[Book] Monkey Beach

The book has it all - an enthralling story, interesting and complex characters, haunting atmosphere, beautiful writing and amazing images of the Northern Pacific coast. It is a weird bland of the real and the mythical, of reality and spirituality. Robinson effortlessly weaves the unusual into the usual by creating a world where the line between the spiritual and the physical is blurred through nature, animals and Haisla lore. The novel can be a bit unsettling as its language navigates between violence and tenderness, darkness and humour. The ending might also be disappointing to some since it is kind of left unresolved. There is no sense of closure, nor a definite happy or tragic ending. I have to admit I'm a bit baffled by the ending, which I haven't had time to think about further. I might re-read the book (or parts of it) in order to see how I really feel about it. The book, however, is definitely worth reading.

8/10