New Zealand Literature

[waalkwriter]

Contrary to what Kiwi's try to claim, there is civilization in New Zealand, (now whether or not they can act is another matter ).

Why the works of the poet James Baxter alone would make a fine, fine, literary canon:

Alone we are born
and die alone
Yet see the red-gold cirrus
over snow-mountain shine
upon the upland road
ride easy stranger
Surrender to the sky
your heart of anger.
-James Baxter


Dear Sam, this day as I came down
The steps that take me into town,
Rehearsing in my head these rhymes
That hold a mirror to the times,
A perfect omen crossed my track,
A garbage-eater, wild and black,
Pugnacious, paranoid and sly,
A tomcat with a boxer’s eye
Dripping a gum of yellow pus,
I thought that he resembled us
-Baxter

A democratic people have elected
King Log, King Stork, King Log, King Stork again.
Because I like a wide and silent pond
I voted Log. That party was defeated.
-From Election 1960

I really must buy myself some of his collected poems. I worry though because I don't like Baxter's denser, more preachy religious poetry, especially the stuff he started writing later in his life.

Anyway, he's pretty much the extent of my familiarity with Kiwi Literature. Perhaps some people, like Refus, could enlighten me further

 

[Stewart]

A couple of threads:

http://www.worldliteratureforum.com...re/30-noel-virtue-redemption-elsdon-bird.html

http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/asian-oceanic-literature/67-lloyd-jones-mister-pip.html

I was sure I had an old review of Ian Cross' The God Boy here, too, but it doesn't appear so. I'll remedy that.

 

[Liam]

Ah. A topic after my own heart. I love New Zealand.

The best "Kiwi" writer of her generation, undoubtedly, was Janet Frame, who became famous in the 50s and 60s for her superbly written novels and, more recently, for her triple-tiered autobiography, which her fellow New Zealander, Jane Campion, has turned into a 2-and-a-half hour biopic:

In 2004, the New Zealand Listener selected "the top 50 best New Zealand books," including several works of non-fiction:

1. OWLS DO CRY, Janet Frame (1957)
2. TO THE IS-LAND, Janet Frame (1982)
3. THE GARDEN PARTY, Katherine Mansfield (1922)
5. THE LAGOON, Janet Frame (1951)
6. PLUMB, Maurice Gee (1978)
7. AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE, Janet Frame (1984)
8. IN A GERMAN PENSION, Katherine Mansfield (1911)
9. TUTIRA: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station, Herbert Guthrie-Smith (1921)
10. THE BONE PEOPLE, Keri Hulme (1983)
11. THAT SUMMER, Frank Sargeson (1946)
12. MAN ALONE, John Mulgan (1939)
13. THE SCARECROW, Ronald Hugh Morrieson (1963)
14. NEW ZEALAND TREES, J T Salmon (1980)
15. MEG, Maurice Gee (1981)
16. NO ORDINARY SUN, Hone Tuwhare (1964)
17. O'LEARY'S ORCHARD, Maurice Duggan (1970)
18. PENGUIN HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND, Keith Sinclair (1959)
19. THE SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND FROM THE ROAD, Robin Morrison (1981)
20. ONCE WERE WARRIORS, Alan Duff (1990)
21. SING TO ME, DREAMER, Shonagh Koea (1994)
22. JERUSALEM SONNETS, James K Baxter (1970)
23. TOMORROW WE SAVE THE ORPHANS, Owen Marshall (1992)
24. POUNAMU, POUNAMU, Witi Ihimaera (1972)
25. THE NEW ZEALAND WARS, James Belich (1986)
26. TIMELESS LAND, Grahame Sydney, Brian Turner and Owen Marshall (1995)
27. THE BOOK OF FAME, Lloyd Jones (2000)
28. POTIKI, Patricia Grace (1986)
29. BELIEVERS TO THE BRIGHT COAST, by Vincent O'Sullivan (1998)
30. PENGUIN BOOK OF NEW ZEALAND VERSE, edited by Allen Curnow (1960)
31. THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN COOK, James Beaglehole (1974)
32. TE PUEA, Michael King (1977)
33. THE SEASON OF THE JEW, Maurice Shadbolt (1986)
34. DICTIONARY OF NEW ZEALAND ENGLISH, edited by Harry Orsman (1997)
35. GOING WEST, Maurice Gee (1992)
36. THE HAUNTING, Margaret Mahy (1982)
37. CAME A HOT FRIDAY, Ronald Hugh Morrieson (1964)
38. ALL VISITORS ASHORE, C K Stead (1984)
39. ONCE IS ENOUGH, by Frank Sargeson (1973)
40. PIG ISLAND LETTERS, James K Baxter (1966)
41. SINGS HARRY, Denis Glover (1951)
42. THE STORY OF A NEW ZEALAND RIVER, Jane Mander (1920)
43. TREES, EFFIGIES, Allen Curnow (1972)
44. COAL FLAT, Bill Pearson (1963)
45. THE PENGUIN HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND, Michael King (2003)
46. NO NEW THING, R A K Mason (1934)
47. TAWA, Elizabeth Knox (1998)
48. A PASSPORT TO HELL, Robin Hyde (1936)
49. A REPORT ON EXPERIENCE, John Mulgan (1947)
50. THE TEHRAN CONTRACT, Gayle Rivers (1981)

