Once Were Warriors [Paperback]

Alan Duff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1995

Once Were Warriors is Alan Duff's harrowing vision of his country's indigenous people two hundred years after the English conquest. In prose that is both raw and compelling, it tells the story of Beth Heke, a Maori woman struggling to keep her family from falling apart, despite the squalor and violence of the housing projects in which they live. Conveying both the rich textures of Maori tradition and the wounds left by its absence, Once Were Warriors is a masterpiece of unblinking realism, irresistible energy, and great sorrow.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Part of Hawaii's TalanoaContemporary Pacific Literature imprint, this first novel won the 1991 PEN Best First Book Award amid controversy over Duff's perceived condemnation of Maori society as largely responsible for the hopelessness plaguing its communities. In a Maori ghetto of urban New Zealand, Jake and Beth Heke battle entrenched poverty, racism and other ills that overwhelm their traditional Maori culture. With a gritty, realistic eye, Duff portrays Jake and Beth, who because of alcoholism, abuse and poverty can provide little protection against the gangs, drugs and violence that menace their children. Most vulnerable is Grace who dreams of escape into the Pakeha (white) world and whose brutal rape triggers the downward spiral of events. Duff's choppy sentences, repeated phrasing and use of Maori slang may require some adjustment for American readers, but ultimately his staccato prose style is ideally suited to a world of not-so-quiet desperation. Regardless of one's position on the controversy, the half Pakeha /half Maori Duff provides a compelling and insightful glimpse into the overwhelming struggles faced by the disenfranchised poor of any urban society--including America's own inner cities.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Duff's 1990 novel passed fairly unnoticed on American shores although it was a smash in his native New Zealand. With the recent release of a feature film version, the paperback edition should generate more interest.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679761810
• ISBN-13: 978-0679761815
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and thought-provoking., August 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Once Were Warriors (Paperback)

The style of writing is a little difficult in the beginning but anyone who sticks with it for a dozen pages or so will find it becomes easier to comprehend and the resulting insight into the minds of the characters is well worth the effort. Jake and Beth will make you angry and make you cry. Your heart will break for Grace. I became acquainted with Mr. Duff's works four years ago after a visit to New Zealand when I saw the movie based on this book. I then saw the just-released sequel "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" while in Australia the summer of 1999. Jake Heke and his family kept returning to my mind over and over (The compelling performance of Temuera Morrison undoubtedly had something to do with this.) I read both books, thinking that would help bring some closure to my fascination with the subject. I now understand the characters, the country and the social situation much better but find I am still haunted by this story of a man's journey to maturity. Jake isn't a hero in the classical sense but there is enlightenment in his journey and hope in the end. The strengthening Beth experiences by returning to her cultural roots holds a lesson for all of us and perhaps Americans most of all. Anyone who is interested in the problems of integrating cultures and the long-term effects of European colonialism on indigenous peoples should read this novel for its insight into the psyche of a disinherited, disenfranchised people.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once Were Warriors, June 2, 2002

By 

Steve (St. Paul, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Were Warriors (Paperback)

I'm the author of AKA DOCTOR. Alan Duff's writing of this book and the sequel, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, grabbed me by the shirt collar with both fists. Alan opened my eyes to do my own research of the Maori culture. I have friends in Nelson, New Zealand who helped in this research. Alan hits close to home, with this riveting insight of the Maori culture. A violent, hard hitting story of world magnitude. My hidden emotions were brought to the surface by the movie. A must see.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How much misery can you handle?, November 28, 2000

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Once Were Warriors (Paperback)

This is not a pretty book. Beth and Jake Heke and their six children, along with numerous other Maori families, live in an urban ghetto of government-supported housing, isolated from the rest of society and isolated, too, from their old culture, which once gave pride and a sense of identity to Maori families. As the Hekes deal with poverty, drugs, alcoholism, unemployment, gang warfare, rape, incest, physical and mental abuse, suicide, and a host of other horrific family problems, the reader vicariously experiences their bleak and hopeless lives.

Duff, part Maori himself, does not mince words here, recreating in bold, often raw, language the violence of their lives. Pathetically, and most affecting to the reader, the children, forced to "grow up early," accept these horrors as "normal" and try to survive any way they can, seeking even a small ray of hope for the future. Some do not succeed. This look at almost unbearable human misery leaves the reader disturbed and angry-as the author, no doubt, intended-and grateful for the ray of hope that finally emerges at the end. The book may be fiction, but it's a seething indictment of a real society. Mary Whipple