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ratona_de_biblioteka's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
aurqra's review against another edition
3.0
A very difficult but important read. I won't say I enjoyed it because it was so heavy and I lost interest after Ivy's story ended and I couldn't care less about Eliott's story.
Nevertheless, a well written and tragic story, I loved the mythological aspects and wish there were more of them in the novel.
I recommend the movie "Rabbit proof fence" if you loved this book, it's on the same theme and beautiful as well.
Nevertheless, a well written and tragic story, I loved the mythological aspects and wish there were more of them in the novel.
I recommend the movie "Rabbit proof fence" if you loved this book, it's on the same theme and beautiful as well.
johannet's review against another edition
4.0
Les conséquences de la colonisation sur les Aborigènes survivants des réserves et des missions religieuses en Australie. Dur, poignant, triste, le récit couvre quatre générations de femmes victimes d’être nées dans ce pays, à ce moment. Une période noire de l’histoire se perpétuant même de nos jours, qui se doit d’être connu, ne serait-ce que pour saisir une fraction de l’horreur imposée sur des peuples vulnérables.
kim_2804's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book for uni, and if I wasn't being forced to finish it, I probably wouldn't have made it more than two chapters in. I didn't enjoy my reading experience very much, but I appreciate the book as a work of literature. I kept on confusing the characters and their relationships to each other, and I found it really awful to read about the constant abuse they have to deal with and also inflict on each other. The first half of the book was by far the worst, and the rest of the book definitely softened the blow for me (hence the higher rating). By the time I reached the halfway point I was invested in the story and it didn't drag like the first half did. I can understand why it's held up as this fantastic piece of literature, but I personally just didn't enjoy it.
declann's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Trash
archytas's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
“The Aboriginal inmates thought the tree should not have been allowed to grow there on their ancestral country. It was wrong. Their spiritual ancestors grew more and more disturbed by the thirsty, greedy foreign tree intruding into the bowels of their world. The uprising fluid carried away precious nutrients; in the middle of the night they woke up gasping for air, thought they were dying, raced up through the trunk into the limbs and branches, through the tiny veins of the minute leaves and into the flowers themselves.”
It is astonishing that this is a debut novel. While more linear than Wright’s later fiction, the narrative weaves multiple storylines together, working at different layers of understanding and posing a kaleidoscopic perspective on what is fundamentally going on. Human agency and the inevitability of law are different ways of viewing the same thing. This is a tale of corruption, of Country out of sync, and of terrible consequences for the characters. It is also frequently funny. Wright doesn’t spare her characters from the worst of colonialism. Still, she chooses to focus on the people rather than what is inflicted on them, which somehow manages to make this not bleak, despite her refusal to soften reality. She also has an eye for life’s absurdities and a sense of wicked fun in showing us the pettier side of humanity. If I have a criticism here, it is that Wright tends to position all of her POV women as niaive, with the omniscient narrator, complete with witty voice, contrasting to the women’s unawareness of what is happening. This is more nuanced in later novels (although the arch omniscient narrator is a Wright trademark and does add to a slightly unearthly sense).
But, as is the case with all of Wright’s work, when I had finished, all I really wanted to do was start reading it again from the beginning.
rmerrill0927's review
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
claire_melanie's review against another edition
4.0
This was a brilliant book but very hard to read. I couldn't say I enjoyed it but it was brilliantly written, very evocative and lyrical but also tragic.
lynnenad's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book was so challenging to read. The writing is lovely but the authentic indigenous voice means the viewpoint of every character is very different to mine. The people in the book see the world entirely differently to a person brought up in euro-centric Australian culture, like me. This means interpreting the world through the eyes of the characters in the book is an extraordinary, unique and disconcerting experience. On top of that is the disaster of missions in traditional cultural communities which just makes you want to cry. A powerful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Colonisation