after January By Nick Earls (hsc stuff Aus)
...nks his dad is a dickhead who wasn¡¯t there when he needed him the most and his mum as a bitch because she¡¯s untrustworthy, giving his short story about him and a female classmate whose the English teachers daughter. Overall using a recount/third person style. Nick Earls writes Alex as an honest and simple person waiting for the end of January. But waiting for the wrong reasons. The first time Alex (our main character); meet Fortuna it¡¯s only by coincident. Alex is walking back from an early morning swim. Alex swims every morning because like most thing it¡¯s encoded into him it¡¯s a slowly becomes a daily task but he still loves it. He meets her as he makes his way past a car park. Fortuna, although we don¡¯t know her name yet, has some engine trouble with her moke. He being scared asked her ¡ ¡°what are you waiting for?¡±....but when Fortuna turns to speak to him he becomes lost in her green eyes. They have tea at Alex¡¯s place while they wait for her dad. From there on their courtship begins. Fortuna having been in a relationship before slowly teases Alex with her cham but mean while finding Alex humours and witty. The plot thickens from there onward. Alex doesn¡¯t know anything about Fortuna. He never catches her name in there first brief encounter but receives a bottle of honey and a letter that is signed with a, ¡°f¡±. What does that stand for? The honey has the strongest influence on the reader i.e. bee to the honey. Alex¡¯s mother has to leave her seaside holiday house halfway through the novel. She asks Alex ¡°Are you sure you want to stay?¡± Alex is so wrapped up with Fortuna that he feels nothing is important, even his university entrance marks aren¡¯t that important. With Len Bolts help, he persuades his mother to return to Brisbane and read his marks for him. This is Alex turning point; he turns from an obsessed with his uni entrance marks to someone who¡¯s now laid back. After this, Alex is asked to ¡°mind¡± Fortuna¡¯s dad, Cliff. He learns a lot of things from Cliff, things that are crazy in his lifestyle. He learns how to make bread, bake clay, a...