The Bone People (1985)
Who wrote it?
Keri Hulme (1947-; Active from 1982), born Christchurch, New Zealand. Of mixed English, Scottish (Orkney) and Maori (South Island) heritage, Hulme also identifies as athiest, aromantic and asexual. In contrast to many of the literary and lettered prize winners up to this point, Hulme wrote while working as a tobacco picker. She did briefly study for a law degree in 1967 but returned to tobacco picking. The character of Kerewin Holmes in The Bone People is a none too subtle proxy for the author.
The Bone People was her debut, and was rejected by dozens of publishers before being picked up for a short run by the Spiral Collective, a feminist literary and arts collective in New Zealand. It is, to date, her only novel. She has published short story and poetry collections, and an autobiographical work, but that second novel remains elusive.
What's it about
Kerewin Holmes, sometime painter and amateur musician, is getting on with her somewhat solitary life in her self-built Tower home on the coast of New Zealand’s South Island, when she is visited by a troubled yet precocious mute child going by the name of Simon. Simon, the victim of the shipwreck of a European vessel in which his parents were presumed killed, is in the care of Joe, a local man of mostly Maori heritage, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Kerewin based (largely) on his willingness to keep her company playing chess, cooking various largely fish-based meals and drinking alarming quantities of alcohol.
A family-like bond forms between the three, which is not (terminally, at least) damaged by the revelation of the shocking and horrific abuse that Simon is suffering from Joe. The first half of the novel focuses on the unusual but weirdly charming dynamic between the three, before a major event forces their separation. For most of the second half of the novel, their stories are separate (covering, amongst other things, Simon’s solitary stint in hospital in which he yearns to be back with Joe, despite his years of suffering; Joe’s chance meeting with a Maori elder who dies and leaves him in the care of a mystical being; and Kerewin’s path of self-destruction and suicidal refusal to seek treatment for what seems like a major illness.
What I liked
This book has a unique and utterly entrancing mood to it. While it’s apparently perceived in some quarters as “difficult”, once you’ve settled into its unusual rhythm it feels to me anything but. It’s 500+ pages were a breeze to read because the world-building is so strong and the language so imaginative and dynamic. Its use of free-flowing portmanteaus, abbreviations and casually interspersed Maori dialect lends an almost Joycean feel to proceedings (a character called Finnegan even pops up at one point…)
Speaking of that world-building, that’s really what makes the novel come to life. Kerewin’s Tower is undoubtedly the most imaginatively stirring location in the chronology of Booker winners so far, but every location is brilliantly evoked.
Especially in the first half, it’s hard to tear your eyes away from the page. Both for the reasons above but also because the situation crafted is so shocking and intriguing that putting the book down doesn’t feel like a realistic option.
It’s a book in which black and white thinking is not just rejected but set on fire and chucked into the sea. Joe is both amiable friend / loving father AND vicious child-beater; Simon is an almost archetypal problem child but somehow unique and charming; Kerewin a solitary cynic who makes a deep and relatable connection with the other two, despite their flaws and her own seeming unsuitability for the task. The refusal to judge and place people into neat boxes is at times shocking but ultimately what makes this a fascinating novel.
There’s a real sense of a truly unique and original voice at work here. What some have criticized as clunkiness in places feels to me like the rawness of a talent unsullied by mainstream literary conventions.
What I didn't like
While I didn’t lose interest, the second half of the novel is definitely less satisfying than the first. All the intrigue and tension that is so successfully built up is first dulled somewhat by being split into three separate strands of varying degrees of interest, and then undermined with a somewhat too tidy ending (depending a little on whether you read it as reality or fantasy, though…)
Of the three strands, Simon’s was for me the most successful, maintaining the heart of the novel (even if the revelations about his origins are less satisfying than expected,) but Joe’s - despite the most drama of the three - does fall somewhat into the trap of aimless mysticism which I think the rest of the novel largely manages to (just about) hold off.
It’s a long one - so if you don’t fall for the language and world-building in the way that I did, it could feel like a bit of a slog.
It goes without saying that this whole book is one giant trigger warning and will not be for everyone. Beyond that, if you’re the kind of reader that enjoys seeing villains punished and good guys rewarded, this one might also be a challenge. It’s unlikely anyone will get through the whole book without some sort of visceral reaction to the violent scenes - and they may be enough to put many off the challenge in the first place.
