“The best book I read this decade.” -Sharon Van Etten in Rolling Stone“Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. . . . Eli’s remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what’s possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvelous.” -Washington PostA … miracle that makes this novel marvelous.” –Washington Post
A “thrilling” (New York Times Book Review) novel of love, crime, magic, fate and a boy’s coming of age in 1980s Australia, named one of the best literary fiction titles of 2019 by Library Journal.
Eli Bell’s life is complicated. His father is lost, his mother is in jail, and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. The most steadfast adult in Eli’s life is Slim—a notorious felon and national record-holder for successful prison escapes—who watches over Eli and August, his silent genius of an older brother.
Exiled far from the rest of the world in Darra, a neglected suburb populated by Polish and Vietnamese refugees, this twelve-year-old boy with an old soul and an adult mind is just trying to follow his heart, learn what it takes to be a good man, and train for a glamorous career in journalism. Life, however, insists on throwing obstacles in Eli’s path—most notably Tytus Broz, Brisbane’s legendary drug dealer.
But the real trouble lies ahead. Eli is about to fall in love, face off against truly bad guys, and fight to save his mother from a certain doom—all before starting high school.
A story of brotherhood, true love, family, and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe is the tale of an adolescent boy on the cusp of discovering the man he will be. Powerful and kinetic, Trent Dalton’s debut is sure to be one of the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novels you will experience.
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“Boy Swallows Universe” is set in the 1980s. At the time of reading, I thought this was a convenient way of plotting a story without mobile phones. However, author Trent Dalton estimates his story is “60 per cent fact and 40 per cent fantasy”. I wish I had known this before I started reading the book. The childish antics, choppy narrative, and confusing flashbacks – compounded with the drug dealing and gratuitous violence – nearly caused me to give up about a third of the way through. I persevered, and I’m so glad I did. Knowing now that most of the story was based on the author’s own experiences, makes it all the more harrowing.
Notwithstanding the serious subject matter, the book is full of dry humor, literary references, and astute observations on human behavior. It follows the childhood of Eli Bell between the ages of twelve and eighteen and introduces us to the key players in his life.
Arthur “Slim” Halliday was “the greatest prison escapee who ever lived”. The papers call him “the Taxi Driver Killer” but twelve-year-old Eli says, “I just call him my babysitter.” Slim teaches Eli that the way “to remember the small details of my life is to associate moments and visions with things on my person or things in my regular waking life that I see and smell and touch often.” And this is how Eli recounts his story, collecting rich details by which he will later remember the events that shape his life.
Eli’s thirteen-year-old brother August, who is mute after a traumatic childhood incident, writes in the air with prophetic flourish, “forever dipping his finger into his eternal glass well of invisible ink”.
Despite being a heroin dealer, his mother’s boyfriend Lyle is a loving stepfather and role model and the first man Eli ever loves. Everything Eli lives through will lead up to that one moment of truth, when his adult life collides with his childhood life, and he finally gets the chance to avenge Lyle.
Eli himself is wise beyond his years: “… the age of my body matters nothing compared to the age of my soul”. It’s no wonder he falls for the much older Caitlyn Spies, criminal reporter for the Courier Mail. His eye for detail and his childhood amongst criminals, make him want to become a journalist. “I’m not interested in crime as much as the people who commit crimes,” he says. He’s fascinated with the idea that one pivotal event can determine your destiny. “I’m interested in how they got to the point they got to. I’m interested in that moment when they decided to be bad instead of good.”
The book is full of such moments, when seemingly insignificant events and details come back into play: Slim telling Eli how he broke out of jail, the lucky freckle on Eli’s right index finger, his love of football, his visit to the clock tower, the first line of the book … “Your end is a dead blue wren,” is what August writes in the air at the beginning of the book. And, in the end, it all comes back to that beginning. “Forward to the beginning,” Eli says. “That’s all I’ve ever been doing. Moving forward to the start.”
Funny, heartbreaking, uplifting.
Warnings: coarse language, drug use, graphic violence, drug dealing, general grossness, sexual references, domestic violence, alcoholism.
Full blog post: https://www.booksdirectonline.com/2019/07/boy-swallows-universe-by-trent-dalton.html
This is truly a beautiful book. Just loved it.
A refreshing, remarkable entrant into the literary fiction hall of fame! I loved following the coming of age story of Eli Bell, the kid who battles the ethical dilemmas centred on becoming a good man against the backdrop of Brisbane in 1980s – a world of broken dreams, drug addiction, systemic abuse, and socio-economic disadvantage. Raw, reflective, remarkable and powerful, there is a humourous charisma in Trent Dalton’s work that will have you smiling in deep reflection long after the reading is done. Not to be missed!
Fantastic Australian book that is superbly written.
This book went straight to my favourite of all time. A highly original, semi-autobiographical story about a boy trying to figure out what makes a good man while being brought up by drug addicts, dealers and crooks. It’s the kind of book you wish you could read for the first time again and again. Unforgettable.
This amazing book gave me the sense that whenever some horrific moment occurs in your life it can all lead up to a series of horrid events, but somewhere in between, beginning, middle, or end, there’s that one magical moment that’s so goddamn perfect that everything just seems to make sense, even though if it’s only for a few seconds of that eye-opening silver lining in the thunderstorm. This was a truly beautiful piece of work to process and experience.
A wonderful depiction of children in small-town Australia that actually transposes to anywhere in the world and then takes off unexpectedly into something truly wonderful. A remarkably good book.
I am not sure I can find the words to describe this book. It is enchanting and beautiful and how I wish I could write like that. Open your mind and read it and be totally entranced.
4.5* Beautiful writing!
Brilliant coming-of-age novel. A young man’s humanity shines through against all odds. Don’t miss this one.
Every single star in the universe for this brilliant novel!!!
I absolutely loved this novel, so much so that I found myself hugging this book many times and many times putting it down because I so desperately did not want it to end. In fact, I am saddened sitting here writing this review because I kept picking it back up and unable to stop reading and therefore the story is now over and I will sincerely miss the Bell family dearly as well as good old Slim! This novel is definitely in my top 5 coming-of-age novel’s and I feel lucky to have experienced this journey with Eli Bell, he completely swallowed my heart!! Truly an extraordinary piece of work!!
This is a unique coming-of-age story about the bond between two brothers surviving a traumatic childhood, unusual friendships, crime, love, the power of words, pure evil masquerading as success and at its heart, the question of what makes a good man. A quirky, well-written novel. Highly recommended.
Absolute magic. I fell utterly in love with Eli and August and the gritty suburban setting. The brutal reality of the character’s lives, woven throughout with hope and whimsy and love, was complete perfection. So was the cover (the one I read had the pink explosion with the blue wren). I basically finished the book and wanted to carry it around and hug it for a while.
Everyone thinks of Australia as a sunny, friendly, easy-going place. This book will give you a different look through the eyes of a young boy. He’s smart, funny, beaten down, but keeps rising up. A wonderful character!
A gripping coming-of-age story that is both profound and original.
For some reason, Bookbuyb could only find the Spanish edition of this book, which I did not read, as I know very little Spanish. But I’m sure it’s just as good as the English version.
What a book! I’ve been an admirer of Dalton’s journalism for years and I knew his debut novel would be a winner. A coming of age story of a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in 1980s Brisbane, written with such emotional depth, yet such elegant restraint, an unputdownable story which morphs into a thriller, characters who make you laugh and cry. This is by far the best book I’ve read this year.
One of my favorite reads for 2018. Can’t wait for Trent Dalton to write again
Poignant, delightful, warm, gripping and simply wonderful. Book of the year!