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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
This was a really tough read for me partly because of the sections about dreams or people's thoughts interspersed with action, but more because it made me so angry. It won the Booker Prize in 1985, and I remember a friend in college really liked it. Also, it has Maori elements which I am interested in. It is the second novel by New Zealand authors that I have read, and I got a sense of geographical and psychological isolation in both novels, but love emerging after struggle. The novel will stick with me, but I am not sure if I can really recommend it more strongly than a 2 1/2. Now you should stop reading if you want to read this book.
The biggest problem is the brutality that was shown to the boy and the fact that it ends up with a happy ending. That is cheap if you ask me. Also, why was Joseph's role of deep significance shown to him if he is just going to abandon it? Also, why do author's make endings so vague? The ending could be much more clear since she reunites the family anyway. I know the author is suggesting that the boy won't be harmed again and it is clear that he wants to be reunited with them, but they just don't deserve him after what they did to him.
The biggest problem is the brutality that was shown to the boy and the fact that it ends up with a happy ending. That is cheap if you ask me. Also, why was Joseph's role of deep significance shown to him if he is just going to abandon it? Also, why do author's make endings so vague? The ending could be much more clear since she reunites the family anyway. I know the author is suggesting that the boy won't be harmed again and it is clear that he wants to be reunited with them, but they just don't deserve him after what they did to him.
Well I was warned about this book and it is true. It is a book that is different, at times weird, stunning and not always a nice easy.
Writing style:
Different, very unusual. It can come across as bits and bobs and it may do to some, but it also flows as life flows. It has a flow easiness that follows tidal currents. People and scenes takes the foreground as needed or wanted. The tides follow the story.
Initially three storylines that start to mix but are separate, then toward the climax of the book the three main story and character lines are completely intertwined and sometimes hard to separate. A whirlpool of story, emotions and main characters dazzling off the pages. The three become as one unit just like in the story.
The climax is painful mesmerising and stunning to read. The story breaks down into the different storylines again to the point where chapter headings are used. The whole one becomes three separate stories as the energy in the whirlpool flings them apart.
To some extend it mends itself but just as with a shattered porcelain the cracks remain visible. It does not become whole again despite the mystics scenes that glue it together.
Hulme has a style that makes it possible for the reader to have colliding emotions at the climax scene. Without giving too much away. It is incredibly uncomfortable reading, it is heart wrenching, but it is not written in a raw manner. The cruelty and pain is tangible, you want it to stop. You want to shout “stop now!” at the pages. Step in and make it stop or go away..
Yet....., it is written so beautifully and poetic that feelings of horror and beauty on the page collide. The prose describing this cruelty is of a beauty seldom seen. Emotions clash…….It brought tears to my eyes.
The story:
it is described as a love story and in a way it is. It never quite gets to the bottom of the mystery central to the story. It never quite finishes. It never is.... just a story. It tells the story of three people, three damaged people. Damaged in their own unique way. They come together and unlike most stories these days, they do not heal each other. Their path of self destruction, self abuse and mutual abuse continues and intensifies. They develop a kind of co-dependency that is destruction seeking.
The love story comes to an explosive ending it seems. Healing seems to start and with it a certain amount of Maori mystic things and legends and stories, that have been lurking on the side, enter. From then story then looses it’s lustre, the writing is still beautiful, but the story is no longer enthralling and does not sway. The story becomes a little puddle, away from the tides flows. The ending is in my opinion not good. As if a finish was needed and given, too reluctantly, to please the editor/publisher
My opinion
To be honest I am not a big fan of the ending. Just does not feel as real as the main part.
I know NZ and I know the hard drinking and (domestic) abuse that is written in the book does exist. It is something that is a known problem in NZ. I see the Maori legends, stories and thinking that I know and love seeing them shine through.
I am so glad I read this book as it had been on my to read list ever since I have known about it (20 years) I will have to re-read it as it has so much in itself that I think I missed parts.
I give it 4.5 stars rounded down and that is because of the ending, the not finishing some of the story (even not leaving it open) and the weird mystic ending that to me does to feel to be part of the main story.
Writing style:
Different, very unusual. It can come across as bits and bobs and it may do to some, but it also flows as life flows. It has a flow easiness that follows tidal currents. People and scenes takes the foreground as needed or wanted. The tides follow the story.
Initially three storylines that start to mix but are separate, then toward the climax of the book the three main story and character lines are completely intertwined and sometimes hard to separate. A whirlpool of story, emotions and main characters dazzling off the pages. The three become as one unit just like in the story.
The climax is painful mesmerising and stunning to read. The story breaks down into the different storylines again to the point where chapter headings are used. The whole one becomes three separate stories as the energy in the whirlpool flings them apart.
To some extend it mends itself but just as with a shattered porcelain the cracks remain visible. It does not become whole again despite the mystics scenes that glue it together.
