The Ventriloquist's Tale

Rating:
Summary: Here's more of what the press have been saying:
Review: 'I can't think of a recent novel more remarkable or unsettling than Pauline Melville's The Ventriloquist's Tale' Washington Post Book World

'Brilliant, witty and complicated' Publisher's Weekly

'Vibrantly imaginative fiction...a magical Garcia-Marquez-like saga...a rich and fantastic realism...' Newsday

'...imaginative, intelligent and sensual...a fine novelist' Morning Star-Telegram

'...bound to be much read...decidedly courageous...description is Melville's strength...full of compelling detail, satisfying impertinence, palpable heat...' News & Observer

'If sales potential has any relation to talent, Pauline Melville's The Ventriloquist's Tale ought to be the next winner to make the leap from classy obscurity to mega-success...' The Baltimore Sun

'...a powerful story...Her prose is engaging, never artifical, and her characters exemplify themes without descending to empty symbolism. In The Ventriloquist's Tale she has written a solid novel that ties up all loose ends neatly but never quite explains everything.' Journal Sentinel

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing - could not put it down!
Review: A book that will grace a spot in my top one hundred novels

Rating:
Summary: A handful of Lust
Review: An Englishwoman arrives in Guyana to do some research on the travels of Evelyn Waugh in the region. She encounters Chofy, an Amerindian whose family gave Waugh shelter. Yet the truth is hard to discern, hidden by an epic story of forbidden love... 'The Ventriloquist's Tale' won the Whitbread First Novel Award, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It's not difficult to see why, since this is a stunning read. Of the several excellent novels I have read this year, this one stands out as being the most consistent. It promises to deliver much, and does not fail to meet these high expectations. Pauline Melville has produced a highly brilliant debut novel. As befitting a tale by a ventriloquist, many voices are imitated, but imitated is too poor a word, for each voice is vibrant, alive, and wholly convincing. I read the novel mostly in one day, and I now feel bereft that I have finished it, and a poor wordsmith in comparison with Melville. It seems contrary, but my block has been caused by the mighty flowing narrative of this novel, the tides of which turn this way and that, in such a way that it is hard to describe, except to say that it is beautiful. This is the novel at its best: 'The Ventriloquist's Tale' could not work in any other medium, not least because it contains so many rich stories

Rating:
Summary: A story difficult to ignore
Review: As "The Ventriloquist's Tale" unfolds it explores the different relationships of the characters. The present day Rosa and Chofy's relationship appears to be drastically different than the relationship between brother and sister, Danny and Beatrice, however the underlying theme of passion is reflected in both. Infrequently in today's literary world does a story-teller capture a reader's attention and retain it through such an emotional roller coaster where it is difficult to tell right from wrong. Rarely also is an author able to approach topics and cultures which most people do not know about with such ease and create in the reader an ability to comprehend the emotions associated with the personal decisions. Pauline Melville's story does so as it enraptures the reader from the beginning chapter which is puzzling at first but pieces together the story in the end. The development and process of the tale allows for the reader to experience along with the characters and learn the price of risking the safe, responsible way of life for something more exciting that entices the soul and sparks new emotions.
All of the characters seek for a sense of belonging as is human nature. The forbidden relationships of polygamy, incest, and affairs is explored in a way that the reader is able to emphasis because of the common desire to belong with someone. Melville uses the need to have a place to be at ease in order to present these extremes to which people will go to achieve a haven. Social taboos become an answer for love because of the fear of monotamy and the loss of freedom. Perhaps this is what makes the reader not realize the decisions that the characters are making because the actual choices seem surreal, but the desire to escape the unchanging world where one does not fit in seems to be a bond. Melville creates this by her ease in the use of language and her treating the reader as an unbiased opinion. She thus leads the reader through the emotions as she presents how a person may rebel against the social norms in order to gain comfort. After finding the solace that they had been seeking, the characters all recognize that it will not remain and "lay in the darkness, dreading the dawn" (222). In the night it seems that everything is just, however in facing the dawn it is facing others judgements.
The matter-of fact style of language with thich Melville writes enables her to convey this universal need of companionship to the reader. It is this encompassing desire to be understood that allows the readers to find themselves relating to a world with which they would believe to have little to no connection to. The brutal honest that Melville uses to present the lives and complicated choices of the characters allows for the reader to almost be comfortable with the rash decisions they choose. Later on, however, the reader begins to feel the embarrasment and discomfort when the choices are brought to light. The reader becomes disturbed and insecure with the incidents especially when the characters try to ignore their decisions and only recall them alone. It becomes impossible to pass judgement upon any individual in the world of grays and so indviduals learn to live with the decisions.
The animal imagery is also used through out as a technique which brings questions to mind abnout if humans are the same as animals and if so what are the boundaries of human actions as well as who decides?
The novel is disturbing, yet beautiful. Enthralling, but upsetting and the combination creates a riviting expression of self-exploration. At points Melville can become so enwrapped that it is hard to understand the justification behind a character's motives, but overall she offers a fair perspective from all sides. A memorable novel that will present many wuestions about the decisions in life and what leads individuals to their own answers. An intriguing work which is worth the time as if offers a new world.

