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46th out of 401 books
—
305 voters
Monkey Beach
The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers
"Find a map of British Columbia....
Beneath Alaska, find the Queen Charlotte Islands. Drag your finger across the map...to the coast, and you should be able to see a large island." The place described is the land of the Haisla, reservation land famous for its "black bears that are usually white." First novelist E...more
"Find a map of British Columbia....
Beneath Alaska, find the Queen Charlotte Islands. Drag your finger across the map...to the coast, and you should be able to see a large island." The place described is the land of the Haisla, reservation land famous for its "black bears that are usually white." First novelist E...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
April 9th 2002
by Mariner Books
(first published January 1st 2000)
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This book I picked up randomly in a used book exchange in an airport just before I flew out to BC. Since this book took place in BC, I thought it would be a fitting companion for my trip. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this book.
This is a beautiful story of a Haisla Native Canadian girl growing up in a BC Indian reserve with a unique gift of being "connected to the spirit world".
We meet Lisa Hill as she finds out that her champion swimmer brother has been lost at sea while on a fishing rig. Whi...more
This is a beautiful story of a Haisla Native Canadian girl growing up in a BC Indian reserve with a unique gift of being "connected to the spirit world".
We meet Lisa Hill as she finds out that her champion swimmer brother has been lost at sea while on a fishing rig. Whi...more
I’m really fortunate that this text was a class requirement as I probably would never have read it otherwise. Sadly this notion parallels many great Indigenous Canadian works that don’t seem to greet the faces of enough readers. The upshot to this is those who do get to experience its worth can appreciate its value.
This coming-of-age novel, which centres around Lisamarie and the Hill family, interweaves some brilliant supernatural elements. There is a dynamic that unfolds as a dichotomy between...more
This coming-of-age novel, which centres around Lisamarie and the Hill family, interweaves some brilliant supernatural elements. There is a dynamic that unfolds as a dichotomy between...more
This book was a surprise to me. Infused
with haisla culture it deals with life issues
with stark realism while blending in the
mysticism of native blood. While on a boat trip
to save her brother's life, Lisamarie's self
reflection paints a picture which gives an
insight to her troubles in struggling to accept
her gift and also the loss of some of the most
colorful people in her life. The unforgettable
characters of uncle mick the rebel activist and
grand mother mamaoo Lisa's only real
connection to her roo...more
with haisla culture it deals with life issues
with stark realism while blending in the
mysticism of native blood. While on a boat trip
to save her brother's life, Lisamarie's self
reflection paints a picture which gives an
insight to her troubles in struggling to accept
her gift and also the loss of some of the most
colorful people in her life. The unforgettable
characters of uncle mick the rebel activist and
grand mother mamaoo Lisa's only real
connection to her roo...more
This is the first Canadian novel that I actually enjoyed. Rather, the first one I really enjoyed that I'm studying in my class.
The first thing I loved about this novel were all the Gothic elements. There are ruins and graveyards and death. One part is even called "The Land of the Dead." There's also monsters - Lisamarie and Uncle Mick are referred to as monsters, in jest of course. Speaking of monsters one of them mentioned many times in the novel (or one of the motifs) is the Sasquatch. With th...more
The first thing I loved about this novel were all the Gothic elements. There are ruins and graveyards and death. One part is even called "The Land of the Dead." There's also monsters - Lisamarie and Uncle Mick are referred to as monsters, in jest of course. Speaking of monsters one of them mentioned many times in the novel (or one of the motifs) is the Sasquatch. With th...more
I would never read Monkey Beach if my lecture didn't assign me to read this in Literary Criticism class.
At first I was kinda pessimist to finish reading it. However, after reading a hundred pages, I know that this book would get more and more interesting. The author, Eden Robinson, managed this book into a well-written book. It flows and is arranged neatly. The characteristics of the characters are also clear. I like the sibling relationship between Lisa and Jimmy. They aren't quite close, but s...more
At first I was kinda pessimist to finish reading it. However, after reading a hundred pages, I know that this book would get more and more interesting. The author, Eden Robinson, managed this book into a well-written book. It flows and is arranged neatly. The characteristics of the characters are also clear. I like the sibling relationship between Lisa and Jimmy. They aren't quite close, but s...more
I read it for school so it’s not really my usual stuff, but I enjoyed it.
