New Zealand Books

If you are an Anglophile, you will treasure this book for the tidbits of social history , as well as the adventure story. The only problem I had that without a knowledge of England's seacoast geography and sailing terms,I was a little puzzled at times. But this was a fast and exciting read for the most part.I also recommend "In The Heart of The Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nat. Philbrick

I found this to be an extremely well written account of a compelling story. A difficult book to put down. If you enjoy adventure reading you will love this book.

Hanson has spun a very interesting, compelling and thought provoking story into a boring yarn. The book simply reads like a novel (rather than history) written by a college sophomore in a seminar class. Hanson fills the story early on with useless details that never materialize to bear any relevance on the story. He seems only to be trumpeting the depth of his research without putting it to much use. His prose is thin and uninspired. One of the two most interesting aspects, the "at sea" portion of the story, is brief and contains little of the overwhelming drama it suggests. There is little exploration of the characters. Even the chapter listing other stories of cannibalism at sea are rattled off as if taken directly from research notes with little thought given to their place or purpose in the story. Some portions, such as verbatim trial testimony and factual background of the political and legal climate were enlightening.

Imagine yourself adrift on the open sea in a small boat with three companions. You are 1000 miles from the nearest land, you have had no food or water for days, one of your members is near death,...is there a potential temporary solution to your problem? Reading this on a full stomach, some solutions just might not present themselves. However, in "The Custom of the Sea", the author, Neil Hanson, allows us to see things from the perspective of those involved. The solution that those men took that fateful day is the basis for a most interesting look at a most unusual footnote in history.

Hanson tells the tale primarily through the eyes of the main character but he gives us plenty of background on all of the other characters and events that culminated in a major trial in England in the late 1800's. Along the way, the author gives us historical background as well which I generally found to be helpful. Essentially, half of the 304 pages are focussed on the actual events and the other half are focussed on the resulting trial. That might sound like half is exciting and half is boring (or, at least, less exciting). However, there is a major moral and legal dilemna here and the trial helps to bring out those issues.

All in all, this is a very good book, easily read, and hard to put down. If I am to fault the author for anything, it is his openly biased account of the events. We know right off the bat who the good guys are; we hear only good things about them and we hear only bad things about the "bad guys". For example, we are told of the happily married men (good guys)and then we are told about another who is "rumored" to have abandoned a wife and children. This "rumor" is never proven but it is brought up several times in the story. I mention this because there are serious moral questions involved in these events. As such, the author ought to put forth the facts as impartially as possible so as to let the reader decide their own opinions. We were led in the "right" direction by Neil Hanson's way of telling the story. Still, most of us might have eventually ended up with similar sympathies. Read "The Custom of the Sea" and ask yourself what you would have done in the same situation.

The Custom of the Sea is a rather macabre yet fascinating tale of human survival and legal chicanery. One tends to think of desperate acts of cannibalism as the stuff of horror movies, but enough shipwrecked men resorted to this most desperate of means for it to become an unspoken law of sailors. This is an account of the doomed yacht Mignonette which went down in 1884 in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, far from land as well as the trade lanes most other ships pursued. Captain Tom Dudley, by all accounts a kind and good man, and his three hands drifted for weeks inside a leaky, tiny dinghy, surviving on two tins of turnips and a small ration of water. Ravished by weather conditions, fear, starvation, and especially thirst, they persevered as long as they could, but eventually Dudley knew that the lot must be cast and one man die in order that the others might survive a little longer. When the youngest hand succumbed to the temptation of quenching his thirst by drinking sea water and rapidly approached death, the decision was made by Dudley and his first made Stephens to kill him. Blood quenched the terrible thirst of the men, including the third man Brooks who partook of the terrible rations as willingly as his mates, and human meat sustained all three men long enough for a ship to finally rescue them after almost four weeks adrift. The captain who saved the men understood, as most sailing people did, that Dudley had done what had to be done. When the men finally made it back home, they were shocked to find themselves charged with murder. The case was a sensation, and the conviction of Dudley and Stephens for willful murder provoked a myriad of outcries from all over the country while setting a legal precedent of unusual distinction.

The book begins somewhat slowly, at least for me, as the author devotes a significant amount of time to the life and duties of men aboard ship. The story of the destructive storm they encounter and their ordeal at sea is of course quite gripping. The second half of the book basically covers their arrest and trial, and while this part of the story necessarily lacks some of the human drama that has come before it, the miscarriage of justice described by the author increasingly raises one's hackles as the book nears its end. Such an act of desperate cannibalism cannot be condoned, of course, but it is certainly understandable under the desperate conditions these sailors found themselves in. The moral and ethical issues underlying the controversy are debatable, but the story that comes out here is one of judicial abuse. The Home Office, having failed earlier to outlaw "the custom of the sea," basically used this case to obtain its elusive goal, railroading the unfortunate sailors. Their conviction was guaranteed from the start, a fact their own lawyer knew but did not divulge to them at the time. Most remarkably, the presiding judge basically told the jury they must convict the men of murder yet went on to resort to an archaic legal maneuver that took judgment out of the hands of the jury (for fear that local sentiment might result in an acquittal) and made the royal court both judge and jury. I'm not a lawyer, but the legal jurisprudence of this case would seem to be of great significance.

The book does drag in a couple of places. Hanson takes the time to comment on the history of shipwrecks and of cannibalistic survival methods of desperate men. He also goes into great detail as to life on board a ship and the pitiful state of mandated food rations. These facts are all interesting and provide a useful background to the story of the Mignonette, but they do take away from the driving force of the tale. I should say that the story is written in a narrative form, for the most part. While this makes the book more compelling, it does pose a problem in terms of the facts. The author describes the life and times of these men as if he were there recording their thoughts and deeds from the day they sailed to the day their legal ordeal finally ended. That kind of narrative would not make for good history in an academic sense, but it does make for a compelling, eye-opening read.

I have owned this book ever since its first release on the American shelves.
It has beautiful pictures of Phar Lap. The pictures of him galloping up close are astounding.
The book gives an accurate history of the freak horse.
I definitely recommend it to everyone who loves Phar Lap.

What really happed to the racehorse Phar Lap? Why did they call him a freak. I want read the story and find out.

Phar - Lap is one of my favorite racehorses, but I have to agree with some of the other people on here.....It is hard to get into. Not very well written. have to force myself to read it.

Phar Lap is still considered one of the best, if not the finest Thoroughbred champion from Australia.

The book is an outstanding history of the racer and the impact he made in Australia and the potential career he made have had in the United States. Phar Lap died under mysterious circumstances before his scheduled debut in the U.S.

There has been controversy swirling over his death in the U.S. and there were those who felt Phar Lap was poisoned deliberately, though it was ruled then by natural causes. A 2006 necropsy - obviously not in this edition of the book - revealed that he was poisoned through a high-level of arsenic.

Phar Lap - nicknamed "Big Red" - was bred in New Zealand and grew to be slightly over 17 hands tall. He captured 37 of the 51 races and was not highly regarded as a juvenile; being bought at auction for a small price due to his pedigree.

But from the humble beginning came a legend who certainly can be compared with two other racers who carried the "Big Red" tag; Man o' War and Secretariat.

This book was never written to be a novel it is meant to be factual history of Big Red and the race scene at the time and it shows our Australian Culture at the time of the Great Depression which is when the he raced, how desperate people were for money and also the snobbery that was part of the AJC and VRC in Australia. The photos were of particular interest as a lot of them haven't been seen by people who never saw him race (like myself).
The final listing of his all of the races he ran and amount of stakes money that he won in the Depresssion was also enlightening. The mind just boggles if he was alive and racing today with the prize money that is around.

The chapter that was devoted to his death finally explained to the world and particularly Australia what happened to this great horse and the sad fact that the veterinary practices at the time couldn't have saved him.

This book for me is a collectable and will be an heirloom. The picture on the front cover has been taken where he finally stands in the Melbourne Museum, where he is the most visited display in the Museum.

This book seems extremely overpriced for a paperback under 200 pages. I've read several transcripts and found it entertaining but not worth shelling out 60 bucks for it. I found a DVD version for 20. Alien abduction cases are very hard to believe because even if the abductee seems credible there is rarely even any good circumstantial evidence available. I'm not an expert but one of the only cases I have even heard of with any good circumstantial evidence was the case in new england. An interracial couple actually remembered being stalked and cornered by a UFO without needing hypnosis. After hypnosis the wife remembered being told what star system the aliens were from. It happened to be one that wouldn't be discovered until ten years later. From what I've read so far there's nothing but Alec's word to take or leave. He does weave entertaining stories about how these people travel through time, have ruined there dimesion, and how they have contacted higher government/military and offered tech secrets to live here on earth. As much as I would like to believe him it sounds like he's either real or just stringing together pieces of the rendalshum forest incident, pyramids, alien hybrids, and whatever else he can think of.