Other than Frame, Mansfield (whom I would classify as an expat) and the omnipresent Witi Ihimaera (recently accused of plagiarism), I've not read anything else from the list, except the first 20 pages or so of Keri Hulme's Bone People, which I found to be utterly unreadable. I have the first volume of Belich's History of New Zealand at home but haven't opened it yet.

WW, with your recent and surging interest in children's books, you might want to take a look at Frame's beautifully written short story (NB: written for children, not young adults), Mona Minim and the Smell of the Sun:

Thanks for starting this thread; let's see what Refus has to say!

 

[Amoxcalli]

I've not read anything else from the list, except the first 20 pages or so of Keri Hulme's Bone People, which I found to be utterly unreadable.

Really? I found the writing quite fresh and readable actually. It's a shame it is so exceptionally slow. I did finish it, in the end, but it became a drag towards the end. Not so much the style, but rather the length and apparent pointlessness that made it barely readable, in my opinion.

 

[Liam]

I found the writing quite fresh and readable actually.

Tortuous and muddled, more like it. But then again, my tastes in literature are vastly conservative, so don't take my word for it. It's good that you've read the entire book, maybe you can start a thread on it and encourage more people to read it. Don't let me be the party pooper, .

...apparent pointlessness...

YES!!!

 

[Liam]

I wonder if anybody has read or heard of Elizabeth Knox (1959-), a contemporary Kiwi novelist and short story writer. I have The Vintner's Luck (1998), allegedly her "most famous novel," somewhere on my shelves; unfortunately, I haven't even read the blurb on the back yet!


Last year, the novel was made into a film by Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country, etc), which I haven't seen either, although these stills do look promising:

...​

Wikipedia describes Knox as the author of "eight novels, an autobiographical trilogy of novellas, a fantasy duet for young adults, and a collection of essays."

Perhaps the two-volume fantasy novel for "young adults" will interest you, WW:

Dreamhunter Duet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Somebody ought to do a thread on this woman--

 

[waalkwriter]

Hmm, looks like a perplexing work, reminds me slightly of Susan Cooper in this regard, but the Dreamhunter Duet work looks even more perplexing than Cooper's work. But seems interesting enough to get dropped on the list.

 

[Refus de Sejour]

I've glanced at Knox's books, and then I glanced away. Lightweight stuff.

I don't read a lot of NZ lit - hey, I just live here - but my personal favourite is Ronald Hugh Morrieson. He didn't become popular until after his death - never left his small-town home, never smoozled with the literary set - just a big boozy jazz piano player who happened to write four great novels. They're a wonderful mix of humour, suspense, and occasional horror. The first line of The Scarecrow is classic:

The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphe Moran had her throat cut.

His other novels are Predicament, Came a Hot Friday, and Pallet on the Floor. Pallet is the odd one out; written during his final illness, it's notable for its lack of humour. It's also only a first draft - possible he would have lightened the tone if he'd lived to revise it - but as it stands it's a dark, spare story of blackmail, rape, and revenge. Has a fantastic ending though!

Came a Hot Friday was turned into a popular movie (in fact, I think all his novels were filmed; Hot Friday's the one that used to screen every year of my childhood on TV though); Predicament is just great; a naive adolescent boy falls into bad company in the form of a creepy fat 'bludger' (that is, one who lives off the goodwill of others) and his even creepier gaunt companion. Creepy hilarity and mild dismemberment ensues.

All of his books are also good depictions of small town NZ life in the 50s and 60s.

 

[waalkwriter]

So my non-literary kiwi gaming buddy would be correct in saying you guys don't really have writers of your own The way he puts it in New Zealand you guys steal everything from either Australia, or the U.S., entertainment wise.

 

[waalkwriter]

Not a fan of Baxter then I presume? I think those are some particularly astounding little bits of poetry there, if he has a larger body of work with even a small amount of stuff such as that then he was a truly talented individual.

