Blog Archives
Sleeping with a panda, Mary Roberts
New Zealand’s China Experience: Its Genesis, Triumphs, and Occasional Moments of Less than Complete Success Chris Elder (ed) Victoria University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9780864738470 In 1972 New Zealand recognised China: how quaint this now sounds. The echoes of those far-off…
Tagged with: Chris Elder, Issue 102, Mary Roberts, Victoria University Press, Winter 2013
Posted in Non-fiction
Posted in Non-fiction
Hooves of unicorns clattering, Eleanor Toland
The Disestablishment of Paradise Phillip Mann Victor Gollancz, $37.00, ISBN 9780575132627 The Last Sanctuary P S Mokha Tangerine Publications, $30.00, ISBN 9780987664655 Tropic of Skorpeo Michael Morrissey Steam Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780987663535 Fantasy and science fiction are genres often underrepresented…
Tagged with: Eleanor Toland, Issue 102, Michael Morrissey, P S Mokha, Phillip Mann, Steam Press, Tangerine Publications, Victor Gollancz, Winter 2013
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Remembering, John Horrocks
Under the Dundas Street Bridge Peter Olds Steele Roberts, $20.00, ISBN 9781877577833 Chords and Other Poems Sam Hunt Craig Potton Publishing, $30.00, ISBN 9781877338181 Voicetracks: Poems 2002-2012 Jan Kemp Puriri Press/Tranzlit, $32.50, ISBN 9780908943388 Like Paul McCartney singing “Remember” at…
Tagged with: Craig Potton Publishing, Issue 102, John Horrocks, Peter Olds, Puriri Press, Sam Hunt, Steele Roberts, Tranzlit, Winter 2013
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Pressing on, David Eggleton
On Song: Stories behind New Zealand’s Pop Classics Simon Sweetman Penguin Books, $65.00, ISBN 9780143568162 Any anthology is a work of exclusion, constructed to emphasise or establish a particular narrative. In the case of anthologist Simon Sweetman’s On Song: Stories…
Tagged with: David Eggleton, Issue 102, Penguin Books, Simon Sweetman, Winter 2013
Posted in Music, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Music, Non-fiction, Review
Pity about the people
An excerpt from Too Many Cooks, a novel by Renée. Belle Vista was beautifully located on top of a hill looking out over Wellington Harbour. There were three pine trees artfully placed around the hill so the view wasn”t too…
Vanished world, Dale Williams
Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of J G Keulemans Geoff Norman Te Papa Press, $150.00, ISBN 9781877385889 Kids in a sweet shop. Nineteenth-century naturalists given a brand new country to play in gobbled up the apparent endless…
Tagged with: Dale Williams, Geoff Norman, Issue 102, J G Keulemans, Te Papa Press, Winter 2013
Posted in History, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review
No eureka moment, Mark Derby
The Making of New Zealanders Ron Palenski Auckland University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9781869407261 In these febrile times a passing mention of New Zealand in US media can provoke a front-page response from our own. So it’s instructive to discover that…
Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Issue 102, Mark Derby, Ron Palenski, Winter 2013
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Unicorn in the cabbage patch, Desmond Bovey
Aesop’s Kiwi Fables: Paintings Ray Ching David Bateman, $50.00, ISBN 9781869538453 I spotted Ray Ching’s new book, Aesop’s Kiwi Fables, in our local post office-cum-bookstore. I stopped buying picture books some time ago; they have become so glossily tempting that…
Tagged with: David Bateman, Desmond Bovey, Issue 102, Ray Ching, Winter 2013
Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review
Eye-witness, Francis McWhannell
William Colenso: His Life and Journeys by A G Bagnall and G C Petersen Ian St George (ed) Otago University Press, $65.00, ISBN 9781877578151 When it was first published in 1948, A G Bagnall’s and G C Petersen’s William Colenso:…
Tagged with: A G Bagnall, Francis McWhannell, G C Petersen, Ian St George, Issue 102, Otago University Press, William Colenso, Winter 2013
Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction, Review