This is really going to be one of the best abduction books of all time. I have read all the ufo abduction books out there and this one is truly "the message" from our alien neighbors.

Alec is honest, and this can be easily discerned immediately. This is the first book he's ever written, but it is pleasure to read. Why? It's not about "style". It's about honesty. He has succeeded in applying the simple principle of honesty in relating the FACTS about what he experienced and his own reaction to it. And what AMAZING facts. I will not go into any details, I will simply say this: I am so glad I found this book, and read it, because I now know things I never knew before, about a subject which our "leaders" don't want us to know anything about. This is perhaps among the top 2 of, say the 25 books I have read in this field. Thanks Alec, you lucky son of a gun.

Well I've read a few of these types of books, this one is different mostly because the author does not make to many judgement calls, does not pretend to be an expert or know what this is all about, I like that about the book. If the terrestrial after events really did happen, and I'm sure it would not take to much work by someone to prove that part one way or the other, if they did happen, it makes for great back up to an amazing event. Makes you wonder if the author knows more than he's telling! I think the last part about future technology is an eye opener and not a bad guess.

It was with excitement that I waited for this book to arrive. By the time I had finished it, I felt deflated and misled.

Although I am not trying to discredit Mr. Newald, his story seemed to ring very hollow to me. Several things left me saying "huh?", not the least of which were his numerous references to "other" information he had, but preferred not to share in this tome (saving it for another book, perhaps?). These pieces of information were related to his experience "there" and suspicious activity "here" after he was returned home.

For being gone,and usually conscious, for a period of 10 days on another planet (and/or in another time)the book is very short, only 193 pages.

This book may be superb for the neophyte, but those with a lot of UFO reading under their belt may very well be left feeling as I did: "Huh?"

Joan Druett is from New Zealand. This means she has a maritime background, ipso facto. Right? So why did she attempt to tell a sea story using only landsman's terminology? It is okay to say "port" and "starboard," Joan. Clews, tacks, sheets, can be easily described. I think her editor made her do it. I feel a little more "salt" in her vocabulary would help. The fact is, there is only one rope on a ship, and that is the bell rope. Everything else is a line.

That said, her book is a record of incompetence. Knowing he had a green crew, did the captain undertake exercises? No. A little practice in lowering the boats and hurling harpoons at empty casks might've helped. Since he was after sperm whales, why did he not go to the nearby Gulf of Mexico where they are abundant? Instead, he takes six months to get to the West Pacific via Capetown -- which, by the way, her tracing of the course of the Sharon in the South Atlantic cannot be from the logbook, which would surely show the vessel heading toward Brazil and then turning toward the Cape, as this course utilizes the prevailing winds. One does not sail south along the west coast of Africa in a square-rigger (as shown on the flyleaf) due to adverse winds and currents.

Three years searching for whales and not finding them. Missing half the time with the harpoon. Not even lowering when whales are sighted. Men falling out of the rigging. No wonder there were problems on that ship.

High seas adventure with one of the most psychopath captains to command a ship. While it is a well known fact that many captains, especially those of whaling ships, were rigid, callous and at times barbaric in their conduct, Howes Norris was in the upper echelon of this deranged behavioral class.
Whether it was horrific floggings, withholding food, or senseless other malicious acts of torment, some may say that Norris got what was coming to him. Joan Druett attempts to unfold the mystery of Norris' murder through two journals that were shrouded in secrecy for over 150 years.
It is a good, entertaining read. For this reader though, the evidence is still inconclusive as to who was really responsible for Norris' death. All indications are that the two slain natives were held accountable but who was really the instigator?

Add this to the list of maritime disaster books that are springing up. As this book doesn't go into as much detail about the whaling industry as several of the others, it is a very quick read (a rainy weekend should do it). Of interest were the sections on beachcombers and runaway slaves.

It is well written and is a page turner. Most of the material comes from 2 "long lost" journals written by 2 members of the crew. Unfortunately they did not witness the actual murder so there is some question as to what actually happened.

This is an enjoyable read (that you can actually get at your local B&N for $4.98 right now (hardcover even)).. If you like this you might also try:

Moby Dick (the book almost all of these other "non-fictional" books reference.

