Blog Archives

Byzantine complexity, Geoffrey Palmer

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

Democracy in New Zealand
Raymond Miller
Auckland University Press, $45.00,
ISBN 9781869408350

Democracy in New Zealand is a competent work by an experienced and well-published Professor of Politics at the University of Auckland. Clearly designed as a student text for an introductory course in politics in New Zealand universities, it reflects its author’s research interests in electoral systems, government formation and execution, political parties, interest groups, political representation and leadership. Miller’s more specialised comparative work with Ian Marsh, Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal, was published in 2012.

Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Geoffrey Palmer, Issue 111, Raymond Miller, Spring 2015
Posted in Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review

Looking for home, David Cohen

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

Barefoot Years
Martin Edmond
Bridget Williams Books, $15.00,
ISBN 9781927277676

On Coming Home
Paula Morris
Bridget Williams Books, $15.00,
ISBN 9780908321117

Somewhere in the course of his perceptive career, in what one assumes was a more or less idle moment, George Orwell turned his attention to the question of whether purchasing cigarettes or literature leaves a larger hole in the average reader’s pocket. To this cobweb-hung dilemma, the English essayist devoted all the remorseless attention with which Marx went about weighing the merits of capitalism and socialism; although there the comparison must end, for Orwell surely never strung a gilded sentence together that would cause a reader mental pain on account of its construction. His tentative conclusion: reading is indeed better for one’s financial health. Workers of the world, unlight!

Tagged with: Bridget Williams Books, David Cohen, Issue 111, Martin Edmond, Paula Morris, Spring 2015
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Review

Rejecting meat, Alison McKee

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

The Compassionate Contrarians: A History of Vegetarians in Aotearoa New Zealand
Catherine Amey
Rebel Press, $20.00,
IBSN 9780473274405

New Zealanders are prolific buyers of cookery books; however, an interest in the social history of eating and cooking has emerged in the last 10 years, with several academic studies now being published not only for research but also for general reading.

Tagged with: Alison McKee, Catherine Amey, Issue 111, Rebel Press, Spring 2015
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review

The courage of her convictions, Rebecca Rice

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

Grace Joel: An Impressionist Portrait
Joel L Schiff
Otago University Press, $45.00,
ISBN 9781877578861

Miss Grace Joel displays the courage of her convictions. The work is obviously not a pot-boiler; obviously not the product of a lady “who does a little painting now and again”. The artist is working on right lines leading to success. Evening Post, 12 October 1907.

Tagged with: Grace Joel, Issue 111, Joel L Schiff, Otago University Press, Rebecca Rice, Spring 2015
Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review

Culture wars, ancient and modern, Hugh Roberts

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

The Critic’s Part: Wystan Curnow Art Writings 1971-2013
Wystan Curnow
Adam Art Gallery/Victoria University Press, $80.00,
ISBN 9780864739322

Then It Was Now Again: Selected Critical Writing
Murray Edmond
Atuanui Press, $44.00,
ISBN 9780992245368

The editors of The Critic’s Part tell us that Curnow’s prolific but scattered art-critical writings (reviews, catalogue copy, journalism, essays etc) together reveal the “arc, progression, and continuity of Curnow’s thinking” and deliver a “general, ‘big-picture’ account of New Zealand art”. If there is some truth to the first of these claims, the second cannot be said to bear much examination. Nonetheless, anyone interested in the history of New Zealand art in the late 20th century will be grateful to Christina Barton and Robert Leonard for making these pieces available.

Tagged with: Adam Art Gallery, Atuanui Press, Hugh Roberts, Issue 111, Murray Edmond, Spring 2015, Victoria University Press, Wystan Curnow
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Review

A sector disrupted, Jacinda Adern

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

Byline

Jacinda Adern, the Labour Spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage, assesses the literary sector from the left of the political spectrum.

Tagged with: Issue 111, Jacinda Adern, Spring 2015
Posted in Byline

Sustaining the literary sector, Maggie Barry

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

The Honourable Maggie Barry, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, addresses the state of the literary nation and looks to its future.

Tagged with: Issue 111, Maggie Barry, Spring 2015
Posted in Byline

Putting the Treaty in a discursive context, Jim McAloon

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

Before Hobson
Tony Simpson
Blythswood Press, $38.00,
ISBN 9780473312848

Tony Simpson has been writing history for a general, rather than academic, readership for a long time and to good effect. His aim in this book is to situate the Treaty of Waitangi in a long-run context. Most studies of the Treaty deal with the first four decades of the 19^th century as a prelude, to be got through as quickly as possible; conversely, many studies of New Zealand in the Tasman/Pacific context after 1769 or 1788 have the Treaty as a postscript. Simpson explores the period in considerable, and sometimes discursive, detail and his perspective is welcome.

Tagged with: Blythswood Press, Issue 111, Jim McAloon, Spring 2015, Tony Simpson
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review

Captions and context, David Littlewood

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

The Anzacs: An Inside View of New Zealanders at Gallipoli
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Penguin, $45.00,
ISBN 9780143572336

Brothers in Arms: Gordon and Robin Harper in the Great War
Jock Phillips with Philip Harper and Susan Harper
NZHistoryJock, $40.00,
ISBN 9780473308773

One of the more encouraging historiographical developments of recent times has been a greater willingness to prioritise alternative sources. Instead of producing blocks of text with a few pictures thrown in for embellishment, scholars are increasingly using images as a central part of their efforts to communicate the “experiences” of the past. Both The Anzacs and Brothers in Arms demonstrate the potential of this approach for studies of New Zealand soldiers during the Great War. However, one of them manages to structure and balance its various elements more effectively than the other.

Tagged with: Auckland War Memorial Museum, Gordon Harper, Issue 111, Jock Phillips, NZHistoryJock, Penguin, Philip Harper, Robin Harper, Spring 2015, Susan Harper
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War

Cultural mobilisation, Philippa Mein Smith

Posted on August 31, 2015 by NZ Books

Calls to Arms: New Zealand Society and Commitment to the Great War
Steven Loveridge
Victoria University Press, $40.00.
ISBN 9780864739674.

Impressed by the Blackadder account of WWI when he was a child, Steven Loveridge grew up to write a PhD thesis followed by this book, whose aim is to explore not WWI as it was fought, but the relationship between the local war effort and New Zealand society. Loveridge argues that there was a broad cultural mobilisation in New Zealand in support of the war effort. This mobilisation was not imposed by elites but swelled from the ground up, buoyed by a suite of generally accepted cultural values, beliefs and sentiments. To make his case, Calls to Arms is organised into six chapters, supported by illustrations that survey selected areas where New Zealand society and culture intersected with mobilisation for the Great War.

Tagged with: Issue 111, Philippa Mein Smith, Spring 2015, Steven Loveridge, Victoria University Press
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War