Maori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood by [Witi Ihimaera]
by Witi Ihimaera (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
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Length: 619 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
This is the first volume of Witi Ihimaera's enthralling, award-winning memoir, packed with stories from the formative years of this much-loved writer.
Witi Ihimaera is a consummate storyteller — one critic calling him one of our ‘finest and most memorable’. Some of his best stories, however, are about his own life. This honest, stirring work tells of the family and community into which Ihimaera was born, of his early life in rural New Zealand, of family secrets, of facing anguish and challenges, and of laughter and love. As Ihimaera recounts the myths that formed his early imagination, he also reveals the experiences from real life that wriggled into his fiction.
Alive with an inventive, stimulating narrative and vividly portrayed relatives, this memoir is engrossing, entertaining and moving, but, more than this, it is also a vital record of what it means to grow up Maori.
Winner of the Ockham New Zealand Book Award 2016 for the General Non Fiction category.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"A rich, powerful, multi-layered and totally unique story that leaves us with such a strong sense of what it means firstly to be Maori; and secondly, to be Maori growing up in a Pakeha world. For this reason, it is something every New Zealander should read. What comes through is a strong sense of identity and to know Witi is to know his whakapapa and also our country." —Gisborne Herald
"In both its content and its form the book provides a rare experience of a culture that the Anglo-American literary tradition does not know. As a bonus, it offers to anyone who knows Ihimaera's fiction the pleasure of recognising characters, motifs and even entire scenes that appear in such novels as The Matriarch, The Dream Swimmer, The Uncle's Story, Bulibasha and The Whale Rider, and in some short stories." —Otago Daily Times
"An honest, moving book, which examines what it means to be Maori in a Pakeha-dominated environment without losing the sense of self that comes from Maori tradition." —Wanganui Chronicle
"Maori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood is a big book in many ways. Literally so, because, at 370 pages plus, it brings us only to the author's late teens. Figuratively also, because it encompasses not just one boy's life, but a community's whakapapa, history and mythology. . . The book both describes a culture and inscribes that culture in its structure, which frequently turns back through generations and epochs of time, in order to move forward . . . I knew it was true to a way of life and a way of thinking and seeing the world. This seems an important thing to preserve, and it has been preserved well . . . And there were many pleasures to be found in the prose itselt. The voice on the page is very much the voice of the man: eloquent, endearing, cheeky, somehow proud and humble at the same time, willing to put it all out there." —NZ Books
--This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
Witi Ihimaera was the first Maori to publish both a book of short stories and a novel, and since then has published many notable novels and collections of short stories. Described by Metro magazine as ‘Part oracle, part memoralist,’ and ‘an inspired voice, weaving many stories together’, Ihimaera has also written for stage and screen, edited books on the arts and culture, as well as published various works for children. His best-known novel is The Whale Rider, which was made into a hugely, internationally successful film in 2002. His novel Nights in the Garden of Spain was also made into a feature film, and was distributed internationally under the name of Kawa. The feature film White Lies was based on his novella Medicine Woman. And his novel Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies inspired the 2016 feature film Mahana. His first book, Pounamu, Pounamu, has not been out of print in the 40 years since publication. He has also had careers in diplomacy, teaching, theatre, opera, film and television. In 1993 Ihimaera spent a year in France on the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship. He has received numerous awards, including the Wattie Book of the Year Award and the Montana Book Award, the inaugural Star of Oceania Award, University of Hawaii 2009, a laureate award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation 2009, the Toi Maori Maui Tiketike Award 2011, and the Premio Ostana International Award, presented to him in Italy 2010. In 2004 he became a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand (the equivalent of a knighthood). Witi Ihimaera has said that he considers ‘the world I’m in as being Maori, not European’ and that he writes from this perspective. While much of his fiction is based on fact, it is not strictly autobiographical but is an imaginative recreation of places, people and circumstances. For a period of about 10 years, though, he stopped publishing, feeling that his attempts to capture the emotional landscape of Maori were being perceived as the ‘definitive portrayal’ of Maoridom. This was from the mid-1970s when there was a resurgence of Maori activism. Receiving the premiere Maori arts award Te Tohutiketike a Te Waka Toi, Ihimaera said, ‘To be given Maoridom’s highest cultural award, well, it’s recognition of the iwi. Without them, I would have nothing to write about and there would be no Ihimaera. So this award is for all those ancestors who have made us all the people we are. It is also for the generations to come, to show them that even when you aren’t looking, destiny has a job for you to do.’ Ihimaera is a respected commentator on Maori, Pacific and indigenous peoples' affairs, and has been instrumental in ensuring Maori art and literature is supported. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
Product details
File Size: 4969 KB
Print Length: 619 pages
Publisher: Random House New Zealand (November 7, 2014)
Publication Date: November 7, 2014
Sold by: Random House NZ
Language: English
Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Top Reviews
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016
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I really enjoyed reading this book. I found his story and his ancestors' fascinating and having read a few of his books already I can see where he got his inspiration from. This is a fantastic book to read, sometimes sweet, sometimes Historical, sometimes rough and upsetting. I recommended "Maori Boy" to anyone, but mainly to people leaving/travelling in NZ, people interested in NZ's History and reality, in Maori culture.
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diana mackie
3.0 out of 5 stars Needs to be a paper back version - as it would be good to good back and forth to refect on the ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2016
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Interesting book which gave me huge insight into Moari culture and history from Maui onwards. Fabulous reading about the areas I have visited and had history myself. Needs to be a paper back version - as it would be good to good back and forth to refect on the Whakapapa- that was too hard to do on on my Kindle. Witi has had an amazing life. At times it seemed to be tooo wordy, but even though it was hard work it was worth the read.
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Dianne Gibson
5.0 out of 5 stars Insights into cultural change within a family
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015
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Excellent portrayal of the era and social structure of that time. Warm and evocative a rare look into Maori life the old and the new influences without the anger of the future decades. Very readable.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2015
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Every New Zealander should read this.
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Ralph A Reeves
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015
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Improved as the book progressed
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