Thank you Hulme for sharing your brilliance!too self-absorbed? WHat does it say about a book by someone named 'Keri Hulme', that features a protagonist called 'Keriwin Holmes'? This didn't occur to me until about a quarter of the way into the book when I got a little tired of how agrandisingly the author presented this character. She makes a visible effort to make this character appear humble, and not care what other people think of her. But she gets nothing but pats on the back from other characters... scene in the bar: 'What is she, some kind of prize fighter?'... Keriwin can do no wrong in the other character's eyes, and despite her shortcomings (she's very human), everyone loves her except for a few clearly 'bad' people. This smacks of an author who is either really high on herself, or just wants everyone to finally give her the recognition that she deserves of what a great person she is. Everyone is totally intimidated by her and in awe of her, which I find very unrealistic. It's the way self-conscious teenagers think, a)that everyone will notice their bad points, and b)that their every good quality should be recognized. Truth is that people are far too self-absorbed for someone to be so fawning over this one character. They act like she's a rock star or a princess. I'm giving a 4-star review because it's uniquely written and an excellent book in other respects. But it annoyed me that Keri/Keriwin Hulme/Holmes seems to be trying to convince us that she really is humble, but has no reason to be.
It sparkles and glimmers. It shifts between the dream world of our human conciousness to the reality of our living world, all the while holding onto your heart.
It uses poetry, myth and the ways of the old world to tell it's story, yet never loses touch with the modern world and the very real and magical forces that surround us still.