Wednesday, August 24, 2011

REVIEW: The Bone People, by Keri Hulme

The Bone People, by Keri Hulme. This edition published 1986 by Penguin. Literary Fiction.

Winner of the 1985 Booker Prize, The Bone People is a staggering literary novel. Keri Hulme's long and somewhat experimental novel focuses on an idiosyncratic family-by-choice in roughly modern-day rural New Zealand. Kerewin is an artist, solitary and self-sufficient; she lives in a tower and spends her days alone and working. One day, out fishing, she finds an enigmatic, silent little blond boy named Simon. They form a bond. She meets his father, Joe, a big man with a temper and a fondness for drink, which he shares with Kerewin. But Joe isn't exactly Simon's father, and his story, and the story of his history and his future with Joe make up the plot of this unusual novel.

Hulme's writing is dense and poetic, and her characters live in close contact with the natural world:
And here I am, balanced on the salt-stained rim, watching minute navyblue fringes, gill-fingers of tubeworms, fan the water...put the shadow of a finger near them, and they flick outasight. Eyes in your lungs...neat. The three-fin blenny swirls by.. tena koe, fish. A small bunch of scarlet and gold anemones furl and unfurl their arms, graceful petals, slow and lethal...tickle tickle, and they turn into unterestinglumps of brownish jelly...haven't made sea-anemone soup for a awhile, whaddabout it?...
The narrative structure is basically linear apart from the first chapter but Hulme changes the point of view often, gives her characters extended internal monologues and peppers their language with Maori words and phrases (both Kerewin and Joe have Maori background). It becomes obvious that Simon and Joe's relationship is not what it seems, and that Simon is being horribly abused. Hulme draws Joe's psychology so realistically that the reader can see how it happens, too. And Simon has troubles of his own, as we learn through his rare moments of internal monologue. Although iconically angelic in appearance, he is a troubled little boy whose troubles only continued when he met Joe and Joe's late wife. Now, ironically, Joe and Kerewin may be the best shot Simon has at a loving family.

Sorting out all those contradictions makes up the demanding work of parsing through this very accomplished and important novel. Hulme creates incredibly rich characters in all three of her leads, even mute Simon. And she sets up a heartbreaking situation out of her characters' complex psychology. She asks the reader some really hard questions about whom it's possible to love, and under what circumstances. Hulme's style means sometimes it's a little hard to know what's going on; I would suggest taking advantage of a cheat sheet if you find yourself having a hard time keeping track of the plot, especially in the latter third of the novel. But I do strongly recommend The Bone People to anyone up for a read that will challenge both intellectually and emotionally.

This book counts toward the 2011 Complete Booker Challenge.

Rating: BUY

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found a copy of this one at the peace corps library and it's been on my shelf a while...I glanced at the first chapter and, to be honest, was a little intimidated by the look of the narrative structure. Sounds like one I should read, though. Yours is the first review I've read of The Bone People and it puts my mind at ease a bit, that I may emerge from the novel with some idea of what went on in it.

Laura said...

Yay! You're back in Booker-land! I'm glad you liked this one. It's been ages since I read it but I thought it was very good.

ImageNations said...

interesting review, Marie. And I read thoroughly books which I may not get access to. Thanks for this

bermudaonion said...

Wow, I'm not sure I'm smart enough for this book.

Zibilee said...

This was such a hard book for me. Not only was a lot of the relationship between Simon and Joe terrifying and horrible, sometimes I also had issues with Kerewin. I thought it was a very well written and thought provoking read, it's just that the thoughts I had while reading it weren't always that pleasant! Aarti and I read and reviewed this one together. I am glad that you liked it!

Amanda said...

I have a friend who says this is her favorite book. I finally found a copy at a used bookstore but have yet to crack it open. It's a bit intimidating!

Audra said...

Oh, wow -- sounds miserable/intense/awesome! This has forever been on my TBR -- most of the Bookers, really -- but I might need to nudge this higher...

Aarti said...

I pretty much echo exactly what Heather said above. We read this one together and I'm so glad to have had someone to discuss it with while reading, because some things are very, very hard to stomach.

bibliophiliac said...

I read this long ago, and still remember the characters and mood of the novel vividly. I'm so glad you liked it. This goes on my list of books to reread.

Unknown said...

I've had that book forever. Sounds pretty intense. Need to read it.

Do stay safe where you're at with Irene swiftly approaching.