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a_shelf_of_books's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
chlosophis's review
5.0
I have such respect for Marie Munkara. Her book made me laugh so many times, and yet at the end of each short story a sobering fact about the colonisation of Australia would stick with me [and I don't believe I can, or want to, shake it off]. Unlike David Malouf or Thomas Kenneally [who are ironically white Australian writers], Marie doesn't represent Indigenous Australians as victims, but as strong survivors. Also, unlike most white Australian authors writing about Aborigines, Marie does not loose her message in density. She has the freedom to take the whole affair 'light-heartedly' (for lack of a better word), and this lightness in the text makes it easy for both white and Indigenous Australians to read, understand, but most importantly (and I say this, because I am a white Australian)... not feel uncomfortable.
sharon_geitz's review
4.0
A great read! Entertaining, sometimes funny but also sad. An insight into Aboriginal experience, wicked humour.
archytas's review
3.0
Look, I just didn't connect with this book: which given the importance of the topic, and the still-far-too-rare experience of having Indigenous voices telling Indigenous stories, was a little disappointing. This is largely, I suspect, a humour style question.
The style - one heavily featuring caricature and a faux simple storytelling voice - has never been a favourite of mine (I loath skit and sketch shows, yes, even Monty Python ones), and in this case, the voices of almost all the characters - bush mob and mission mob - blended into one. The character motivations felt very thin, and often interchangeable within the mobs. There seemed to be an omnipresent stupidity, with the occasional unexplored hint that this may mask a reluctance to confront the immense pain of truth.
There was one key exception - which bumped the review up to three stars - which was the story of Tapalinga's return to the bush mob. The whole chapter, alternating between the eyes of Marigold/Tapalinga and the Bush Mob she is returning too, provides beautifully drawn, incredibly painful, insight into an impossible situation. Suddenly the characters lept off the page fully drawn, and grabbed my attention. This scene, exclusively set among the bush mob, does so much to spell out the horror of the impact of the mission mob, and connected with me deeply enough that I decided to check out Munkara's new non-fiction book.
The style - one heavily featuring caricature and a faux simple storytelling voice - has never been a favourite of mine (I loath skit and sketch shows, yes, even Monty Python ones), and in this case, the voices of almost all the characters - bush mob and mission mob - blended into one. The character motivations felt very thin, and often interchangeable within the mobs. There seemed to be an omnipresent stupidity, with the occasional unexplored hint that this may mask a reluctance to confront the immense pain of truth.
There was one key exception - which bumped the review up to three stars - which was the story of Tapalinga's return to the bush mob. The whole chapter, alternating between the eyes of Marigold/Tapalinga and the Bush Mob she is returning too, provides beautifully drawn, incredibly painful, insight into an impossible situation. Suddenly the characters lept off the page fully drawn, and grabbed my attention. This scene, exclusively set among the bush mob, does so much to spell out the horror of the impact of the mission mob, and connected with me deeply enough that I decided to check out Munkara's new non-fiction book.
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