The Kindness of Birds

by Merlinda Bobis

An oriole sings to a dying father. A bleeding-heart dove saves the day. A crow wakes a woman’s resolve. Owls help a boy endure isolation. Cockatoos attend the laying of the dead. Always there are birds in these linked stories that pay homage to kindness and the kinship among women and the planet. From Australia to the Philippines, across cultures and species, kindness inspires resilience amidst loss and grief. Being together ignites resistance against violence. We pull through in the company of others.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Merlinda Bobis is an award-winning contemporary Philippine-Australian writer who has had 4 novels, 6 poetry books and a collection of short stories published, and 10 dramatic works performed. For her, ‘Writing visits like grace. Its greatest gift is the comfort if not the joy of transformation. In an inspired moment, we almost believe that anguish can be made bearable and injustice can be overturned, because they can be named. And if we’re lucky, joy can even be multiplied a hundredfold, so we may have reserves in the cupboard for the lean times.’

Born in Tabaco in the Philippines province of Albay, Merlinda Bobis attended Bicol University High School then completed her B.A. at Aquinas University in Legazpi City. She holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Santo Tomas and University of Wollongong where she taught Creative Writing for 21 years. She now lives and writes on Ngunnawal land (Canberra, Australia).

Her literary awards include the 2016 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction NSW Premier's Literary Award for her novel 'Locust Girl. A Lovesong'; three Philippine National Books Awards (2016: 'Locust Girl', 2014: 'Fish-Hair Woman', 2000: 'White Turtle'); 2013 MUBA: 'Fish-Hair Woman'; 2000 Steele Rudd Award for the Best Published Collection of Australian Short Stories: 'White Turtle'; 2006 Philippine National Balagtas Award for her poetry and prose (in English, Filipino and Bikol); 1998 Prix Italia, 1998 Australian Writers' Guild Award and 1995 Ian Reed Radio Drama Prize for her play 'Rita's Lullaby'; three Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in Literature Poetry Category (2016: Second prize, 1989: Second, 1987: First). Her poetry collection, 'Accidents of Composition' was Highly Commended for the 2018 ACT Book of the Year.

Reviews

[Neale · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is published in the September edition of goodREADING magazine.

[Veronica ⭐️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kindness of Birds is an anthology of stories of kindness across cultures and generations. Stories of resilience and kinship amongst women in multicultural Australia.

The stories have an element of disconnection. Migrants finding there place in a new country, a new culture.
The right reader will find these stories deeply moving and heartfelt. However, they are written in a literary prose and I found it hard to connect with some of the stories.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Love sings in any language.’

Contained within the beautiful cover of this book are fourteen short stories. They are linked, sharing common characters and the symbolism of birds. The stories are set in Australia and the Philippines and pay homage to kindness and kinship.

The fourteen short stories are:

Note: I have copied this detail from the Spinifex Press website (https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop...) because I wanted to include a synopsis of each of the stories so that the links between them can be seen and appreciated.

‘O Beautiful Co-Spirit.’ At a Belconnen funeral parlour, Filipina-Australian Pilar and Malaysian-Australian Farah dress Farah’s deceased lover Lucia, an Italian-Australian, while trying to make peace after a fight over noisy cockatoos. As they lay the dead, both remember rituals from their respective Catholic and Islamic traditions, and their shared belief in kindness for all who pass.

‘When the Crow Turns White.’ During the 2020 hailstorm in Canberra, in the Parliament House courtyard, a crow is injured. The elemental develops into a magical story about grace and kindness that overturn politics and spin, and domestic violence. This event changes the life of Corazon, a Filipina-Australian who cleans the chamber of the House of Representatives with her friend Orla, an Irish-Australian.

‘The Kindness of Birds.’ After the death of her parents, Filipina-Australian Nenita and her Latvian-Australian husband Arvis walk along Lake Burley Griffin comforted by a host of birds real and remembered between Legazpi (Philippines) and Canberra (Australia), especially the orioles who sang to her father as he was dying. This comfort inspires her to believe that ‘She’ll be apples, she’ll be birds.’

