THE SOFA SELECTION

Here’s a colourful selection of books that grab aspects of New Zealand with a (mostly) literary feel for when your travel plans need to be temporarily placed on hold.

In Search Of Ancient New Zealand, by Hamish Campbell and Gerard Hutching

The discovery that Aotearoa sits on a massive continent called Zealandia only adds to the rich geological history of our country. This book may not be literary, but it is literally foundational and a wonderful primer into the deep origins of our land and landscapes.

The Shell Guide To New Zealand, by Maurice Shadbolt

What persuaded the author of Season of the Jew and one of our literary leading lights to knock out a tour guide for a certain large oil company we will never know. These days that would feel a bit like Eleanor Catton writing a few chapters for Lonely Planet, sponsored by Roundup. Shadbolt’s lively yet understandably dated narration is full of charm and sharp observation. Even better, you can find copies kicking about in second-hand bookshops and op shops for a pittance.

South Sea Vagabonds, by J W Wray

If you know someone who “doesn’t read books”, this is the book for them. Johnny Wray’s O¯ extraordinary tale takes him from losing his stifling office job, to building his own boat in his backyard using timber scavenged from around Auckland’s Waitemata¯ Harbour (the keel was part of an old steamer he found buried on a beach). He dreams of atolls and palm trees and takes off on the definitive Pacific adventure. The 1930s post-Depression settings add to the romance and the yarns are endless, enchanting and often very funny. A sample: arriving on the Kermadecs, Wray finds a bounteous orange grove. He decides to load up and sail back to Auckland and sell the fruit to fund his further voyages, except the trip takes so long he and the crew eat every single one. A timeless classic and one of the greatest NZ books.

Australia and New Zealand, by Anthony Trollope

First published in 1873, this presents the highprofile English writer’s rather tangential thoughts and reflections on his extended trip (large parts of it on horseback) around NZ. Although written in a rambling, almost diaristic style, it is still intriguing to have an outside eye — and a writer’s eye at that — take in the people, culture and landscapes at a time when few books on the place were being written, plus it’s free to read online with Google books.

Died in the Wool, by Ngaio Marsh

Do the time warp back to rural New Zealand during the 1940s in this Ngaio Marsh classic set on a high-country South Island sheep station. This is one of only two books Marsh set in New Zealand, which makes for a delightfully retro — some might say rather too colonial — view of her homeland. But what could be more Kiwi in a crime novel set-up than a dead body found in wool bale?