Tsiolkas’s first novel takes no prisoners, plays for keeps, holds nothing back—the clichés just keep coming back.tStrangely, for a novel brimming with drug use and explicit anonymous sex scenes (gay sex scenes too, it has to be mentioned), this reminded me of a Murakami novel. It’s got something to do with the protagonist, Ari. His alienation is more violent than a Murakami protagonist, but he has that same insightful detachment, a way of seeing the world that sets him apart. He’s surrounded by people but no less lonely for it.tThere’s a parallel between the two world Ari inhabits. The world of his Greek immigrant upbringing in Australia and the world of—I’m not sure what to call it—of anonymous gay sex, inner city clubbing, and of course drugs. What’s interesting is that there are more similarities between these two worlds than you might think. Both have their code of morality, what’s acceptable and what’s not. When Ari cruises for drugs or gay sex in the clubbing world he has to be observant, to read meaning in a single glance, a glance which might mean out back, now, and without an exchanged word, he follows an older Greek man in one instance to an empty back area outside the bar. But the orthodox Greek world is like this too. Ari reads his parents in much the same way, pre-empting his parents’ moods, understanding his father’s disappointment in him and the like.tMaybe there are more similarities too.tThe last thing I want to mention is the political reading you could do of the novel, and what it says about the failed plight of immigrants—Greek in this case—to make a new and better life for themselves settling in Australia. Instead they found not a lot. A deeply racist multicultural slush-pool of bigotry and intolerance. Class divisions are, like in many parts of the world, as geographic as they are psychological. The rich live in the eastern suburbs, the poor and downtrodden immigrants out west. Even worse, the job market is changing, and the working class are slowly losing their identity, their community, everyone aspires toward wealth. It’s a toxic culture, it’s our culture, and this erosion of the working class is a disturbing one in the way it quashes the foundations of vocal political dissent. The poor stay poor, the rich get richer, back to the clichés. tTsiolkas is a good writer. This was a risky novel and I feel like it came through in the end. It would have been a slog if it was much longer, but as it is, it’s an ideal length, from a young writer who’d in time write The Slap. I think I almost enjoyed this more than The Slap. It was a denser read, despite the length, and maybe The Slap is more refined, but Loaded has a youthful intensity Tsiolkas’s latter novel doesn’t quite have. tBoth, though, are great novels.
Hmmm. Here's the thing: I've never been a fan of this style of writing, of this kind of content, of boys who just want to get high and fuck someone. Which is essentially all this book is about.Yes, there is some of the coming of age stuff. Ari is nineteen and still not confident in his sexuality, fluxing between admitting that he's gay and fighting it. It's a classic case of being in the closet. And there's a bit of character development by the end, but not enough to leave me feeling like Ari's come a long way. Or any way at all. The writing is very lucid. It's sharp, intense. Too much. Because of that, the side characters are more interesting. Johnny, who dresses in drag and calls himself Toula. Alex, who's in love with a Muslim boy. Peter, who escaped his family by moving in with his girlfriend, but then cheats. Ari gives you everything, since it's first person and he's very blunt. The other characters do not, and curiosity about them makes them the more interesting ones. But I relate to Ari. Greek, gay, longing for an escape and just wanting to be himself, whoever that may be. Tsiolkas' portraits of Greek families are spot on. I don't relate to the other things, but the cultural stuff, definitely. There's almost a stigma among young ethnic people, who haven't quite accepted their culture, who haven't learnt the balancing act as they straddle the fence between Greek and Australian. They cannot be Greek, because they don't relate to the culture, don't care about the politics. But they aren't Australian because there is still some vestiges of Greek culture that grabs them. Music is a big theme, and I think it's the thing that most shows Ari walking between the two worlds; he likes the Greek music as much as he likes more western music, whether it's rap or metal or dance. It's one of the ways that Ari connects with his Greekness. He enjoys the music, loses himself in the traditional dances, when it suits him. And does the same with other music.So it's an interesting book. Very real, in its portrayal of life for a young Greek man living in Australia. Having said that, it is also the experience of a certain type of gay man. The attractive type, who fits the acceptable terms of queerness. Had Ari been less attractive, his experience of his sexuality would've been completely different. Because there is not much of a place in the queer community for the less attractive.Overall, it's not a bad read. Very short, the kind of book you'll probably get through in a sitting or two. But it's also not lighthearted. It's quite raw at times. Rough, and hard to read. And it's totally understandable that people either love it or hate it. It's the kind of book that invites those two very different reactions, that feel that way about the same thing.
What do You think about Loaded (1997)?
Ari doesn't know what he is doing with his life. Sure, he's got some problems: he can't find a job, he sees his friends growing up and turning into automatons of society, and he has to hide his sexuality from his Greek parents. But poor Ari, he isn't cut out for the 9-5 job and the 2.4 kids & white-picket-fence, so he spends all his time taking drugs and having meaningless sex. He is an outsider! He can't change the world and he feels alienated from society. Woe woe woe! Well written, but I would've liked more anger. I guess I like my directionless young men to have a little more passion in their nihilism.
—Chris
I had to study this book in my first year of university in an "Australian Literature" course. then in between first and second year i moved cities and, of course, universities. At my second uni i had to study this book again, in an "experimental fiction" course (the content being the experiment). One thing i found interesting are the two different readings of the text i experienced. the first uni focused on the exorbitant amounts of homosexual sex and illicit drug use largely painting it as a book written to shock the establishment, with a minor note on it being an example of immigrant literature. the second uni noted that possibility, before disregarding it and painting it as a political book, with it's major theme being the lack of identity workers suffer in a post "working class" world. or something like that.So, what can I say about this book? first off, Christos Tsiolkas can write, really well. he's probably the best australian writer i've had the pleasure of reading, even though his controversial subject matter and nationality may prevent him from ever gaining a wide audience. The subject matter is, of course, quite interesting, to put it mildly. to say that the argument of whether it is pornography or not has come up in every discussion i've had concerning this book is an understatement. do i think it's pornographic? yes, i do. do i think that lessens its importance as a piece of literature? not necessarily, no.
—Rian
Loaded made me think after reading it, which I generally find is the sign of a good book, but it want the normal things it directed me to. It reminded me a lot of the poem "You Big Ugly" when I first started reading it because of the same stereotypes used and the general issues associated with the "Australian Identity". However, when I finished I realized that the book overwhelmingly reminded me of "Twelve" (Nick McDonell); just replace the scenery. Instead of Upper-East side trust funders getting high and partying, you have Australian "Wogs" in Melbourne instead. Although, I felt a lot closer to the characters in Loaded, I think mainly because of all the little nuances of the stereotype portrayed.How the story culminated slightly shocked me, it just ended. Here I was, thinking I would get a nice wind up to the story and a hint about where life might take Ari, but no, it simply ends. Initially I wasn't particularly impressed but then after reading the blurb and some of the quotes from editorials I realised it wasn't so much a narrative, just a commentary on the social climate of the time in the form of a narrative.At times I found Loaded to be a bit harsh/gory in its descriptions but they weren't particularly distracting and they, I guess, added to Ari's character. Overall I think it was a pretty good read but I would not recommend it to anyone without a warning of the content first.
—Martin
