Wish

by Peter Goldsworthy

J.J. has always been more at home in Sign language than in spoken English. Recently divorced, he returns to school to teach Sign. His pupils include the foster parents of a beautiful and highly intelligent ape named Eliza. The author has also written "Maestro" and "Honk If You Are Jesus".

Genres: Fiction, Australia, Novels, Animals

299 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Peter Goldsworthy grew up in various Australian country towns, finishing his schooling in Darwin. After graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1974, he worked for many years in alcohol and drug rehabiiltation. Since then, he has divided his time equally between writing and general practice. He has won major literary awards across a range of genres: poetry, short story, the novel, in opera, and most recently in theatre.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, at first. Ever since my oldest daughter learned some basic Auslan as part of her speech therapy, I have been a huge fan of the language and so I loved that it was so much a part of this book. It was also really different from anything I've read before, and even though I didn't like all of the characters I enjoyed getting to know them, especially Wish. It has an unusual and interesting premise too. But, towards the end, I started to realise where it was heading and it really turned me off. Bestiality has a really huge "ick factor" for me and I just could not get past my discomfort. Perhaps my score is a bit low, because I genuinely liked so many things about the book. Maybe it's just for people who are less easily grossed out than I am.

[Ysolde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into Wish totally blind and am both glad and upset about it.

This book posed some really interesting and uncomfortable questions about language and 'humanity'. The writing has simple flourish, making excellent use of sign and I loved the narrative voice. J.J's character really shines through, though I couldn't personally bring myself to empathise with his actions in the latter section of the book.

The writing and subject had me rocket through the first three quarters however, that nagging suspicion I had about the escalation of events proved itself to be unfortunately legitimate. I feel like the inevitable climax actually lessened the impact of the message. While it was the logical endpoint to the key themes and questions being raised, it distracted me from thinking about them. Going for the 'shockfactor' just tipped the balance too far into icky territory for me to take the book seriously. Or maybe I'm just immature :')

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was certainly an interesting read, but I could not empathise with the main character at all, and therefore found his actions deplorable and unbelievable. I couldn't bring myself to believe the love he and Wish shared would extend to mutual sexual desire. I don't know if this is due to my own mental barriers or because the characters were inadequately developed. It intrigued me to read up on some of the scientific evidence available on the topic of animal consciousness, thought processes, and language instincts, but I couldn't take the book itself seriously.

[Berni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this book until it got extremely creepy towards the end. Apparently a lot of people were put off Goldsworthy after reading this...

The Auslan aspect was intriguing. It is portrayed as a very beautiful language which may sometimes be more expressive than spoken English.

It has inspired me to read further on human to animal communication.

[Katie Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am left feeling unsettled. As someone who has used sign I loved the first part of the book. I loved the way he made sign come alive and captured not just the visual but the somatosensory experience of sign. Then came the quite gross sexual aspects of the book towards the end. And this was not really dealt with very well. The book seems stuck in exploring issues around the human-animal link and bestiality. But it stopped there. Perhaps it is just a product of the times-The book is now quite old- but there is little real exploration of the gross teacher student relationship and the obvious exploitation and lack of protection of wish. JJ comes off as user despite protestations of love. It just left me feeling like another female has been done over by malevexploitation but this seems little explored.

[Karen Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unexpected book in so many ways. It is a love story, a treastise on humanity and all that entails; it's about being deaf and perceptions of that, and also a profoundly sad story that puts relationships under the microscope - sexual, non-sexual, those between friends and beyond. It tells the story of JJ, a teacher of sign language who is recently divorced and in pain. When he's asked to teach a loving and humanised gorilla to communicate, a relationship develops that is not what anyone, least of all JJ expects. This story will both move and make you deeply uneasy. It is terrifically told and I found I couldn't put it down.

[Theophilus bin Jeshua · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/4 of the book explored the idea of a loving, and equal friendship between an ape and a human. Then the human suddenly f***ed the ape over a couple of pages. Needless to say, I was discombobulated and caught off guard. He didn't take us through the progression the journey of their "love". I'm not an advocate for bestiality (in fact, I think it's gross) but I was just trying to understand how it got to this, and he didn't take me on the journey. The characters other than the protagonist weren't filled out, so I felt like they were human representations of ideas, rather than actual people.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 3/4 of this book were a solid 5 stars for me - beautifully written, great characters, fabulous plot, engaging... and then the ending. Out of nowhere, it veered down this mental path at warp speed. Nutso. Still worth a 4 overall but can't help feeling it didn't need to be so twisted.

[Roslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Goldsworthy's writing, and this shortish book is an intriguing and fantastic tale of a man's relationship with an ape. A suburban tale of anima-philia.

[Juli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story started great - very intriguing. Middle was mildly disturbing. ending was disappointing and anticlimactic.

[Sandra Prosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember the cover, I don't think that this was it, as we definitely did not have any preconceived ideas about the topic of this book. This is one of those books that is fascinating and is still remembered (rightly or wrongly) and mentioned in our book club almost a decade later. So much to discuss! Tip - make sure someone else reads it at the same time as you, so you can debrief afterward!

[Kate]

I think I had the same feelings as the other reviewers. First 200 pages were super interesting and cool to read. I liked the little pictures that showed the signs.

Then we hit what I was afraid of...I do not think I needed to read bestiality. I do not think that was needed for the story. I don't think that's an "animal right" that we needed to look into. Ok.

[Shivani · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the strangest most uncomfortable book I've ever read. Some illegal issues including beastiality, and issues like animal rights and the world of the deaf and sign language. It was such a mismatch but written in such a way I had to read til the end. I was just left with an uneasy feeling in the end.

[David Gagen · Rating 2 out of 5]

What started out as a promising story exploring the nature of language, soon degenerated into quite a silly, ridiculous & preposterous sequence of episodes. Difficult to take this novel seriously as the final third of the novel is quite embarrassing. Very disappointing.

[Darby Stilwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book worth the reading. But as with his 'Honk if You are Jesus' he shies away at the end and goes for a safe non-controversial finish.

[Emilia O’Keeffe · Rating 1 out of 5]

You really do find some crap in hostels

[Blue Mountains Library]

John (JJ) was born with perfect hearing, to parents who were profoundly deaf. From infancy he learned sign language from them, adding normal human speech when he was older. He loved and respected Sign, its shades of meaning, its possibilities for humour. His marriage to Jill, as the story opens, has foundered “on the shifting sands of spoken words”, and he takes a job at the Deaf Institute, teaching Sign. Two of his students show immediate interest and aptitude. They initiate a relationship with him that ultimately challenges him to the roots of his beliefs. This is a beautiful, courageous, insightful work.

Alison

[Text Publishing · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘[Goldsworthy’s] greatest achievement…Brave, brilliant, as intellectually challenging as it is playful, it is testament to a restless and unpredictable imagination.’
James Bradley

‘Stylish, imaginative, poignant, and hugely unsettling.’
Australian

‘A deeply satisfying book…represents a new achievement in his fiction…Read it. You won’t find another novel like it.’
Adelaide Review

[Heather Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep exploration of a lot of philosophical issues, through the role of language in shaping our awareness, our treatment of animals, animal consciousness and the nature of personhood. Although quite confronting, it definitely provided food for thought. Also made me quite interested in learning Auslan, I'd had no idea about the depth and beauty of the language.

[Vicki Tyley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very confronting.

[Jacquie · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my. This is a moral workout, and I am fitter for reading it. Wonderful and emotional, but also profoundly philosophically canny.

[Nez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit disturbing

[Seabastion Toast · Rating 4 out of 5]

disturbing but brilliant

[Kay Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's a link to the review I wrote for the online journal Transnational Literature - enjoy the journal too.

http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/jspui/b...

[Sarah Bray · Rating 5 out of 5]

My score: 9.5/10
http://happyhobbit1.blogspot.com.au/2...

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book mildly irritating but read the whole thing anyway.