“It took me some time to recognise all those human sounds, to weave words into things. But I was patient. Patient is a useful way to be when you’re an ape. Gorillas are as patient as stones. Humans, not so much.” – Ivan
Ivan is a silverback gorilla. When we meet him in The One and Only Ivan, he has already been captive in a cage for a staggering 9,855 days, equivalent to 27 years.
“You can do most things in Sunday school, like colouring and singing and dressing up, as long as you don’t dress up as Jesus on the cross, because Graham Roberts did that once, just in his pants, and Mrs Constantine didn’t like it.” – Anna
Anna is the nine-year old through whose eyes we relive her eventful summer holidays.
“The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.”
– Allen Say
Having lived as an immigrant almost all of my adult life, those words sum up my every day.
By Maureen Tai, 3 November 2017“… he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn’t work. It wasn’t just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that – it didn’t work. When he sat alone in the darkness and cried and was done, all done with it, nothing had changed. His leg still hurt, it was still dark, he was still alone and the self-pity had accomplished nothing.”
– Narrator
Stories That Stay With Us 