New Zealand Books

I am a regular visitor to New Zealand (once a year) and particularly enjoy fly-fishing around the Taupo/Tongariro area. On my most recent trip I asked a guide if there were any books worth reading on fly-fishing the Tongariro River. He mentioned several, but near the top of the list was this one by Zane Grey. The book is loosely in 4 parts: The journey to New Zealand, Marlin fishing in the Bay of Islands area, Trout fishing around the Taupo area, and a wrap-up where he answers some of his critics.

Zane Grey was a famous author and renowned fisherman. His visit to New Zealand (detailed in this book) was at the behest of the NZ government who at the time (1920s) was seeking to promote their new big game fishing to a waiting world. Through his well-detailed exploits, its hard not to detect a touch or arrogance in his writing when he refers to the "primitive equipment and techniques" used by the locals. However, this is soon forgotten as his descriptions clearly convey a boyish sense of excitement with almost every big fish hooked. His descriptions of both the Bay of Islands and Taupo areas also show him to have been a true nature lover and keen observer of the natural world.

I can heartily recomend this book to the keen fisherman. For a trout fisher such as myself, the descriptions of 11lb fish caught in the 1920s is mind boggling - I can't wait to get back!

The bombastic, triumphalist tone of the title is meant in sarcasm. The author describes in impressive detail how Australia was settled by the British. But instead of following the standard path of focusing on the growth of the cities, he looks instead at the farming sector. Along with how water and other resources were harnessed to feed the cities.

Much of the original environment was drastically altered, at least in the coastal regions where farms could be established. The non-native livestock and crops thrived. So too did species like foxes and rabbits and cane toads. The narrative is almost one of a war against the land.

This book contains a delectable selection of short stories by Australian and New Zealand authors who incorporate food into their themes. The selection is varied, yet the collection as a whole has a unity not often achieved in collections ... it reads like a good cookbook, with recipes for every occasion. The experience of reading the stories together is dream-like ... the feeling one gets after a very big meal!

The book is made up of vaious essays written by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. It gives views on how the Aboriginal population has been treated though out the since collonisation. Each essay was selected from the journal of Aboriginal History. It is an introductory text for the study of Aboriginal History.

A friend lent me this when we lost the older of our two kitties. The way Dennis Hamley tells the story of how the kitties get to know each other was exactly how our two kitties reacted to each other! He uses simple words and concepts to explain how a cat might be lonely when his cat-friend is gone. I loved the illustrations, too. This is a children's book, but very nice for anyone who has been through this type of experience. (Yeah, okay, I cried, I admit it.)

What a wonderful book! How come no one else has reviewed it? The language twirls and swirls about you as the author explores the links that have existed and in some places still exist between New Zealand, Australia and our colonial past, and the ways that the New Zealand and Australian national characters have developed, apart and together (alone). If this isn't required reading at any number of educational institutions, then it should be.

And throughout, there are frequent and affectionate references to the music of The Front Lawn, The Muttonbirds and the Finn brothers, as well as dips into the cultural significance of Doc Martens, the films of Sam Neill, and the global perambulations of Michael Palin.

More fun than Michael King's "History of New Zealand".

Dr.Claudia Orange grasps the sense of a displaced people in her book about the Maori and their experience after making the Treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown. There has been an injustice over the reconciliation of indigenous rights and Crown rights, and it still needs to be resolved. This author seems to want to set forth the facts, and presents an enlightened viewpoint.

For anyone interested in the Pacific Rim, and in comparative history, this book provides a fascinating introduction to the beginnings of an environmental consciousness in the West and in Australia. Centred on plants and water, Tyrrell provides a convincing number of examples of shared problems between California and Australia; he also highlights the vexed issues of introduced species, and the aesthetic ideologies which accompany the use of "exotic" plants.
It is solid history, but also fun to read.

This book offers a lot more than its title might suggest. Murray's survey of opinion formation about Japan in the 1930s through the Australian media ranges from political and diplomatic machinations to the intrigues of propaganda campaigns and espionage. It is richly researched, steeped in primary sources, including the author's own interviews, yet written with a light touch that maintained this reader's interest. The book's price-tag is certainly a discouragement, but it is well edited and sturdily made. It deserves a wide readership.

Developed from a PhD thesis, this book explores a number of different ways in which Australians have come to understand (or imagine) the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the post-War period.

The value of this book is in examining the different ways countries and cultures can view each other. While written from an Australian perspective, the approach taken by Kendall could be applied to any relationship between two countries: it identifies and discusses some of the formulation of 'us' and 'them' viewpoints.

My own interest in China dates from the early 1970s when the appointment of Stephen FitzGerald as Australia's first Ambassador to the PRC marked the beginning of a new, more positive era in Sino-Australian relations.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in better understanding some of the factors in the relationships between, and perceptions of, different countries and cultures.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith