Backbencher

Once Were Warriors is a book written by Alan Duff in 1994 from which a movie was made. The book is a brutal story of a New Zealander family that lived in the slums of New Zealand, called Pine Block. The story follows the story of a family that goes through all the worst kinds of family struggles (rape, gangs, abuse, and many other things). The sad thing is that the kids all fall into different forms of trouble and by the end of the movie only three of them are still alive. This book does end somewhat happily, as the mother eventually gets rid of her abusive husband and moves on to help other kids in the slums remember their warrior history (hence the title: Once Were Warriors).

This book was not a quick read by any means, simply because I really don't like reading about abuse (& don't really care for movies like this either). The book is well done in that it examines everything that is going on with the entire family and even lets the reader get inside their heads and the emotions they are feeling.

Overall, I liked the insight that this book gave me more than the movie (Once Were Warriors). After seeing both, it would be interesting to talk with the author (Alan Duff) about his childhood in New Zealand and what he thinks New Zealanders should remember about their Maori warrior history (this is the theme of the book & movie). While hard to read/enjoy at times, this book was good in that it gave readers a view of what life is like for some people and what an abusive relationship does to people. I suppose I would give it a 9/10.