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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
a collection of short stories
emotional
inspiring
reflective
A nice little collection of short stories that offers an authentic insight into Maori culture. I think every New Zealander should read some of Witi Ihimaera's work. I'm looking forward to picking up one of his novels, The Matriarch now, which is on my shelf.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
2020 reading challenge: Read a book by a Māori author
This was a truly stunning collection of short stories! Covering topics of life, death, whānau, rural and urban Māori, childhood and rangatahi from a kaupapa Māori perspective, each story had a sense of nostalgia and authenticity to it. Would definitely recommend for all Kiwis.
This was a truly stunning collection of short stories! Covering topics of life, death, whānau, rural and urban Māori, childhood and rangatahi from a kaupapa Māori perspective, each story had a sense of nostalgia and authenticity to it. Would definitely recommend for all Kiwis.
I read this book alongside Katherine Mansfield's New Zealand Stories, one story from each anthology a day for 10 days while on holiday in New Zealand. It wasn't so much a deliberate choice, as these were just two authors I liked who had anthologies of stories set in NZ, but it became impossible not to read them in dialogue a little.Partly because the structures and style are so similar. Both focus on specificity to build worlds that explain a society to an unfamiliar audience. Mansfield uses this to evoke a still-pretty-colonial New Zealand, a world transitioning from wannabe-English to something-else. Ihimaera, however, uses this to throw a joyous window on a society which is right next to those who don't see it - literally next door in one of the stories. In using the techniques and style of writers like Mansfield, he is pushing New Zealand literature to represent Aotearoa too, his stories were written for those who have never saw their world in print, and for those whose worldview wasn't broad enough to see.
They are tremendous fun. Previous to this, my exposure to Ihimaera's work has been book length. The emotionalism that tinges his work works brilliantly in this format, adding punch to the stories without becoming cloying. There is tragedy here, but it is never depressing or alienating. Instead, the stories welcome the reader in with humour, usually self-deprecating, and the passion of the narrator substitute moderates the intended message of lost knowledge. With this much pride, how could things fade forever?
Each morning, I found myself itching to read my installment, well over Mansfield, whose mannered stories I used to love. But this world - while not always as technically proficient - felt more real to me, more suffused with life, and definitely more relevant to the country I was visiting.
They are tremendous fun. Previous to this, my exposure to Ihimaera's work has been book length. The emotionalism that tinges his work works brilliantly in this format, adding punch to the stories without becoming cloying. There is tragedy here, but it is never depressing or alienating. Instead, the stories welcome the reader in with humour, usually self-deprecating, and the passion of the narrator substitute moderates the intended message of lost knowledge. With this much pride, how could things fade forever?
Each morning, I found myself itching to read my installment, well over Mansfield, whose mannered stories I used to love. But this world - while not always as technically proficient - felt more real to me, more suffused with life, and definitely more relevant to the country I was visiting.