Leaves of the Banyan Tree (Talanoa : Contemporary Pacific Literature) (Paperback)

by Albert Wendt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Set in Samoa, this novel involves three generations of an aiga (family) and reads like a parable. Toasa, the head of the family, tells stories of lions and ghosts and poignantly describes his peoples' connection to their land. He asserts that "his one inconsolable regret was the fact that Tauilopepe, the son of his friend, of the man he had loved so much, would be responsible for the final destruction of his world." The Samoans are envious of the papalagi (European whites) but strive to better their own circumstances, unlike the characters in Alan Duff's Once Were Warriors (LJ 6/15/94). Tauilopepe tames the bush to create a plantation and acquire considerable personal wealth. As he gains stature in his community, he loses the love and respect of his family. Following his success, Tauliopepe is described by his son as being like "all preachers in their wooden thrones who do not listen to their own message because their hearts are stone." For general readers with an interest in Pacific literature.
Kimberly G. Allen, MCI Corporate Information Resources Ctr., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
This novel by the Samoan-born Wendt (The Birth and Death of the Miracle Man, 1986, etc.), first published in 1979, is a family saga that contrasts three generations of Western Samoans as a way of exploring the effects of colonialism before and after the country's independence from New Zealand. Tauilopepe, the grandfather, who lives on his family's plantation in a farming village, wages a 30-year struggle in the face of European encroachment to extend his family's lands and acquire wealth, power, and prestige. ``God, Money, and Success'' is his credo. His rebellious son, Pepe, winds up doing hard labor after being expelled from the town school and helping to torch a Protestant church hall ``because God does not live in it.'' He soon dies of tuberculosis and leaves behind a son, Lalolagi, who is taken away from his mother by Tauilopepe and sent to a New Zealand boarding school where he is groomed for success and consequently rejects the Samoan language in favor of English. Later, Lalolagi falls in with businessmen and con men of Samoan and European backgrounds, apparently newly united in their determination to exploit the independent country's resources. This book dramatically illustrates the dilemma of a family caught between holding onto old values as everything changes around them and compromising those values in order to survive. But while the reasons for Tauilopepe's single-minded behavior are clear and comprehensible from a historical perspective, they are, narratively, less convincing: His character and emotional motivation aren't fully explored. Disappointingly, women don't have a voice in this story, which is told from male points of view. And the glossary is not as complete as it could be for those unfamiliar with Samoan terms. These flaws combine to make this a less-than-satisfying read. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082481584X
• ISBN-13: 978-0824815844
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #995,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Few novels have better depicted the corruptive nature of power and the ultimate hollowness of materialism, January 10, 2009

By	Trevor Coote "Trevor Coote" (Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Leaves of the Banyan Tree is not just THE epic of the Pacific but surely one of the epics of world literature. There can be no higher praise for a novel that encompasses the full spectrum of human hopes, weaknesses and failings as we follow three generations of a family in mid-century Samoa as they get sucked into a vortex of destructive greed and vanity.
It begins when young Tauilopepe brings disgrace to his family by being expelled from theological college. In an attempt to atone for his humiliation he sets about making his clan the dominant economic and political force in the district. As internecine strife intensifies into outright hostility he manages eventually to outmanoeuvre and to exile his chief rival leaving the way clear to amass great power and influence. The title refers to the plantation that makes him rich. Sucking up to his colonial overseers and denigrating Samoans and their way of life he maintains control of his wealth and position through a combination of physical presence, corruption and duplicity. But things start to change when his son Pepe grows to detest all that his father is and stands for and in anger departs for the city where he falls prey to its temptations. And then Pepe has a son...and independence looms...
I doubt if there have been many novels that have better depicted the corruptive nature of power (albeit at a parochial level) and the ultimate hollowness of the blind pursuit of a materialistic life. Although set in Samoa in the South Pacific where an arch-conservative local culture and a fervent and puritanical missionary-led Christianity underpin rigid hierarchies, Leaves of the Banyan Tree nevertheless deals with a great sweep of universal human themes and social experiences: burning personal ambition, lust for power, egotism, corruption, avarice, alcoholism, betrayal, exploitation and revenge. A superb suite of unique characters develop and mature and then succeed or fail, rise or self-destruct. I wish there was some way of making the reading public more aware of a book that for once genuinely deserves the accolade of masterpiece.