Indigenous Peoples

The Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors: Maori identity in modern New Zealand

~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 5 Comments

The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera, 1987

  • New Zealand, # 8
  • Paperback, borrowed from Brent Library, London
  • Read June 2015
  • Rating: 5/5
  • Recommended for: optimistic environmentalists

Once Were Warriors, Alan Duff, 1990

  • New Zealand, #9
  • Kindle, £7.19
  • Read May 2015
  • Rating: 4/5
  • Opening line: Bastard, she’d think, looking out her back kitchen window.
  • Recommended for: pessimistic social justice warriors
  • Not recommended for: The faint of heart

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Death of a River Guide

~ Kelly Dunagan ~ Leave a comment

Death of a River Guide, Richard Flanagan, 1994

  • Australia, #22
  • Paperback, Alibris.com, $0.99
  • Read January 2015
  • Rating: 3.5/5
  • Opening line: As I was born the umbilical cord tangled around my neck and I came into the world both arms flailing, unable to scream and thereby take in the air necessary to begin life outside of the womb, being garrotted by the very thing that had until that time succoured me and given me life.
  • Recommended for: Reading breaks between fever dreams

Read on for the full review