An obvious example is central character Sam Pickles’ pigheaded reliance on the power and significance of ‘the Hairy Hand of God’ or ‘Lady Luck’. This is reiterated in symbolism as well as structural elements, such as Quick and Rose’s ultimate return to Cloudstreet, bringing a circular closure to the narrative.Ĭloudstreet also offers a strong basis for exploring how characters can convey, construct, illuminate and even epitomise themes – this is useful, as sometimes it can be difficult to identify the connection between character and theme in narrative. For example, despite the epic difficulties both the Lamb and the Pickles families experience throughout, one of the novel’s strong themes is that family is one of the most important things of all. When paired with an investigation of the magic-realist style of much of the narrative (particularly Fish and Quick’s experiences), this gives students plenty to think about in terms of how symbolism constructs the reality of the characters and how this reveals underlying authorial beliefs and values. For instance the narrative framing, formed by the intrusion of Fish’s first-person perspective throughout, welcomes discussions about how narrative point of view influences our understanding of events. Any one of the text’s features – including character, style, structure, narrative voice, and historical and cultural setting – provides enough textual evidence to support a really in-depth exploration of how Winton constructs meaning in his authorial choices, and by combining any mix of these, a whole new set of investigations becomes available. But it’s a rewarding read, not a slog, and the length and breadth of Cloudstreet means there are so many directions in which students might choose to take their interpretation of the novel. Yes, it’s one of the longer texts on the VCAA set lists – an epic domestic journey – and that can be overwhelming for students.

So how do you translate this diehard national adoration to an enthusiastic and productive academic study? There are plenty of reasons why Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet (1991) remains one of Australia’s most loved contemporary novels (it hit the top of the list in ABC TV’s First Tuesday Book Club’s survey of ‘10 Aussie Books to Read Before You Die’ in 2012, the National Year of Reading). Insight Text Guide author Anica Boulanger-Mashberg discusses Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet

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