Wow, what can I say about this book? Well, it’s dark. It tells about… life, so it’s scarily real, and dark, and heartbreaking. I had to rub down my chest over my heart just to ease the pain. There were teary moments, sure, but it’s also beautiful, really beautiful. The story is set in the north. British Columbia, Canada. It’s about Native North Americans. Islands, sands, waves, tides, boats, otters, seals, crows, fish, clam...more
Wow, what can I say about this book? Well, it’s dark. It tells about… life, so it’s scarily real, and dark, and heartbreaking. I had to rub down my chest over my heart just to ease the pain. There were teary moments, sure, but it’s also beautiful, really beautiful. The story is set in the north. British Columbia, Canada. It’s about Native North Americans. Islands, sands, waves, tides, boats, otters, seals, crows, fish, clam...more
This was a beautiful book to read, and one that I will read again. Eden Robinson does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of Northern British Columbia's indigenous people, the Haisla. The story, which is narrated by 19-year-old Lisamarie Hill, opens with the news that Lisa's 18-year-old brother has gone missing. Her brother's disappearance triggers Lisa's memories of the deaths of her uncle and grandmother. As the present story develops, Lisa relives those moments in her childhood and revea...more
Monkey Beach has been described as a psychological thriller with supernatural elements, and that is close to the truth. But it is primarily the coming-of-age story of a girl struggling to come to terms with the troubled and troubling world in which she lives. Lisamarie Hill, nineteen, has settled into an uneasy truce with her family in Kitamaat, B.C., after residing for several booze-soaked months in Vancouver. Lisamarie's family is a part of the Haisla community of northern coastal British Colu...more
Reading for a neighbourhood bookclub. Probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own.
I'm so glad I read this book. It's one of the best I have read for a long time. Even though it was sad in places and death was always present, the book had a strong sense of life. It was vivid. I loved so many things about it:
The story was powerful and engaging from the first page. I wanted to know what happened next and hated putting it down. All the different elements that were introduced throughout the story w...more
I'm so glad I read this book. It's one of the best I have read for a long time. Even though it was sad in places and death was always present, the book had a strong sense of life. It was vivid. I loved so many things about it:
The story was powerful and engaging from the first page. I wanted to know what happened next and hated putting it down. All the different elements that were introduced throughout the story w...more
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This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel about a feisty, smart, rebellious girl (my favorite kind!) Alternates between age 20 when her brother is lost at sea and her childhood/teen years growing up. Gives some insight into Haisla culture, which was interesting, and I didn't mind the "spirits" stuff nearly as much as I thought I would; I chose to think of it as her over-active imagination. One of the best things about the book was the imagery she used to describe the gorgeous northern BC setting....more
Feb 21, 2010
Christina
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
have-or-had-a-copy
I've read this book maybe three times. The first time was for for a college literature class and I was highly skeptical about it; "Modern, Gothic, Canadian Fiction" was something I had had a hard time of understanding. Once this book gets going its eerily beautiful description and blend of fiction, Haisla culture and modern life draws you in. This is a book which just gets better and better. I would love to read more stuff from the author and it definetly awoke my interest and appreciation of th...more
This is a good example of what I've been looking for: First class contemporary Canadian literature first published sometime since the 80s. It's a refreshing break from all of the usual suspects, and a great literary debut. Very clean, beautiful prose and rich with style. My only complaint has more to do with Canadian fiction as a whole - it seems like northern life has become ground all too frequently tread, and the cliches can get a bit thick at times. Wilderness, reserve life, Vancouver itself...more
2 likes · like · see review
While the opening was slow to grab my attention because of the sometimes-confusing movement through time, I'm glad I stuck with this book. Haisla author Eden Robinson depicts life for a First Nations community in the mid- to late-eighties in British Columbia, without sentimentality. Protagonist Lisa Hill experiences her coming of age in an interrupted indigenous community and learns how to use her own gifts while also working to navigate adolescence. This is a dark and mysterious novel, a funny...more
Wow, I am impressed!
Loving the mix of tradition and modernity and (more importantly) loving the interfering of spirits with the main character without making it seem unnatural or horrorish somehow. Very well done.
The book paints a very complete picture of the main character through all these fragments and switching between 'then' and 'now' and the shorter insertions (e.g. the descriptions of nature or of the heart etc.) really created an atmosphere, like a framework around the picture.
And the en...more
Loving the mix of tradition and modernity and (more importantly) loving the interfering of spirits with the main character without making it seem unnatural or horrorish somehow. Very well done.
The book paints a very complete picture of the main character through all these fragments and switching between 'then' and 'now' and the shorter insertions (e.g. the descriptions of nature or of the heart etc.) really created an atmosphere, like a framework around the picture.
