Breath is an ode to breathing, a study of the thrills that may come from holding one's breath, and the dangers inherent in risking not being able to resume breathing. At birth the newborn infant takes its first breath and is on the path of life. Winton has looked at aspects of Australian life in a number of previous novels including the highly acclaimed The Riders (1995) and Dirt Music (2002)-both nominated for Booker Prizes (Mmegi, 7 March 2003).
In Sawyer, you kept to the mill, the town, the river. Bruce Pike tells his story from when he was 11 to 16, and a bit of the present at 49, and some points in between. At the river he became friends with Ivan Loon, a full-year older. Loonie, the publican's son, liked adventure and attention. He could hold his breath up to two minutes, and enjoyed scaring people who had come to swim, by diving in, going deep, holding on to roots, and staying down so long in the murk it was as if he had drowned. When he'd come up, he'd just laugh at the spectators' panic. Soon Loonie and Pikelet were friends and rivals, having become one in their outlandish search for the cutting edge -though Pikelet could never forgo his sense of caution and yearning for safety, aspects of life Loonie seemed oblivious of. Together they perfected the art of causing riverside panic. To Loonie, "Any game would do, as long as it was dangerous". Sawyer was 30 km from Angelus, a larger town also north of Perth. It was not until he was 12 that Pikelet got beyond the river mouth and out on to the ocean. It was intolerable to be denied access to the wind and waves. Then he made his first trip to the headland. "How strange it was to see men do something beautiful" echoes his surprise at the wonder of men dancing in the water.
