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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
This was a tough book to read for myriad reasons. I truly hated the font style and paper color. It gave me a headache the first few reading sessions. It also uses a very unique writing style that took me a really long time to get a grasp on. Lastly, the content, once I got into the narrative and was able to read at a pretty good clip, was brutal and violent and very sad. This book just made me sad. It hurt my heart. Sometimes books hurt my heart in a way I like. Not so with this one. It just bummed me out.
I read Bone People as part of our reading group's commitment to working through the Booker prize list (plus it was inevitable being a famous Kiwi publication)
The book began pretty smoothly for me, a challenging protagonist, a compelling vulnerable child and an unknown quantity in the child's father.
Its no secret that the story delves into abuse, but the direction of Bone people is confronting to say the least. Nonetheless the original and in my opinion close to real take is something that will not be seen elsewhere.
In regards to other aspects of the book, I found the narrative hard to follow much of the time. I enjoyed the sporadic leaps into clarity especially during harrowing scenes, although I often found myself questioning whose head I was in (this of course maybe a criticism of my own attentional abilities, just putting it out there) This in total left me feeling a little unsatisfied by the end of the book, however glad I was to have jumped in Hulme's world.
The book began pretty smoothly for me, a challenging protagonist, a compelling vulnerable child and an unknown quantity in the child's father.
Its no secret that the story delves into abuse, but the direction of Bone people is confronting to say the least. Nonetheless the original and in my opinion close to real take is something that will not be seen elsewhere.
In regards to other aspects of the book, I found the narrative hard to follow much of the time. I enjoyed the sporadic leaps into clarity especially during harrowing scenes, although I often found myself questioning whose head I was in (this of course maybe a criticism of my own attentional abilities, just putting it out there) This in total left me feeling a little unsatisfied by the end of the book, however glad I was to have jumped in Hulme's world.
(Why won't goodreads accept this review? This is the 5th time I've tried to write it. With mounting frustration:)
I'm reading this book yet again, and as always I'm blown away by how beautiful, powerful and terrible (in the old-fashioned, true meaning of the world) it is. Hulme is a true poet and expert story-crafter. Her characters are painfully true-to-life. It remains in my top 10 books of all time.
I'm reading this book yet again, and as always I'm blown away by how beautiful, powerful and terrible (in the old-fashioned, true meaning of the world) it is. Hulme is a true poet and expert story-crafter. Her characters are painfully true-to-life. It remains in my top 10 books of all time.
this was quite beautiful. very different narrative stylings. lovely touches of Maori people. a few plot changes that I found abrupt. all in all a lovely read!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The characters in The Bone People are all outcasts. Kerewin Holmes is a painter that doesn't paint, who lives an isolated life in a tower. Simon is a mute boy who washed up on the shore of the West Coast of NZ following a shipwreck. He was found and adopted by Joe, who then lost his wife and biological child to the flu and proceeded to drink heavily and beat Simon. Kerewin has Joe and Simon enter her life when Simon breaks into her home. Chronicling of the complicated relationships that develop between the main cast is the most enjoyable part of this novel.
Some hefty issues are touched on, including displacement of Maori. At times Hulmes writing is disjointed and bordering on nonsense, but at other times her storytelling is to-the-point and vivid. I couldn't give this book higher than 3 stars because it is all over the show. Parts are great. Parts were a mix of wishy-washy magic and convenient happenings to drag the plot back on track. Tension and drama that built over the course of the novel towards what I assumed was going to be major plot points culminated in not much. It felt like all the elements of a potentially great novel were there, but some heavy editing was required to find them.
Some hefty issues are touched on, including displacement of Maori. At times Hulmes writing is disjointed and bordering on nonsense, but at other times her storytelling is to-the-point and vivid. I couldn't give this book higher than 3 stars because it is all over the show. Parts are great. Parts were a mix of wishy-washy magic and convenient happenings to drag the plot back on track. Tension and drama that built over the course of the novel towards what I assumed was going to be major plot points culminated in not much. It felt like all the elements of a potentially great novel were there, but some heavy editing was required to find them.
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
well, as "read" as it is going to get by me. made it through first couple of chapters and gave up, something I rarely do.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing was at times stunning, but then at times so over worked it became nonsense for the sake of sounding fancy. Also I don’t like how Kerewin and joes horrific actions were not challenged but rather excused and justified constantly, I hated the ending.