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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
A beautifully written book that conveys some interesting ideas, while being set in small town NZ. The three main characters are all different and fascinating.
That said the writing style is definitely challenging and is often difficult to know what is happening.
That said the writing style is definitely challenging and is often difficult to know what is happening.
Difficult book to get through, but I couldn't stop reading it. Didn't love it, didn't hate it (like some readers apparently did). Still, it was fascinating in its own way, especially when it touched on Maori culture. A novel that raised more questions than it answered for me.
I came across ‘The Bone People’ when looking for an evocative book and to that end, it met all my expectations: the novel offers poetic descriptions of the New Zealand coastline and Maori myth and legend. However, the overly defensive preface and the many character flaws of Hulme’s apparent alter ego, Kerewin, made the first hundred or so pages an exercise of determination…
As for the story itself, despite the cliché-ridden prose and complex narration it is a gripping read exploring the themes of abuse and trauma. Overall, the narrative is divided into three parts: the initial unhappy isolation state (Kerewin- the secluded hermit; Joe- the grieving drunk and Simon- the traumatized mute) moving into a period of turmoil that holds the promise of harmony of a shared life. During this process of transition, the characters share their backgrounds in search of mutual redemption. In this manner, the characters gain more dimensions for the reader: Kerewin lives secluded due to a fall out with her family, Simon has serious maladaptation issues and Joe, grappling with the loss of this wife and child, has taken to beating him regularly. In one such event, Simon comes close to death. This occurrence disperses the characters and the possibility of them forming a family seems lost forever. Indeed, only by undergoing a kind of ritual purification are they able to find the self-knowledge that will enable them to accept each other’s love. However, this catharsis is an underwhelming end to grappling story of abuse, in which the reader is expected to forgive and forget the damage done with some vague (and slightly absurd) mysticism.
Overall, this is the biggest flaw in the novel: its great success at chronicling the complicated relationships that develop among three outcasts is diluted by excessive inclusions of weird dreams, bizarre talismans and symbolic events. Hulme has an excellent understanding of ambivalent emotions- specifically about the coexistence of two contrary emotions at the same time- and ability to portray this anomalous state of mind through both action and (internal) monologues. But she also sins of lack of selectivity in her writing and as a reader, I often found myself tired of so much unnecessary strangeness.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this book (mainly for its scenic accomplishments) but it does require a reader that is patient with the author’s idiosyncrasies.
As for the story itself, despite the cliché-ridden prose and complex narration it is a gripping read exploring the themes of abuse and trauma. Overall, the narrative is divided into three parts: the initial unhappy isolation state (Kerewin- the secluded hermit; Joe- the grieving drunk and Simon- the traumatized mute) moving into a period of turmoil that holds the promise of harmony of a shared life. During this process of transition, the characters share their backgrounds in search of mutual redemption. In this manner, the characters gain more dimensions for the reader: Kerewin lives secluded due to a fall out with her family, Simon has serious maladaptation issues and Joe, grappling with the loss of this wife and child, has taken to beating him regularly. In one such event, Simon comes close to death. This occurrence disperses the characters and the possibility of them forming a family seems lost forever. Indeed, only by undergoing a kind of ritual purification are they able to find the self-knowledge that will enable them to accept each other’s love. However, this catharsis is an underwhelming end to grappling story of abuse, in which the reader is expected to forgive and forget the damage done with some vague (and slightly absurd) mysticism.
Overall, this is the biggest flaw in the novel: its great success at chronicling the complicated relationships that develop among three outcasts is diluted by excessive inclusions of weird dreams, bizarre talismans and symbolic events. Hulme has an excellent understanding of ambivalent emotions- specifically about the coexistence of two contrary emotions at the same time- and ability to portray this anomalous state of mind through both action and (internal) monologues. But she also sins of lack of selectivity in her writing and as a reader, I often found myself tired of so much unnecessary strangeness.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this book (mainly for its scenic accomplishments) but it does require a reader that is patient with the author’s idiosyncrasies.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
hm. this book has been haunting me for the last couple days.
