The Time We Have Taken [IMPORT] (Paperback)

~ Steven Carroll (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

One summer morning in 1970, Peter van Rijn, proprietor of the television and wireless shop, pronounces his Melbourne suburb one hundred years old. The Time We Have Taken is a powerfully moving tale of the rhythms of suburban life — its public and private reckonings.

About the Author

Steven Carroll was born in Melbourne. His first novel, Remember Me, Jimmy James, was published in 1992. The Art of the Engine Driver (2001) and The Gift of Speed (2004) were shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, which The Time We Have Taken won in 2008. Steven Carroll lives in Melbourne with his partner and son.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Windmill (September 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 009953729X
• ISBN-13: 978-0099537298
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The beauty, the ugliness, and the tender moments of suburban life we take for granted, January 31, 2009

By	Moon Sister "Janelle" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Time We Have Taken (Paperback)

If you have experienced suburbia (as I have) this story will surely make you look at suburban life and reflect on the unreflected, unquestioned, so-called "everyday" moments. Steven Carroll beautifully and intimately describes the personal journeys of each of his characters, who are always either striving for the future or holding onto the past - but never actually realising the present moment. In that sense it is a gently melancholic story as the reader is the only one who can really acknowledge the importance of each moment. The setting is outer suburban Melbourne, Australia in the early 1970s at a time of great social change and new ideals.

'The Time We Have Taken' is an antidote to taking everyday life for granted and also for the usual "boring suburbia" discourse. The way to enjoy this book is to devour it slowly: this story is a "page-turner" but at a very calm pace. If you like high-speed, action-packed or melodramatic novels, this will be a difficult read. However if you are keen on a well-written reflective piece with intimate character study, then do consider this excellent piece of Australian fiction which won the prestigious 2008 Miles Franklin Literary Award. I hope HarperCollins can make this novel - as well as the previous two in Carroll's 'series' - available on Amazon.com for others to enjoy.