Albert Wendt (1)

A few years ago, I read Wendt’s Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree and was impressed. As good as I thought that collection, this collection is even better. These are Wendt’s only story collections but they are very different. When he published Flying Fox, he "thought the individual must be supreme…." By the time of Miracle Man: "I'm not sold on that idea, I'm changing. I think the group should be [supreme]…. The communal, family ties, the whole feeling that the group is more important than show more the individual." Whatever else it may be, the latter notion is more in accord with the traditional attitudes and beliefs of Samoan society. The relationship between the individual and larger social units in a variety of settings underlies many of the stories in Miracle Man. Relationships matter; pre-eminently between parents and children but also between family members and society. Authority in particular matters, whether it is exercised among members of the extended family—the bedrock of Samoan society—or on the individual by others such as teachers, clergy, or outsiders. Underlying everything is the importance of identity, self-knowledge, and a sense of belonging. There are a lot of riches here: in “Prospecting,” the search for gold leads to an unexpected discovery of a very different—and far more valuable—kind. As “The Balloonfish and the Armadillo” explores a man coming to terms with his father’s ghost, “Daughter of the Mango Season” illuminates how a girl becomes aware of her island's pre-Christian beliefs and how her discoveries affect the relationship with her father, a pastor. “Hamlet” explores an unexceptional student’s moment of self-discovery…and its failure to truly matter. A wonderful collection. show less

Multi-generational family saga set in Samoa from around 1900 to the 1970s. Patriarch Tauilopepe, an ambitious man, allows greed to overtake his life. It portrays a wide swath of Samoan history and provides insight into Samoan culture. Unfortunately, it is so slow in developing that I found it a chore to read. The characters are unpleasant, and the storyline reflects even more unpleasantness (e.g., rape, religious abuses, environmental devastation). The author was born in Samoa, and he show more provides a scathing indictment of colonialism its ongoing negative impact. It relates one horrible occurrence after the next, which is not the type of story that appeals to me. show less

Ugh. Wendt's an extraordinarily distinguished Pacific writer, especially for Leaves of the Banyan Tree, but Black Rainbow just doesn't work. I have a sense that he wanted to write something along the lines of Kafka, and that he also wanted to take consideration of racial attitudes associated with the history of indigenous peoples, but this is one book that just doesn't succeed. 2** is probably a bit generous, but I do have a lot of respect for Wendt and so I'm giving him a perhaps slightly show more generous rating on this one. show less

Not the greatest story ever told. At times, it's boring, tedious, and Ola (through Wendt) has an incredibly nasty habit of Romanticizing EVERYTHING. If you're looking for nuance or detail regarding the issues between Samoans and white New Zealand , look elsewhere. And Ola herself is for all intents and purposes, a grossly unlikable character. Oddly enough she admits this every now and again but usually in an "aw shucks they all love me anyway" kind of way. Also, the descriptions of Israel show more and Israelis, not to mentioned Jews and Judaism, are insultingly reductive. But, there are some decent aspects to this novel. The narrative, if trimmed down significantly and given more of a detailed heft in terms of clarity and nuance, may have been gripping. But instead we get overly sentimentalized one sided idealism that refuses to think outside of a very burned in set of parameters. Read only if you have the acute interest or time. show less