Monkey Beach (Three Stars)

Adult fiction
Monkey Beach
Eden Robinson
2000 Finalist for the Giller Prize
Alfred A. Knopf Canada
© 2000
ISBN: 0-676-97075-3
374 pages

"Tragedy strikes a Native community when the Hill family’s handsome seventeen-year-old son, Jimmy, mysteriously vanishes at sea. Left behind to cope during the search-and-rescue effort is his sister, Lisamarie, a wayward teenager with a dark secret. She sets off alone in search of Jimmy through the Douglas Channel and heads for Monkey Beach (a shore famed for its sasquatch sightings). Infused by turns with darkness and humour, Monkey Beach is a spellbinding voyage into the long, cool shadows of B.C.’s Coast Mountains, blending teen culture, Haisla lore, nature spirits and human tenderness into a multilayered story of loss and redemption."

Since I currently live on a First Nations reserve, I love to read books about their culture. This book isn’t just for other First Nation’s to read, but contains enough background information so anyone can read and enjoy. The writing style is witty and rich, with a depth in description and character building that I really enjoyed. I liked the short memories of her life and descriptions of her culture. There was quite a bit of humour, and a few moments where you had to suspend belief – to believe in sasquatches (or b’gwus, as they are called), to believe in the spirit world.
What I didn’t like – the timeline began getting too fragmented for me toward the end. Especially at the conclusion at the book, for I don’t even know for certain whether Jimmy is dead or alive, or if Lisamarie is dead or alive. At the conclusion, the spirit world descriptions weren’t quite enough, and I couldn’t picture exactly what was happening.

This book deals with some pretty hard issues. Smoking, swearing, promiscuity, this book doesn’t glamorise these vices, but neither does it ignore them. I think it actually made the book a bit more real, especially in dealing with teenagers.

Character development was incredible. Here are my thoughts about various characters: Lisamarie – I understood her until she left for Vancouver. At that point the timeline became fuzzy for me and I had to just keep slogging. I believe her dark secret is her ability to see the dead, to speak to the spirit world. I loved her descriptions of Haisla culture, the matter-of-fact way she shared oolichan and cockles and the greengage tree with the reader.

Jimmy – you can tell throughout the entire book what a special guy he is. He seems to have dreams that are larger than life, but can somehow make them happen. He is an accomplished swimmer and even nearly made the Olympics. He made friends with crows, which point came up time and again through the book. When he disappeared, we discover it was because the girl he was going to marry, Karaoke, was molested by her uncle and had an abortion. He went on that uncle’s boat and killed him.

Mick – their uncle. I liked him from the start. Down to earth, he is a result of a residential school and there is a little animosity in the family because of it. He is often more solid to Lisamarie than her own parents. He was the one who taught her a lot of her heritage and culture. It was sad when he died.

Ma-ma-oo – their grandmother. The last character I would call an integral one, even more than their parents. She sent two of her children to residential schools and kept two at home. She could also see the spirit world and knew that Lisamarie could. Like Mick, she was an integral link in the Haisla chain.

All in all, I enjoyed it. I borrowed it from Marnie and I’m not sure if I’ll add it to my collection. Maybe one day I’ll feel a compulsion to really decipher the ending.