Welcome to the Melbourne Community Daily Discussion Thread.

  • bananafungus@aussie.zone
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    1 year ago

    Anyone remember reading Cloudstreet in school? My friend and their family are trying to move, and I’m gearing up to do the same soon, so I joked that with this economy we should start our own Cloudstreet. They missed the reference though, and now I’m asking others and they’re also not getting the reference.

    • Thornburywitch@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Me neither. What is an ‘own Cloudstreet’? I’m actually serious here - I’ve never read the book as it postdates my own schooling and I have limited tolerance for Tim Winton’s prose.

        • Thornburywitch@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          I was underwhelmed by his prose, and seriously turned off by all the adulation and hagiography. I put him in the same basket as Patrick White, another author I can only tolerate in very small doses.

      • bananafungus@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        Cloudstreet is a book based on two very different families who decide to move from the country to the city, where they end up cohabitating in a big house called “Cloudstreet”. It follows the two families’ trials and tribulations over the next 20 years as they all live in Cloudstreet.

    • StudSpud The Starchy@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Haven’t read it, but I remember reading a book about two immigrant pearl divers based in WA, one of them was called Jesus (pronounced Hey-zeus) and somehow involved a movie theatre - i think it was set in the 1930s? Or 20s? I’ve been trying to remember the name of it for years but it eludes me.

      It was not The Pearl Divers Daughter or whatever - forget the author too lol

      Edit: after an hour and a half of googling, I have found it!!

      Nights in the Sun by Colin Bowles!! Holy fucking shit lol

      • useless_modern_god@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        I sent a resume in to a pearl dive company once(Paspaley). They never responded. Probably for the best, though because even though it’s a “tick the box” type experience, I have a feeling it’s nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds. Probably work you like a dog too…

      • bananafungus@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        Well, that was wild start to finish! I’m glad you found your book though, absolutely hate forgetting a title.

    • eye82much@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Pretty sure Cloudstreet was practically mandatory reading in all Perth schools when I was growing up!