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Power of Joy
324 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1965
2 people want to read
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October 12, 2025
Though part of the series, this book only has minor relation. To spoil would be to say it has a glimpse of what the future may be, or is, for Paul and for our Maori Girl. She features like a passing shadow, a face in a street, all quite literally. And like moments that pass, memories that take on weight long after they’ve burnt into our memories, Bennett’s illustration of what was, the lone tree which he could climb above and see what is, crumbled and rotten at the end. Perhaps rotten all along?
His journey of childhood in amongst the depression, the wild curiosity of a child, the sponge like mind soaking detail, unable to sift for gold - understanding. Thus he makes his understandings from parents who really shouldn’t be together, for there’s no love between them, very little or strange love that they give him. He is their child, they are his parents. Concrete figures, distant, cold, unrelenting in their roles. From this his fear and curiosity abound, bouncing off of the landscape and the role model of home. But where is home for Paul? Outside amongst his imagination, a hungry mind keen for understanding.
It is all quite poetic what Hilliard does with Paul’s character. The mind’s eye of a child, expertly crafted. We know the ins and outs of his mind. If you can, dear reader, invest your time and perhaps a few bob for a copy. It is well worth the endeavour. A journey of youth into adolescence. Where innocence gives way to a slight understanding of the world, alienation. The stark and beautiful New Zealand landscape, timeless. The movement of history, people, the echoes of their beings, voices, actions vibrating. This is Paul Bennett and his story.
Noel Hilliard goes hard in this novel, and perhaps it is a coin flip to really see how it is an improvement of Maori Girl. Where central theme is Netta in an urban landscape, leaving the farm and traditionalism of her Maori family and farm, to the urban and industrial city. That increasing isolation and the barriers of skin and attitudes. Paul’s mind, we know well, his thought and age constantly play into how he views the world. Unanswered questions, craving for comfort and care. Netta doesn’t receive this treatment. A blog site review, which I definitely agree with, is though a landmark, we don’t know Netta’s mind like we do here with Paul. That perhaps is a tragedy. One I hope is cured or answered in the next book of Hilliard’s, Maori Woman. Where our characters meet. What does fate have in store?
4.5/5 stars.
Engrossing.
His journey of childhood in amongst the depression, the wild curiosity of a child, the sponge like mind soaking detail, unable to sift for gold - understanding. Thus he makes his understandings from parents who really shouldn’t be together, for there’s no love between them, very little or strange love that they give him. He is their child, they are his parents. Concrete figures, distant, cold, unrelenting in their roles. From this his fear and curiosity abound, bouncing off of the landscape and the role model of home. But where is home for Paul? Outside amongst his imagination, a hungry mind keen for understanding.
It is all quite poetic what Hilliard does with Paul’s character. The mind’s eye of a child, expertly crafted. We know the ins and outs of his mind. If you can, dear reader, invest your time and perhaps a few bob for a copy. It is well worth the endeavour. A journey of youth into adolescence. Where innocence gives way to a slight understanding of the world, alienation. The stark and beautiful New Zealand landscape, timeless. The movement of history, people, the echoes of their beings, voices, actions vibrating. This is Paul Bennett and his story.
Noel Hilliard goes hard in this novel, and perhaps it is a coin flip to really see how it is an improvement of Maori Girl. Where central theme is Netta in an urban landscape, leaving the farm and traditionalism of her Maori family and farm, to the urban and industrial city. That increasing isolation and the barriers of skin and attitudes. Paul’s mind, we know well, his thought and age constantly play into how he views the world. Unanswered questions, craving for comfort and care. Netta doesn’t receive this treatment. A blog site review, which I definitely agree with, is though a landmark, we don’t know Netta’s mind like we do here with Paul. That perhaps is a tragedy. One I hope is cured or answered in the next book of Hilliard’s, Maori Woman. Where our characters meet. What does fate have in store?
4.5/5 stars.
Engrossing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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