Cirrus@Austlit

'Liu talks about Tim Winton's novel "Breath." In all his fiction, the sense of place is important. In Breath, the ocean takes on a comparable role as an immense elemental force that simultaneously compels and controls the protagonists. The description of place is handled with great care and with the artist's perceptiveness. The description of place is sounds of nature, thus adding another dimension to the story. In Breath, Winton confirms his status as a consummate wordsmith who can take the people's breath away with the pungency of his portraits of the landscape. He draws his prime inspiration from landscape and place, mostly coastal Western Australia, where the water (ocean or river) is important to the landscape and the psyche of the people.' (Publication abstract)