The Bone People by Keri Hulme is a unique book that many critics hate, but countless people buy and read over and over again. It took twelve years of work to put together, as the original short story evolved into quite a thick book, and three publishers rejected it before the small New Zealand publisher, Spiral, took it on.
Keri Hulme knew that her writing style did not conform to the norm, but she was determined not to allow her work to be cut about by an editor, because she had created something that was personal to her. Earlier today I read a Guardian review of the book that described the writing as 'terrible' and the reviewer did not care for the 'mystic bo****ks' that come into the later chapters. I hope the review did not deter too many potential readers.
After all the difficulty in getting the book published, it went on to win the 1985 Booker Prize and has sold more than a million copies.
I picked this book up at the library with no prior knowledge of it, so I opened it with an open mind. The first few pages make no sense at all, as the writer has put the end at the beginning, and at first I wondered what I was getting myself into, but then the story began more fluently and the next few hours slipped away.
The two main characters, Kerawin and Joe, are of Maori decent and the book is set in New Zealand. Each page is broken into segments that jump between descriptive passages, inner thoughts and conversation and the attention to unexpected small details allowed me to to feel, and even smell, the locations. There is an earthy quality to the writing right from the start as we are introduced to Kerawin, who is estranged from her wider family and wants to be left alone in the roughly built tower that she has constructed as her home. She has been an artist, but she can no longer paint, and she is a strong heavy-set woman who can fight when she has to and will drink as much as any man.
Joe is first seen as a drunk in a bar, but as the story continues, we discover that he has two sides to his personality and switches between aggression and sensitivity as quickly as flicking a switch. He is a widower, who lost his wife and natural son to flu, but he continues to be the guardian of an 'urchin child', Simon, who was rescued from the sea after a ship wreck.
Simon is around eight years old, and unable to speak, although he is clearly more intelligent than most children his age. He is difficult to manage and his disruptive behaviour is well known in his community, but people are generally sympathetic towards his angry outbursts and petty thieving. When Kerawin reluctantly becomes involved with the boy, one of his adoptive relatives tells her that Joe is a good man and he does the best he can for the boy. Before long the three of them become a kind of family although they do not move in together.
The story gradually takes a darker turn when it becomes clear that Joe beats Simon and has previously caused him very serious injuries. It also emerges that everyone in Joe's family knows about it, but his actions are never reported to the authorities, and the abuse is allowed to continue. Sometimes it is difficult to keep turning the pages and it seems incredible that no-one does anything to help Simon.
The story deals with the complexities of love, anger and remorse and how people in a hole just keep on digging. We see threads of normal life woven through the whole book where it is possible to experience the more attractive side of all the characters and we learn that no-one is all bad, and the seemingly good people are deeply flawed.
The Moari culture is never far from view, and many lines are written in their language, so some translations have to be given at the end. The Maori element grows throughout the book and both Joe and Kerawin have to confront their beliefs and the impact their cultural history has on how they go forward.
By the end, everything is broken and the three main characters are independently in situations where they could die. I don't want to describe what happened to everyone, as that would give the plot away, but I think you can read the last chapter in two ways. All the on-line summaries I have read indicate a redemption with everyone together and fixed, but after going over the final parts at least three times, I decided that everyone died and the gathering at the end was in the Dreamworld.
It is not an easy read, but it is worth the effort as it is thought provoking and very real. I'm glad that Keri Hulme was able to keep her writing as she wanted it, as her style certainly adds to the reader's understanding, and following rules should not be a priority in writing.
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