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A review by emosheeran
Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers by Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka
slow-paced
1.5
I can’t believe I’m finally done reading this book, it felt never-ending. I’m sad to say I found this incredibly boring, and multiple times I didn’t even want to pick it up and continue.
I pretty much knew from the get go I would not enjoy this considering that in one of the first stories, erections and sex with soil were part of the subject matter. I went into this hoping to expand my knowledge of Māori myths, but I wasn’t expecting there to be this much sexual content. It just completely changed the mood for me, and I realised many of the stories probably wouldn’t be up my alley.
I only liked 5 of them— Born. Still., Tāwhaki: Real Life, Hinepūkohurangi and Uenuku, Moving Mountains, and Kurungaituku— out of the 33 in the book. Pretty sad. There is plenty of variation in the formats here, so I’m sure there will be something to like for everyone though. I found the fact that there was a fictional oral history of a band to be particularly cool.
Half a star gets given for the few stories I liked.
I pretty much knew from the get go I would not enjoy this considering that in one of the first stories, erections and sex with soil were part of the subject matter. I went into this hoping to expand my knowledge of Māori myths, but I wasn’t expecting there to be this much sexual content. It just completely changed the mood for me, and I realised many of the stories probably wouldn’t be up my alley.
I only liked 5 of them— Born. Still., Tāwhaki: Real Life, Hinepūkohurangi and Uenuku, Moving Mountains, and Kurungaituku— out of the 33 in the book. Pretty sad. There is plenty of variation in the formats here, so I’m sure there will be something to like for everyone though. I found the fact that there was a fictional oral history of a band to be particularly cool.
Half a star gets given for the few stories I liked.