The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Whale Rider
Book Review: a modern legend
Summary: 5 Stars
It feels a little silly to review a work of high literature, but I think I have a few helpful things to say about Witi Ihimaera's The Whale Rider. This novella is endearingly written. Ihimaera punctuates his style of warm simplicity with more complicated, though still patently modern, language that both embues the story with a sense of sacredness appropriate to a modern legend, and creates a picture of the contemporary Maori narrator as someone bridging the gap between past tradition and the change of the modern world. The latter point is perhaps the book's most crucial theme, and Ihimaera explores it through his main plot (concerning Kahu and her tribe) and through the "digressions" into the life of his narrator, Rawiri, which take the reader to Australia and New Guinea. Ultimately, the picture of Maori in the contemporary world that Ihimaera conveys is an uplifiting one, focusing on the ability of the people and (more importantly) their culture to perservere in this world. The Whale Rider is a modern myth, a sort of fairy story that confronts relevant issues of identity and culture for today's Maori.Book Review: brilliant, beautiful, powerful folk tale of girl power
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie, so I decided to read the book. As with any book on which a brilliant and well-executed film is based, it's a challenge for the reader to fall in love with the original story. The film was very faithful, and so it wasn't difficult to love this novel as well. But there are some deficiencies. First of all, the characters seem more real and dimensional in the film than the book. This is especially true of the heroine, who seems a mystical and distant child in the book, but comes off more real through Keisha Castle-Hughes' portrayal. Second, the film is much more realistic, only slightly testing the boundaries of reality and disbelief. The book is much more fantastic, though it contains more insight into the tribe's culture. And yet, the book is utterly powerful, honestly moving, and incredibly beautiful. It's a brilliant modern folk tale of a Maori tribe threatened by the modern world to hold onto its traditions. The chief (Koro) rejects his great-granddaughter Kahu who has broken the male line of succession. Koro tries desperately to maintain his tribe, reinforce the old traditions, and keep their connection with their totem animal, the whale on which their ancestor traveled to their lands. Meanwhile, Kahu desperately seeks her great-grandfather's love, not to mention acceptance. It slowly becomes obvious that Kahu--despite her gender and great-grandfather's rejection--is deeply connected to the whales and the sea (which is actually a taboo for a female to engage in), and is the salvation of her tribe. Obviously, fate and destiny care not for gender and traditions, as this girl is apparently destined for great things. It's an incredible story of family, destiny, strength, girl power, expectations, traditions, and culture. Grade: A