Journal Entry 1 by Captainsdoxy from Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, September 02, 2007

"'I' does not exist. I am not. My self belongs not to me because 'I' is always 'we', is a part of the 'aiga...a part of the nu'u, a part of Samoa.

Alofa Filigia is 13 and lives in the village of Malaefouin Samoa. Growing up in the village, she learns to come to terms with violence, womanhood and her own personal sense of identity."

 

Journal Entry 2 by Captainsdoxy from Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, September 29, 2007

A challenging read as there was a fair amount written in Samoan that I did not understand. Some sections read like a regular story, some are more like written down dreams so they make less sense. Overall not a book I particularly took to; I think it would resonate far more with Samoan/pacific island readers who can better understand the culture. 

Journal Entry 3 by Captainsdoxy from Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, September 29, 2007

Sending on to a friend in the UK for the Olympic Challenge. 

Journal Entry 4 by blackwidow1971 from Winchester, Hampshire United Kingdom on Thursday, November 29, 2007

Safely received from Captainsdoxy for me to read as part of the Olympic Challenge. There's some writing in the front which looks like it might be the author's signature! 

Journal Entry 5 by blackwidow1971 from Winchester, Hampshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I really enjoyed this book! I found the young female characters believable, sympathetic and strong. The author really brought out their sense of humour too. She says she wanted to "deromanticise Western perceptions of Pacific Islands women" and in the book, it is explicitly stated that they aren't the way they are portrayed by Gauguin and I feel she definitely succeeded in this aim. To me, the women in Gauguin's pictures always look grumpy and sulky. Now I know they were all really laughing inside (probably at him)!

I also recently really enjoyed "Frangipani" by Celestine Hitiura Vaite from Tahiti so I will definitely seek out more women writers from this part of the world.

This would have got 8 out of 10 if it had had a glossary. I agree with Captain's Doxy on the amount of Samoan in the book. The meaning of some phrases became clear as you read on, but not most.

Counts as Samoa for the Olympic Challenge. 

Journal Entry 6 by LeishaCamden from Alna bydel, Oslo fylke Norway on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

This arrived in the mail from England today, along with two other books for my 'a book from every country' challenge. Thank you so much, blackwidow!! This is very much appreciated. It will take me a little while to get these books read but I will definitely read them, and journal my thoughts on them. :-)

Thank you so much!! 

Journal Entry 7 by LeishaCamden from Alna bydel, Oslo fylke Norway on Sunday, May 03, 2009

I've read this book now, and I really enjoyed the experience. It was a very unusual read for me ... of course I haven't read much Samoan literature previously. Or, in fact, any. :-) So for me this book was quite original and unusual. The story was pretty sad, with some hopefulness also, but the main 'tone' in the work was quite sad. Good characters. I know very little about Samoan society and culture, so I'm not able to judge whether the setting is believable, but to my ignorant eyes it seemed very credible. The author seems to know her setting very well.

There is some use of Samoan language in the novel, I of course understood absolutely nothing of this, so I just took it as some local color. :-) There isn't a lot of it though at any one time, and IMO it doesn't impede the flow of the story.

Overall a very worthwhile read. I'm very glad I got the chance to read it.

This book counts as Samoa in my 'a book from every country' lifetime challenge. 

Journal Entry 8 by LeishaCamden at BC Meetup, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, May 03, 2009

Released 2 yrs ago (5/3/2009 UTC) at BC Meetup, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book went home with Jannike from meetup this afternoon. It'll be so interesting to hear what she thinks of it. :-) Happy reading!! :-) 

Journal Entry 9 by Jannike from -- wild release somewhere in Oslo, Oslo fylke Norway on Thursday, May 07, 2009

I am very curious about this book. Samoan litterature is not something I ever have been exposed to before. Thanks to BookCrossing I get the chance to read this book, which I otherwise never would have discovered. 

Journal Entry 10 by Jannike from -- wild release somewhere in Oslo, Oslo fylke Norway on Sunday, September 20, 2009

The problem with reading about a culture you do not know anything about, is that you have so few references, and therefore it is difficult to take in all the nuances in the communication between the persons. (Some of it is in samoan language....) But I enjoyed the book, and felt that it gave me a taste of the Samoan way of life, as it was. 

Journal Entry 11 by Jannike at -- wild release somewhere in Oslo, Oslo fylke Norway on Sunday, September 20, 2009

Released 2 yrs ago (9/20/2009 UTC) at -- wild release somewhere in Oslo, Oslo fylke Norway

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Returned to Leisha Camden. 

Journal Entry 12 by LeishaCamden from Alna bydel, Oslo fylke Norway on Sunday, September 20, 2009

The book's back home. We'll see what I'll do with it now. :-)