Rating:
Summary: A story difficult to ignore
Review: As "The Ventriloquist's Tale" unfolds it explores the different relationships of the characters. The present day Rosa and Chofy's relationship appears to be drastically different than the relationship between brother and sister, Danny and Beatrice, however the underlying theme of passion is reflected in both. Infrequently in today's literary world does a story-teller capture a reader's attention and retain it through such an emotional roller coaster where it is difficult to tell right from wrong. Rarely also is an author able to approach topics and cultures which most people do not know about with such ease and create in the reader an ability to comprehend the emotions associated with the personal decisions. Pauline Melville's story does so as it enraptures the reader from the beginning chapter which is puzzling at first but pieces together the story in the end. The development and process of the tale allows for the reader to experience along with the characters and learn the price of risking the safe, responsible way of life for something more exciting that entices the soul and sparks new emotions.
All of the characters seek for a sense of belonging as is human nature. The forbidden relationships of polygamy, incest, and affairs is explored in a way that the reader is able to emphasis because of the common desire to belong with someone. Melville uses the need to have a place to be at ease in order to present these extremes to which people will go to achieve a haven. Social taboos become an answer for love because of the fear of monotamy and the loss of freedom. Perhaps this is what makes the reader not realize the decisions that the characters are making because the actual choices seem surreal, but the desire to escape the unchanging world where one does not fit in seems to be a bond. Melville creates this by her ease in the use of language and her treating the reader as an unbiased opinion. She thus leads the reader through the emotions as she presents how a person may rebel against the social norms in order to gain comfort. After finding the solace that they had been seeking, the characters all recognize that it will not remain and "lay in the darkness, dreading the dawn" (222). In the night it seems that everything is just, however in facing the dawn it is facing others judgements.
The matter-of fact style of language with thich Melville writes enables her to convey this universal need of companionship to the reader. It is this encompassing desire to be understood that allows the readers to find themselves relating to a world with which they would believe to have little to no connection to. The brutal honest that Melville uses to present the lives and complicated choices of the characters allows for the reader to almost be comfortable with the rash decisions they choose. Later on, however, the reader begins to feel the embarrasment and discomfort when the choices are brought to light. The reader becomes disturbed and insecure with the incidents especially when the characters try to ignore their decisions and only recall them alone. It becomes impossible to pass judgement upon any individual in the world of grays and so indviduals learn to live with the decisions.
The animal imagery is also used through out as a technique which brings questions to mind abnout if humans are the same as animals and if so what are the boundaries of human actions as well as who decides?
The novel is disturbing, yet beautiful. Enthralling, but upsetting and the combination creates a riviting expression of self-exploration. At points Melville can become so enwrapped that it is hard to understand the justification behind a character's motives, but overall she offers a fair perspective from all sides. A memorable novel that will present many wuestions about the decisions in life and what leads individuals to their own answers. An intriguing work which is worth the time as if offers a new world.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: I had never heard of Pauline Melville before I read the book. The Ventriloquists Tale ranks as one of the most unusual and remarkable tales that I have ever read. Even though the events take place in a world far removed from modern, urban life the characters come alive. The love affair between two siblings is not intended to shock; rather, it captures the passion and sadness of young, innocent love. There are also other themes running through the book - of race,ethnicity, marriage, religion. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I eagerly look forward to her next novel.

