Rating: 
Summary: GOOD FIRST BOOK, BUT MANY HOLES
Review: Hulme has a good sense of storytelling. I was disappointed by the lack of character depth, but learned something about The Maoris of New Zealand and the abnormal relationship between the child abuser and the child being abused. Hulme is able to build a good character, but needs to work on exemplifying their attributes instead of just mentioning them. For instance, she tells us that the boy has an ability to see auras, and Kerewin is well read in philosophy, as well as well traveled, but these things were only mentioned and not exemplified by later thoughts or actions. Throughout the book Kerewin alludes to her horrible family situation prior to her absconding to the tower, but we never get to find out what it was that drove her into seclusion. And finally, when Kerewin has accepted her imminent death and makes a turn around, it is not obvious as to how or why this came about. Too many holes, or rather too much left to the readers imagination. Actions speak loudly, but in a book where we get the rare opportunity to get inside the character's head, I feel it necessary for the author to provide us with the thoughts that are the catalyst for the characters actions. I applaud Hulme's stark descriptions of how the human body is subject to deterioration and death. As well as the insight that people are alcoholics because life is so depressing, meaningless, and mundane. Even though I felt a lot of details were overlooked I would still encourage people to read this book, for the insight provided about abusive relationships and alcoholism.
Rating: 
Summary: The Way a Book Should be Written
Review: Keri Hulme writes a masterful book about unforgetable characters in an unforgettable plot in The Bone People. The plot is smooth and jarring at the same time, making for easy reading and sharp twists that create a story that becomes so memorable that you have to reread it several times just to keep it from haunting you in your daily life. The characters are so life-like that you wish you could meet them in real life. They seem to follow you through-out your own life and play a role in your future actions and reactions. Congratulations are in order for Keri Hulme in her style of writing. Her beautifully written book conveys the spoken word so well that even the slowest reader finds themselves flying through the book. Colors, sounds, and surroundings seem to leap off the page because of Ms Hulme's creative ways of writing. Characters' thoughts are such a large part of the book that it seems more a three-way narrative than a novel. All in all, a truely beautiful and memorable book that will touch its every reader in places that no other book will.
Rating:
Summary: This book haunts me in the best way.
Review: Extremely rich, deep and dark and fulfilling. The style is, for me, reminiscent of Kesey (one of my all-time favorite authors), lots of shifts in perspectives, jumps in time, and yet always clear and narrative. But this story is so far beyond style. It's violent and beautiful, full of the deepest contradictions that make us human. I've never read a clearer depiction of how love and violence and need can be so wrapped up together. And I was far from disappointed by the ending. The 'redemption' of Kerewin and Joe mirrors my own personal experience - one has to let go, all the way, even unto death, in order to begin living fully. The journey rings true for me, even if their transcendence is perhaps too 'magical' for belief. But I love the magic, too. In following this book down such dark paths, I was grateful to have light shining at the end, a hope, a faith that transcendence is possible. Thank you, Keri, for this marvelous work. You inspire.
Rating:
Summary: Keri Hulme and I on my personal desert island...
Review: I read The Bone People for the first time 5 or 6 years ago, and have reread it many times since. I cannot adequately express how quickly the book sets to work on you, the immediate way in which the writing style changes your understanding of how a book can be written. I have deeply read countless--I mean that--books, and rarely have I had the intense experience I had with The Bone People. I couldn't shake it off for a long time; I'm not entirely sure I'll ever shake it off. There is utter magic in this book, a kind of spooky singularity born of Keri Hulme's publishing silence outside of it (at least in America), as well as my feeling that if I were to write a book of this caliber and intensity, I would be eaten up and maybe unable to write anything of quality ever again. I bring people to this book like I'm calling for converts. I knew after I had first read it that it would be the book I would want with me anywhere and everywhere, my proverbial desert island choice, despite the fact that I've never really been much good at such decisions, or even seen the value of them. In the same spirit, I've never been very much inclined to do a review for amazon, either. Any words outside of the actual book itself can seem, worst-case scenario, superfluous. But I want to draw attention to this book in spite of that, because of its very real ability to alter the stuff of your spirit and the stuff of your brain. Blessings, Keri Hulme. You show us how it can be done.
Rating:
Summary: A confronting and difficult novel
Review: In many ways this was a difficult novel to read. Having just returned from a trip to New Zealand (which took place in the middle of my reading the novel) I appreciated the impact of Hulme's settings upon the emotions and actions of its characters in a way which I might not otherwise have done. Perhaps this is why a New Zealand chain of booksellers had `The Bone People' at No.5 in its Top 100 books of the 20th Century. The writing style is idiosyncratic, but gets easier to follow with time. However, the most confronting thing about this novel is its topic. It deals with domestic violence against children, and does so in a direct and challenging way. Perhaps as a consequence, it was only the child (Simon, Haimona, Clare) that I felt any real sympathy towards, and it was the sections which featured his narrative voice which were the most engaging. I don't know whether it is possible to say I enjoyed reading a novel with this theme. Perhaps the major letdown was the happy ending, which felt forced. While the desire of the characters to be together fitted with my limited knowledge of domestic violence, the implication that everything would work out almost belittled the brutal realism that we had seen earlier. I hope, as others have suggested, that the ending might have been some sort of dream.