Neil Hanson's Custom of the Sea
Gregory Gibson's Demon of the Water
Glyn Williams' The Prize of All the Oceans (my favorite of the group)
Mike Dash's Batavia's Graveyard
Caroline Alexander's The Bounty
Sir John Barrow's Mutiny
Nathanial Philbrick's In the Heart of Sea
Davis Shaw's The Sea Shall Embrace Them
Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm
Doug Stanton's In Harm's Way

The tale of the "Sharon" is an interesting one, indeed. Ms. Druett is a knowledgable historian, and perhaps a very fine text book author. However, this particular book is disjointed. It is extremely frustrating to the reader when one of the main principals in this storyis "never to be heard from again" WHAT? after two hundred pages, I would have liked at least some rumors of his fate. Another dies an early death, time and place noted, but NO CAUSE of death. AARRGGGHHH. Also distracting are the continual references to Herman Melville, who was neither present, nor directly involved with the story at all. In all, the story could be interesting, and I hope someone else will take it up, because I felt somewhat cheated.

"Whaling captains were men who left their souls at home."

On May 25, 1841, the whaling ship Sharon departed Fairhaven, Massachusetts for the limitless Pacific. She sailed under the command of Captain Howes Norris.

The sun was already setting on America's whaling industry. Consistent successful voyages had inspired investors to build more and more ships, which swelled America's whaling fleet to its largest in history. This resulted in an acute shortage of competent sailors--especially harpooners--which thereupon resulted in unqualified crews manning the ships, and particularly the whaleboats, the small craft dispatched to harpoon the whales. Not to mention, years of successful voyages had drastically reduced the sperm whale population. Now, what few whales were sighted, inexperienced harpooners often failed to drive in the harpoon deeply enough to kill, or even missed their gargantuan targets altogether. If a whaling master failed to bring home at least 1,500 barrels of oil, he seriously risked never being granted a command again.

And the somewhat inexperienced, somewhat innocent crew of the Sharon weighed anchor under the restless command of Howes Norris. It was to become one of the most notorious voyages of the 19th century.

Month after month slid by . . . the Sharon paced along the broiling equator, ever hopeful, but seldom satisfied. If she stopped at an island for provisions, desertion was commonplace. Men would jump ship in the night and swim a half-mile to shore. And so natives were taken aboard to fill vacancies. A somewhat inexperienced crew was rendered even more inexperienced.

On a fine Pacific day in November 1842, as the vast majority of the scant crew were out in the whaleboats, Captain Norris was viciously murdered--literally cut in two--by natives recruited at Rotuma. What could have inspired such horrific violence? Was this an unprovoked attack by savages? Or was it retribution?

This is one of the most readable nautical books I've ever read. The author convincingly evokes the monotony of life at sea, the explosive results of close quarters, the frustration of a captain on a fruitless voyage, and the terror of a man with unquestionable authority. With this book, I could feel the deck swaying beneath my feet; I could see the wet decks steaming in the equatorial sun.

The author paints beautiful portraits of exotic locales visited by the Sharon, islands such as Nukuoro, Rotuma, Banaba, and Kiribati. She also draws compelling parallels between the Sharon's ugly voyage and the fiction of Herman Melville, who himself served aboard whalers and witnessed firsthand the cruelty of angry shipmasters.

Anyone looking to start a nautical library--this book would be a perfect first purchase.

Modern day botanist Dr. Campbell's account of thirty years in this remote Amazon rainforest is both a captivating read of adventure and more importantly a daunting paradigm of what has happened to this esoteric land.
Every molecule of the natural, physical and anthropological world is magically transformed with zesty and passionate prose. The author's own escapades with jaguars, caimans and deadly snakes, to legends of tribes with tails and spirits with backward feet leaves the reader mesmerized.
Blend historical blunders of rubber exploitation, cattle farms, slavery, the Trans-Amazon Highway, etc. with the resulting decimation of native populations by disease and dilution of heritage, this book is a soothsayer of how humankind has not been so kind.
Everyone and everything loses from self-righteous and mindless practices such as occurred here. The outcome are ghosts with haunting apparitions from the past.

I wouldn't mind reviewing this book but I still haven't recieved it yet. It's now a month since you posted it, perhaps you could please chase it up. Thankyou

Paul Lightfoot

Though there are many books that describe nature in the Amazon, David Campbell definitely is among the top writers on it. In this book he offers, from start to finish, a very interesting mix between storytelling with lyrical qualities and scientific analysis with social commentary.

