Two families. One rambling old house in Perth. Twenty years of chaos.
That’s Cloudstreet. And now it’s officially Australia’s favourite book.
Tim Winton’s 1991 novel came out on top in ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Australian Books on Sunday. More than 280,000 votes were cast. Exactly 280,047, if you’re counting.
The podium
Number one, Cloudstreet. Number two, Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe. Third went to Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief.
Those last two will feel familiar. Last year’s Radio National countdown, a different list looking at the 21st century’s best books, had Boy Swallows Universe first and The Book Thief second. This time, Winton pipped them both.
Even the host was happy. “Cloudstreet was my personal number one,” said Claire Nichols from The Book Show.
What’s Cloudstreet about?
The Pickles and the Lambs. Both families are skint. They wind up sharing a house. Big, creaky, on Cloud Street in Perth.
It runs from 1943 to 1963. There’s grief, there’s fighting, there’s a talking pig, and there’s a whole lot of heart. Winton won the Miles Franklin Award for it in 1992.
Funny, it’s done this before. Twice. First was 2010, in an Australian Book Review poll. Readers’ favourite Aussie novel? Cloudstreet. Then in 2012 it topped First Tuesday Book Club’s must-read list. So yeah, third big win. For a share-house saga!
It’s been adapted plenty, too. A radio play in 1996. A stage show that opened in Sydney in 1998. A TV miniseries in 2011. An opera in Adelaide, even, in 2016.
Old favourites made the cut
Banjo Paterson’s The Man from Snowy River landed at 61. It dates back to 1890.
The oldest book on the list? Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of His Natural Life, from 1874. It came in at 80.
Ethel Turner’s Seven Little Australians sat at 25. It’s been in print for 132 years now, longer than any other Australian book, the ABC says.
Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One was 24. Fun fact, he wrote it as his debut. He was 55.
Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds was 46. And the countdown kicked off at 100 with Paul Jennings’ Round the Twist.
A cake book. Seriously.
Yep. The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book made it to number 22.
Duck cake, anyone? Swimming pool cake with the jelly? Fair enough, really.
Fresh faces too
The newest titles were Sally Hepworth’s Mad Mabel and Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore. Both only came out last year.
A heap of big names showed up more than once. Helen Garner. Melissa Lucashenko. Geraldine Brooks. Anna Funder. Peter Carey. Hannah Kent.
And Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies? One listener reckons it got her through 20 hours of labour. Now that’s a review.
Good cause, too
The countdown wasn’t just for fun. It raised $144,468 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, RadioInfo reported. The target was $10,000.
Where to from here
Haven’t read Cloudstreet? You’re about to hear a lot more about it.
Your favourite missed out? Take it up at the pub. Arguing about books is a proper bit of Aussie culture anyway.