The Slap
Encyclopedia
The Slap is a novel by Australian author Christos Tsiolkas
. The eight-part television series, The Slap
, is an adaptation of the book. Its filming commenced in January 2011 and first screened on Australian television channel ABC1
from October 2011.
, described The Slap as "a controversial and daring novel" which examines "identities and personal relationships in a multicultural society" and "taps into universal tensions and dilemmas around family life and child-rearing".
students to a seventy-one year old man, and comprise four males and four females. Reviewer Windsor writes that "As an architectural device, this is inspired. With their narrowed focus, the individual stories, up to 80 pages long, have an intensity to them that a conventional comprehensive narrative could not have come near."
(italic print signifies the eight characters whose points of view are given in the novel's different sections.)
Christos Tsiolkas
-Biography:He was born and grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Blackburn High School and the University of Melbourne where he completed an Arts Degree in 1987. www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 2007-07-22. He edited the student newspaper Farrago in 1988....
. The eight-part television series, The Slap
The Slap (TV series)
The Slap is an Australian television drama series produced by Matchbox Pictures for ABC1, screening each Thursday night at 8:30pm in October and November 2011 - repeats air the following night each week on ABC2...
, is an adaptation of the book. Its filming commenced in January 2011 and first screened on Australian television channel ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
from October 2011.
Plot summary
At a barbecue in suburban Melbourne, a man slaps a three year old boy across the face. The child, Hugo, has been misbehaving without any intervention by his parents, "the steely-eyed Rosie and the wimpish Gary". The slapper is Harry, cousin of the barbecue host and adulterous businessman whose slightly older son, Rocco, is being threatened by Hugo. This event sends the other characters "into a spiral, agonising and arguing over the notion that striking a child can ever be justified. Some believe a naughty boy should be taught some discipline, others maintain the police ought to be brought in to investigate a common assault" with a range of positions in between.Themes
A judge of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Nicholas HasluckNicholas Hasluck
The Honourable Justice Nicholas Paul Hasluck AM is an Australian novelist, poet and short story writer, and judge. He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife, Sally-Anne, and has two children.-Early life:...
, described The Slap as "a controversial and daring novel" which examines "identities and personal relationships in a multicultural society" and "taps into universal tensions and dilemmas around family life and child-rearing".
Structure
The story is told through the voices of eight characters, in third person and each in a chapter of their own. "The reverberations of the slap ... [are told] chronologically through each character's story". The characters range from two Year 12Year Twelve
Year Twelve is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory education...
students to a seventy-one year old man, and comprise four males and four females. Reviewer Windsor writes that "As an architectural device, this is inspired. With their narrowed focus, the individual stories, up to 80 pages long, have an intensity to them that a conventional comprehensive narrative could not have come near."
Main characters
- Aisha: a 40-something, Anglo-Indian veterinarian, a competent mother and efficient homemaker who also runs her own vet clinic.
- Hector: Aisha's Greek husband, cousin to Harry. Host of the barbecue at which the titular "Slap" occurs.
- Adam and Melissa: children of Aisha and Hector.
- Connie: Year 12 student who works in Aisha's vet clinic and is having an enigmatic affair with her boss's husband, Hector.
- Richie: Connie's gay best friend.
- Harry: Hector's cousin, perpetrator of the titular "Slap". A self-made man who has worked hard to build a large, luxurious home; owns several garages.
- Sandi: Harry's Serbian wife. Loyal and devoted to Harry.
- Rocco: Son of Harry and Sandi. Around eight years old.
- Kelly: An indigent mother-of-several, with whom Harry has an extra-marital affair. Kelly supplies Harry with cocaine; Harry pays Kelly's gas, water and electricity bills.
- Van: a Vietnamese DVD pirate, Kelly's business partner.
- Rosie: childhood friend of Aisha, a white Australian, working-class, full-time mother to Hugo. A somewhat smothering parent who, at the same time, takes a laid-back approach to discipline. Presses charges against Harry for assaulting her child.
- Gary: Rosie's husband – an alcoholic father.
- Hugo: Son of Rosie and Gary. Three to four years old and still being breastfed. Hugo badly misbehaves (due largely to poor parenting) and is the victim of Harry's slap when he physically attacks Rocco.
- Anouk: childhood friend of Rosie and Aisha. The only one of the threesome who is single and childless. More career-driven – a soap-opera scriptwriter. In a relationship with Rhys, the star of the soap-opera, around twenty years younger than her.
- Manolis: elderly Greek patriarch, father of Hector. Shares a close relationship with his daughter-in-law Aisha, but takes a diametrically opposed stance to her regarding the slap, supporting his nephew Harry.
- Koula: elderdy Greek matriach, mother of Hector. Believes family should be held in higher regard than all other things. Takes an extremely disparate view of her daughter-in-law Aisha. Very gossipy. Fully supports Harry's actions regarding the slap.
- Elisavet: Sister of Hector, daughter of Manolis and Koula. Divorced with two young children: Sava and Angeliki.
(italic print signifies the eight characters whose points of view are given in the novel's different sections.)
Awards and nominations
- ALS Gold MedalALS Gold MedalThe Australian Literature Society Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for “an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year.” From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the Australian Literature Society, then from 1983 by the Association for...
, 2008: winner - Commonwealth Writers Prize, 2009: winner for Best Book
- Miles Franklin Literary Award, 2009: shortlisted
- Nielsen BookData Booksellers' Choice Award, 2009: winner
- Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, Vance Palmer Prize for FictionVance Palmer Prize for FictionThe Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction is a component of the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award and is valued at A$30,000. Most Australian state premiers present annual Australian literary awards to promote Australian writing in all its forms. The award is named after Vance Palmer...
, 2009: winner - Man Booker PrizeMan Booker PrizeThe Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
2010: longlisted