‘The Air of the Times.’ In a Manila hotel, poet Remy and sister Belen, a revolutionary, reconnect. Their touchstone is a bottle of Nina Ricci perfume L’Air Du Temps (“The Air of the Times”) with a cap of intertwined doves: a gift from Remy’s friend, 86-year old Werner who just died in Sydney. The German Jew lost his family in the Holocaust. Between his and the sisters’ story of loss and war in the Philippines and Germany, the air of time flows with the hope for peace.

‘Candido’s Revolution.’ In 1800s Broome, indentured ‘Manilamen’ pearl divers, Candido and Francisco, win the lottery and donate their winnings towards buying a printing press that assists the Philippine revolution against colonial Spain. They turn revolutionaries and are executed by the Spanish in 1897. With these historical facts, in 2019 Remy researches Candido’s story in Broome and conjures a love story set in 1893 between Candido and Mary, a Noongar woman. It’s Remy’s way of coming to terms with the assassination of her sister Belen in Manila in 1996. Birds from these different periods hover around the layered storytelling.

‘My Tender Tender.’ At The Roey’s bar in Broome, Nenita and Arvis meet 91-year old Aboriginal Uncle Freddy, a Filipino-Javanese-Yawuru who’s one of the last remaining hard-hat pearl divers of Broome and Darwin. The meeting reveals kinships in story and grief: Nenita’s father has just died at 91.

‘My Father’s Australia.’ It’s the wake of Nenita’s father in Legazpi. In the coffin, he’s dressed in a blue suit that she bought from DJs years ago, so he could fly “looking nice” when he visits her in Australia. The visit never happened. In this story of loss and broken family ties woven across Legazpi, Canberra and Charles de Gaulle airport, Nenita is sustained by remembering kindness, notwithstanding the lack of it.

‘Naming the Flowers.’ After her mother’s funeral, Nenita cleans up the family house in Legazpi. She finds a poem written in her mother’s longhand and the photos of the flowers in her mother’s garden, and those that friends in Canberra gave her after her father died. Between the memory of naming the flowers with her mother in this house and with her friends in Canberra, she tries to name her grief. In her chest, a bird tries to fly out.

‘The Sleep of Apples.’ As the bushfires rage in New South Wales and Victoria, friends Nenita and Ella drive around Tasmania after not seeing each other for more than ten years. Amidst ripening apple orchards and Tassie’s irrepressible birds, they remember Robert, Ella’s ex-husband and Nenita’s friend, who hanged himself in early 2000. This unresolved loss threads other losses across the Philippines, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and the US with a restorative idyll in Penang.

‘My Love, My Nerūsē.’ COVID-19 lockdown. Nenita and Arvis affirm “kindness both ways” in relation to their histories of loss and the ongoing grieving around the world, as weebills visit the cedars outside their apartment. Nerūsē: “does not rust”, like love from Latvia to Australia, the Philippines and around the world.

‘Singing Back.’ Filipino international student Andres, an indigenous Agta from Bikol, is doing a PhD on Avian-Human Kinship at the Australian National University. He’s a casual cleaner at a Canberra hotel where he meets receptionist Sinéad, an Environmental Science student at University of Canberra. Both just lost their jobs (COVID lay-offs) when Andres learns that grandmother in the Philippines is sick with COVID. As they have their last lunch together in Haig Park, Andres’ family history on the slopes of Mayon Volcano is revealed as intertwined with his PhD on birds. The revelations weave with their “almost love story”.

‘Grandma Owl.’ Filipina-Australian Luningning and her six-year- old grandson Victor are self-isolating in Wollongong after returning from the Philippines on a flight with a COVID case. They survive the quarantine with the help of Matilda, their Chilean-Australian neighbour, and a collection of owls. But Luningning is trying to survive something deeper: her unresolved grief over the death of Victor’s father.

‘Angels.’ COVID time. Nenita is diagnosed with cancer. This is her cancer journey amidst the kindness of nurses, doctors, carers, and birds — angels all!

‘Ode to Joy.’ Nenita re-traces her vexed life in Wollongong in the 90s that leads to her breakdown and aborted suicide. Her memories are threaded by the constancy of water, birds, and kindred souls from different places and cultures — all that kept her alive and returned her to joy.

Each of these stories spoke to me, but my absolute favourite was ‘Grandma Owl’.

‘Kindness cannot self-isolate. It moves both ways and all ways, like breath.’

I borrowed a copy of this book initially to read, but I will be buying my own copy. I loved much of the imagery and the connectedness of these stories.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merlinda Bobis is an award winning Filipina-Australian writer who these days hails from Canberra.  A prolific author, she writes in Filipino and Bikol, and fortunately for us, also in English.

Amongst her Australian literary awards are

2018 Highly Commended in the ACT Book of the Year for her poetry collection, Accidents of Composition;
2016 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction NSW Premier's Literary Award for Locust Girl. A Lovesong, see my review;
2013 MUBA: Fish-Hair Woman, see a Sensational Snippet here;
2006 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Banana Heart Summer; and
2000 Steele Rudd Award for the Best Published Collection of Australian Short Stories: 'White Turtle'

She has also won a swag of awards in the Philippines and elsewhere.  (See Wikipedia).

The Kindness of Birds is a collection of linked short stories, connected by common characters and the symbolism of birds.  It's also the first book I've read that specifically addresses the pandemic and how kindness has nursed us through the difficult times. This is the blurb:

An oriole sings to a dying father. A bleeding-heart dove saves the day. A crow wakes a woman’s resolve. Owls help a boy endure isolation. Cockatoos attend the laying of the dead. Always there are birds in these linked stories that pay homage to kindness and the kinship among women and the planet. From Australia to the Philippines, across cultures and species, kindness inspires resilience amidst loss and grief. Being together ignites resistance against violence. We pull through in the company of others.

The Covid experience in Australia has been very different to the rest of the world.  But Bobis reminds us that even as we live a life that looks much like normal, our friends may have family far away where things are very different.  Nenita's family is in the Philippines, where they are in 'military lockdown.  Top guy says, "Shoot them dead", those who violate it.'  'So different to here,' sighs her husband Arvis...

'Of course!' she snaps. 'Those who violate the lockdown there are often the most impoverished, desperate to leave their homes to find food for their families.' (p.141)

(Remember the media furore because a wealthy middle-class young woman on L-plates was fined a token amount for breaching Melbourne's lockdown because she wanted to practise her driving?)

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/06/22/t...

[Pia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is not so much about Birds. The Birds are actually a motif. Sometimes, a crucial connection linking a Bikolano immigrant to his home; sometimes, thrown in as a Hail Mary to make a positive ending to a downer; sometimes, it’s a few short lines about something whizzing past the TV, not even a material object in the immediate setting.

The Kindness of Birds has modest prose. Modest prose which, at the book’s best, disarms the reader enough to make dramatic moments arrive with a profound emotional impact, a few times leaving me deeply moved or in tears. At the book's lowest instances, its under-baked synthesis leaves the story cluttered.

I don’t know if I liked this or not. As a person…I really like the idea of Kindness, me and Bobis come from the same city, and I agree with most of the book’s politics. No other book could be more compatible with me. But when I closed the last page, the disappointment made me write a 500-word critique of the last story Ode to Joy. Ode to Joy is where the authorial self-insert speaks most directly with the reader, and I had to reply.

Next Level Transparency
The whole book itself suggests an interconnectedness.

One way the book builds cohesion is through the recurrence of characters across multiple stories. This should create a sense of continuity within the short story collection, as characters appear in their own narratives and others’, linking the different stories together. A "one universe" sort of thing. Characters’ social circles overlap, (this character is the friend of a friend of a different character, or two characters come from the same city), and we get callbacks and hints of their future after their segment. Nenita, the author's self-insert, has a whopping 8 out of 14 stories with her at the helm.

Another way is through repetition of sayings. Bisakol, Latvian, and Australian phrases are explained in their first appearance. When they come up again, it's deepened by being used in a different person’s circumstances. A cultural artifact substantiated in both directions: how it is applied in personal situations and how various iterations contribute to a larger, broader, sociological meaning.

But the more important factor that should give the book cohesion is its exhaustive exploration of the two concepts—Grief and Kindness. In each story, we look over Kindness’s many contours, such as how it’s present in various contexts, what its limitations are, how it’s a conscious effort, among others. Grief is less prominent, but it's also a staple in each story. Deceased parents, grandparents, children and friends, and the mourning of the people who remember them. Actions tinted with sadness, with panic, due to grief. Particularly, how Grief and Kindness are suggested by Bobis to go hand-in-hand.

In rare form, the text even openly admits its intentions in the last story, Ode to Joy.

“But why this meticulous return? Because her father died and her mother’s ill? Thus the urge to look it in the eye. Kindly, maybe.”
—Page 198, “Ode to Joy”

It should be a cohesive whole. It should. But it’s not. On the micro-level, individual stories don’t achieve it, so the macro-level doesn’t either.

The Kindness of Birds’s stories are patchworks of origin- and function-specific elements. Just basing information enclosed in the book itself, passages can be identified as follows:

● Historical information about Australia. The book had funding from institutions such as artsACT and De La Salle University Manila, hence the inclusion of historical facts.
● Personal and emotional arcs about death. The author’s parents passed away. The book was also conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic.
● Family dynamics of Filipino families. The author is a Filipino that grew up in the Philippines.

These threads come together for The Kindness of Birds’s stories, to varying levels of success. Half were developed into coherent pieces that transform them beyond these elements.

The other half of them were awkward and disjointed, a series of passages tied together by being next to each other on a page and nothing else. For this particular piece of fiction, wherein the most utilized main character bears uncanny resemblance to the author, the unintended consequence of being underwritten is that it leaves authorial intent so exposed it ironically actually detracts from the story. I’m not against autofiction—“Write what you know”—but in the case of theThe Kindness of Birds, it felt like intruding into something I didn’t plan to see.

”My First Home”
In Acknowledgements, Bobis thanks Anvil Publishing and people there for “ensuring that my stories are heard in my first home.” Australia being her current home, I suppose. It's evident in the writing, most of it is about Filipinos in Australia, or Filipino-Australians visiting the Philippines. Bobis tries to live in these two worlds although both feet are more rooted in Australia.

The story I disliked the most was “The Sleep of Apples.” Every loose bit of connection has to be name-dropped. There was too much shifting around timelines and places, I never got to figure out what a place looked like before we changed to another one. Funnily enough, an Australian reviewer liked this story the most. The review says:

I enjoyed ‘The Sleep of Apples’ in which Nenita travels round Tasmania with her friend Ella. She goes to places I know, like the Apple Shed museum and the Wooden Boat Centre in the Huon Valley.
—Lisa Hill

This suggests to me that The Sleep of Apples might not suck, it's just that the full meaning doesn’t reveal itself to me because I don’t have the lived experience to fill in the blanks.

Bobis’ rendering of her experience of being taga-Bikol is pretty solid, at least to how much it resonates with me. (An acidic mother, the parentification of older siblings, the love of flowers, the calamity and gift that is Mayon). For its essence, I think she did justice to the Filipino/taga-Bikol side. It’s mostly nuanced, although erring on the side of that Migration is desirable. It paints portraits of various family dynamics. Each family, with their own uniqueness, gives both a peek into our culture as well as a jumping off point for ideas.

I really appreciated Singing Back. Andres, who was raised by his grandmother as a boy on the slopes of Mayon, yearns for home. But because of his grandmother’s sickness and unsteady income, he is away for the sake of it. He is working as a janitor while being on a PhD scholarship. The irony of the situation is evident to his co-worker: working a menial job while receiving economic support for intellectual labor. During his downtime, Andres calls to birds, which he learned from his grandmother. He is the same as the birds, using calls to make your way back home.

Singing Back makes good use of the bird motif. First, the family has a relationship with birds as an outcome of uncertainty around living on the slopes of the volcano. Birds called out and warned the family when there was an imminent eruption. They learned bird-calling to understand what the birds warn them of, like comrades in survival.

Secondly, when Andres goes to Australia for a scholarship and he faces uncertainty, this time on a different continent, bird calling helped him to cope with the separation. It reminds him of his home, and renews his appreciation for his grandmother. The birds of Singing Back are a symbol of intricate, layered meanings to the main character.

It doesn’t shy away from the economic struggles burdening Bikolanos, but also shows their humanity by showing that Andres’ family and community have deep affection for family and for nature. They reckon with the Mayon’s paradoxical relationship with them using a Bikolano phrase that affirms their hardyness and resilience: Nabubuhay kita sa tagalid na daga.

The most brilliant writing of The Kindness of Birds is the ending of Singing Back, with the family at Albay Central School. They are taking shelter from a typhoon and lahar. Children are saddened and angry at Mayon, which had just taken the lives of their parents. In the story’s ending, the epic of Magayon is told to the children to bring back their trust in their Mayon. It was modified slightly, in the moment, to accommodate how their reality has changed. Nature escapes moral comprehension—making stories the best way to reckon with and make peace with the volcano.

But there’s an effort in-text to have the meaning be explicit. Throughout the book, every Bikol phrase has its translation literally right next to it. Dangoga—listen. Herak man—pity them. Blunt, ergonomic formatting and sometimes imperfect meaning. There’s effort in making the taga-Bikol aspects understandable to the Australian audience but not the other way around. When measuring through legwork, does this not show who matters more?

Final Thoughts
The Kindness of Birds is definitely a mixed-bag short story collection. On paper, it was aligned with my preferences and inclinations, and I had high expectations for my enjoyment. But the underdeveloped text made it too clunky a reading experience. Maybe because I had hoped so much for this that I’m bummed out about what could have been. This review has gotten really long, more than 1,700 words now, and I think it's because there really is a lot of material. I could go on for ages about the stories I liked, and even more so about the ones I didn’t.

I think it was an interesting read as a first exposure to Merlinda Bobis, and I think that the best stories here would be great reading material for my little sister. It will be good for her sense of identity to get to know professional fictionists from our city.

Favorite stories: My Father’s Australia, Grandma Owl, The Air of the Times
Disliked stories: The Sleep of Apples x50, Ode to Joy x100,

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this short story collection.
I share a fixation on birds and I can hear the cockatoos and the currawongs outside, one cockatoo is nibbling on some sunflower seeds just outside my window. Later on I expect a visit from a pair of crested pigeons that nest in my garden.
Each of these stories flow through with the symbol of a different type of bird guiding the way and each story is also guided by kindness. A pandemic of kindness is just what we need at the moment and these stories guide us in that direction.
A number of different subjects are handled here, a history of Aus and the Philippines, particularly with filipinos who went to Broome and Darwin during and possibly before European settlement, some to do with the pearling industry, escaping other political trouble (which I would really be interested in seeing developed as a novel). There are also contemporary stories that give us aspects of the covid19 pandemic which we have all just gone through and are still going through. It's the first time I've seen that described in fiction and it's done exceptionally well.
The award winning author, now lives locally to me and a couple of years ago I very much enjoyed her poetry collection Accidents of Composition and have my own copy.
I've gifted a copy of this short story collection to my daughter-in-law, who came from the Philippines to do her PhD in Medical engineering here, her naughty MIL is distracting her a little with great literature :D
Highly recommended. I just hope there are enough copies left by the time I can get around to buying my own.

[Ngarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A conversational, yet lyrical and philosophical writing style.
Such heart, soul, and care for both the world and the human experience.

[Jean Louise | bookloure · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 | The first story hit hard, but the rest are just... okay. I hate to say this, but mostly the language kept me from connecting with these stories. The prose may be too poetic for the form? idk. Maybe because I like my short stories short and snappy and punchy, that's why. These stories are definitely in the quiet, subtle and reflective spectrum.
Did not find any faults in the writing or prose; it just didn't personally hit.

[springcry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a book that finds you when you need it the most. It’s not one to read at every season of life, but when you have experienced grief, loneliness in a foreign country, the magnitude of what an act of kindness can do to you, and the willingness to hear stories no matter the “believability”, then so much of the stories here feel all the more impactful. Bobis’ creative practice highlights critical and also tenderhearted perspectives on PH and Australia, always depicting an awareness of how we live in an interconnected world together, birds and flowers and humans alike.

Some personal favorites are: the connecting stories on pearl divers in “Candido’s Revolution” and the lived experience of Uncle Freddie Corpuz in “My Tender Tender”, the heart-wrenching back to back reflections on her parents’ passing in “My Father’s Australia” and “Naming the Flowers”, along with the surprise avian thesis story “Singing Back.” A lot of the dialogue in the last one reminded me of my own thesis haha.

It’s hard to say though if I always felt for the characters, presented plot, or if I felt more connected to the collection because I had heard the author’s performance lecture back in 2023. because I came into this book knowing her voice (literally, as some lines in here were recited and even sang during that session), everything felt so touching and magical to read. I’m not sure if readers who haven’t heard her would find the same allure or if some of the stories may seem too abstract and overly poetic. I dunno.

TLDR, i liked it, not sure if it’s for everyone but some stories made me really want to read more about certain Filipino and Australian histories. and that’s something!

[Lady Bookaneer · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Merlinda Bobis’ The Kindness of Birds:

When placed next to this book, my recent reads - most of which I dearly love - seem superficial. Dr. Bobis’ writing reaches a depth that many famous authors have yet to reach. She brings to the surface inexplicable yet familiar feelings of home long forgotten. She clearly knows how it feels to have a home in the Philippine countryside during the 1990’s and 2000’s, making sure her readers travel with her through time and distance. She’s aware of the local birds, of the myth and legends of the provinces featured, their history and tragedy. And just like in any art, it’s the small details that make the overall tapestry great.

The kindness of Birds is poignant. But it is also filled with hope and longing and sweetness, written in a way that is far from cloying.

In the same vein as Margaret Renkl’s Late Migration, this book rekindled my love for naturalist writers. There’s just something about them that makes their writing so good. Maybe it’s their keen awareness of the beauty of the world around them.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Here is Dr. Bobis’ work, an ode to Filipino resilience and strength, a monument of the Philippine’s natural beauty. Give it a try, it’s worth your while.

[Jam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kindness of Birds is a collection of inter-connected stories about kindness. The stories are set in the Philippines and multi-cultural Australia. Women are at the heart of these stories. We read their grief, guilt, struggle, and resistance. I liked the first few stories much more than the latter ones. One story tackles a taboo conversation here in the Philippines about money. One story taught me so much about a relatively unknown revolutionary, Candido Iban, who played a major role in the Philippine revolution against Spain. One story reminded me of my paternal grandmother who I misunderstood to be unkind when I was young. It was only last year when I chatted with my older cousins, adults already when my grandmother was still alive, that there was more to her than what I remembered. That she was strong, ambitious, and financially independent despite her being a single mother before she met my grandfather. Coincidentally, the character's name in the story was the same as that of my grandmother.

The literary prose in this book is a hit or miss for me. Sometimes it’s really good, taking my breath away, and leaving me teary-eyed. But sometimes, it was trying to hard. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time reading this.

[Mutiara Choiriyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hope is the thing with feathers."

We are closer to each other than we think. The paths we take, the lives we endure, and the decisions we make interlink with one another.

The Kindness of Birds is a collection of short stories that connects the characters through time, historical trauma, grief, displacement, and moments that shape us as humans. The land, the sea, and the trees are the very witnesses of the connection that we are trying to have.

Through the book, I learned more about ethno-geo histories, from the Koepangers (Orang Kupang) who fought the Japanese pearlers in Broome, Australia, to Manilamen's lives both in homeland and abroad.

Reaching the end of the book, I felt more grounded. It brought back memories of being isolated due to COVID-19. Memories of how we tried to keep one another safe.

Yet post COVID-19, we are still being cruel to our fellow beings. What happened to the "We Are in This Together" slogan? Is it just a mere political reassurance slogan?

Readers, may peace and kindness nest within you, always.

[Ayesha Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have I ever read a book that has brought me to tears over the course of days until now. The Kindness of Birds by the amazing Merlinda Bobis feels like an embrace by all who show us kindness and joy, from our Moms and Dads, Lolas and neighbors, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and siblings, very much like the overseas Filipino workers who come back home.
A sublime combination of grief, love, care and poetic justice, every story carries emotions that can be felt by the reader, as sure as every bird flies through the bushes and trees of Australia and the Philippines. Full of analogies that color every character with their connection to nature and life around them, this is a book that I can highly recommend to hold on to, during uncertain times of pandemics, oceans of loss and grief and the promises of love coming tomorrow.

[Nico · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Kindness cannot self-isolate. It moves both ways and all ways, like breath.

The collection of stories were actually disconnected from each other but also it weaves smoothly in a subtle way with each other. In a time of pandemic, we rarely see stories about kindness, not the toxic positivity mindset but the kindness that dwells on genuine and spontaneous at the same time.

At some parts of the story it felt alienating since I am not familiar with Australia but it brought me in their world.

[Renz Fonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has an abundance of cultures, principles, traditions, languages, and, of course, a lot of kindness!

“If you born in a web, you won’t die at the sea”

Our lives are connected in any way, a network of life that gives meaning to everyone, even if we don’t mean for it to happen. You won’t die in a vast sea, uncertain, as you were born with love that weaves your life unto them and keeps you afloat against the raging waves that may come unto you.

I learned more about birds, flowers, trees, mountains and each origin stories behind it. Such a cultural reminder for a Filipino like me.

[t · Rating 2 out of 5]

wish i liked it more than i did. i came into it with a lot of expectations. the prose is good, of course, the motif is clear, and the stories being told are all very important, but it just felt extremely dragging. maybe it was the writing style? i dont know. all i know was that there were good stories interspersed with everything, but i don't know how exactly i feel about its ordering or the preachy almost tell-not-show way most of it was delivered to me

[Maej · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a special feeling to be able to relate to one’s Filipino-Australian experience through literature. Thank you, Merlinda!

[Chris Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a friend, but it was obvious she hadn’t opened it. The short stories were based around Sydney and Canberra in Australia, featuring friends, families and linked by birds. Most of it was magical despite the stories being about death, demonstrating that family and friendships trumps all. Not my usual reading material, but nice and easy to read short stories before bed.

[Jane]

DNF

I'm actually really disappointed I didn't get into this book. It wasn't my thing. The writing was sweet, but I lost interest so quickly.

[aya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful collection that spans filial connections, cultural and national identity, and human emotions. All tied together by birds and their nature.

I too would want to see a Luzon bleeding heart 😭

[Marianne Ordoña · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5]

[Issa · Rating 4 out of 5]

How I've loved the birds all my life and they were always kind. Thankfully, Merlinda Bobis knows this too.

[francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful but at times difficult to get through. loved it nonetheless!!! merlinda bobis has such a delicate way with words. every sentence feels like it was formed with the softest hands.

[Sellena Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to its title, this collection of short stories is written with such kindness, interweaving Filipino and Australian identities seamlessly.

[Madelaine Dickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the idea of ‘mangalag-kalag’: to roam the eyes around a world further than our own. Merlinda’s stories give us this precious opportunity, and what powerful worlds they are.

[Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love it. I love that I randomly picked it up at the library and its about birds, and then to find out the author is writing on Ngunnawal Country, with references to places I know and birds I love. Its just fell a little flat, some stories were so confusing with what was happening and what characters were involved, and in some stories a bird was only briefly mentioned- I thought they would have a strong part in all stories.

I did learn about the fucked up brutality of forcing pregnant women to go pearl diving because it was thought they had a larger lung capacity. I also liked the idea of connecting story telling and conservation .."birdsong as a story then Lola Paela copies birdsong to call them back, so they don't disappear- its an incantation, like a magic spell, so story telling is incantation too in a way".... "all beings have magic power, sinead, not in the supernatural sense. Just being is power - and being with each other is even more powerful. By each others grace, we go. And thats magical"

QUOTE DUMP
To trees and flowers, your restorative balance
And to birds, your gifts of delight, solace, uncanny illuminations and "trust in air" has taught me how to breathe, With deepest gratitude, I offer these stories to you.

They fought and shouted, mostly the men really, maybe because there were only a few women [in the ouse of representatives], so does this mean that "people" are mostly men?... if I shout the loudest and fight the most, I can be prime Minister

After a war, the question is, who gains after peace is declared... whose peace is it?

[Jireh · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is not a bad collection. i really liked majority of the stories. i guess my biggest gripe would be why the author chose to focus on the character of Nenita specifically and have 8 out of the 14 stories be about her and her life. Personally I wanted to see more of the other characters to balance it out and also i think it would have made this collection more interesting. Very frustating to see this collection very strong in the middle but start and end weakly.

3.75

[standingontheshouldersofgiants · Rating 1 out of 5]

🙄