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BOOKS |
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Kiwis are avid readers, and almost equally keen writers, producing
more glossy picture books and wildlife guides than you would think
possible. Some excellent novels have come out of New Zealand too,
despite the tiny home readership and the great difficulty of breaking
into the international market.
Almost all of the following titles can be easily found in bookstores.
Where two publishers are given, these refer to UK and US publishers
respectively; titles that are published only in New Zealand are denoted
NZ. Note that Hodder Headline titles are published by Hodder Moa Becket
in New Zealand
Travel and impressions
Mark Lawson , The Battle for Room Service: Journeys to all the Safe
Places (Picador). On the basis that Timaru is rumoured to be the most
activity-challenged city in New Zealand, itself the world's most
differently-interesting place, Lawson selects this modest South Island
city as the first port of call, and first chapter, of his wonderfully
entertaining world tour of such dull places.
Austin Mitchell , The Half-gallon, Quarter-acre, Pavlova Paradise (OUP).
A humorous and insightful vision of 1960s New Zealand as seen through
the eyes of a British Labour MP and self-declared Kiwi commentator.
Though wildly out of date, in many ways the lifestyles and values he
describes still have the ring of truth, and the book stands as a measure
of how much New Zealand has progressed, and at the same time how little.
Paul Theroux , The Happy Isles of Oceania (Penguin). Another
misanthropic diatribe from Mr Theroux, and one which really put Kiwi
noses out of joint. This time he kicks off in New Zealand and
subsequently rides a clutch of hobby-horses through the Pacific. Some
worthwhile observations on trekking in the South Island and a little
historical context on the Polynesian migrations go some way towards
saving the book.
History, society and politics
James Belich , The New Zealand Wars (Penguin). An extraordinary, well-researched,
and in-depth demolition job on the received version of the course and
outcome of the colonial wars, which re-examines the Victorian and Maori
interpretation of the conflict. A book for committed historians and
those fanatically interested in the subject, since it gives more detail
than most people will ever need to know.
Alistair Campbell , Maori Legends (Viking Sevenseas, NZ). A brief
retelling of selected stories in an accessible way with some evocative
illustrations.
R.D. Crosby , The Musket Wars (Reed). An account of the massive upsurge
in inter-iwi conflict before the start of European colonization, that
was exacerbated by the introduction of the musket and led to the death
of 23 percent of the Maori population, a proportion far greater than
that of Russian casualties in World War II.
A.K. Grant , Corridors of Pua (Hazard Press, NZ). A light-hearted look
at the turbulent and fraught political history of the country from 1984
to the introduction of MMP.
Tom Hewnham , By Batons and Barbed Wire (o/p). A harrowing account of
the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand that stirred up more social
hatred than any other event and proved conclusively that there is more
to New Zealand society than just a bunch of good blokes and "Hail fellow
well met".
Hineani Melbourne , Maori Sovereignty: The Maori Perspective (Hodder
Headline); and its companion volume Maori Sovereignty: The Pakeha
Perspective by Carol Archie (Hodder Headline). Everyone from grass-roots
activists to statesmen get a voice in these two volumes, one airing the
widely divergent Maori visions of sovereignty, the other covering the
equally disparate pakeha view on the subject. They assume a fairly good
understanding of Maori structures and recent New Zealand history, but
are highly instructive nonetheless.
Claudia Orange , The Story of the Treaty (Bridget Williams Books, NZ). A
concise, illustrated exploration of the history and myths behind what
many believe to be the most important document in New Zealand history,
the Treaty of Waitangi. Well written but probably more than the casual
traveller needs to know. Much the same criticism applies to the author's
The Treaty of Waitangi (Allen & Unwin, NZ), which covers the lead-up to
the signing, and the treaty's first sixty years.
Margaret Orbell , A concise Encyclopaedia of Maori Myth and Legend (Canterbury
University Press, NZ). A fairly comprehensive rundown on many tales and
their backgrounds that rewards perseverance even though it's a little
dry.
Jock Phillips , A Man's Country? The Image of the Pakeha Male (Penguin).
Recently updated version of a classic treatise on mateship and the Kiwi
bloke. This thorough exploration ranges through the formative pioneering
years, rugby, wartime camaraderie, the development of the family-man
ideal and now includes Nineties man. It comes to life with the partial
dismantling of the stereotype in the light of developments of the last
twenty years.
Keith Sinclair , The History of New Zealand (Penguin). A highly readable
general history of New Zealand with comprehensive coverage of the social
factors that have shaped the country, as well as the prime movers. Maori
oral history gets a brief and informative look-in, and there's plenty on
uneasy Maori- pakeha relations, but it's not been updated to take into
account recent political changes and the Maori renaissance.
D.C. Starzecka (ed), Maori Art and Culture (British Museum Press). A
kind of Maori culture primer, with concise and interesting coverage of
Maori history, culture, social structure, carving and weaving, spiced up
by excellent colour photos of artefacts from the British Museum's
collection.
Ross Wiseman , The Spanish Discovery of New Zealand in 1576 (Discovery
Press, NZ). Wiseman puts the case for pre-Abel Tasman European discovery
based on wreckage from ships, Spanish-sounding Maori names and a clutch
of other circumstantial but convincing evidence.
Fiction
Barbara Anderson , All the Nice Girls (Vintage, NZ). A short, insightful
comedy of manners-cum-romance about a naval officer's wife who goes off
the rails in 1960s Auckland, by a writer known for her clarity and
vibrancy.
Anonymous , The Spin (Hodder Headline). Allegedly written by a
government insider, hence the anonymity. Though Kiwis were shocked at
the antics of barely disguised current politicians, it's all pretty tame
by world standards, and only mildly revealing about the behaviour of
elected representatives behind closed doors.
Graeme Aitken , Fifty Ways of Saying Fabulous (Headline). An extremely
funny book about burgeoning homosexuality in a young farm boy, who lives
in a world where he is expected to clean up muck and play rugby.
Brilliant and touching, but it loses its way in the final third and
serves up an anticlimactic ending.
Eric Beardsley , Blackball 08 (Collins, NZ). Entertaining and fairly
accurate historical novel set in the West Coast coal-mining town of
Blackball during New Zealand's longest ever labour dispute.
Graham Billing , Forbrush and the Penguins (Oxford University Press,
NZ). Described as the first serious novel to come out of Antarctica, it
is the compelling description of one man's lonely vigil over a colony of
penguins and the relationship he develops with them. Well worth the
effort.
Samuel Butler , Erewhon (Penguin). Gulliver's Travels-style journey to a
utopian land, initially set in the Canterbury high country (where Butler
ran a sheep station) but increasingly devoted to a satirical critique of
mid-Victorian Britain.
Catherine Chigey , In a Fishbone Church (Victoria University Press, NZ).
A high-minded, broad-ranging novel spanning physical borders and time,
learning about the past and dealing with it, maybe, by focusing on one
family.
Ian Cross , The God Boy (Penguin). This first and only novel of note
from Ian Cross is widely considered to be New Zealand's equivalent to
Catcher in The Rye. It concerns a young boy trapped between two parents
who hate each other and describes the violent consequences of this
situation.
Barry Crump , A Good Keen Man; Hang on a Minute Mate; Bastards I Have
Met; Forty Yarns and a Song (Hodder Headline). Just a few of the many
New Zealand bushman books by the Kiwi equivalent of Banjo Patterson, who
writes with great humour, tenderness and style about the male-dominated
world of hunting, shooting, fishing, drinking, and telling tall stories.
Worth reading for a picture of a New Zealand and a lifestyle that have
now largely disappeared.
Sigrid Crump , Bushwoman (Reed Books, NZ). Light, fresh and highly
evocative account of a young German woman's solo travels on foot in New
Zealand's backcountry during the 1960s and 70s. Infusing each page with
her deep love of the Kiwi bush and fiercely independent spirit, Barry
Crump's sister-in-law leaves you full of admiration.
Alan Duff , Once Were Warriors (Virago/Random House). A shocking and
violent book in the social realism, kitchen-sink drama style, set in
1970s south Auckland and adapted in the 1990s for Lee Tamahori's film of
the same name. At its heart are good intentions concerning the
predicament of urban Maori, but at times this is a clumsy book with an
oddly upbeat ending. Duff has recently published a sequel, What Becomes
of the Broken Hearted (Virago/Random House).
Denis Edwards , Connor is Free (Penguin). A pretty run-of-the-mill
thriller, but it will divert you during long bus, train or plane
journeys.
Fiona Farrell , Six Clever Girls Who Became Famous Women (Penguin). A
second novel of some quality and style has the girls of the title
reunited in mid-life to confront what they have achieved and come to
terms with their present and the possibilities of the future.
Janet Frame , An Angel at My Table (Random House). Though undoubtedly
one of New Zealand's most accomplished novelists, Frame is perhaps best
known for this three-volume autobiography, dramatized in Jane Campion's
film which, with wit and a self-effacing honesty, gives a wonderful
insight into both the author and her environment. Her superb novels and
short stories use humour alongside highly disturbing combinations of
events and characters to overthrow readers' preconceptions. For starters,
try Faces in the Water, Living in the Maniototo, Scented Gardens for the
Blind, and Owls Do Cry (all The Women's Press).
Maurice Gee , Crime Story; Going West; Prowlers, The Plumb Trilogy (Penguin).
These from an underrated but highly talented writer. Despite the
misleadingly light titles, Gee's focus is social realism, taking an
unflinching, powerful look at motivation and unravelling relationships.
Patricia Grace , Potiki (Penguin). Poignant and poetic tale of a Maori
community redefining itself through a blend of traditional and modern
values, while its land is threatened by coastal development. Exquisite
writing by an outstanding author who ranks among the finest in New
Zealand today. She has also written several other novels and short-story
collections.
Peter Hawes , Leapfrog with Unicorns (Vintage Press, NZ) and Tasman's
Lay (Hazard Press, NZ). Two from the unsung hero, cult figure and
probably only member of the absurdist movement in New Zealand, who
writes with great energy, wit and surprising discipline about almost
anything that takes his fancy. It's not much of a secret that Peter is
also W.P. Hearst who has written the not-to-be-missed Inca Girls Aren't
Easy (Vintage), a series of joyous, sad and slippery tales.
Keri Hulme , The Bone People (Picador). Celebrated winner of the 1985
Booker Prize, and a wonderful first novel set along the wild beaches of
the South Island's West Coast. Mysticism, myth and earthy reality are
transformed into a haunting tale peopled with richly drawn characters.
Witi Ihimaera , Bulibasha - King of the Gypsies (Penguin). The best
introduction to one of the country's finest Maori authors. A rollicking
good read, energetically exploring the life of a rebellious teenager in
1950s rural New Zealand, where two mighty sheep-shearing families are
locked in battle. It's an intense look at adolescence, cultural choices,
family ties and the abuse of power, culminating in a masterful twist.
Look out also for the excellent The Matriarch (Penguin) by the same
author.
Phil Kawana , Dead Jazz Guys (Huia Publishers, NZ). A relatively new kid
on the block, writing short stories about the young urban Maori, family,
drugs and sex. Poignant and intelligent writing in a collection of mixed
quality.
Fiona Kidman , The Book of Secrets (Picador). Historical novel tracing
one family's heritage through the reclusive granddaughter of a Scot who
left the highlands with commanding preacher Norman McLeod, eventually
ending up in Northland's Waipu.
Elizabeth Knox , The Vintner's Luck (Victoria University Press). A very
curious book indeed that for no very good reason became an international
best seller, all about "a man, his vineyard, love, wine and angels."
Shonagh Koea , The Grandiflora Tree (Penguin). A savagely witty yet
deeply moving study of the conventions of widowhood, with a peculiar
love story thrown in. First novel from a journalist and short-story
writer renowned for her astringent humour.
Katherine Mansfield , The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield (Penguin).
All 73 short stories sit alongside 15 unfinished fragments in this 780-page
tome. Concise yet penetrating examinations of human behaviour in
apparently trivial situations, often transmitting a painfully
pessimistic view of the world, and startlingly modern for their time.
Ngaio Marsh , Opening Night; Artists in Crime; Vintage Murder (Fontana).
Just a selection from the doyenne of New Zealand crime fiction. Since
1934 she has been airing her anglophile sensibilities and killing off
innumerable individuals in the name of entertainment, before solving the
crimes with Inspector Allen. Perfect mindless reading matter for planes,
trains and buses.
Ronald Hugh Morrieson , Came a Hot Friday (OUP). Superb account of the
idiosyncrasies of country folk and the two smart spielers who enter
their lives, in a comedy thriller focusing on crime and sex in a small
country town.
John Mulgan , Man Alone (Penguin). Seminal and soberly written boy's-own
novel about one man's restless and peripatetic times working the New
Zealand back blocks between the wars, as the country lurched from its
pioneering days into the modern world. First published in 1939, it is
often regarded as one of the first truly Kiwi novels and had a huge
influence on New Zealand writing, its evocation of the Kiwi male quickly
becoming an archetype.
Vincent O'Sullivan , Let the River Stand (Penguin). Deftly conjuring the
minutiae of homestead and rural school life in a Waikato farming
community of the 1930s, Sullivan weaves disparate tales around the life
of his gawky anti-hero, Alex. Tragic, humorous and captivating.
Believers to the Bright Coast (Penguin) is O'Sullivan's disappointing
follow-up and little more than an impenetrable confusion repeating the
themes and obsessions of the first.
Emily Perkins , Not Her Real Name (Picador). Sub-Mansfield short-story
writer who inexplicably picked up an award for this. Though lacking the
subtlety and incisiveness of the master, this uneven collection shows
some promise. Sadly, however, this promise subsequently failed to
materialize in her first novel, Leave Before You Go (Picador).
Frank Sargeson , The Stories of Frank Sargeson (Penguin). Though not
well-known outside New Zealand, Sargeson is a giant of Kiwi literature.