Rating:
Summary: Whitbread Winner for first novel.
Review: In a bookjacket blurb for the British edition, Salman Rushdie describes Melville as "a beguiling new voice....one of the few genuinely original writers to emerge in recent years." High praise. The Ventriloquist's Tale opens and closes with addresses by a mysterious, third person ventriloquist/narrator, representing the old Amerindian culture of myth and magic of southern Guyana, a narrator who indicates that he is not the hero of the book because, as he tells the reader, "Your heroes and heroines are slaves to time.... They've forgotten how to be playful and have no appetite for adventure."

As the narrator unfolds the stories of the McKinnon family, half Scottish and half Wapisiana, we see illustrated in their lives the conflicts (and occasional melding) of their ancient ways with western science, religion, and exploitation. The narrator and, one understands, the author come down strongly on the side of the ancients, as the Amerindian characters enchant, amuse, and play with us while they show us their struggle with European intruders, including, at one point, Evelyn Waugh in search of inspiration. We laugh with them, even as they face privation and hardship, and see with their eyes how ridiculously arrogant and ignorant the intruders are, because the intruders do not see that "everyday life...[is] an illusion behind which [lies] the unchanging reality of dream and myth."

Melville, is, thankfully, not one of the Magic Realists, nor is she a satirist. By presenting the taboo subject of incest realistically as a primary plot line, she emotionally involves the reader--after all, who, among us westerners, is not instinctively repelled by the idea--yet we like the characters involved, we are intrigued by the old beliefs that the eclipse of the sun by the moon is itself an incestuous act, and we understand how limiting it is to reduce eclipses and relationships solely to equations and to write research papers on the structural elements of myth. We see that Father Napier is driven mad because he believes "these [Indians] think entirely in the concrete....[They] have no word for sin, virtue, mercy, kindness, truth..." And we appreciate and rejoice in the brilliance of the Indians in "divining what you would like to hear and saying it, so you can never be really sure what we think....Ventriloquism at its zenith." A fascinating and unusual novel!

Rating:
Summary: Whitbread Winner for first novel.
Review: In a bookjacket blurb for the British edition, Salman Rushdie describes Melville as "a beguiling new voice....one of the few genuinely original writers to emerge in recent years." High praise. The Ventriloquist's Tale opens and closes with addresses by a mysterious, third person ventriloquist/narrator, representing the old Amerindian culture of myth and magic of southern Guyana, a narrator who indicates that he is not the hero of the book because, as he tells the reader, "Your heroes and heroines are slaves to time.... They've forgotten how to be playful and have no appetite for adventure."

As the narrator unfolds the stories of the McKinnon family, half Scottish and half Wapisiana, we see illustrated in their lives the conflicts (and occasional melding) of their ancient ways with western science, religion, and exploitation. The narrator and, one understands, the author come down strongly on the side of the ancients, as the Amerindian characters enchant, amuse, and play with us while they show us their struggle with European intruders, including, at one point, Evelyn Waugh in search of inspiration. We laugh with them, even as they face privation and hardship, and see with their eyes how ridiculously arrogant and ignorant the intruders are, because the intruders do not see that "everyday life...[is] an illusion behind which [lies] the unchanging reality of dream and myth."

Melville, is, thankfully, not one of the Magic Realists, nor is she a satirist. By presenting the taboo subject of incest realistically as a primary plot line, she emotionally involves the reader--after all, who, among us westerners, is not instinctively repelled by the idea--yet we like the characters involved, we are intrigued by the old beliefs that the eclipse of the sun by the moon is itself an incestuous act, and we understand how limiting it is to reduce eclipses and relationships solely to equations and to write research papers on the structural elements of myth. We see that Father Napier is driven mad because he believes "these [Indians] think entirely in the concrete....[They] have no word for sin, virtue, mercy, kindness, truth..." And we appreciate and rejoice in the brilliance of the Indians in "divining what you would like to hear and saying it, so you can never be really sure what we think....Ventriloquism at its zenith." A fascinating and unusual novel!

