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Purakau: Maori Myths Retold by Maori Writers by [Various Authors]

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Witi Ihimaera

Purakau: Maori Myths Retold by Maori Writers Kindle Edition

by Various Authors (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A lively, stimulating and engaging retelling of purakau - Maori myths - by contemporary Maori writers.

Ka mua, ka muri . . .

Ancient Maori creation myths, portrayals of larger-than-life heroes and tales of engrossing magical beings have endured through the ages. Some hail back to Hawaiki, some are firmly grounded in New Zealand and its landscape. Through countless generations, the stories have been reshaped and passed on. This new collection presents a wide range of traditional myths that have been retold by some of our best Maori wordsmiths. The writers have added their own creativity, perspectives and sometimes wonderfully unexpected twists, bringing new life and energy to these rich, spellbinding and significant taonga.

Take a fresh look at Papatuanuku, a wild ride with Maui, or have a creepy encounter with Ruruhi-Kerepo, for these and many more mythical figures await you.

Explore the past, from it shape the future . . .

The contributors are: Jacqueline Carter, David Geary, Patricia Grace, Briar Grace-Smith, Whiti Hereaka, Keri Hulme, Witi Ihimaera, Kelly Joseph, Hemi, Kelly, Nic Low, Tina Makereti, Kelly Ana Morey, Paula Morris, Frazer Rangihuna, Renee, Robert Sullivan, Apirana Taylor, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, Clayton Te Kohe, Hone Tuwhare, Briar Wood.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Random House New Zealand
Publication date

May 7, 2019
File size

1157 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Witi Ihimaera
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Hirini Mead
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Captivating History
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Whiti Hereaka is of Ngati Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa. She is a playwright, screenwriter, novelist and a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University. She has had several plays produced and has won Best New Play by a Maori Playwright at the Adam Play Awards in both 2010 and 2011 and won the adults and her first, The Graphologist's Apprentice, was shortlisted for Best First Book in the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Asia and Pacific. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07P935FRF
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House New Zealand (May 7, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 7, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1157 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0143772961

Best Sellers Rank: #570,293 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #284 in Folklore (Kindle Store)
- #875 in Mythology (Kindle Store)
- #4,294 in Fairy Tale Fantasy (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
40 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

40 global ratings

5 star		74%
4 star		14%
3 star		8%
2 star		4%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Kindle Customer

Incredible

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 22, 2022

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I cannot recommend this book enough. Been going through a rough time and have found this a very emotional, eye opening book. Every story is unique with in-depth messages and helps understand your own soul.

Helpful

Elisabeth Carey

Fascinating collection of fantastic fiction based in Māori myth and legend

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a collection of recent fantastic fiction by Māori writers, based on Māori creation myths and legends. There's a wide variety, here, some retelling Māori creation myths, some telling the tales of Māori legendary heroes, both in something like their original context, and some in more modern settings. Still others are the Māori gods and mythological figures interacting with humans in very contemporary settings.

Most of these stories worked very well for me, despite my having little to no prior exposure to Māori mythology and culture. Yes, the mythological personalities and their stories don't have the recognizable familiarity for me that Greek or Celtic or Norse mythological figures and tales do, but that's part of the fun, meeting new stories and personalities, and figuring out what it means or represents.

Other stories, though...

One is a story of a person playing a--computer game? augmented reality game? But he's an unpleasant person, the narrative voice of the game is unpleasant, and nearly everyone he encounters in the course of the game is unpleasant. I'm not into gaming, but other gaming-based stories have nevertheless given me a reason to care what happens to the characters. This one, I finished merely to be sure it wasn't the unfamiliar cultural aspects that were putting me off. It wasn't; these characters were just unpleasant and I didn't care what happened to them.

The last--might have worked a lot better for if I actually had the assumed cultural background in Māori myth and legend. It was presented in an intentionally distancing, academic style, commentary on the story rather than telling the story. It didn't work for me, but I think this was a case of "wrong reader," rather than a failing of the story or the writing. I kept thinking, I bet this is really interesting if you already know the story and can therefore appreciate the commentary...

Overall, though, this is an excellent and enjoyable introductory collection. Recommended.

I received this book as a thank you for having volunteered on CoNZealand, the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Rachael

Tino reka!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

This was incredibly enlightening, as a Pākehā I found myself opening up to the Māori worldview. I think this is a book all New Zealanders need to read!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

Stunning, surprising and delightful!

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Henricus Joseph Marcus van Engelen

Easy read, great indigenous truths

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 12, 2019