No Memory Comes – A short story from the book “minimum of two” by Tim Winton
SummaryOne of Tim Winton’s styles is to not identify the characters name on numerous occasions No
Memory Comes is a short story from the book “minimum of two” by author Tim Winton it is about a
boy and his friend who started off friends in early primary school, right out to after high school, this
book involves a smart boy who’s memory is very sharp as he can recall almost anything from who he
went to school with in grade 1 to every song on every old record. The short story starts on New
Year’s Eve where the boy is celebrating with his parents at the beach home. The boy is weary of the
time passing; he loves primary school and grows to love high school. He and his friend have normal
teenage adventures from parties to girls. After the divorce of his parents he becomes distant from
his mother and no longer goes on vacation or to the beach house that his mother won in the
settlement. One night while driving in the car him and his friend saved up for an old HR Holden
which they painted green, they come across his old beach house and he remembers something he
forgot. Time passes him again and he can no longer remember.
Character analysis / description –
The boy –
the boy does not follow trends, he keeps his hair long while everybody cuts it short, he wears
Hawaiian shirts and bores everyone. He shows a little too much loyalty to his friend which he doesn’t
get back from him. An example of this is that he votes for his friend and his friend’s girlfriend for
head boy and head girl, the boy because it is his friend and the girl out of loyalty. He remembers
almost anything and tells lots of old stories.
The friend –
The friend starts of nice and shows loyalty for the boy, but later in the life he becomes distant and
takes the boy for granted, Although he does take care of the boy when he becomes drunk and
unable to look after himself.
The friend’s Girlfriend –
The friend’s Girlfriend is referred to as the girlfriend in the story and she replaces the boy and the
friend starts giving her more attention than him.
Word bio on the Author –
Tim Winton was born in 1960 in Perth, Western Australia his first novel “An Open Swimmer” was
winner of the Australian/Vogel Literary award he has also won the Miles Franklin (three times), The
Banjo Prize, the Deo Gloria Award and the Wilderness Society Environment Award. Tim has shown a
likeness for water (aka beach) and has mentioned this in many of his Stories. Tim is quite a shy man
and only ever does one interview per book. Tim has published 10 successful novels in twelve
different languages which have been adapted for stage, screen and radio. Tim is actively involved in
the Australian environmental movement.
Re-write the endingThe boy graduates high school. His friend is no longer seeing the girlfriend; their car still reeks of the
girls perfume sending back memories which he feels he cannot tell. The friend becomes distant, they
no longer take trips in there green HR Holden, and They do not party and do not drink. One day the
boy see’s the friend old girl friend. She is with a new boy, who looks rough with hard scars; the old
girlfriend still looks the same. She nods in the boy’s direction and walks past.
Time still passes, the boy does not know where to go in life, and he is stuck between boy and man,
he wishes time would go back. He wants things to be the same as when he was younger. One day his
friend comes in the car and they go for a drive. As the night went on the boy wondered where they
were going. He heard some seagulls and heard the faint sound of crashing waves. He closed his eyes
and memories came back to his mind. The friend pulled over the car and took out some beer. The
boy did not want any; He did not want to remember. As the years passed the boy forgot. He never
told stories, he did not wish for time to slow down for him, No memory came.
By Jacob Pistrin 9y