M. J. Harden

I really enjoyed these short but deep stories of Hawaiian elders, emphasizing their worldviews and their insights into what makes up Hawaiian culture. Some of the names and faces transported me back to when I was a teen, when my mom would go on and on about history and culture and anthropology and other boring stuff. Seeing faces of nice old fogies like Uncle Charlie, reading about their lives and accomplishments and values made me realize just how oblivious I'd been as a youngster. The worst part of reading this book (published in 1999) has been looking up the most interesting folks and realizing that most of them are recently dead. Thanks for taking a little time to set down your important ideas, elders, kupuna, kanaka makua. I'm in awe of how much I grew up with.… (plus d'informations)

I’m not sure why I’m writing a review, other than I told MJ Hardin. I read her novel, It Takes Only One. It’s too esoteric for me. Thankfully, it’s a short work at 130 pages. However, I did like the author’s footnotes; they were interesting but didn’t offer insight to the story.

This abstruse story centers on a newborn baby. It has no gender, no name, no nationality. It seems that in the first chapter the baby has turned blue (hence the character’s identifier, Baby Blue) from not being able to breath. The parents are terrified. The baby then goes on some sort of journey through what may be heaven. I’m not sure.

There are 20 chapters, an introduction (which didn’t clarify things) and a Last Chapter that were all mercifully short.

It Takes Only One receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.… (plus d'informations)