And the en...more
Although the end of this book was disappointing to me, I thoroughly enjoyed Eden Robinson's mysterious Canadian West Coast world of spirits, drugs, and death. It is written in very simple prose that sings like a Haisla strorytelling. My main complaint is that I had trouble discerning the disconnected sections juxtaposed together in the novel, and I wonder if it is meant to be figured out at all. I am also not entirely sure what happened at the end, but I suppose that is supposed to be up for int...more
Just read this book again and confirmed my admiration for it. Robinson's prose is as chilling as the creatures who lurk just beyond the tree-line at Monkey Beach. Offers an honest yet understated inquiry into the viral effects of abuse, whether via residential school, between relatives, or self-inflicted through substances. When a book can make me cry, I revere it; but Robinson's greatest strength lies in this - she somehow captures the most arresting moments between broken individuals without l...more
I read this book for a book club that I used to lead when I worked at Chapters. We were struggling to get the book club off of the ground and basically had new people dropping in every month. The month that we chose this book everyone was really excited and swore up and down that they would read it and be back for the meeting. I ended up not getting around to reading it until it was a few days before the book club meeting. I remember it was Father's Day weekend and I laid on the floor in my pare...more
I always get my texts for literature classes from the library. After finishing this book, I went and bought a copy. This book is haunting and terrifying and beautiful all at once. I always want to like Canadian Gothic books, but so rarely do ever connect with the the stories the way I did with Monkey Beach. The Haisla culture woven into the narrative made this an absolute treat, and I loved the author's handling of the supernatural elements. This book made my entire lit degree worth it.
I appreciated the straight, clear writing in this book and loved the descriptive elements. The Haisla culture, the BC landscape and various characters were handled very well and I especially loved reading about "the old ways". The young, main character survived so much loss in her young life and perhaps her mere act of survival was what we should champion. Part of me wanted to see her go further. I enjoyed the more mystical aspects of the book but felt they were disjointed.
I first ran across Eden Robinson in her story "Queen of the North" in the Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction. I was surprised to find out that _Monkey Beach_ lives in the same place and characters and while I enjoyed the book and it was cool to get more out of the place and time that she builds on the Canadian West Coast, I hope to read more of her stuff and see if she ranges further afield.
This is a beautifully written, sad, funny and haunting novel.The story and imagery cling like cobweb and spring to mind erratically after the book is long finished. Traditional and modern, heritage and independence, the supernatural and the banal: they all play their part and are interwoven seamlessly to create something rich and strange and something I will read again someday.
Beautifully told story set in British Columbia's Pacific Inland Coast of a young Haisla girl's struggles and joys growing up with both traditional and modern values. The story begins with her younger brother disappearing on a fishing trip. Througout the book the author smoothly tells her heroine's story through flashbacks of past and present. Her descriptions of the area, the native culture and beliefs and the angst of growing up are so beautiful and real, it was hard to put it down.
Loved this book. A real look inside the life on a First Nation's reserve in BC. Story follows Lisamarie from childhood to late teens and covers the universal topics of loss and teen angst. Although sadness touches almost every page of this book, along with a dose of the mystical, the influence of family and tradition helps to elevate this book from being too maudlin. The author has a nice gentle spare writing style which I like. A really nice read.
"Monkey Beach" is named (supposedly) because of frequent viewings of sasquatch. For Lisamarie, the protagonist of Eden Robinson's novel about the Haisla area of British Columbia, Monkey Beach is the site of a great personal tragedy. As she remembers her childhood in this beautiful but haunted area, she is visited by the ghosts from her past. Indeed, she has a great deal of loss in her family, and she copes with it by retreating into Indian floklore and magic. All in all it is a good read about w...more
Described as "American Gothic" by some, takes place in contemporary lives of Haisla Indians living in on reservation cold, watery Canada. Narrator's brother goes missing over a bay...and the question is, how? Elements of the mystical, very smooth prose; spellbinding. I've never wanted to go to up north before this book...
Dark, troubled and haunting, this novel is a gripping read that delves deep into a world intermingled with the supernatural, steeped into the bones of the beautiful Canadian West Coast landscape. Resounding with loss and love, Robinson's tale weaves ugly modern realities with Haisla folklore, creating a truly unforgettable novel whose ethereal quality lingers long after the last page.
Saying I read this book is a lie, as I did not finish it. It didn't grab me. Life is too short to read books that don't grab me. I think this was the author's first book and it was an award winner. I am going to take the time to research her subsequent books.
Well written and particularly captured a myriad social and cultural aspects of the the main characters. The setting was partly bella bella, where Heather, my wife is from. That's pretty cool. On the other hand, the read was quite slow and anti-climatic.
I liked this book a lot. It puts Indigenous peoples experience in Canada in modern times. And it is kind of morbid at times with the rotting and the death. Lots of cool stuff about BC. It is a sad book but a wonderful read. I don't like the name though.
Amazing story that takes me back to the Pacific Northwest and a tribal community similar to my own. The humor, the imagery, and the story is so familiar and comforting, I will most definitely read this one again. Eden Robinson is a wonderful author.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endicott Mythic F...: Monkey Beach: A Novel - Discussion | 11 | 24 | Jul 03, 2012 09:32am | |
| Endicott Mythic F...: Monkey Beach: A Novel - Who's In? | 2 | 12 | May 07, 2012 04:06pm |
Eden Victoria Lena Robinson (born 19 January 1968) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.
Born in Kitamaat, British Columbia, she is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations. She was educated at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.
More about Eden Robinson...
Born in Kitamaat, British Columbia, she is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations. She was educated at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.
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