Sydney Bridge Upside Down: The Spoiler Zone

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6th August, 2012 6 comments

There are quite a few spoilers in Sydney Bridge Upside Down, so please make sure you comment here if you think you’re going to give the game away. Otherwise you are welcome in our No-Spoiler Zone.

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6th August, 2012 6 comments

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6 Responses to “Sydney Bridge Upside Down: The Spoiler Zone”

Gillian Croad Aug 20 2012, 5:04pm

Totally agree that this book deserves more exposure within NZ literature. I was totally shocked when Harry pushed Dibs over the cliff and reread that section several times to find out what had happened but it of course all made sense later. Lots of highly sinister stuff here including the implications of the Uncle Pember figure, the suspense over the violence and who killed whom. Along with the sadness of the whole situation, father the amputee, children missing the mother who we worked out early on had run off and the mixed emotions reading Harry's narrative with my questions about how 'reliable' he was and what exactly he had done.
and overall I loved the evocation of the place up the coast, the absence of people and the fantastic freedom that the children experienced which is such a contrast to today when children are sheltered, restricted and kept indoors so they will never be able to look back with delight in ways we were thinking about those long summer days outdoors playing in the long grass, made up huts or caves and playing until dark free from adults. The contrast between this atmosphere and what was actually going on was a powerful read.
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emmamccleary Aug 15 2012, 3:45pm

Although the whole book was full of creeps I thought Caroline and her manipulation/kissing of everyone/running around naked with much younger boys was hands down one of the most creepy.

Soon after Susan was killed my money was on Harry so I didn't find the subsequent reveals too shocking. I enjoyed the book but it was one that just crept under my skin rather than grabbed me straight off.
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jules Aug 13 2012, 10:00pm

I've just listened to the podcast which confirmed my inkling that those last two sentences probably meant that Harry bumped off Mr Dalloway. But that didn't really work for me; the penultimate chapter suggests a mind unraveling, which casts doubts on everything Harry says and, in its stream of consciousness style, sits too oddly with the more 'deadpan' yet gothic bits of the text. To me one of the most gripping and creepy parts of the book is the 'Uncle Pember' figure, especially when he first appears in Caroline's autubiography (and sets Harry off crying) and then again as he reappears in the guise of Mr Wiggins and in the penultimate chapter. There's something odd going on there that I can't put my finger on. Seeing that the re-release is on a reserve list at the library, I borrowed the old hardback, published in 1968 by Whitcombe and Tombs, and quite an artifact in its own right (great cover).
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Fern Hickson Aug 13 2012, 2:17pm

By the way, what happened to Dibs when Harry kicked him over the cliff? There was no more mention of it except Dibs making an off-hand remark about it to Caroline. If this incident was meant to be the first hint of Harry's true character, it was very opaque. The incident did, however, set in motion the feeling of tension and dread that pervades the whole novel.
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Fern Hickson Aug 13 2012, 2:08pm

I didn't pick it up either until I heard it mentioned in the podcast. The big twist is what happened to Mr Dalloway when Harry met him "on the fifteenth floor of a city tower". Body number three? I think this is a mark of Ballantyne's clever manipulation of the story. By the end of the book, despite all the evidence against it, I still wanted Harry to turn out all right and hence didn't think of the possibility of another murder.

It's hard to say this book is enjoyable, although it's certainly unsettling and not one to forget. Ballantyne does such a good job of making Harry seem a pretty ordinary boy, that when he goes off the rails it doesn't ring true. Harry didn't seem to have enough motivation for either of the murders.
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emmamccleary Aug 7 2012, 4:03pm

I cheated and started in late July so I'd have half a chance of finishing this on time and be able to chat with people online. Several people I've heard talking about Sydney Bridge talk about the big twist at the end. Being the cynical person I am I saw a number of things heading my way along the plot lines. What *is* the big twist?
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