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emilyfrizz's review against another edition
5.0
This is an exquisite book - powerful and full of life. The story keeps you hooked right up until the last pages, and the writing simply shines off the page. This is the kind of book where you read a sentence and just have to stop to re-read those words again and again, to let them sink in and explode with images in your mind. An easy 5-stars.
alyssafraley's review against another edition
Really hard to follow as an audiobook
fureverlove's review against another edition
5.0
What an absolutely breathtaking read!
Thos book tells multiple stories at once - the story of August, a young Aboriginal woman who has fled her home town in regional NSW to England but returns when her grandfather passes; the story of her grandfather, told through a dictionary of his native language which has otherwise been lost; and the story of the Reverend who started the mission where her families property lies (told through a letter he wrote nearing death). At first these three sub plots don’t really pull the reader in but by the end it’s all brought together impeccably.
The use of native language and descriptions of the land, colonisation and history of the town made me weep. These things, whilst fictionalised, we’re all real events and atrocities here in Australia.
Thank you to Tara June Winch for bringing a beautiful piece of fiction whist simultaneously reminding us all of the relationship between Aboriginal people and their land and the ongoing fight to make others understand the richness of Aboriginal culture. A must read, and one that I feel should be part of the school curriculum in Australia
Thos book tells multiple stories at once - the story of August, a young Aboriginal woman who has fled her home town in regional NSW to England but returns when her grandfather passes; the story of her grandfather, told through a dictionary of his native language which has otherwise been lost; and the story of the Reverend who started the mission where her families property lies (told through a letter he wrote nearing death). At first these three sub plots don’t really pull the reader in but by the end it’s all brought together impeccably.
The use of native language and descriptions of the land, colonisation and history of the town made me weep. These things, whilst fictionalised, we’re all real events and atrocities here in Australia.
Thank you to Tara June Winch for bringing a beautiful piece of fiction whist simultaneously reminding us all of the relationship between Aboriginal people and their land and the ongoing fight to make others understand the richness of Aboriginal culture. A must read, and one that I feel should be part of the school curriculum in Australia
karlis_library's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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? It's complicated
5.0
🛑Ⓣ︎Ⓡ︎Ⓘ︎Ⓖ︎Ⓖ︎Ⓔ︎Ⓡ︎ Ⓦ︎Ⓐ︎Ⓡ︎Ⓝ︎Ⓘ︎Ⓝ︎Ⓖ︎Ⓢ︎🛑
The stolen generation
Colonialism
Rape
Child paedophilia
Imprisonment
Religion
Death rituals
I went into this book feeling like it wasn't going to be for me at all. However, what a book. The writing is magnificent. It is so beautifully written. The storytelling is like nothing else I've ever read. I fell in love with Poppy and Augie and all their family. This book taught me so much more about Australian/Indigenous history than anything I learnt at school. I highly recommend this book.
This book was my first book from my local book club, and it blew me away. My first 5 star review for the year. The only minor criticism I have (it's really nothing) is I'd have liked to have the last few chapters fleshed out a little further. This book was in NO WAY light-hearted or easy to read. I did have to stop for breaks because the themes and topics are so heavy. It made me very sad, and there were some very challenging chapters. In saying all of that, I loved this book with my whole heart. The story it tells of the land, the family, identity, and culture is masterful.
The stolen generation
Colonialism
Rape
Child paedophilia
Imprisonment
Religion
Death rituals
I went into this book feeling like it wasn't going to be for me at all. However, what a book. The writing is magnificent. It is so beautifully written. The storytelling is like nothing else I've ever read. I fell in love with Poppy and Augie and all their family. This book taught me so much more about Australian/Indigenous history than anything I learnt at school. I highly recommend this book.
This book was my first book from my local book club, and it blew me away. My first 5 star review for the year. The only minor criticism I have (it's really nothing) is I'd have liked to have the last few chapters fleshed out a little further. This book was in NO WAY light-hearted or easy to read. I did have to stop for breaks because the themes and topics are so heavy. It made me very sad, and there were some very challenging chapters. In saying all of that, I loved this book with my whole heart. The story it tells of the land, the family, identity, and culture is masterful.
ruthlemon08's review against another edition
5.0
A rare gem of a book. Loved it! Would recommend to anyone and everyone!
matthewbaumann's review against another edition
4.0
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The way the Aboriginal language is interwoven throughout the story is superb and the story line of the tin mine is so relevant to today’s climate.
bianca89279's review against another edition
5.0
As many have already stated, The Yield is quite an accomplished novel.
It managed to be literary yet very accessible, contemporary and historical, informative and emotional, polemical but also philosophical. It also introduced the reader to the Wiradjuri language, one of the many Indigenous languages and dialects in Australia - many of which had disappeared. I am ashamed to say that I don't know any words in the language of the native people in my area - the Noongar people. None of my Aussie born friends and acquaintances know any words either, unfortunately, many of them wouldn't even learn it had they had the opportunity - but that's another topic ...