 

[Refus de Sejour]

Nope, your kiwi gaming buddy sounds clueless. If anything, Australia and NZ are oblivious to one another, literature wise. And while Aussie tends to follow the US culturally, NZ pines more for old England.

I've never felt compelled to read NZ writers simply 'cause I come from here, but there are plenty of good ones around. Baxter is good, though I especially like his later Jerusalem Sonnets. You realise the "Sam" he writes to in that poem is Sam Hunt? Bit of a rough diamond that guy, still around, a performance poet - he has his moments.

 

[Refus de Sejour]

The Baxter:

We breed our poets woolly down here

 

[waalkwriter]

Well you are different than Americans tend to be; we are full of ourselves and our literature. The problem is I find American lit these days to be so dreadfully dull. The topics they write about are incredibly boring to me, I can look at a book and the jacket summaries just scream literary pretension a me. Look at the Junk we give awards to: The Shipping News, The Echo-Maker, House of Smoke? The Pulizter for instance has given awarded only two books in the last 25 years that I've been able to read through and enjoy: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and The Short Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, both of which were very good.

This makes me think of something to say on the other thread in response to BR, excuse me

 

[Liam]

The Pulizter for instance has given awarded only two books in the last 25 years that I've been able to read through and enjoy

Well, aren't YOU full of yourself, kiddo!

The Short Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

I stopped reading this around page 30. Boring beyond belief. The Hours, on the other hand, was a worthy win, as well as Gilead.

 

[waalkwriter]

Me? Full of myself. No! As your supreme overlord I take offense to that

I've never downed Gilead, it remains on my list, but albeit in a fixed spot far away towards the end because the tome looks like such a dense, serious, and depressing piece of Americana that I've been unfairly perhaps dreading reading it, despite the fact I've had everyone who knows me pretty well suggest it to me.

As for The Hours, I just can't make myself read it. For one I'm a biased person, I instantly negatively judge a novel that on the surface appears to be a literary exercise in mimicking/working off of another novel. But I see why you'd like it, being a fan as you are of Virginia Woolf, and the soundtrack to the film version, done by Philip Glass, is quite amazing.

And I simply can't believe you didn't like Diaz.

 

[Liam]

And I simply can't believe you didn't like Diaz.

I thought there was some promise in his first short-story collection, Drown, but it all went downhill from there. (In my humble opinion, of course).

 

[waalkwriter]

Don't be humble!!! You are GOD!! Your perspective is the ONE and only perspective and the rest of the world should be judged by it!!! Always consider yourself right until someone embarrasses you in an argument ^^

What do you think of Eugenides? I'm a huge fan, The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, the only problem is he publishes two novels a decade if that.

 

[Liam]

Don't be humble!!!

Aren't Catholics (whether practicing, non-practicing or lapsed) supposed to be humble, prostrating themselves before the Almighty? Unless, of course, you're the Pope, or the priest-next-door (Child, help me take this vest off, ).

You are GOD!!

Now THAT's blasphemy.

Your perspective is the ONE and only perspective and the rest of the world should be judged by it!!!

OK, I'm ego-centric, but not THAT ego-centric, LOL.

Always consider yourself right until someone embarrasses you in an argument.

You need to take a seminar in medieval devotion to knock some humility into you.

What do you think of Eugenides? I'm a huge fan, The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, the only problem is he publishes two novels a decade... if that.

I've read nothing by Eugenides, actually, although I did see Sofia Coppola's film adaptation of The Virgin Suicides, twice. Nothing earth-shattering, but the film was very atmospheric, to say the least: you could almost feel the claustrophobia, and the girls' lives being slowly destroyed. I felt perfectly horrid afterwards, and thanked god that my own parents never knocked the Catholic guilt complex (over all things sensual) into me, when still a child--

PS. Congratulations on hijacking your own thread.

 

[waalkwriter]

Shit, I have hijacked this haven't I?

Humility is overrated My only issue is I'm trying to get to the point where I don't feel compelled to constantly waste so much energy in debates of one form or another.

Now to get back on topic...how about that James Baxter, what a poet

 

[Liam]

Humility is overrated

Take that:

Be noght so gryndel, godman, bot go forth thy wayes,
Be preve and be pacient in payne and in joye;
For he that is to rakel to renden his clothez
Mot efte sitte with more unsounde to sewe hem togeder.
Forthy when poverte me enprecez and paynez innoghe
Ful softly with suffraunce saghttel me bihouez;
Forthy penaunce and payne topreve hit in syght
That pacience is a nobel poynt, thagh hit displese ofte.

...how about that James Baxter, what a poet

Yeah, never heard of him, .