The Life (novel)

Last updated

The Life
The Life (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Malcolm Knox
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Allen & Unwin, Australia
Publication date
2011
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages416
ISBN 978-1-74237-299-0
OCLC 716054977
Preceded by Jamaica  

The Life is a novel by the Australian author Malcolm Knox. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictional world surfing champion Dennis Keith. The character of Dennis Keith was inspired by the life of the Australian surfer Michael Peterson. [1] The Life was published in 2011 and is the thirteenth book by Knox and his fourth novel. The book is to published in France under the title Shangrila by the Editions Asphalte, in May 2012.

Contents

Plot summary

The Life traces the life story of Dennis Keith, now obese, mentally unwell and living in a retirement village with his mother.

A young would-be biographer arrives one day and begins to tease out his past. The story is told in different strands, one being reflections by Dennis (often in a variety of styles – first person, then third person) and also present-day conversations with the biographer.

Dennis is a poor gold coast kid who is mysteriously found and adopted by his mother "Mo" Keith. Dennis and his stepbrother Rod become obsessed with surfing at an earlier age. They prove to be talented and daring surfers and soon develop a reputation. They start entering competitions and eventually enter the nascent pro circuit, all the while descending into heavy drug use.

Dennis stumbles into an intermittent relationship with the singer Lisa Exmire. Lisa is found murdered and eventually charges are laid. Dennis's drug use escalates and he drops out of the pro circuit.

The novel concludes by revealing the truth about Dennis's family, the murder and the biographer.

Themes

Characters

Biographical elements

Several reviewers have noted the similarities of Dennis Keith to Michael Peterson. [2] These similarities include:

It has also been suggested that some of the other characters in the book closely resemble other professional surfers including "FJ" being very similar to "PT" (Peter Townend) and "Tink" bearing a resemblance to Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew. [3]

Critical reception

The Guardian wrote "If Winton is an aria, Knox is early Rolling Stones", "The Life confirms what The Literary Review has known all along – 'Knox is, quite simply, a fabulous writer.'"

Christos Tsiolkas, author of the best selling novel The Slap wrote "The Life, is alternately evocative and lacerating, tender and unflinching, a gloriously honest, brutal and moving story of a man who was at the top of his game and then pissed it all away".

See also

Related Research Articles

Kelly Slater

Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, best known for his unprecedented 11 world surfing championships. He is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time.

Coolangatta Suburb of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the 2016 census, Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people.

Sunny Garcia

Sunny Garcia is a professional surfer. He grew up in Wai'anae and, after leaving school, debuted on the 1986 Gotcha Pro at Sandy Beach, Oahu, beating the 1984 champ Tom Carroll.

Shaun Tomson

Shaun Tomson is a South African professional surfer and former world champion, environmentalist, actor, author, and businessman. He has been listed among the top 10 surfers of the century, and was the 1977 World Surfing Champion.

Marco Jay Luciano "Mark" Occhilupo is an Australian surfer and winner of the 1999 ASP World title.

Kirra, Queensland Suburb of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Kirra is a beach-side neighbourhood within the suburb of Coolangatta in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Snapper Rocks

Snapper Rocks is a small rocky outcrop on the northern side of Point Danger at the southern end of Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is a famous surf break and today the start of the large sand bank known to surfers as the Superbank.

Morning of the Earth is a 1971 classic surf film by Alby Falzon and David Elfick.

Michael "MP" Peterson was a professional Australian surfer. He was considered one of the best surfers in Australia during the early to mid-1970s and was recognised for his deep tube riding skill, especially at Kirra on the Gold Coast, Australia. Peterson was the Australian champion in the years 1972 and 1974, and won many other major surfing competitions. Peterson was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and became publicly known for using illicit drugs.

Monty Webber is an Australian surfer, artist, writer and filmmaker. His stories and movies address the culture of surfing. In 2016, Webber received funding from Screen Australia for a film about surfer Midget Farrelly.

<i>Breath</i> (novel)

Breath is the twentieth book and eighth novel by Australian author Tim Winton. His first novel in seven years, it was published in 2008, in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany.

<i>Breath</i> (2017 film)

Breath is a 2017 film adaptation of Australian author Tim Winton's 2008 novel Breath. It premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2017 Zurich Film Festival, and was released on 1 June 2018 by FilmRise.

Jay Moriarity

Jay Moriarity was a surfer from Santa Cruz, California. He was an accomplished surfer, waterman, and adventurer. As a surfer, he made his reputation surfing Mavericks in Half Moon Bay, California. At age 16, he was made internationally famous when his wipeout at Mavericks was caught on film and made the cover of Surfer magazine. Although a successful competitor, Jay is remembered as a soul surfer, winning many sportsmanship awards throughout his career. A biopic of his life, Chasing Mavericks, was released in 2012.

Wayne Bartholomew Australian surfer (born 1954)

Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew is an Australian world champion surfer, surf sports innovator, community advocate and politician. Bartholomew is the former CEO and President of the Association of Surfing Professionals and the creator of the Dream Tour format of professional competition surfing.

Gary Elkerton, known as Kong is an Australian surfer, three time world masters champion, three time world professional runner-up, twice Hawaiian Triple Crown champion and Australian amateur champion (1984). He is regarded as an iconic big-wave rider and is highly respected by his peers for his unique, powerful surfing style. In 2009, Gary was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.

<i>Drift</i> (2013 Australian film)

Drift is a 2013 Australian film about the birth of the surf industry in the 1970s. It was shot in Western Australia and co-directed by Morgan O'Neill and Ben Nott and starring Sam Worthington, Xavier Samuel and Myles Pollard.

Gabriel Medina Brazilian surfer

Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer, also the 2014 and 2018 WSL World Champion. Medina joined the world's elite of the World Surf League Tour in 2011, and in his rookie year he finished within the top 12 of the ASP World Tour at the age of 17. In March 2014 he won the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Media sources credit him as being the second person to have executed a maneuver called the "Backflip". Medina also became the first person ever to land this move in competition.

<i>Jamaica</i> (novel)

Jamaica : A Novel (2007) is a novel by Australian author Malcolm Knox. It won the Colin Roderick Award in 2007, and was shortlisted for the Fiction category of the 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

The Wingfeather Saga is a series of four fantasy novels, plus a "Creaturepedia" and a collection of side-stories titled The Wingfeather Tales, written by singer/songwriter Andrew Peterson, consisting of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, North! Or Be Eaten, The Monster in the Hollows, and The Warden and the Wolf King. The series chronicles the adventures and transformations of a family called Igiby, as they discover secrets of their family history, flee the evil Fangs of Dang who are occupying the country of Skree where the Igibys were raised, seek their place in the world, and make a stand against the mysterious ruler behind the Fangs, Gnag the Nameless.

The Boy Behind the Curtain (2016) is an autobiographical work by multi award-winning Australian author Tim Winton. Through a series of short stories he chronicles important events which helped to shape his life and his writing.

References

  1. ↑ Nettle, Stuart (21 June 2011). "Five minutes with Malcolm Knox, author of 'The Life'". Surfpolitik. Swellnet. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  2. ↑ Carroll, Nick (8 November 2011). "Whose Life Is It Anyway?". the Inertia. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Nettle, Stuart (15 June 2011). "The Life – by Malcolm Knox". Depth Test. Swellnet. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.