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Leaves of the Banyan Tree
by
Albert Wendt
An epic spanning three generations, Leaves of the Banyan Tree tells the story of a family and community in Western Samoa, exploring on a grand scale such universal themes as greed, corruption, colonialism, exploitation, and revenge. Winner of the 1980 New Zealand Wattie Book of the Year Award, it is considered a classic work of Pacific literature.
Paperback, 424 pages
Published
March 1st 1994
by University of Hawaii Press
(first published 1979)
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So I finally got myself to a library and read this book, widely known now as a modern classic of Pacific Literature.
It's about this seriously ambitious man, Tauilopepe, who decides that he's going to turn his family's matai land into a business - just like the Palagis do with their plantations. In his unfaltering drive for money and power, he betrays all the people who love him, loses his children - his only beloved son, even, rebels against him in a massive way - and spends the rest of his lif...more
It's about this seriously ambitious man, Tauilopepe, who decides that he's going to turn his family's matai land into a business - just like the Palagis do with their plantations. In his unfaltering drive for money and power, he betrays all the people who love him, loses his children - his only beloved son, even, rebels against him in a massive way - and spends the rest of his lif...more
I think the blurb gives a pretty good idea of what kind of book this is:
An epic spanning three generations, Leaves of the Banyan Tree tells the story of a family and community in Western Samoa, exploring on a grand scale such universal themes as greed, corruption, colonialism, exploitation, and revenge. Winner of the 1980 New Zealand Wattie Book of the Year Award, it is considered a classic work of Pacific literature.
It is, in other words, a Big Novel about Important Things. And although it occa...more
An epic spanning three generations, Leaves of the Banyan Tree tells the story of a family and community in Western Samoa, exploring on a grand scale such universal themes as greed, corruption, colonialism, exploitation, and revenge. Winner of the 1980 New Zealand Wattie Book of the Year Award, it is considered a classic work of Pacific literature.
It is, in other words, a Big Novel about Important Things. And although it occa...more
Although this is apparently considered one of the classics of South Pacific literature, I hadn't heard of it before a reading challenge forced me to dig out a selection from this region. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised. It's a generation-spanning epic that remains an exploration of distinctly Samoan experiences while tapping into universal issues like pride, betrayal and the frustration of fighting against a class system that will never let you win.
The writing makes little effort t...more
The writing makes little effort t...more
This is one of my top five favorite books. It takes place in Samoa. It is fiction. I went to Samoa and had some ugly realizations about the long-term effects of imperialism/colonialism. Instead of committing genocide and rounding up the citizens of Samoa onto reservations (which there is no space for), the imperial powers dominated the culture using religion. The book is not directly about that, I had extra appreciation for the conquer-through-religion layer in the landscape of the book and its...more
This book was my introduction to Pacific Literature. Great development of characters and the underlying message is relayed. I loved this story of greed, love, and loss.
Haven't made up my mind, will rate later.
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Feb 26, 2013 11:35am