He is a scientist, focused on botany, and his knowledge of all aspects of science related to the forest are outstanding. We learn about the strategies employed by frogs to reproduce, or by snakes to identify prey, or by trees to attach polen to beetles. While learning about the science behind such activities and how they evolved, the author leads the reader through his travel log, meeting people and species and learning much about the history of the region he is visiting.

Besides all the interesting science, the author also provides a very deep character description of the people who live in this remote frontier. The stories range from rubber tappers left over from a period of abundance, to old indians who became westernized, to occupants moving there from the south due to government incentives. Each has a story and a way to deal with the challenges of the forest; some have a way to prosper in the exact same circumstances in which others fail. Some characters are presented as integrated in the forest, some as aliens beaten by the forest, some as leaders beating the forest.

Most amazing than all the history, social aspects and science however are the narrative abilities of the author. The book is a work of art, as it becomes clear that every word has been hand picked and every metaphor was chosen to provide the reader with the correct image, texture, taste, sound and smell of the forest. Reading is an experience of immersion and is to be savoured as very few books provide such a deep experience. It becomes quite clear to anyone reading the book that the author has a deep connection with his subject, much beyond science.

This book is the very best description of the Amazon I have encountered, written with gusto. It is the kind of book you will wish you had written. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the region, in nature writing or in popular science.

This book delivered much more than I expected. The author is a scientist, not just a traveler. Each observation went several steps deeper into the biology and history than typical with this kind of book. The story was made much richer by these details.

It is true that the vocabulary was a bit advanced. However, I never bothered to check the dictionary, and it didn't hurt the narrative.

Highly recommended.

A Land of Ghosts is a splendid journey through Amazonian Brazil. Infused with enlightened historical, ecological, and anthropological perspective, Campbell stands alone in his ability to fuse eloquent science writing with a tale of adventure. At times haunting, this book reveals the deep causes of rainforest destruction in the region. However, this book presents these causes in a unique way, and, at least for me, marks a new style of conservation advocation. Indeed, a refreshing one. If you have any interest in tropical ecology, and like works by such authors as David Quammen or Tim Flannery you will love this brilliant work.

I enjoyed the book. It was well written and obviously well researched.
I like the way it had info from personal writtings from the time, also.

I enjoyed the gallery of pictures included in the text, as well.

I will probably read the book at least one more time.

to me she should never married franz joseph i,she was to much of a free spirit.austria court was to old fashion for a soul like hers.she had the mother -in law from hell didn't help.

I was dreading that this book would be like all other's in that it would portray Elizabeth as a poor little spoiled, mis-understood rich girl. It didn't and I found that very refreshing.
My only critism of this book is that there is only one occasion when the author translated the french, german, russian, etc. quotes that were used and I found that mildly annoying as I don't speak or read any of those languages.
Overall a very good book!

Top of Form


I was somewhat reluctant to first start reading The Lonely Empress because, from the some of the biographies I've read (but certainly not all!), they tend to start out interesting but then become dull and boring. It usually takes a talented author to write a biography on a boring royal. But even an unskilled author would have no trouble about sounding fascinating if their subject matter was Elisabeth of Austria.

Born a mere daughter of a duke in Bavaria, Elisabeth had a fairytale (ish) romance. The emperor of Austria, Francis Joseph, was already engaged to Elisabeth's sister Helen when he fell in love with her. All of a sudden, to everyone's surprise, the Emperor started to rant about the grace and beauty of this younger sister, much to the dismay of his mother, the archduchess Sophie, who thought that Helen would become the perfect empress.

Elisabeth was still a child when she became engaged to the Emperor. Suddenly, she wasn't allowed to run wild, like she had been when she was younger. Elisabeth had been known to skip her lessons and go out riding for hours. She inherited her father's peculiarity and was known to be her happiest when surrounded by less than royal people. Her father, Duke Max, was renowned for his strangeness. He was known to travel the Bavarian countryside to escape his duties and delighted in circuses. The poor Duchess Ludovica, Elisabeth's mother, must have had a terrible time with her daughter and equally childish husband. Because of her strangeness and wild country ways, the Viennese court look down upon Elisabeth.

What makes this book more interesting is how the author has portrayed Elisabeth. She doesn't try to make her into a selfish, spoiled woman yet she doesn't spend the whole book describing her flawless beauty. Elisabeth seems to be a difficult topic to write about. As many people who have met the Empress say about her throughout the book, "She could be quite charming when she wanted to be. Yet she could also become cold and haughty."