Hulme has a style that makes it possible for the reader to have colliding emotions at the climax scene. Without giving too much away. It is incredibly uncomfortable reading, it is heart wrenching, but it is not written in a raw manner. The cruelty and pain is tangible, you want it to stop. You want to shout “stop now!” at the pages. Step in and make it stop or go away..
Yet....., it is written so beautifully and poetic that feelings of horror and beauty on the page collide. The prose describing this cruelty is of a beauty seldom seen. Emotions clash…….It brought tears to my eyes.
The story:
it is described as a love story and in a way it is. It never quite gets to the bottom of the mystery central to the story. It never quite finishes. It never is.... just a story. It tells the story of three people, three damaged people. Damaged in their own unique way. They come together and unlike most stories these days, they do not heal each other. Their path of self destruction, self abuse and mutual abuse continues and intensifies. They develop a kind of co-dependency that is destruction seeking.
The love story comes to an explosive ending it seems. Healing seems to start and with it a certain amount of Maori mystic things and legends and stories, that have been lurking on the side, enter. From then story then looses it’s lustre, the writing is still beautiful, but the story is no longer enthralling and does not sway. The story becomes a little puddle, away from the tides flows. The ending is in my opinion not good. As if a finish was needed and given, too reluctantly, to please the editor/publisher
My opinion
To be honest I am not a big fan of the ending. Just does not feel as real as the main part.
I know NZ and I know the hard drinking and (domestic) abuse that is written in the book does exist. It is something that is a known problem in NZ. I see the Maori legends, stories and thinking that I know and love seeing them shine through.
I am so glad I read this book as it had been on my to read list ever since I have known about it (20 years) I will have to re-read it as it has so much in itself that I think I missed parts.
I give it 4.5 stars rounded down and that is because of the ending, the not finishing some of the story (even not leaving it open) and the weird mystic ending that to me does to feel to be part of the main story.
This is an ordinary story about friendship, coming back to one's roots and family, and the everyday struggles of people haunted by their pasts. But this ordinary story is told in such a unique way. There is nothing formal or standard about Hulme's writing. Stream of consciousness, unorthodox shifts in perspective, and poetry are all a part of what make this a worthy Booker Prize winner from its time.
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
My all time favorite book. Part poetry, part allegory, part narrative... the writing enticed me to attempt the book just one more time all through college, until I finally found my affinity for it. My life has consistently spiralled back to poor Kerewin, and I still haven't found what brings me back time after time. Is it the language? The landscape? The story of Simon, finally able to speak and integrate his trauma? I am now finding that Simon gave me unbelievable empathy for my own child, who's experiences in life are not that different.
I have mixed feelings about this book.
Descriptive language is sometimes amazing ... BUT... looking up frequent Maori phrases (back of the book) was annoying. (Footnotes anyone?!?)
'hearing' a character's thoughts / seeing through their eyes does give deep insight ...BUT... I'm sometimes not sure which character this is, disjointed thought processes often lose me, I sometimes give up on paragraphs and skip to the next.
Reality vs dream world... all well and good, but I'm not always sure which is which. This is probably a deliberate ploy by the author, but brings me to a new level of disorientation when coupled with disjointed thoughts and character confusion.
All in all, I enjoyed this book. I'm pretty sure I know what happened (in broad terms - I probably missed some details) and the narrative style was interesting, if frustrating at times.
The book follows the push-pull dynamics between the three main characters, their journey to find a place where they are 'together-apart' from each other, reconciled to themselves but part of a community, at peace with the ghosts of their past and comfortable with their mixed-ethnicity...
The three main characters are odd, definitely flawed but ultimately human and loveable and this is what carried the book for me.
Descriptive language is sometimes amazing ... BUT... looking up frequent Maori phrases (back of the book) was annoying. (Footnotes anyone?!?)
'hearing' a character's thoughts / seeing through their eyes does give deep insight ...BUT... I'm sometimes not sure which character this is, disjointed thought processes often lose me, I sometimes give up on paragraphs and skip to the next.
Reality vs dream world... all well and good, but I'm not always sure which is which. This is probably a deliberate ploy by the author, but brings me to a new level of disorientation when coupled with disjointed thoughts and character confusion.
All in all, I enjoyed this book. I'm pretty sure I know what happened (in broad terms - I probably missed some details) and the narrative style was interesting, if frustrating at times.
The book follows the push-pull dynamics between the three main characters, their journey to find a place where they are 'together-apart' from each other, reconciled to themselves but part of a community, at peace with the ghosts of their past and comfortable with their mixed-ethnicity...
The three main characters are odd, definitely flawed but ultimately human and loveable and this is what carried the book for me.
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an extremely difficult book to read. It is long, the font (in the copy I had) was small, and the writing style was unique, but hard to follow. I got the basic gist of the story, but I'm sure I missed a lot of what the author was trying to convey.