Food & drink pairings
Absolutely loads of booze. All kinds of booze, though stout, dandelion wine and whiskey certainly crop up a lot. The book is swimming in the stuff, Simon drinks a lot of it (without censure) despite being six and the overriding mood of the novel could easily be described as “inebriated.”
Also fish, loads of fish.
Though I suggest you skip the memorably disgustingly described warm pub sandwich of cockles and limp lettuce on stale bread. Unsurprisingly, that one gets vomited up pretty soon after it’s mentioned.
Fun facts
This one created a right old hoo-hah at the time. First of all (and most brilliantly) I think because it offended the big publishing houses (on whom the Booker had really been built) that this collective-published novel was chosen over their anointed ones. And while the fact that the publishing cooperative collected the award in full Maori ceremonial dress, chanting a song of praise, was a fantastic breath of fresh air for the perennially stuffy ceremony, the old guard most probably saw it (wrongly) as a deliberate attempt to wind them up.
Beyond that, the judging panel was extremely divided on the merits of the book. Nina Bawden was the strongest objector, who later wrote explicitly to distance herself from the contents of the book. Joanna Lumley (huh?) was another judge that year, and couldn’t make it due to being in rehearsals for something or other - described the book as “over-my-dead-body stuff” and “its subject matter finally indefensible.” Like I said, it’s certainly not for everyone…
Kerewin’s name is far from the only thing tying her to the author. The origin of the Simon character was in a series of dreams Hulme had when 18, their life stories are much similar, both define themselves in some sense as asexual/aromantic and Hulme also lived in an unusual self-built structure (octagonal, though, rather than a round tower…)
Vanquished Foes
Peter Carey (Illywhacker)
J.L. Carr (The Battle of Pollocks Crossing)
Doris Lessing (The Good Terrorist)
Jan Morris (Last Letters from Hav)
Iris Murdoch (The Good Apprentice)
Any gems that missed out here? It seems that those getting their knickers in a twist at the time were mostly keen for Lessing to have won….
Context
In 1985:
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of USSR
Creation of the EEC (now EU) Schengen area of border-free travel
Sinking of the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior by French DGSE agents
Heysel Stadium disaster in Brussels sees 38 die after rioting in terraces; Bradford City stadium fire kills 56
First mobile phone network launched in the UK by Vodafone
Live Aid benefit concerts in London and Philadelphia
Attacks by Abu Nidal terrorists on Rome and Vienna airports
Sinclair C5 launched
Coca-Cola releases "New Coke" - a badly received formula change that lasts just 3 months
Garry Kasparov becomes world's youngest Chess champion aged 22
Nintendo release Super Mario Bros. on the NES
First episode of Eastenders airs on the BBC
First episode of Neighbours on Seven Network in Australia
Foundation of Studio Ghibli animation studio in Tokyo
Back to the Future
The Color Purple
The Goonies
Brett Easton Ellis, Less Than Zero
Don Delillo, White Noise
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
First publication of Calvin and Hobbes comic strip
Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms
Wham! become the first western pop band to play in China
Life Lessons
Families are funny things
Don’t judge a book by its cover (works on several levels, go me)
More weird and wonderful oddities like this, please!
Score
8.5
Yes, it has its issues, and it’s not for everyone (did I say that yet?) but it’s a strange and captivating thing that I’m glad I got to experience.
Ranking to date:
Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie (1981) - 9.5
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (1978) - 9
Life & Times of Michael K. - J. M. Coetzee (1983) - 9
Schindler’s Ark - Thomas Keneally (1982) - 9
The Bone People - Keri Hulme (1985) - 8.5
Troubles - J.G. Farrell (1970, "Lost Booker") - 8.5
Saville - David Storey (1976) - 8
The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell (1973) - 8
Rites of Passage - William Golding (1980) - 7.5
Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald (1979) - 7.5
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) - 7
The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer (1974) - 7
Holiday - Stanley Middleton (1974) - 7 .
Heat & Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975) - 6.5
In a Free State* - V.S. Naipaul (1971) - 6.5
G. - John Berger (1972) - 6
Something to Answer For - P. H. Newby (1969) - 5.5
Staying On - Paul Scott (1977) - 5
Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner (1984) - 4.5
*Read in later condensed edition.
Next up
It’s The Handmaid’s Tale, of course. OH NO WAIT it isn’t, because Kingsley Amis won instead. 1986’s The Old Devils, which has an empty beer glass on the cover. Sad. But it’s my 20th Booker, so maybe I’ll celebrate with a full glass of something.
