Take a photo of a barcode or cover
thomas_edmund 's review for:
The Bone People
by Keri Hulme
I read Bone People as part of our reading group's commitment to working through the Booker prize list (plus it was inevitable being a famous Kiwi publication)
The book began pretty smoothly for me, a challenging protagonist, a compelling vulnerable child and an unknown quantity in the child's father.
Its no secret that the story delves into abuse, but the direction of Bone people is confronting to say the least. Nonetheless the original and in my opinion close to real take is something that will not be seen elsewhere.
In regards to other aspects of the book, I found the narrative hard to follow much of the time. I enjoyed the sporadic leaps into clarity especially during harrowing scenes, although I often found myself questioning whose head I was in (this of course maybe a criticism of my own attentional abilities, just putting it out there) This in total left me feeling a little unsatisfied by the end of the book, however glad I was to have jumped in Hulme's world.
The book began pretty smoothly for me, a challenging protagonist, a compelling vulnerable child and an unknown quantity in the child's father.
Its no secret that the story delves into abuse, but the direction of Bone people is confronting to say the least. Nonetheless the original and in my opinion close to real take is something that will not be seen elsewhere.
In regards to other aspects of the book, I found the narrative hard to follow much of the time. I enjoyed the sporadic leaps into clarity especially during harrowing scenes, although I often found myself questioning whose head I was in (this of course maybe a criticism of my own attentional abilities, just putting it out there) This in total left me feeling a little unsatisfied by the end of the book, however glad I was to have jumped in Hulme's world.