Reviews

The Imaginary Lives Of James Pōneke by Tina Makereti

laticsexile's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I really wanted to like this and while it does have plenty to recommend it, it loses its way in the second half and feels very rushed in the end.
For some reason I was reminded of Little Big Man, but that story is much better written and finds the space to breathe. 
If you like historical fiction with LGBT themes, then it could be worth your time. It certainly isn't long. At the very least, it is another timely reminder of the cruel exploitative grubbiness of our colonial past. 

angela_p's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

amy_heferen's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

isabellechamb's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

kiramke's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

Plenty of interesting bits, and I quite like Makereti as a writer, but unfortunately I still don't love historical fiction.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation

polyphonic_reads's review

3.0

I really wanted to like this novel. There is a lot to like in here - the novel is packed with anticolonial and queer themes and presents an interesting angle on Victorian society. However, it feels very rushed - if it wants to be a proper neo-Victorian novel, a standard Dickensian length would have allowed the story and the characters to breathe a bit more. The last twenty pages or so, in particular, feel like they should be at least a third of the entire story. The writing style also felt a little bit off - I can see that the author was trying to go for a Maori David Copperfield sort of narration, but I don't think it quite worked, the actual words feel a bit false. Nevertheless, there is a lot to unpack in this compact novel, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to expand their horizons and get a different (in this case, indigenous/Maori) perspective on familiar themes.

aileena99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

readsinfrogpjs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

booknug's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Colonisation, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery

nicolaanaru's review against another edition

5.0

 

Life comes at you fast - yesterday I read my first eBook on an iPad, and today I read my first eBook on a Kindle, heh.

I had heard some hype about this book, written by Tina Makereti (Ngati Tuwharetoa, Te Ati Awa, Ngati Rangatahi, Pakeha and, according to family stories, Moriori descent), and I was excited to read it. Although I am not predisposed to historical fiction, that is because much of it centres on whiteness, colonialism, and “discovery”.  The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke, however, flips the perspective, and tells us the story of Hemi “James” Pōneke, who loses his mother and sister as a small child and is sent by his father to live in a mission house, where he learns basic literacy.

Soon, Hemi tires of the restrictions of the household and runs away, joining a hapū who eventually come to accept him, despite their opposition to his father and iwi.  Things take a turn when one day, an English artist visits to make ethnographic sketches, and Hemi parlays the encounter into a trip to London, where the unnamed Artist holds court in a museum and displays Hemi as a sideshow to boost his art folio sales and future travel opportunities.

Makereti is very deft in using her writing to highlight social justice concepts without hitting us over the head with them: We are treated to Hemi’s realizations that he is being used by his English benefactors, and that his presence isn’t quite the mana-enhancing experience he thought it would be for his people. Through Hemi, we observe the social class system of Victorian England, the horrifying pollution and misuse of waterways, the absurdity of curated gardens and early zookeeping, and the horror of city living. Hemi is extremely aware of his privilege in his household, both relative to his own iwi and to others on the Victorian “sideshow” circuit, and Makereti explores gender presentation, sexuality, slavery, PoC solidarity, identity, and how people bargain between ambition and staying true to themselves.  We see that Hemi becomes world-weary and cynical at a pace far beyond his years, but he makes plenty of friends along the way - one of many parallels I teased out to a life in academia.

If I may, you do not think they see you as lesser.  Indeed, they often do not think that themselves. But you are there to serve a very specific purpose.  I know because I am at the bottom of their evolutionary ladder.  I, too, make an exhibition of myself, by attending Royal Society soirees, by giving lectures, by mixing with the great and the good to show how very intelligent and civilized I am.  I should not have to, but I am always a representative of my people.  Yet I do not know what it achieves.

I found this to be a beautiful book, and I look forward to reading Makereti’s other novel, Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings.