'Interesting' collection of life's
stories
Afshana Anzeg
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
DARYL Tarte's Once Upon
A Time in Fiji is an interesting collection of short stories looking at Fijian
mythology, land issues, political upheavals and the national drink, yaqona.
Characters range from the son
of a chief to a wheelbarrow boy.
Through his work of fiction
Tarte narrates the everyday Fijian life of the busy streets of Suva or the
village life of the highlands through the tales of a wheelbarrow boy, a
criminal, an educated Fijian who becomes an atheist, an impotent man after the
yaqona aphrodisiac, a Fijian chief and a kaivalagi investor, making the reader
wonder whether it's an imagined work of fiction or a lived experience of everyday
life in Fiji.
Interwoven with Fijian myths
and legends of Dakuwaqa, the great shark god, to the ideal Fijian dream, Tarte
weaves in stories of friendship, respect, deceit, greed, religion and science.
The plots range from ancient myths to a tussle between science and religion in
the Fijian society.
Tarte starts off with the
typical Pacific Island style of telling stories through a storyteller. An
interesting narrative style is adopted to relate the significant historical
events of Fijian History.
Very aptly keeping the features
of short stories in mind, Tarte covers the history of a more than a century
through the "The Story Teller".
Our islands have been hit by
seven mighty ocean waves and many people have suffered.
The first was when we were
killing and eating each other. The second, when we gave our Islands away to the
British. The third, when the Indians came here and slaved for the big sugar
company. The fourth when we got measles. Fifth, when Rabuka brought his soldiers
out of the camp. Six was George. Then the army chief." (Tarte 2016).
Fiji is a unique island nation
with a diversity of people.
Born in 1934, on the island of
Taveuni, Tarte has worked and lived among many of the Fijian, Indian, Chinese,
European, Pacific Islanders and many people of mixed races.
As a fourth generation copra
planter, sugar industry executive, civil society activist and now a writer,
Tarte had the foresight to record many of these events and has blended the many
incidents and characters into this collection of nineteen short stories.
He has so far published Fiji
Fiji Coffee table book; Fiji, an historical novel; Island of the Frigate Birds;
Stalker on the beach; Turaga, a biography of Ratu Penaia Ganilau and
co-authored 20th Century Fiji.
In August 2015, he published
Fiji — a Place called home with ANU and USP Press with over 300 copies sold.
Published by the USP Press,
Once Upon a Time in Fiji is a light and enjoyable read where Tarte gives
glimpses of Fijian life, culture and history.
Vinesh Maharaj, left, of the USP Book Centre with the author, Daryl Tarte. Picture: SUPPLIED
Published by the USP Press of
the The University of the South Pacific, the 191-page Once Upon a Time in Fiji
is available at the USP Book Centre for $18.95. Those with queries can email
Vinesh Maharaj on maharaj_v@usp.ac.fj.
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