Elisabeth has you admiring her at times, like when she tries to help the Hungarian people regain their Constitution, and at other times hating her, the way she treated her husband and children, the woman whose husband spent fortunes building her three homes around Europe and who still wasn't grateful or satisfied. This woman traveled to countries far away so she could escape her duties as an Empress and her husband.

But one feels for Elisabeth at how much misfortune she had dealt with in her life. She seems to be a caged bird, she seems to have those natures that cannot be trapped or caged. She needed wide spaces so she can spread her wings. The author portrayed Elisabeth excellently and made the book an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this book, there was only a minor matter which rather annoyed me. I wonder why nobody seems to have taken the trouble of checking the proper spelling of all those European names?
As a native speaker of both German and Hungarian, I was quite
distracted by reading Gödollo instead of Gödöllõ, to name just one of many blunders.
Crenneville sometimes becomes Grenneville, Marie Vetsera turns into a Mary, Maria Theresia is always Maria Theresa, robbed of an i, the Ballhausplatz is shortened into Ballplatz, and while Hapsburg is not exactly wrong, it was apparently never used officially - and you don't often come across it even in Austria.
Perhaps in future editions someone might provide corrections? I think the book is worth it.

So far i have found all the little details i needed to know about the game. Easy to follow presentation too, two thumbs way up.

This book is a good introduction to the roles of the players and the skills they have to learn. It would be suitable for someone new to playing rugby and wanting an overview, or a spectator wanting to learn more about what they are watching. There probably isn't enough detail in the descriptions for players wanting to improve their technique.

The book is loaded full of colour photographs of rugby players in action, mostly from New Zealand domestic matches and international matches. One thing I would have liked is more diagrams supporting the text (even in exchange for some of the photos). There are hardly diagrams at all.

The text is well-written and easy to understand.

lots of nice colour pictures, but a little basic for all but the absolute beginner.

I play Rugby and this is a good book for someone ne to the game. It explains quite clearly the different tactics for different positions and has good photographs to show you It's really helpful for beginners of any age.

The book is very handy and actually has nice photographs, but it is targeted to a novice or a "fresh start" rugby enthusiast. Keeping this point in mind, it is a remarkable work, both in style and guise, because skills, tactics and rules are clearly explained.

The text is simple but quite serious, hence being rugby an "informal" sport, a better explanation should be devised for some particular events during the match. The lineout is a typical example: in fact the rule, which permit an aided 6-foot plus gentleman to hover in the air waiting for the oval, must have been thought up by a three-quarter who flew Harriers (the famous vertical landing fighter airplane!). This strange engagement is characterized by a devastatingly human exertion, that is the pathological damage this may cause the unsuspecting jumper's groin when his shorts is pulled sharply upwards by two herculean "thrusters"! So far for the tactics!!

Another amusing rule too seriously explained is when the front rows collapse during a set scrum. The refree (the usual scapegoat for italian fans!!!) gives a penalty against the prop that goes down first. He may be the less potent of the two, the more tired or simply could quite easily have slipped, but no!, the sanction is quick,steadfast and irrevocable: he did on purpose, shame on him! Since the international refrees are not robust specimen of human race, with large diameter trunks and necks, they wrongfully suppose that above huge necks there is little capacity for gray matter. So the modern prop will use this misconception to his advantage when there is a scrum nearby the Opposition try line. Thus, by all means, usually illegal, he will check the opposite prop's thrust while collapsing, therefore automatically gaining a penalty kick from the best position ever. That's what we call a teamwork!!

That said, I will recommend this volume to anyone interested in this wonderful game, but getting in touch with its rules for the first time.

Circling NZ is clearly an amazing act, but I couldn't help thinking that maybe I could circumnavigate around some exotic island too. Now don't get me wrong... Southern Exposure left me realizing this is no "walk in the park", but it also left me feeling that BUZZ that comes with doing something amazing. This book can get a little slow at times, but as long as you keep your mind on the waves and swell, it all goes well.

Chris Duff's humility is one of the many striking attributes of a finely-written account of an often nerve-wracking and dangerous journey around New Zealand's South Island by sea kayak. Duff reminds us of the power and beauty of nature that so many of us have forgotten, lulled by the comforts of city life, and introduces the characters living around the coast whose goodness and moral support helped him get through the ordeal.

You don't have to be a kayaker to enjoy this book, but if you are, then you can empathise much more with the many challenges he faced. I was out there on the water with him, edging into the waves, fearing the surf, dwarfed by the Fiordland's cliffs. Well done, and thanks for sharing the experience!

I took this book with me on a trip to New Zealand, and enjoyed reading it as I learned first hand the island's crazy seas, and the many interesting facts about the country. At times the author can be a little long winded, but I thought it was well written for a trip that inherently has so much repetition. If you like sea kayaking, nature, and adventure stories, I would recommend this book. If you get to a slightly boring part about being with one with the boat and sea, just keep reading, and more adventure is sure to follow.

Unfortunately, I do not quite share the enthusiasm expressed by the other reviewers. Although Duff is an excellent descriptive writer, the numerous descriptions and philosophical musings in this book tend to go on and on needlessly; I do not need to read three pages about what it was like to find two apples in the ocean and eat them, or read description after description of the joys and epiphanies one experiences while paddling in a remote area. A little of that goes a long way.

I guess the upshot is that I was looking for an exciting adventure story, and what I got was perhaps the most thorough description of the New Zealand South Island's coastline, coastal waters, and weather patterns ever written. If you are looking for an "Into Thin Air"-type battle against the odds, keep looking. Although the journey required considerable paddling skills and Duff faced a few close calls, overall the book records little actual adversity aside from large waves and days of waiting out storms -- often in homes of hospitable New Zealanders rather than on his own.

I also agree with other reviewers that the photos are mediocre and certainly are not "stunning," as the back of the book claims.

A couple of years ago I saw Chris Duff speak at Canoecopia - a worldwide paddling expo held in Madison WI. One of his talks was about his solo circumnavigation of New Zealand's south island - the same topic as this book.
I, and I think the rest of the audience, was mesmerized as he told his tale. Even though he probably has talked about his trip many times it felt as if he was reliving it for the first time. His ecitement was contagious. The audience could almost feel the ocean swells and smell the salty air.
Chris Duff is as good of a writer as he is a public speaker. He vividly describes the scenery of his voyage, the people he encounters and his own personal thoughts. While, his adventures are WAY beyond my personal abilities I could actually feel what it would be like in his shoes (or in this case fast drying sandals) due to his excellent writing ability.

This nicely bound book boasts inferior translation although it was done by an English PhD, and the type is puncuated with hypens in the middle of a sentence. This is very annoying but after about 100 pages, with patience the reader can over look this flaw if patient The greatest disappointment is the poor English translation that is at times, hard to follow as it appears the translation is literal and very clumsy to read in English. This is a book on demand edition (it is downloaded from a computer and bound when ordered and the presentation is more than acceptable), butd surely there is a better edition of this exciting adventure yarn in existence that has a broad appeal to young and old alike. It's a shame that the high price on this edition is so poorly done considering it was written by one of the most creative writers in literature. Verne has a tendency to spend far to much time detailing geography and sacrificing characterization for plot. The dialog at times is also very juvenile...but this could be due to the this particular edition, as this is the first time I have found a copy of this particular book. If nothing is available, then buy this edition. It's a rousing good yarn.

Although I was looking forward to reading "The Castaways", otherwise known as "The Children of Captain Grant", the beauty of the writing was disturbed by glaring errors. Hyphens and random symbols randomly intrude upon the narrative and dialogue alike. Sentences are cut in half and divided by several lines of blank space. To be honest, the book is published by a .com publishing company that failed to review and edit what could have been a wonderful rendition of an engaging story. It looks as though they downloaded the translation of the story without adjusting for changes in format or checking for errors. Shame on them. Although this particular novel is difficult to find in an English edition, do not waste your money. Let us put an end to cheap publishers demeaning good works. Do not purchase this version--search for another.

In Search of the Castaways is actually the first book in a triology by Verne, the 2nd being the famous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the 3rd being The Mysterious Island, and, I think that the trilogy shows him improving and evolving as a writer. This means that the last one is the best (and one of my favourites of Verne's) and that this one is the worst.

Of course, like so many of Verne's works, it's still an entertaining adventure. It tells of a story of the search for Captain Grant by his young children, a captain, an eccentric scientist and many others, all aboard the one ship and armed with the classic message in a bottle (with only the latitude of the location, the longitude being erased). So, they try circumnavigate the globe and encounter a great deal of environs, people and nature. This is Verne at his descriptive best but in this book, the descriptions become overbearing as he goes on for pages and pages (even more than usual). Also, as an Australian [although I know this was before the 20th century but still...] his descriptions of the continent are a bit cliched and probably rely on his contemporary audience never having been more than 2000km away from Paris.