His writing, from the 1930s to the 1980s, is incisive and sharply
observed, at its best in dialogue, which is always true to the meter of
New Zealand speech. This work brings together some of his finest short
stories. Once is Enough, More than Enough and Never Enough! (all
Penguin) make up the complete autobiography of a man sometimes even more
colourful than his characters; Michael King has written a fine
biography, Frank Sargeson: A Life (Viking).
Maurice Shadbolt , Strangers and Journeys (Hodder/Atheneum). On
publication in 1972 this became a defining novel in New Zealand's
literary ascendancy and its sense of nationhood, putting Shadbolt in the
same league as Australia's Patrick White. A tale of two families of
finely wrought characters, whose lives interweave through three
generations. Very New Zealand, very human and not overly epic. Later
works, which have consolidated Shadbolt's reputation, include Mondays
Warriors, Season of the Jew and The House of Strife (Hodder/Atheneum).
C.K. Stead , The Singing Whakapapa (Penguin). Highly regarded author of
many books and critical essays who is sadly little known outside New
Zealand and Australia. A combination of a powerful historical novel
about an early missionary, and a dissatisfied modern descendant who is
searching for meaning in his own life by exploring the past. An
excellent and engaging read. His 1998 collection of short stories, The
Blinde Blonde with Candles in her Hair, was less critically acclaimed,
but still entertaining and readable.
Paul Thomas , Old School Tie (Hodder Headline). Smart thriller with some
neat comedic touches but a bit clichéd, just like his last book Inside
Dope (Hodder Headline), and lacking any really sympathetic characters.
Another relaxing read, ideal while waiting for a bus.
Damien Wilkins , The Miserables (Faber). One of the best novels to come
out of New Zealand, shorn of much of the colonial baggage of many
writers. It is surprisingly mature for a first novel, sharply evoking
middle-class New Zealand life from the 1960s to the 1980s through finely
wrought characters.
Anthologies
Fergus Barrowman (ed), The Picador Book of Contemporary New Zealand
Fiction (Picador). A good combination of extracts and short stories from
most of the best living writers in the country.
Warwick Brown , 100 New Zealand Paintings (Godwit Publishing, NZ). As
the title suggests, with some excellent reproductions and a good bit of
information.
Warwick Brown , 100 New Zealand Artists (Godwit Publishing, NZ). The
companion to the above but also allowing room for sculptors,
printmakers, photographers and graphic artists.
Bill Manhire (ed), 100 New Zealand Poems (Godwit Publishing, NZ). A very
manageable selection of Kiwi verse which provides an excellent
introduction to the poetry of the nation.
C.K. Stead (ed), Contemporary South Pacific Stories (Faber and Faber). A
great collection from authors as diverse as European Kiwi, Maori,
Fijian-Indian, Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islanders, with a brilliant
introduction.
Ian Wedde and Harvey McQueen (eds), The Penguin Book of New Zealand
Verse (Penguin). A comprehensive collection of verse from the earliest
European settlers to contemporary poets, and an excellent introduction
to Kiwi poetry; highlights are works by James K. Baxter, Janet Frame,
C.K. Stead, Sam Hunt, Keri Hulme, Hirini Melbourne, and Apirana Taylor.
Reference and specialist guides
Rosemary George , The Wines of New Zealand (Faber and Faber).
Entertaining and informative look at New Zealand's most important wine
regions, the history, the people and the product.
Les Hill & Graeme Marshall , Images of Silver (The Halcyon Press, NZ).
Inspirational fishing picture book with great shots of anglers in action
all over the country.
John Kent , North Island Trout Fishing Guide and South Island Trout
Fishing Guide (Reed, NZ). Laden with information on access, seasons and
fishing style, and illustrated with maps of the more important rivers.
Terry Sturm (ed), The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature (Oxford
University Press). A massive and comprehensive guide to non-fiction,
novels, plays and poems by a variety of academics, which is fascinating
for anyone with an academic interest in the subject but otherwise as dry
as an old stick.
J & J Thomas , The New Zealand Bed & Breakfast Book (Moonshine Press,
NZ). Annually updated listing of member B&Bs, homestays and farmstays,
covering almost 1000 places all over the country. The guide is available
from bookshops or direct from Moonshine Press, PO Box 41022, Eastbourne,
Wellington (tel & fax 04/562 7667), for NZ$20, though the larger
car-rental firms often supply customers with a free copy. Bear in mind
that entries are submitted by the owners, so a little reading between
the lines is advisable.
Vic Williams , The Penguin New Zealand Wine Guide 1999-2000 (Penguin). A
comprehensive breakdown of over 1200 wines from the land of the long
white cloud that will keep you interested and turn you into a big fan,
if you are not already. |
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