The story:
'Neighbours' by Tim Winton is a very short story about a young couple moving into a new neighbourhood. They notice that their new home was full of European migrants and don\'t feel quite at home in the beginning, always having to listen to the loud conversations of their next door neighbours, a Macedonian family and the hammering of their other next door neighbour, a Polish widower. At first they only see the strange and sometimes disgusting customs of their new neighbourhood.

After getting used to their new surrounding the young couple starts liking their neighbours and notice that they aren't that bad at all.
When the woman becomes pregnant the neighbours immediately find out about it and start giving the young couples presents and good tips. The couple isn't used to that friendliness and is really surprised when the whole neighbourhood celebrates the arrival of the new baby.

I chose this short story thinking about the many immigrants living in Australia and their living together peacefully.
The story shows how many people from different countries can live peacefully together, although they have a different lifestyle. There are a lot of migrants in Australia who moved there because of various reasons, like war, the Great Depression, political reasons and just because they started loving the country.


About the author:
Born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1960, Tim Winton is the author of several novels for adults, including Shallows (1986), a novel set in a whaling town, and Cloudstreet (1991), the tale of two working-class families rebuilding their lives, both won prestigious Miles Franklin Awards in Australia. A theatrical adaptation of Cloudstreet toured Australia, Europe and the USA to universal acclaim. His novel That Eye, the Sky (1986) was adapted for theatre by Justin Monjo and Richard Roxburgh, and also made into a film. A second film adaptation was made of In the Winter Dark (1988), featuring Brenda Blethyn. The Riders (1995) was shortlisted for the 1995 Booker Prize for Fiction, and also won a Commonwealth Writers Prize. Many of his books are set in his familiar landscapes of Western Australia.
His books include Dirt Music (2001), winner of several awards and shortlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and The Turning (2005), which tells 17 overlapping stories. His most recent novel is Breath (2008), winner of the 2009 Miles Franklin Award.


Buchdaten:
Taschenbuch: 160 Seiten
Verlag: Klett (Oktober 2010)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 3125791227
ISBN-13: 978-3125791220
ISBN: 3125791227
Preis: € 7,99