The Read Around The World Book Club discussion
January 2021 - FRENCH POLYNESIA
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Second half
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Melanie
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Jan 04, 2021 01:49AM

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The book is raising a lot of questions for me, about my French education and my background as a child of colonised immigrants.
As a sum up it s a beautiful story, full of empathy, very rich and very profound.
I will read more from the author!



I loved the way it talks about how the Ma’ohi and their land, ancestors and Gods are all intricately interconnected. When I’ve read stuff (admittedly not much) about Polynesian beliefs before, it has all felt a bit like myth/fable/magical realism, but this was much better at showing how intrinsic those beliefs are to the characters’ daily life. I don’t generally get on well with poetry in books, but here it was so powerful, and in fact I thought the sections that were told in the style of the oral tradition were generally a lot more descriptive and deep than those told in prose.
The characters did not do much for me. I hated the insta-love romances and found the dialogue to be very wooden throughout. Laura, in particular, was not at all credible as a 40-year-old senior engineer. Her journal was like something out of Twilight: “He speaks our language perfectly and has refined manners. He seems a little mysterious and this mystery attracts me. Maybe it’s because of my scientific side.” - come on!
I wish it had been a little longer to allow for more exploration of the issues around nuclear missile testing. It didn’t really ring true to me that Laura would be so surprised and distressed to learn that her love had lost his ancestral land to allow for building of the test centre (in the same way as if they had built, say, a factory or a power station). Like, has she not yet realised that she’s dedicated her entire career to developing weapons of mass destruction? Has she not ever considered the fact that her work is literally designed to wipe out swathes of humanity and nature? Her character just wasn’t deep enough to allow for any real reflection on this.
The stuff about mixed-race people in the epilogue was pretty horrible and jarring considering that the whole book prior to that point had centred on the beauty of two mixed-race romances.
On the whole I am really glad to have read it, and I think it is a great book club choice as there’s so much to discuss. Definitely want to read more about the region and the topic.
You have made me all really happy this month, I think this is the livliest and most interesting conversation we had about a book in a while. So thank you.
I really loved this book, I have read books from that region before but only ever by male authors so it was great to read a woman. I don't have really much to add, but loved all your comments.
I really loved this book, I have read books from that region before but only ever by male authors so it was great to read a woman. I don't have really much to add, but loved all your comments.


This had been on my TR list for a while, so glad to have had a reason to have it percolate to the top. I've been working on a Round-the-World challenge for a few years now, where I have tended to prefer female authors but have not been strict about eliminating men, as for many countries it's hard to find anything at all. Glad to have found this group and look forward to future reading!