The Yield: A Novel
ウィラジュリの家族と土地の記憶を描き直す、力強い長編小説。
作品情報
アルバート・ガンディウィンディの記録と孫娘アウグストの帰郷を軸に、言語の継承、土地の略奪、家族の傷を描く。先住民の知識と歴史が重層的に立ち上がる。
書籍情報
- 出版社
- HarperVia
- 発売日
- 2020-06-02
- ページ数
- 352ページ
- 言語
- 英語
- サイズ
- 15.24 x 2.87 x 22.86 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780063003460
- ISBN-10
- 0063003465
- 価格
- 5091 JPY
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Family Saga
Winner of the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award and 2021 Kate Challis RAKA Award! "A beautifully written novel that puts language at the heart of remembering the past and understanding the present."—Kate Morton “A groundbreaking novel for black and white Australia.”—Richard Flanagan, Man Booker Prize winning author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North A young Australian woman searches for her grandfather's dictionary, the key to halting a mining company from destroying her family's home and ancestral land in this exquisitely written, heartbreaking, yet hopeful novel of culture, language, tradition, suffering, and empowerment in the tradition of Louise Erdrich, Sandra Cisneros, and Amy Harmon. Knowing that he will soon die, Albert “Poppy” Gondiwindi has one final task he must fulfill. A member of the indigenous Wiradjuri tribe, he has spent his adult life in Prosperous House and the town of Massacre Plains, a small enclave on the banks of the Murrumby River. Before he takes his last breath, Poppy is determined to pass on the language of his people, the traditions of his ancestors, and everything that was ever remembered by those who came before him. The land itself aids him; he finds the words on the wind. After his passing, Poppy’s granddaughter, August, returns home from Europe, where she has lived the past ten years, to attend his burial. Her overwhelming grief is compounded by the pain, anger, and sadness of memory—of growing up in poverty before her mother’s incarceration, of the racism she and her people endured, of the mysterious disappearance of her sister when they were children; an event that has haunted her and changed her life. Her homecoming is bittersweet as she confronts the love of her kin and news that Prosperous is to be repossessed by a mining company. Determined to make amends and honor Poppy and her family, she vows to save their land—a quest guided by the voice of her grandfather that leads into the past, the stories of her people, the secrets of the river. Told in three masterfully woven narratives, The Yield is a celebration of language and an exploration of what makes a place "home." A story of a people and a culture dispossessed, it is also a joyful reminder of what once was and what endures—a powerful reclaiming of Indigenous language, storytelling, and identity, that offers hope for the future.
Tara June Winch is the Wiradjuri author of two novels and a short story collection. For her first novel, Swallow the Air, she was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist and received mentorship from Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka as part of the prestigious Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Her second novel, The Yield, won Australia's highest accolade, the Miles Franklin Literary Award. She was born in Australia in 1983 and currently lives in France with her family.
レビュー
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'The Yield' is a wonderful book. It is a mystery. Where is the Dictionary? Where is Jedda? It is a thriller. Can they stop the destruction of Prosperous? It is history - as told by the dispossessed for once. It is an education. You learn a language and gain an indigenous perspective. But most of all it is a good read. August is a complex, flawed, very human protagonist who doubts herself and is on a personal search for identify. Winch avoids cliches and didacticism. She celebrates the positives of indigenous culture especially their respect for the planet but doesn't shy away from the problems: abuse, alcohol, gaol. Stylistically it is very inventive: personal narrative, a letter from a Lutheran missionary and Poppy's dictionary are interwoven and cleverly counterpoint each other
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Daughter loves this book.
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Well written and keeps the interest whilst giving that truth about our local amazing history and lost knowledge. A forced lost that will forever cost us as a nation but there is hope on the wind. Thank you Tara
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While the novel may have over-reached itself at times, it has passages of moving lyricism and deep pathos. There are moments that the reader could not prepare for when the loss of culture, language and spirit hit the chest like a sonic boom. The view from the author as an expat family member provided a unique access to many of us from the outside. I wonder though whether the struggle within the author could have been left less resolved? The grandfather's dictionary of ancient words and concepts was worth reading on its own, full of wisdom and insights that stay with you. The historical missionary diary and modern plot are not always as well weighted, thus highlighting the imbalance. The depiction of a genuine indigenous interest in what was on offer in Christianity, rather than just on what was taken away by misunderstandings and fear, was a uncommon and valuable correction to the historical narrative.
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August and her grandfather are central characters in this poignant story about aboriginal lives, hardships and preserving their culture against all odds. Tenacious, clever and creative.