)
• Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction (2009)
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book (2009: Overall)
• Man Booker Prize (Finalist, 2010, Longlist)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 823.914

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Psychological & Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › Australia & New Zealand
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Comments from others about The Slap.: Review
• SlowTV: Christos Tsiokkas talks about The Slap.

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history