Rating: 
Summary: No fey "art" can make up for the horror in this book.
Review: I've read through these reviews and I have to join the small but articulate group of horrified readers. Forget the style -- either you like magic realism and/or stream of consciousness or you don't -- or the cartoonish, adolescent, possible author's alter ego of the main character or even the admirable goal of showing the effects of being cut off from one's family, roots, tradition. Here's the rub: The book portrays the escalating torture of a small child graphically, even pornographically, and has the chutzpah, as one reader noted (with praise!), to not present it as "a black-and-white issue." This isn't a paddling gone wrong. At the life-threatening, coma-and-deafness-inducing level portrayed, the abuse is that of a psychopath. Whether or not the abuser is evil is not the point -- the point in the context of this book is whether the abuser should be separated from the child. Personally, I felt Joe should have been tossed into a Turkish prison to learn the receiving end of what he dished out. The book, in its precious fantasy-land, allows Joe to rejoin Simon after a self-centered spiritual awakening. Despite some enchanting language (and some annoying excesses), I regret reading this book. I would warn off both tender hearts, and more hardened intellects. P.S. -- I'm a second-generation Kiwi-American, and there has to be a better representation of a proud and beautiful land and people than this.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bone People
Review: The best book I have ever read! The characters are the most human creations of any literary people I have encountered. Every person I have recommended this book to have pulled out different aspect of the characters to identify with, and soon count it in their favorites of all time. It changed my life... in all seriousness. humanity, truth, place, ugliness, and a connecting theme of beauty make this one worth reading FOR SURE!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Worth reading.
Review: With 84 Reviews, one hardly needs to over-state the issue, but this is an excellent read. I did find the end rather odd, and actually set the book aside for a week. Either Hulme had a problem with it, or the editor cut it. Simply put, the end is not of the same calibre as the first 3/4 -- mere glimmerings. I would buy, sight unseen, Hulme's next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Sad, Haunting, and a little disappointing...
Review: This book is sad and haunting, and I enjoyed it, but I can't help feeling that I've missed something that other reviewers have 'seen' and felt. My lasting impression was that Keri Hulme had trouble with writing the ending of this book, and it suffered because of that.
Rating:
Summary: please write more
Review: I have a message, just in case the author is looking.... Dear Ms. Hulme: Please please please write more and publish it. I have been waiting for Bait to come out since 1985 (no pressure!).The Bone People is the most brilliant book I have ever read, and I suspect it is the most brilliant novel ever written (sorry, Salman, but Keri has you beat). It is the novel I measure my own (and all) writing against. Finish Bait and send it to the publishers -- we need something to read! So, please, put down the fishing pole and suffer with the pen (for our sakes, the hungry populace) we are starved for good stories........Sincerely, a Kiwi lost in the Southern U.S.
Rating:
Summary: The Bone People
Review: How can it be possible to write a comment about this book? Nothing I say can do it justice. It sparkles and glimmers. It shifts between the dream world of our human conciousness to the reality of our living world, all the while holding onto your heart. It uses poetry, myth and the ways of the old world to tell it's story, yet never loses touch with the modern world and the very real and magical forces that surround us still.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for any serious writer
Review: I should have known about this book much earlier! This woman is an amazing storyteller, writer, intellctual. I anxiously wait for more words of wisdom. Thank you Hulme for sharing your brilliance!
Rating:
Summary: too self-absorbed?
Review: WHat does it say about a book by someone named 'Keri Hulme', that features a protagonist called 'Keriwin Holmes'? This didn't occur to me until about a quarter of the way into the book when I got a little tired of how agrandisingly the author presented this character. She makes a visible effort to make this character appear humble, and not care what other people think of her. But she gets nothing but pats on the back from other characters... scene in the bar: 'What is she, some kind of prize fighter?'... Keriwin can do no wrong in the other character's eyes, and despite her shortcomings (she's very human), everyone loves her except for a few clearly 'bad' people. This smacks of an author who is either really high on herself, or just wants everyone to finally give her the recognition that she deserves of what a great person she is. Everyone is totally intimidated by her and in awe of her, which I find very unrealistic. It's the way self-conscious teenagers think, a)that everyone will notice their bad points, and b)that their every good quality should be recognized. Truth is that people are far too self-absorbed for someone to be so fawning over this one character. They act like she's a rock star or a princess. I'm giving a 4-star review because it's uniquely written and an excellent book in other respects. But it annoyed me that Keri/Keriwin Hulme/Holmes seems to be trying to convince us that she really is humble, but has no reason to be.
Rating:
Summary: Terrifying and beautiful
Review: There is a moment in this book where my heart stopped. I was horrified at what was happening and could not imagine how things would ever be right again. And somehow, in the transformation that takes place in the final section of the book, the characters were not exactly redeemed but recreated as something that I could be at peace with. Let yourself become immersed in this book and it will reward you with a tremendous range and depth of emotion.
Rating:
Summary: TOO SERIOUS FOR ME.
Review: this was a good book, but I thought it was too serious. . .I like books that have a bit of all emotions so you can laugh and cry, too. If you want to read a book that goes straight to your heart, read Stolen Moments by Barbara Jeanne Fisher. . .It is a beautiful story of unrequited love. . .for certain the love story of the nineties. I intended to give the book a quick read, but I got so caught up in the story that I couldn't put the book down. From the very beginning, I was fully caught up in the heart-wrenching account of Julie Hunter's battle with lupus and her growing love for Don Lipton. This love, in the face of Julie's impending death, makes for a story that covers the range of human emotions. The touches of humor are great, too, they add some nice contrast and lighten things a bit when emotions are running high. I've never read a book more deserving of being published. It has rare depth. Julie's story will remind your readers that life and love are precious and not to be taken for granted. It has had an impact on me, and for that I'm grateful. Stolen Moments is written with so much sensitivity that it made me want to cry. It is a spellbinder. What terrific writing. Barbara does have an exceptional gift! This book was edited by Lupus specialist Dr. Matt Morrow too, and has the latest information on that disease. ..A perfect gift for someone who started college late in life, fell in love too late in life, is living with any illness, or trying to understand a loved one who is. . .A gift to be cherished forever.
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