Adrian Markle is the author of the novel Bruise and many short stories. Originally from Canada, he now lives with his partner in Cornwall, UK, where he teaches English and Creative Writing at Falmouth University.
"[S]port novels are never only about sport," Markle claims.
As sport exists as a product of our political and politicized cultures, so then do explorations and depictions of it. Stories about sport are also stories about class, gender, race, identity, mental health, disability, or collective vs individual identity (though probably not all of them all at once).At Electric Lit the author tagged seven contemporary novels about sport. One title on the list:
Breath by Tim WintonRead about the other entries on the list.
Breath is a classic coming of age story. Pikelet is a loner. Too intellectual to fit in with the country kids,too low class to fit in with the city kids, he floats around alone until he meets another outcast, Loonie, the local wild boy, with whom he becomes best friends and surfing buddies. Eventually, the two of them fall in with Sando, an enigmatic and reclusive surfing guru, and his wife Eva, an angry and distant former athlete suffering from a chronic injury. Those relationships push the boys farther than they thought possible—no matter how dangerous that might be. Pikelet, Loonie, Sando, and Eva’s story is one of shifting loyalties and single-minded pursuits that have lifelong consequences. The descriptions of the surfing in particular paint it as something beautiful and powerful, terrible, and almost mystical.
Breath is among Renata Salecl's five top books on modern misery.
--Marshal Zeringue
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