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Australischer Abenteuerroman über toxische Männlichkeit

Von: MeikeReads
12.06.2019

In this book, Winton writes like an Australian version of Cormac McCarthy who decided to tackle the topic of toxic masculinity - yes, you heard that right, and the result is absolutely astounding. The story is told from the perspective of protagonist and antihero Jaxie Clackton (who speaks in strong Australian slang), a teenage boy who grew up with a violent, alcoholic father and a mother who stood by and failed to protect him, until she finally died from cancer. When his father dies by accident, Jaxie fears that he will be blamed because everybody knew that he hated his dad (thus inferring that the whole community must have known about his situation, but nobody stepped in). As a consequence, Jaxie decides to run away and goes on a journey through the Australian wilderness in order to pick up his cousin Lee, whom he loves, and ultimately build a better life with her. When he comes across an old shepherd's hut which is inhabited by a mysterious former priest, this encounter will change Jaxie's life forever. This novel is not for the faint of heart: There is a lot of blood and slaughtering (literal and metaphorical) going on, and Jaxie, who has never been protected and cared for by his parents, is shockingly brutal and caught up in his idea that he needs to show disaffection and what he perceives as strength at all times. His disconnection and alienation becomes almost unbearable to read when he talks about his cruelty against animals. Pain, killing and death are major themes in the book, and the questions what differentiates dead meat from a living creature and whether there is something like a "good death" lead directly to the existential challenge to find something to live for. As you might expect in a novel that stars an Irish-Catholic ex-priest and a teenager from Monkton (Monk-ton, got it?) hanging out in a shepherd's (!) hut near a salt (!) lake, the author contemplates questions of spirituality, using biblical themes and letting his characters meditate on pantheism in the Australian wilderness. But the question whether there is a God or not is not the main concern here; rather, it's the question how to overcome alienation and loneliness, how to learn empathy and to feel connected to nature and other people. Ultimately, it's also the question of how we can feel ourselves. I really enjoyed how Winton managed to convey the inner workings of Jaxie, and how is whole persona is challenged and questioned by someone who simply sees him and listens to him. This is a terribly disturbing and brutal story of redemption, and it is equally cruel and beautiful.

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