i dont think i can ever get over kerewin giving permission. on her piling in on simon. what was i supposed to glean from that? that someone who had been the lone person able to stand up to joe and get him to stop abusing his child? who had heard joes excuses of sometimes simon just pisses me off and still thought that he shouldnt be beating his child? that she gets pissed off at simon and all of a sudden she makes sure joe knows that he can beat simon as much as he wants?
i had been started to enjoy the book before then. a bit leerily but i was intrigued by this whole, yes joe is abusive. but with the help/intervention of kerewin he is accepting that he should not do it and that he and simon can heal. and that theres ways to discipline his child that are not abusive. and that they could be a family for real. and we cut to.... simon, nearly dead in the hospital. like i really dont understand what im supposed to gain from it. that joe really did take kerewin at her word of she can tell me when to beat simon instead of really going for okay, maybe abusing my child isnt the best way. that kerewin has one smashed guitar one missing knife and all of a sudden her moral fiber is snapped. come on man.
also i wish that kerewins family troubles werent resolved in like 2 pages in the epilogue. talked abt hinted abt the whole book and we just go ya its cool joe asked em to come over and everybody loves each other? but thats not really an issue for me i just wish kerewins problems/history was talked abt more since we learn so much abt joe and simon.
i had been started to enjoy the book before then. a bit leerily but i was intrigued by this whole, yes joe is abusive. but with the help/intervention of kerewin he is accepting that he should not do it and that he and simon can heal. and that theres ways to discipline his child that are not abusive. and that they could be a family for real. and we cut to.... simon, nearly dead in the hospital. like i really dont understand what im supposed to gain from it. that joe really did take kerewin at her word of she can tell me when to beat simon instead of really going for okay, maybe abusing my child isnt the best way. that kerewin has one smashed guitar one missing knife and all of a sudden her moral fiber is snapped. come on man.
also i wish that kerewins family troubles werent resolved in like 2 pages in the epilogue. talked abt hinted abt the whole book and we just go ya its cool joe asked em to come over and everybody loves each other? but thats not really an issue for me i just wish kerewins problems/history was talked abt more since we learn so much abt joe and simon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia
Well wowser. I have so many feelings about this book. So many conflicting emotions throughout reading “The bone people”. Did I appreciate it? Yes. Did I devour it? Yes. Was I overwhelmed with the content? Yes. Was I intimidated by the length of it? Yes.
It’s a slog of a book. So prepare for that.
And it’s frustrating and sad and upsetting.
There is confronting violence. Alcohol abuse. Neglect of a child. And some language and references which would certainly be deemed politically incorrect in the 2020’s. This did leave a bad taste in my mouth.
It was saved by the poetic writing. And the beautiful way that the Maori language is intertwined throughout.
Be wary if violence is hard for you to stomach.
Give it a go for the words, the mystery and the Maori culture.
It’s a slog of a book. So prepare for that.
And it’s frustrating and sad and upsetting.
There is confronting violence. Alcohol abuse. Neglect of a child. And some language and references which would certainly be deemed politically incorrect in the 2020’s. This did leave a bad taste in my mouth.
It was saved by the poetic writing. And the beautiful way that the Maori language is intertwined throughout.
Be wary if violence is hard for you to stomach.
Give it a go for the words, the mystery and the Maori culture.
I had to stop reading a third of the way through because the violence against the child was too horrific. I did like the writing style a lot, but I just couldn't handle the content. It actually gave me nightmares.
what an odd duck of a book - no grammar or spelling rules, stream-of-conscious rants, deeply flawed people and mystical turn of events.
but nope, I didn't like it. in fact, I only finished it b/c it was my choice for bookclub.
there's no much to cringe at: a young kid smoking, a drunk and abusive father, dead bunnies, dreams of rivers flowing from vaginas..... I get that I am reacting in a 'western' way and, consequently, judging another's culture but I can't help who I am, even if what I am is a colonial master.
one thing I did appreciate was the delicate dance back and forth of Kerewin discovering the child abuse, her trying to rectify it with what she's seen of the relationship, and her simmering anger. the abuse/violence is viewed from all 3 main characters and their reflections take a significant portion of the novel. it shapes them and defines the story.
but nope, I didn't like it. in fact, I only finished it b/c it was my choice for bookclub.
there's no much to cringe at: a young kid smoking, a drunk and abusive father, dead bunnies, dreams of rivers flowing from vaginas..... I get that I am reacting in a 'western' way and, consequently, judging another's culture but I can't help who I am, even if what I am is a colonial master.
one thing I did appreciate was the delicate dance back and forth of Kerewin discovering the child abuse, her trying to rectify it with what she's seen of the relationship, and her simmering anger. the abuse/violence is viewed from all 3 main characters and their reflections take a significant portion of the novel. it shapes them and defines the story.
