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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
"They were nothing more than people, by themselves. Even paired, any pairing, they would have been nothing more then people by themselves. But all together, they have become the heart and muscles and mind of something perilous and new, something strange and growing and great. Together, all together, they are the instruments of change."
I loved this weird, heartbreaking, mind stretching little book. It forced me to check my tendency to zoom through pages and instead pause to savor words, to think, to second guess what I just read and read it again, and to scribble down quotes that moved or challenged me. This book isn't for everyone - it doesn't do what you expect a novel to do - the narrative is an elusive and strange mix of poetry and prose, and the characters are maddening (I love and hate them still.) But I loved this book and am so glad I read it.
"Life goes on, Ngakau.
The weeping doesn't last forever.
Nor does the waiting.
You'll heal, man, back together again."
[around the world - new zealand]
I loved this weird, heartbreaking, mind stretching little book. It forced me to check my tendency to zoom through pages and instead pause to savor words, to think, to second guess what I just read and read it again, and to scribble down quotes that moved or challenged me. This book isn't for everyone - it doesn't do what you expect a novel to do - the narrative is an elusive and strange mix of poetry and prose, and the characters are maddening (I love and hate them still.) But I loved this book and am so glad I read it.
"Life goes on, Ngakau.
The weeping doesn't last forever.
Nor does the waiting.
You'll heal, man, back together again."
[around the world - new zealand]
2.5…maybe 3? A classic of New Zealand and Māori literature. I thought its strengths were its memorable characters (Kerewin and Simon) and some moments of character development/found family. The spiritual/ancestral/magical realism aspects of the final sections were compelling and made me want to learn more. Before these sections, I had been kind of waiting for the book to finally come to an end. I wouldn’t say the odd prose style was an issue throughout, but at times I did feel like major plot points were lost or muddled in it, including the epilogue, which felt important. The most difficult part of this book to get through was the violence, which at times the narrator seems to justify. An alternate reading could be one of some sense of restorative justice by the final chapters, but I’m not sure the author really draws this out. I also felt like some of the major plot lines that were supposed to be wrapped up in the final chapters were not clearly elucidated (e.g. the confusion around Simon’s identity). This one leaves me a bit unsatisfied, and I’m not sure I would recommend it.
Dnf at about 50%
I’m just not interested in reading the thoughts of a child abuser while he masturbates
I’m just not interested in reading the thoughts of a child abuser while he masturbates
I mused over this novel over the course of several months, an atypical approach to a book for me. As a whole, the book captured the Maori culture - at least I think it did. I have no knowledge about Maoris. But the use of language and trust in the reader to go along was magnificent.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
I read this book years ago and it still haunts me...one of the best written, most poignantly touching, most difficult books I've read. It's actually a great book, but too traumatizing for me, thus only 3 stars.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-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
Three broken people break each other some more until they can become a family.
Joe has an adopted son named Simon (of Haiman, in native tongue) Joe lost his wife and biological son and has never officially adopted Simon. He saved the boy from a wreckage on the coast. Simon doesn't speak, seems older than his years, and gets in a lot of trouble. Simon finds Kerewin one day and keeps going back to visit and brings Joe. They become a makeshift family. Kerewin finds out that Joe has been beating Simon when he's been bad. Kerewin beats Joe and makes him promise not to hit the boy unless she says he can. One day Simon and Kerewin have an argument and he breaks her guitar. She tells Joe that the boy needs to be punished. Joe really beats him and Simon stabs him.
The three are separated. Joe to prison, Simon to hospital and foster care, Kerewin on walk about because feels guilty. She gets very sick. She heals and has the ship that Simon was brought on salvaged so she can adopt the boy (drugs on it).
Very mystical. Strange breaks in type and indentation. But very good.
Joe has an adopted son named Simon (of Haiman, in native tongue) Joe lost his wife and biological son and has never officially adopted Simon. He saved the boy from a wreckage on the coast. Simon doesn't speak, seems older than his years, and gets in a lot of trouble. Simon finds Kerewin one day and keeps going back to visit and brings Joe. They become a makeshift family. Kerewin finds out that Joe has been beating Simon when he's been bad. Kerewin beats Joe and makes him promise not to hit the boy unless she says he can. One day Simon and Kerewin have an argument and he breaks her guitar. She tells Joe that the boy needs to be punished. Joe really beats him and Simon stabs him.
The three are separated. Joe to prison, Simon to hospital and foster care, Kerewin on walk about because feels guilty. She gets very sick. She heals and has the ship that Simon was brought on salvaged so she can adopt the boy (drugs on it).
Very mystical. Strange breaks in type and indentation. But very good.
- You want to know about anybody? See what books they read, and how they've been read...
- We are more than the sum of our parts; we are the stories that we tell.
- We are all capable of violence, and we all have the capacity for healing.
- To be human is to be incomplete.
- Sometimes, the waves grow hushed, but the sea is always there, touching, caressing, eating the earth.
- There really is no place like home, even when it's grown a couple of sizes too small.
- I am worn, down to the raw nub of my soul.
Now is the time, o bitter beer, soothe my spirit;
smooth mouth of whisky, tell me lies of truth;
but better still, sweet wine, be harbinger of deep and dreamless sleep.
- We are more than the sum of our parts; we are the stories that we tell.
- We are all capable of violence, and we all have the capacity for healing.
- To be human is to be incomplete.
- Sometimes, the waves grow hushed, but the sea is always there, touching, caressing, eating the earth.
- There really is no place like home, even when it's grown a couple of sizes too small.
- I am worn, down to the raw nub of my soul.
Now is the time, o bitter beer, soothe my spirit;
smooth mouth of whisky, tell me lies of truth;
but better still, sweet wine, be harbinger of deep and dreamless sleep.