The Whale Rider

The Whale Rider

Witi Ihimaera

My first introduction to this book was actually by watching the movie of the same title. The movie makes me weep, where no other movie has. The book is also deeply moving, and it shows that the film-makers were paying attention to what they had adapted.

Set in modern day, the book centers around a young Maori girl, the latest in an unbroken line of chiefs, until this point, all male. The girl's great-grandfather resents her, and spurns her fierce love for him, searching instead for a boy to impart his wisdom to. The book culminates in a whale stranding, actually, two whale strandings, one mundane and another otherworldly. The second is a memory-whale, an ancestral being, a creature of spirit and being who comes to shore to reconnect with the memory of an ancient friend, the girl's chieftain ancestor.

The story is told from the perspective of the girl's uncle, member of a mostly harmless local biker gang (the girl actually becomes something of their mascot, though the movie leaves out the bikers entirely). Through the uncle's eyes, we see the signs and omens that the grandfather ignores out of stubbornness. We also travel with the girl's uncle to Australia and Papua New Guinea, where we gain insight into the prejudice that builds walls between indigenous populations and the descendants of settlers. In both the book and the movie, the great-grandmother is a powerhouse, a woman larger than life who constantly threatens to divorce her husband (and you really can't blame her).

The movie mostly keeps faithful to the book, though the great-grandfather plays a much larger role in the movie, the themes are held true. It's an enchanting story, exploring the mythologies and mindset of a culture all but cast aside in the tide of western expansion. You grow to love all the characters in this book, and it's an excellent read.

-Very Tasty.