Rating:
Summary: Colonizing the Heart
Review: In a captivating attempt to analyze the interaction between three human relationships, human-with-human, human-with-nature, and human-with-culture, Pauline Melville's The Ventriloquist's Tale travels from the astrological to the mythical to the incestuous all in one leap. Any other author may find this subject matter a bit overwhelming and pretentious, especially for a three hundred and fifty page novel, however Melville accomplishes this through tremendously smooth storytelling and cleverly executed analogies. Divided into three parts, this book allows the present-day consequences to be set-up even before the reader is made aware of any past events, and then, by returning to the present, relieves the human will of its inclination towards destiny.
A majority of the story is cast in the unfamiliar territory of Guyana and the desolate savannahs surrounding Georgetown, the capital city. Through amazing detail, the impoverished region is condensed to an eight and a half by eleven-inch template for the reader's benefit. Through a family of third-generation McKinnons, Melville explores the rough yet simple savannah life. This way of life is soon disrupted with a number of controversial personal relationships. Chofy's extra-marital affair with Rosa Mendelson, the Czech writer, displays his own discontent with savannah life and a subconscious desire to escape into the European model of happiness. There is, however, an definitive contrast between Chofy's relationship and the incestuous affair between his Uncle Danny and Aunt Beatrice. As the past is revealed, it is the relationship between bloodlines and what is natural that is given priority. Even when faced with persecution, the Amerindian way outlined holds to family.
Guilt did not exist in the setting prior to Part One of this book. Instead, Catholic missionaries and coastland developers designed it to weasel their way into the Amerindian culture. The need for a formal education was unnecessary until natives were made to feel unintelligent, just as a job was useless until consumerism spread through the savannahs just as quickly as a wildfire during dry season. Breaking all natural holds, guilt was used to shame Danny and Beatrice to the point where their love for each other dissipated to nothing but a memory of what had been. It was guilt that forced Chofy back to his discontented life with Marietta in the Rupununi and it was guilt that kept Alexander McKinnon away from his disheartened family. This struggle between the onslaught of cultural development and human relationships is exhibited beautifully towards the end of Part Three. At the local rodeo, a tug-o-war is set up between the civilized coastland giants and the traditional natives, which unfolds to the natives' avail, capturing ground over their uncooperative opponents.
Between the imaginative and credible writing, organized plot lines, and specific social commentary, Melville has succeeded in creating a beautiful tale of contrasting cultures and the effect they have on each other. After finishing this book, it is safe to say that any variety of readers will find himself/herself questioning certain personal beliefs and priorities. This is an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: The Mystery of the human spirit
Review: In Pauline Melville's, "The Ventriloquist's Tale," the narrator portrays Indian culture to be be part reality, and part mystery. The variety of mythological stories described in this novel support this claim that Indian culture allows us to appreciate the world that surronds us. After reading this novel, it is easy to relate to Chofy because of his own personal doubt in himself. There are many times when we as individuals will look into the "mirror" and not like or appreciate what is looking back at us. Chofy felt like a failure, because of the life he was leading and the misery he felt. Like all individuals, he yearned for something more, something that could fill the empty void in the mirror. His lusting for Rosa clouded his mind and prevented him from making clear judgements throughout most of this novel. An example of this would be when he went to visit Aunt Wifreda. He was more concerned about making sure Rosa could come and ask questions about Mr. Evelyn Waugh, instead of about her own personal well being. Without this component of the novel, the novel would have never be able to proceed because the thoughts of Evelyn Waugh triggered the thoughts of blindness and Beatrice. This novel relies heavily on seeing through the darkness. Most Indian Mythology is told in a dark sense of reality. The constant questioning of "could these stories be true" sort of thing connects a major theme in this novel in blindness. Many of the thoughts and revelations that the characters have in this novel is usually displayed or told in blindness.
This book also displayed how simplistic things have the most complex meaning in Indian culture and mythology. The idea that a person's eyes could be the symbols of emptiness and ignorance lead a person to think and ponder the possibilities of the meaning of life. Indian mythology almost always has a direct connection to nature. Throughout the course of this novel, there were a number of times the power of nature was emminent. When Beatrice was sick with measeles, it was the power of spirits through nature that helped cure Beatrice.
Melville does an excellent job by incorporating thess aspects into her novel because she is doing exactly what an author should do and that is let the reader think critically about what is taking place in the novel, and force the reader to question his or her own beliefs about life.
This book gives great insight into Indian culture, mythology, and personal struggle. A newfound respect and admiration of Indian culture can be achieved by reading and analyzing what Melville has put together in this novel. I would recommend reading this novel because of its relation to the mystery of the human spirit.