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A-Z CLASSIC LITERATURE

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (1991)
Struggling to rebuild their lives after being touched by disaster, the Pickle family, who've inherited a big house called Cloudstreet in a suburb of Perth, take in the God-fearing Lambs as tenants. The Lambs have suffered their own catastrophes, and determined to survive, they open up a grocery on the ground floor. From 1944 to 1964, the shared experiences of the two overpopulated clans -- running the gamut from drunkenness, adultery, and death to resurrection, marriage, and birth -- bond them to each other and to the bustling, haunted house in ways no one could have anticipated.

From left: Oriel and Lester Lamb     ~      ~      ~     ~     ~     Sam and Dolly Pickles. (Lamrock.com, 2012)

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Videos

Cloudstreet: Historic Context

Information on the Historic Context of Cloudstreet. Have a watch/listen so that you have a better understanding of what's going on under the surface as you read through the novel for the first time.

SOURCE: Elizabeth Crompton (2015), posted on YouTube, [13:58 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/6qSexgHKJr8

Cloudstreet: Background info and plot

Here's some basic information on Winton, and the major plot points of the novel.

SOURCE: Elizabeth Crompton (2015), posted on YouTube, [13:18 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/SzjaacSkYlQ

Andrew Winton's Interview of Tim Winton

Tim Winton talks of toxic masculinity, lost boys and the damaged men they become.

SOURCE:  7 Digital (2018), posted on ClickView, [16:58 mins.], Rated: M, URL: https://clickv.ie/w/B4wp

Tim Winton's Cloudstreet - Official Trailer

Set in and around Perth during the 40s and 50s, cloudstreet tells the story of two rural families who suffer separate catastrophes and flee to the city to pick up the pieces of their lives and start again. Brought together in the same house at No.1 Cloud Street, the Lambs and the Pickles' share numerous tragedies and triumphs that draw them closer together, until the roof over their heads becomes a home for their hearts.

SOURCE: Showcase au (2011), posted on YouTube, [3:17. mins] URL: https://youtu.be/xQMOa7vXRjY

Australian Literature 101: Tim Winton's Cloudstreet | Commentary by Hilary McPhee (Editor)

(Begin approx. 6:00 mins in)

Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all? If there is, Hilary McPhee would be unmistakable as one of its modern ambassadors. The founding director of McPhee Gribble Publishers speaks of one of the imprint’s big successes, and a great exploration of our national voice - Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet - and its sensitive, pensive author. In discussion with Ramona Koval.

SOURCE: Wheeler Centre (2015), posted on YouTube, [1:00:58 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/135XsjJc8yk

Postcard from Perth, 1954.

Made by The National Film Board 1954. Directed by Shan Benson. The State Capital of Western Australia, Perth is often the traveller's first glimpse of the Commonwealth and a very happy and sunny glimpse it is. The Swan river and King's Park are outstanding beauty spots in a growing, modern city.

SOURCE: NFSA Films (2010), posted on YouTube, [10:08 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/b2TaLGlj6ig