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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stunning achievement for Witi Ihimaera,
By SamJoJas (Auckland City New Zealand) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Nights in the Gardens of Spain (Paperback)
This is an excellent novel - very different from Whale Rider - a major departure from Witi Ihimaera's previous work. I enjoyed it immensely, though I found it painfully sad and harrowing in parts. For me personally, I could relate to the story well because it brought up memories and emotions from my own marriage breakup and also when my father left when I was a six year old child. I felt the author portrayed the emotions of every character superbly - in fact the story was so real I found it hard to believe that the book was a novel and not an autobiography. It offers a rare and somewhat voyeuristic glimpse into the private life of gay and bisexual men - be warned it is quite raunchy and this may put some people off. I know quite a few gay men and know what their lifestyles can be like, and I found the story to be very real, very honest and extremely well written. His portrayal of the children and the effects of the marital separation on them was just right on the button. This book made me cry, big time. It is an unusual story but in my experience, reflects just how life can be. Complex, unfair, imperfect, unfathomable ... and yet somehow we can survive and life can work out for us in the end.
Don't be put off by any bad reviews of this book - but again, be warned that it contains quite graphic accounts of gay sex.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From Whale Rider to Male Rider!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Nights in the Gardens of Spain (Hardcover)
I beg to differ from some of the comments below. This is not what I would call a particularly sweet book, and in fact those people who read this book based on their love of the movie "Whale Rider" (which is based on the Witi Ihimaera novel of the same name), may be in for a bit of a shock!This is a novel about a married father "coming out" after years of playing straight (at least in public). It is pretty graphic both in its raw description of David's sexual encounters and in its rendering of his emotional turmoil. But to me the graphic sexual encounters were part of the point. We've got used to the "soap opera" depictions of gay men on our TV screens and movies, but there is more to the gay lifestyle than good fashion sense and being best buddies with straight women. The sex scenes in this book "lift the lid" on what goes on between the sheets (or in the steam room...) and in doing so give the reader an insight into the physical side of gay life. But its not all about the sex, and there are powerful accounts of love David feels for his wife and children and the adjustments they, his friends and his parents have to make as he leaves what from the outside (and even from the inside) looked like a marriage with everything. As always, Ihimaera's writing is strong. He is easy to read, and has a geat "ear" for dialogue. While David is clearly identified as a Maori male, this novel has less of a culteral theme than other Ihimaera novels I have read - at least in the ethnic sense. I guess you could say that it provides a pretty good insight to the gay "culture" in contemporary urban NZ. While this book won't be for everyone, it is certainly a thought provoking and ultimately very powerful novel.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Coming Out - An Allegory for Our Time,
By Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall "Dr Stuart Jeanne B... (New Plymouth, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Nights in the Gardens of Spain (Paperback)
A realistic, heart rending tale of a middle class professional New Zealander who comes out following a brief heterosexual marriage complete with children. Like many gay men, the main character internalizes much of the homophobia directed towards him from mainstream society. Ihimaera conveys quite poignantly David's restless dissatisfaction with himself, his work, his gay lovers, the loss of his intimate live-in relationship with children he loves deeply, and the need to justify his total lifestyle change to friends, work colleagues and extended family.
The Gardens of Spain are a gay sauna - that our hero seeks out repeatedly when the conflict within himself becomes too intense to handle any other way. A fitting allegory for the internal struggles of gay men in a profoundly homophobic society. Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall, author of THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY ACT: MEMOIR OF AN AMERICAN REFUGEE
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