Kiwi authors share must-reads
For the best summer reading, three leading New Zealand writers offer tips on good books to read while relaxing at the bach and beach.
Catherine Chidgey chooses:
Deleted Scenes for Lovers by Tracey Slaughter (VUP) Tracey Slaughter’s stunning second collection of short stories garnered rave reviews earlier this year – if you haven’t already gobbled down Deleted Scenes for Lovers, stop what you’re doing and get your hands on it now. Her flawed, complex, deeply human characters leap from the page and straight into your marrow, and the sheer beauty of the writing will move you to murmur passages aloud to yourself, never mind the strange looks from other people at the beach/cafe/ camping ground. Shot through with flashes of deliciously black humour, these stories showcase a writer at the height of her powers. Fale Aitu Spirit House by Tusiata Avia (VUP) It cast its spell on me from the very first page. The voices in these haunting poems lead you through spaces both real and ethereal; spaces where Fa’anoanoa (grief) sits at the kitchen table; where a ‘‘mother rises up out of the lino, wringing and wringing the blood from her hands’’. The collection is divided into three, the central section delivering a short, sharp jolt with its series of poems about the Christchurch earthquakes – a stillsmarting faultline in a book filled with shocks and shivers. This is an unflinching, funny, startling collection from one of our finest poets. Let yourself be possessed. Of Things Gone Astray by Janina Matthewson (HarperCollins) It’s like no other novel I’ve read. It takes place in a world that is familiar enough – present-day London – yet right from the first sentence, something is very strange: ‘‘Mrs Featherby had been having pleasant dreams until she woke to discover the front of her house had vanished overnight.’’ Mrs Featherby is one of a series of characters who lose something important: one man misplaces his piano keys; another the building where he works. A young woman, waiting at the airport for a lover who never arrives, slowly transforms into a tree. I loved this book’s extravagant inventiveness, its willingness to take risks. An ambitious and a magical exploration of loss. Wulf by Hamish Clayton (Penguin) It’s a novel I have returned to again and again, and on every rereading I marvel at its rich, three-dimensional imagining of pre-colonial New Zealand. The tragic historical event at its heart could have fallen prey to gory sensationalism in the hands of a lesser writer, but Clayton’s pitch-perfect recording of it, as told by his anonymous sailor-narrator, resonates long after you have closed the book. The writing is sumptuous, dense, wildly lyrical, now as bawdy as a sea shanty, now as skin-tingling as a karakia. Its cadences draw us right into the uncertain world of the unnamed narrator, seeming to recreate the rocking of a ship. Mesmerising, shocking, redemptive, this is a novel that will stay with you.
Carl Nixon chooses:
The Reach by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin) I once sent an email to Laurence Fearnley asking her to slow down – she’s making the rest of us novelists feel like sluggards. The Reach was her eighth novel in 14 years (Obviously she didn’t listen because she had another one, The Quiet Spectacular published this year). Perhaps best known for Edwin & Matilda and The Hut Builder, Laurence’s books are grounded in the South Island. In The Reach she exchanges tussock and mountains for beaches and the landscape below the ocean. The central character is a woman, Quinn, a successful artist who lives with Marcus, who left his wife and daughter to be with her. A thoughtful examination of attraction, people’s communication styles, loyalty, and family. The Reach asks the big questions – what keeps us together? What drives us apart? The Back of His Head by Patrick Evans (VUP) Since his retirement from the University of Canterbury, Patrick Evans has produced two unique, outstanding works of literary fiction. First there was Gifted about Janet Frame and Frank Sargeson and now there is The Back of his Head. This book was shortlisted for this year’s New Zealand Book awards (as Gifted should have been) and was unlucky not to take the prize. The fictional story of literary giant Raymond Thomas Lawrence, New Zealand’s only writer to ever win the Nobel Prize. Told from the point of view of two diverse characters, this book is often darkly hilarious, a wicked satire on literature itself, the cult of personality, and the folly of literary trustees. At the same time the origin of ideas in literature, the way literature impacts on the world, and how lives are presented (as opposed to the way in which they are lived) are just some of the high concepts held up to the light for examination. Bring on the third book in the trilogy. To the Memory by Jock Phillips (Potton and Burton) Dr Jock Phillips is a leading New Zealand historian.
He has written a fascinating record of war memorials, things we see almost every day but perhaps think little about. The book focuses on memorials to the New Zealand wars, the South African War, World War I and World War II , with a final chapter examining the types of memorials being created this century. A deeply researched but readable text plus beautiful photographs combine to create a must-read book for everyone interested in New Zealand history. Winner of the NZ Society of Authors’ Heritage Award this year for best nonfiction book.
Albert Wendt chooses:
The collected poems of Alistair
Te Ariki Campbell edited by Andrew Campbell and Robert Sullivan (VUP) I first got to know Alistair Campbell when I was attending Victoria University in the early 60s. He became a mentor and lifelong friend. He was one of the few Polynesian/Pasefika poets publishing at the time. His work, especially his poetry, became a powerful influence on my writing. So for me this is a special book. The huge selection by the editors is very insightful, caring, and covers the whole range of Campbell’s poetry, from the brilliantly lyrical and moving love poems about his family, friends and lovers and the places he grew out of to the dark sometimes frightening but always manaful laments and songs. I consider him one of our major poets.
Stories on the Four Winds edited by Brian Bargh and Robyn Bargh (Huia) This is an anthology of 20 short stories by Maori and Pasefika writers. I am very privileged to have two stories in the anthology and be among influential writers such as Patricia Grace, Renee, James George, Briar Grace-Smith, Alice Tawhai, and Paula Morris whose work I’ve always admired. Also in the anthology are some new and gifted writers who are going to determine the directions of Maori and Pasefika literature and add to the rich literature of our country. Black Ice Matter by Gina Cole (Huia) This is Cole’s first book and it is a collection of short stories. She is Pasefika/Fijian. The stories are tight, fluent, and multi-layered. Plummeting into a crevasse a researcher discovers the unexpected; a couple of women venture into a dangerous melt stream; a child working in a factory dreams of the benefits of a Western life; and so on. The stories are constantly on the move, slipping and sliding along and into unexpected trails. Breaking Connections by Albert Wendt (Huia) This is the first time I’m recommending one of my own books. I’ve always felt wrong about doing so, and I haven’t. But now, nearing the end of my writing life, I’ve decided so what! You’ve spent years teaching and recommending other writers’ books, so why not one of yours, especially one you’re very fond of? I started writing it in Hawaii where Reina and I worked for four years; we returned to Aotearoa in mid-2008 and I continued to struggle with it. Right to the year of publication, the manuscript refused to untangle itself. Ultimately, after two independent readers told me there were at least three novels in the manuscript, I took out two of the novels, and re-wrote and reshaped what was left. And got a title for it.
Our Summer Reads are in conjunction with the New Zealand Book Council