Product Description

It is a time of fear and confusion. Dramatic events threaten the maræ. 'Potiki' is Patricia Grace's best-selling novel about a coastal community in danger. It is a work of spellbinding power that weaves myths of older times into the political realities of today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187133 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
'An extraordinary storyteller' --Christchurch Star

From the Publisher
Winner of the 1987 New Zealand Book Award for Fiction

From the Back Cover
Winner of the 1987 New Zealand Book Award for Fiction

Customer Reviews

A hymn of praise celebrating Maori values and victory.
In this fascinating book about Maori values, the author's musical style constantly reflects the changing tempo of the action and themes. In the first third of the book, conversations between the simple Mary and Granny Tamihana, the guardian of Maori traditions, echo and sound like chants; between Roimata and Hemi, a happily married couple, they resemble duets with complimentary themes. The scene in which Mary gives birth is a grand, complex chorus with the several family members singing over, around, and above each other as they fight for the narrative line. And all this music seems totally appropriate to the lives of these Maori characters living in harmony with the land and their ancestors.

The middle third of the book changes, as Hemi, the father of the family, abruptly introduces the harsh notes of reality which occur when "the works" closes down, and he and his friends find themselves unemployed. In mournful tones he comments on the loss of tradition, language, and connection to the land which are coming about as education is imposed on their children by outside authorities, and people such as himself accept outside jobs. Developers are trying to buy their land to put up hotels, build seaside parks, and commercialize the lifestyle these Maori have enjoyed all their lives. The Maoris' fight for their land is accompanied by staccato, simple language, like the beat of a war drum, and the songs disappear from the language.

It is hard to imagine that Patricia Grace did not deliberately tailor her prose style to her subject matter, yet this seems so completely natural--so totally without artifice--that one wonders if this harmony of words and subject might be the ultimate, triumphant example of the unity of story and life which she so vividly celebrates in this memorable and touching novel. MaryWhipple