Not like anything I have read before. Took a while, too. And worth the effort entirely. Captures thought and feeling with tactility and gradual clarity.
What a hard book to try and sum up or review.
I cried reading this and I read passages shaking my head in disbelief. I reread and bookmarked passages that were so well written and witty and beautiful, this novel certainly grabbed me and forced me into being an active reader.
Keri Hulme introduces you to three very interesting and flawed characters. She lets you fall in love with them and then two of them do despicable and disgusting things. They make bad and selfish choices and it’s heartbreaking.
The emotional roller coaster of the character development is set amongst a backdrop of rural new Zealand South Island seaside. The homes and baches, perfectly described and the wild beaches so real and encompassing.
Once when I was flatting an acquaintance brought over some Tītī/muttonbird to cook and eat. I think Kerewin and Joe eat some early in this book. When this guy cooked some up in the flat it reeked, it was oily and salty and oh so rich. The fatty dark meat on the tiny brittle bones really imprinted on my mind. That’s what this book is like: salty and intense. It’s clever and enticing and also just too much.
It’s dark and so brutal. The drunken nights with so much whisky made me feel drunk and scared. I felt guilty and dirty sometimes, I felt so ashamed for what the characters did. I couldn’t read the bone people in short bursts or on the bus, I had to sit down and immerse in it.
I feel conflicted too, how can I give this 5 stars when the end is so unsatisfactory and sits so wrong? I guess because it didn’t feel like an end, it felt sad and realistic and life goes on.
The first half of the book was easier/ better. At times the selfishness/ mysticism and change of places in the second half was hard to keep up with. The strange old man in the bush reminded me of Murakami and Ghibli and suspending my belief for some bush magic. But I liked it, it’s lush, it’s just at the corner or your vision and it’s familiar.
I don’t like stream of consciousness, I’m terrified of the abuse and suicidal darkness that is so much a part of this novel and a part of this country but I do like this book.
I cried reading this and I read passages shaking my head in disbelief. I reread and bookmarked passages that were so well written and witty and beautiful, this novel certainly grabbed me and forced me into being an active reader.
Keri Hulme introduces you to three very interesting and flawed characters. She lets you fall in love with them and then two of them do despicable and disgusting things. They make bad and selfish choices and it’s heartbreaking.
The emotional roller coaster of the character development is set amongst a backdrop of rural new Zealand South Island seaside. The homes and baches, perfectly described and the wild beaches so real and encompassing.
Once when I was flatting an acquaintance brought over some Tītī/muttonbird to cook and eat. I think Kerewin and Joe eat some early in this book. When this guy cooked some up in the flat it reeked, it was oily and salty and oh so rich. The fatty dark meat on the tiny brittle bones really imprinted on my mind. That’s what this book is like: salty and intense. It’s clever and enticing and also just too much.
It’s dark and so brutal. The drunken nights with so much whisky made me feel drunk and scared. I felt guilty and dirty sometimes, I felt so ashamed for what the characters did. I couldn’t read the bone people in short bursts or on the bus, I had to sit down and immerse in it.
I feel conflicted too, how can I give this 5 stars when the end is so unsatisfactory and sits so wrong? I guess because it didn’t feel like an end, it felt sad and realistic and life goes on.
The first half of the book was easier/ better. At times the selfishness/ mysticism and change of places in the second half was hard to keep up with. The strange old man in the bush reminded me of Murakami and Ghibli and suspending my belief for some bush magic. But I liked it, it’s lush, it’s just at the corner or your vision and it’s familiar.
I don’t like stream of consciousness, I’m terrified of the abuse and suicidal darkness that is so much a part of this novel and a part of this country but I do like this book.