The novel unfolds via three different characters: August Gondiwindi, who returns from England to Masacre Plains for her grandfather's funeral - Poppy Gondiwindi, whose point of view introduces us to another period in history. The third narrative is via letters written in 1915 by a German reverend, who established an Aboriginal mission in Massacre Plains. Through his letters, we bear witness to the atrocities committed by the whites, whose intense hatred and extreme cruelties made the reverend doubt his faith in God.
Poppy Gondiwindi, an elder in the community, was working to preserve the Wiradjuri language and to find artefacts that would stop that mining development in Massacre Plains that threatened their home and farm. His story is strewn with pain and suffering but also resilience and hope.
The Yield shows us the effects of intergenerational trauma, dispossession, abuse, and language loss. Self-determinism is empowering. Having your own language is essential.
This is a complex novel that can be analysed for hours. I'm going to recommend it to lots of people.
Congratulations to Tara June Winch on receiving so many awards and the well-deserved recognition for her hard work and talent.
It managed to be literary yet very accessible, contemporary and historical, informative and emotional, polemical but also philosophical. It also introduced the reader to the Wiradjuri language, one of the many Indigenous languages and dialects in Australia - many of which had disappeared. I am ashamed to say that I don't know any words in the language of the native people in my area - the Noongar people. None of my Aussie born friends and acquaintances know any words either, unfortunately, many of them wouldn't even learn it had they had the opportunity - but that's another topic ...
The novel unfolds via three different characters: August Gondiwindi, who returns from England to Masacre Plains for her grandfather's funeral - Poppy Gondiwindi, whose point of view introduces us to another period in history. The third narrative is via letters written in 1915 by a German reverend, who established an Aboriginal mission in Massacre Plains. Through his letters, we bear witness to the atrocities committed by the whites, whose intense hatred and extreme cruelties made the reverend doubt his faith in God.
Poppy Gondiwindi, an elder in the community, was working to preserve the Wiradjuri language and to find artefacts that would stop that mining development in Massacre Plains that threatened their home and farm. His story is strewn with pain and suffering but also resilience and hope.
The Yield shows us the effects of intergenerational trauma, dispossession, abuse, and language loss. Self-determinism is empowering. Having your own language is essential.
This is a complex novel that can be analysed for hours. I'm going to recommend it to lots of people.
Congratulations to Tara June Winch on receiving so many awards and the well-deserved recognition for her hard work and talent.
henrymarlene's review against another edition
5.0
To yield is to reclaim. To yield is to move under pressure. To yield is to produce, provide. August and Albert deliver their versions of yielding through a history that stems for thousands of years. The book conceptualises ngiyawaygunhanha: “existing beyond the living and the dead, in the places of time where god roam. When they know the seen and unseen at once”. There is beauty and terror in the imagery of Gondiwindi, you can smell and feel everything that @tara_june_winch describes. She is able to take the reader back thousands of years through the dictionary compiled by Albert, to the haunting days of colonialism, the life and times of both Albert and August, and what the future may look like in Massacre – and what an apt name for a place it is.
August is a survivor but doesn’t really realise it. She is protected by her grandparents when her parents are absent, she is proceed from abuse by a family member by Jedda, her sister, who has been missing for many years. So many things are taken away from her life, yet she remains standing, and comes back to stand strong again with Elsie, her grandmother, and the stories of the land, culture, language and history that Albert, her grandfather who has just passed land, has left her. Albert was a survivor: taken away as a child, having rights and culture stripped away. And he reclaimed what he knew, what he was part of, and what has always been. As a Gondiwindi elder, Albert’s work to preserve his indigenous language and to find artifacts to stop the destruction of Massacre is brave and hopeful, and tarnished with so much suffering, reflecting the dispossession and abuse over two hundred years.
We all leave impressions of the past - murra - behind – and we must be equally careful, gentle and respectful to the murra left before us as well.
August is a survivor but doesn’t really realise it. She is protected by her grandparents when her parents are absent, she is proceed from abuse by a family member by Jedda, her sister, who has been missing for many years. So many things are taken away from her life, yet she remains standing, and comes back to stand strong again with Elsie, her grandmother, and the stories of the land, culture, language and history that Albert, her grandfather who has just passed land, has left her. Albert was a survivor: taken away as a child, having rights and culture stripped away. And he reclaimed what he knew, what he was part of, and what has always been. As a Gondiwindi elder, Albert’s work to preserve his indigenous language and to find artifacts to stop the destruction of Massacre is brave and hopeful, and tarnished with so much suffering, reflecting the dispossession and abuse over two hundred years.
We all leave impressions of the past - murra - behind – and we must be equally careful, gentle and respectful to the murra left before us as well.