Sons for the Return Home (Talanoa) [Paperback]

Albert Wendt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Talanoa | Publication Date: February 1, 1996

A Samoan boy who immigrates to New Zealand with his family has difficulty adjusting to his new life in an alien land.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The two loversboth university studentsin this novel face many cultural difficulties. She is a white New Zealander, blonde, outgoing, daughter of a successful businessman; he is the son of xenophobic Somoan immigrants to New Zealand, dark, reticent and bitter about his tenuous position as a "coconut islander" in white society. Indeed, this is also the story of two conflicting South Pacific nationsNew Zealand and Samoawhose inhabitants tend to translate racial pride into racist contempt for others. Told in the flat, passionless voice of the nameless boy, this allegory, rich in both history and geographic detail, demonstrates the problems of cultural cohabitation. Though his writing is slightly uneven and too often cliched, Wendt, a native Samoan and professor of literature, offers a fine, compassionate tale.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824817966
• ISBN-13: 978-0824817961
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At least partially autobiographical tale of interracial love in the Pacific, February 4, 2009

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Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sons for the Return Home (Talanoa) (Paperback)

Albert Wendt is on faculty now at the University of Hawaii, and he and his wife are wonderful, friendly people. This book is an early (1973) partially autobiographical novel of his love for his wife. He's a Samoan immigrant to New Zealand and she's a white native. The cultural gaps are bridged with considerable sensitivity to all parties. The book has aged reasonably well, but it's a far less mature work than the author has produced more recently.