Reviews

Foreign Soil: And Other Stories by Maxine Beneba Clarke

lynsket's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

zinnias's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

steph_says92's review against another edition

3.0

**I do not like short stories**

I actually really enjoyed some of the characters and I found the stories easy to follow and quite liked the plot, the reason I only gave 3 stars was simply because I wanted MORE! I hated how the stories ended just when I thought they were at a climax!

holyshark's review against another edition

4.0

What a book! It’s like a fiction that doesn’t read like a fiction — it feels as if all the stories are true. The longest stories were the “best”, in my opinion, because they gave me a chance to know the characters better. The stories were written so powerfully — especially The Stilt Fishermen of Kathaluwa. The language, the tone, the seamless transition between what Asanka was seeing and what was happening, it was all just so well done. I also liked The Sukiyaki Book Club, because this was the first one where I saw symbolism. I'm not much of a person who reads and notices things like that, but this one made me happy / hopeful.

Whilst reading the first short story I’d already decided that I’d read a short story a day instead of all in one go, or as I felt. This was a highly uncomfortable read, not because of the content but because the stories were very moving, and allowed me to compare my own life experience to these characters.

zzara's review against another edition

4.0

This book is incredibly well written, and a challenging but rewarding read. The vernacular which some of the stories in the book is written required a lot of focus just to understand, but I think that was actually a really valuable way to read, given that those who speak in various forms of english are forced to read and understand a more formal dialect. I think this was a really inventive way to write. I also thought that each story was captivating and stood well on its own, but I loved the subtle way they were all tied together at the end. An incredible piece of Australian literature.

renepierre's review against another edition

4.0

Great collection! I will say there were a few I didn't really get a long with and one I skipped. That is purely because I had trouble with The Dialect she was using in some stories. How ever, the good stories were so great. And one in particular had me wishing it was a full novel and I'm still thinking about it today!

aamelia_i's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

crazybooklady_'s review against another edition

5.0

Foreign Soil. Ah-mazing! Maxine Beneba Clarke is such a strong writer that god help me if she ever writes a novel. She has such an uncanny ability to develop such whole characters even in such short stories that the reader finds themselves wholly immersed in the experience. Foreign Soil is a collection of short stories that tell the often untold tales of minorities. The ostracised, the forgotten and the persecuted. These stories span decades of our recent history and stretch as far wide as Africa to the US, England to Australia. Don't be fooled into thinking these are stories that designed to invoke your sympathy towards the cultural minorities that are often preyed on. These stories are so much more than that. They merely tell these untold stories, acutely honest and in no means stereotypical painting all white people as bad guys or all people of colour as heroes, tell these stories that need to be told.



Beneba Clarke's writing is so evocative, so honest, so unaffected. There are no airs, no graces and these stories re certainly not overwritten, appealing for sympathy. None of these stories are fairytales, they are the harsh realities of life and, yet, with pockets of beauty. I could not put this collection down and in fact read it from cover to cover in less than 24 hours (which included a full nights sleep and a usual day's work). Different stories n this collection will stand out to different people. In particular I enjoyed their stories David, Hope, Foreign Soil, Shu Yi, Gaps in the Hickory, The Stilt Fisherman of Kathaluwa and the new addition Aviation.



Beneba Clarke is such an important author - her books should be read by everyone, in particular the privileged middle-class. I hope to see this book taught in high schools around the country if only to give our youths a little perspective, helping to guide them in making their own informed opinions rather than parroting what they hear at home or from friends. If you haven't read this collection I would highly urge you to pick it up, I feel there is much to be gained from these stories for everyone and I dare anyone to walk away and not be touched by at least one of these stories. I give Foreign Soil five bicycles from the first story in this collection , one of my favourites.

storymaxxer's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

yannan_mw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0