Rating:
Summary: Rough but beautiful
Review: This is not an easy book to love. I first read it at 20 and loved it unreservedly. At 35, with kids, it was much harder for me to love it. I will say that I never forgot it over those 15 years (and I read & forget A LOT). Remembrance is my measure of literary mastery. The book is violent; it forces you to look at child abuse in shades of gray, not black and white. It's also beautifully written, a window to a different place. Read it by all means but be forewarned. It's not cozy.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of potential....
Review: I gave this book three stars because I would give the first two-thirds five stars and the last third one star. Since I'm not sure how all this totals up (math being my worst subject), I'm just going to rate it at three, which seems fair enough. The writing is fascinating, first of all: pure stream-of-consciousness with some added leaps of imagination. At first I wasn't sure about it, but following Hulme's advice in her introduction I persisted, and it was indeed like kina roe--it grew on me. Sometimes it is surreal, dreamlike; at other times earthy, even brutal. This jarring contrast is one of the qualities that makes the rhythm and flow of the writing so distinctive. Then there are the characters: Kerewin, Joe, and Simon a.k.a. Clare a.k.a. Haimona are some of the most memorable I've ever read about. The ropes of twisted and tormented emotions which eventually bind them are conveyed with an insight into love as a thing which is multi-dimensional past reasoning. Their inner voices and heart's desires are portrayed with poignant subtlety, running together with the silent music of Hulme's prose. The book is disturbing in its way, and often cruel, while at other times gently lyrical. Yet the two do not contradict: Hulme is portraying life's ugliest possibilities along with the most beautiful and uplifting. Together with the style of writing, this odd juxtaposition somehow works, and works well. So what was my problem? To me, at least, the last third of the book had no connection to the rest. At a certain point events are suddenly rushed in a manner which is too contrived to be believable; it then goes a step further by suddenly introducing the reader to Maori mysticism and placing it as the central element of the work. Now, I don't mind Maori mysticism as long as the author doesn't introduce it all of a sudden at the end as a plot device. That this was all somehow a plot of the divine powers-that-be did no justice to the very human characters and emotions which had hitherto been the driving force of the story. The kamatua, his stories and his dreams seemed like the author was taking a very unrealistic easy way out rather than introducing more depth. The kamatua himself is no more than a plot device, rather than a full-fleshed character; his death meant less than nothing to me, and the discovery of the idol even less than that. It's as if all the vital threads which held the story together were suddenly snapped, to be replaced by a foreign element which had nothing to do with matters at hand. The three characters I had come to care about so much were left hanging--and ultimately, they petered out. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an original, thoughtful read--with the stipulation that the ending is disappointing. The book should be read for the experience, regardless of its destination.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunningly Sensual Experience
Review: This is one of those (Few, very few) books that you wish you hadn't read so you could experience the extremely passionate joy of reading it again. I lived in the book and suffered and celebrated with the main character. The colors, the spirituality, the strength and heart of the book captured me. It's been two years since I read it for the first time and if I don't read it every 6 months or so I feel bereaved. I keep trying to get my high school girls to read it but so far I've not had many takers. Some day I know some of them will have the breath knocked out of them by the courage of this book.
Rating:
Summary: A life changing book
Review: I have just finished reading this book for the second time. I read it once when I was 17 and growing up in New Zealand. It battered me, embraced me, consumed me and then turned me inside out. It made me look around and take in things that I had never bothered to see. It created a benchmark for any literature I was ever going to go on to read. Second time around, I am 31. My reading eyes have matured and I feasted on this book with a fresh and new appetite. It is like I have just spent some magic time with a long lost friend. She had new things to tell me and new messages to convey. The language comes at you with long searching fingers. It is poetry and it is prose to the highest standard. Books I read now are held up against this one, and often they fall out of sight. If someone wants a new measure in their life, this is the book to read. I have read the reviews that criticise the ending, and that criticise the far-fetched and verbose dialogue attributed to characters who are supposed to be simple and not good with words. I have read about the frustration of getting tangled up in wayward sub-plots and having too many question marks left in the air. They are very small pin stains on a huge white sheet. This is one of those few books that really did something inside.
Rating:
Summary: hope and dreams
Review: This book is a message of hope, with characters that gnaw at your soul. When life seems tedious & so apart from the compelling, sweet-musty dreams of childhood this book acts as a lifeline. The loneliness & isolation of the modern experience lose power in the face of this powerful trilogy of characters. They have taken root in my mind through this novel replete with detailed imagery and multiple layers of meaning. Witnessing their triumph was a spiritual experience in itself. Being 1/2 pacific islander myself, I found this book especially affirming, rich, and touching. I dream Keri Hulme reads my review & receives my personal thanks.-CLARE IS HE- in me forever. Thank you so much!
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