Yes, there's the usual betrayal, triumph and tragedy which makes it a good children's book. But it has no finer detail that some of his more mature works have. If you want something that will make you think (beyond the escapism and armchair travel aspects of Verne's books - which is certainly a legitimate and worthwhile reason for those books), try the Mysterious Island.

Finally, I did not read the book in this edition so I don't know anything about this specific one.

The book is wonderful. It's a great adventure story, favorite with every child and adult I know. BUT - this edition looks like it is an unedited scan. Thousands of hyphens appear in totally incorrect places. First, I was determined to disregard them and enjoy the book, but by the end of 50th page I was really annoyed. This is not a book, merely a draft that needs editing. It is a shame that there is no normal edition in print.

The book (story) is excellent and I highly recommend it!
It's a great adventure and one of the best from Jules Verne.
I've read it many times as a kid, and it certainly deserves
5 stars, but the quality of the softcover indypublish.com
version is abysmal: crooked pages, bad layout with hyphenated
words in the middle of lines all over... certainly does not
worth $...

An odd novel, but an exciting one.
A teenaged boy is drawn into the search of a kidnapped baby.
But there was a flaw.....When the babys' guardians were contacted by the abductor, they did not behave realistically!
They loved their baby so why would they start joking around about future marriages the second they got off the phone???!!!That was highly dumb.
But the rest of the mystery was a great read.

This was a very well writen and entertaining book. Margaret Mahy does a great job in spreading out the action and discribing all of the caricters. The setting is one that most people can not relate to and I think that makes it more interesting. The book may be a little bit confusing but that is only because the caracters themselfs are confused.

Ellis, the main character in the story had just come home from college and is trying to get over is best friends suicide. This book is about 24 hours of Ellis first day back. The 24 hours of exacly what he needs to cupe with his friends suicide.

The book was very exciting and action packed. Full of car chases and drinkig, along with lust, and an incredibly weird neiborhood. This book was a very fast read and I enjoy every weird moment of it.

The author Margaret Mahy really used the young character in the story 24 Hours. I really found how she wrote the book was really suspencful and thrilling. I find myself entering the book as the character. She used figurtive language to add to the story but the language was still understandable by anyone who would read this story. I liked how she used the young teenager in the story making the events in the story believeable. Meaning they really could happen to anyone. That is why I liked this book so much was because I could really relate to the characters. I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about challenges, hardship and true life.

I do enjoy this book very much because it is really interesting, attractive and mystery especially in the epilogue part. You can't guess what the ending is if you not read throughout the whole story, when you read more, there will a force put you to continue to read. Although this is my first time reading Mahy book. I am quite impressive not only the content of the story, but also her writing style and she use many different kinds of words to express her view.
This story starts with a seventeen-year-old boy, Ellis who just graduates from prep school and start a holiday. In the next twenty-four hours, he meets a friend, Jackie who brings him go to a mystery world that cannot escape. Inside the world, Ellis loses his hair, becomes a tattoo, help find a kidnapped child, fall in and out love and persuade an old friend from suicide¡K Every thing is strange. Although the situations are quite adult, it can reflect the normal life that everyone may encounter, so that it is suitable for every age group.
I like this book very much so that I rate it with a four stars, but there are a little blemish which is the beginning of the story, everything happen too slow and a little bit boring, you want to pay more attention to the person at every parts because it will turn up at the most important part and act as a key person. On the whole, if you want to know what happen to the Ellis¡¦s life, does he success to find the kidnapped child and success to persuade his old friend. I am strongly recommended to you.

I enjoyed the book 24 Hours very much, it was very interesting! However I would have to rate this book with 4 stars. Simply just becasue I didn't like the beginning. The beginning part of the story is very boring until you reach the middle where all of the action starts. To me Margaret used tons of details and quotes in the beginning such as, " retreating, like precisely spaced bloms in a park garden, they rose on long green stems that curved elegantly at the top, then blossomed into hoods of deep crimson." That was one part that really got me involved in the book, with the words flowing all perfectly together. However, she used to much detail to set the stage. To me it seemed to take six chapters till we finally got to the action. Some people might like that, but personally I am not one of those people. so if you stick with the book I assure you that you will not be disappointed int the end, because this book has a fantastic and puzzling ending!