Three frustrated, frustrating people in the wild

Set in the untamed wilds of New Zealand, Keri Hulme’s “The Bone People” explores the complicated relationships between three people, each of whom is desperately in need of a friend. Issues of trust and morality abound in this lengthy, Booker Prize-winning 1985 novel, which somehow manages to use more than 500 pages to make its long-winded point. Kerewin, a wealthy young artist who has lost her motivation, is confronted with the choice of whether to open her home and hermit-like life to a father and son who stumble across her path one morning while she is on her way home from fishing. Against what she believes to be her better judgment, Kerewin quickly comes to accept Joe and his mute, emotionally needy son Simon as part of her life. What ensues is a tale that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming and speaks of human perseverance. Throughout the novel we see Joe, an intelligent and self-indulgent alcoholic, make efforts to change himself and the behavior of his kleptomaniac son in order to win the favor of Kerewin. Underneath his desperate, violent attempts to effect change in his son, there is a loving father who wants nothing more than to take care of his family. Kerewin, also an intelligent and self-indulgent alcoholic, often appears to be a selfish, cold-hearted, condescending eccentric as well. This, of course, adds intrigue to what would otherwise be a mundane story of three ― ahem ― losers who find one another and develop unhealthy relationships that feed each other’s egos. Through the unconventional form of this novel, we peer through a small, frosted window into the mind of Kerewin’s circumlocutory and sometimes counter-intuitive logic. The novel draws heavily on Hulme’s intimate knowledge of Maori culture and tradition, which is at times confusing for the uninitiated reader. In her defense, Hulme provides an index with translations of Maori words and phrases used in the novel. Nevertheless, flipping back and forth between the index and the text is an inconvenience that could easily have been avoided by using footnotes instead. An interesting exposition on life in rural New Zealand, this somewhat sluggish novel often makes you want to reach for a drink, then three, then six to deal with the harsh realities of some people’s lives. Thank goodness they are not mine. By Elizabeth Feola / Contributing Writer