New Zealand Books

There are some one- to three-star reviews for this book which suggest that it (a) is boring, (b) a lie (no one could remember as much of her childhood as Sally Morgan does), (c) raises her family to sainthood

I'm not an Australian and don't have any interest in the reconciliation issues that one reviewer says are the "only reason" for publishing this book. Yet I couldn't put the book down.

Certainly, if you're looking for a harrowing story of a aboriginal oppression, you won't find it here (for the first half of the book, Sally Morgan believes what her mother tells her: the family is from India). Primarily what you get is the story of a lower class Australian family dealing with adversity.

To suggest that Ms. Morgan creates heroes out of her family also misses the mark--much of the book describes the inability of her father to deal with life after the war and the frustration that she faces dealing with her mother and grandmother.

What you do get in this book is a story of a terrifically interesting family. I found myself pulled through the book, eager to see what these people would do next. It's possible that if I were Australian I wouldn't have found the book so interesting (it's possible that much of what I found interesting would be commonplace to someone from Australia). But for a Canadian, it was a eye opening book about life in Australia.

Another review comments that some aboriginals feel that Sally Morgan should not claim an aboriginal identity because she didn't grow up in an aboriginal community. In the book she talks about how her schoolmates tell her she isn't a "real Australian" because her skin is the wrong color. Apparently, some feel she isn't "dark enough" for others. This tells us more about the reviewers desire to reject her experience than the value of the book. Anyone who reads the book can decide for themselves how much of an aboriginal identity the author is claiming and/or should be allowed to claim.

As for remembering so much of her childhood: Many other autobiographies spend far more time (and detail) on their youth. The first third of Gorky's autobiography ("Youth"), for instance, is almost 400 pages long. The 100 or so pages that take Ms. Morgan to the end of high school doesn't seem excessive.

One of Fremantle Presses literary triumphs, the other being Faceys, Fortunate Life. There are similarities between them also. Whatever, we gave this another burl around the fire in Easter Sicily this Easter, to introduce our 7 yr old to the facts of Australian indigenous dispossession. It is rambling in parts, but the figure of the old granny is a humourous and sad pivot to the tales. Morgans book was in the forefront of the move to have the stolen generation recognised, and whatever the literary shortcomings of the book, it does have a heart and a deserved place in mainstream considerations of continuing indigenous plight in the country.

I find My Place to be a powerful story about a passionate person trying to find more about their past. The book gripped me and gave an amazing feeling; It was like being suffocated but breathing air fresher than you have ever breathed. I have grown an admiration for Sally Morgan. She had courage, curiousity and she managed to explain feelings never explained before and to introduce new ones.
When I read this book I feel overwhelmed that it has at last been written. For it is original and really showed me My Place.

Stories about the historical oppression and continual discrimination against Aborigines should be told, but it is unfortunate that Morgan is one of those to do it. The book fails as literature simply because it is boring and very poorly written. As such, it does nothing to advance the Aboriginal cause here in Australia, and unfortunately, plays right into the hands of the redneck Hansonites and their views of white racial superiority.

Reading the other reviews on here, I find it interesting to note that just about everyone gives it either 5 stars or 1 star, but there's almost nothing in between. It's quite true that it is a poorly written book - the writing is dull and prosaic, and there's little to recommend it from a literary point of view. Had I not had to read it for a class, I doubt I would have bothered finishing it. The narrative of searching and redemption which runs throughout is so predictable and cliché that I have the feeling that if this had been an American story it would have been snatched up by Oprah's Book Club long ago. Having said that, however, I think there are some important things about this book that probably need consideration.

More than the book itself, what I find interesting is that this was a huge bestseller in Australia. And I mean HUGE. She may well be the highest grossing Indigenous author in the country, although I'd be guessing. The fact that so many people read the book says something about the mood of White Australia over the last twenty years, with this country trying to come to grips with its shameful past. I've inclined to believe that most of this is an attempt to ease collective white guilt than actually taking steps to reconcile and compensate for over two centuries of oppression. Sally Morgan's book is popular, I think, because she doesn't actually challenge her audience to move much beyond their comfort zone, and the construction of Aboriginality that she presents is quite problematic, stereotypical, and firmly entrenched in the past.

The book has attracted quite a lot of controversy in Australia, mostly in academic circles, but occasionally this rears its head in the mainstream media (for example, the issue of the Drake-Brockmans demanding DNA testing to prove Morgan is not descended from their ancestors). The idea of the 'truthfulness' of the book is largely a question of genre more than anything else: is it an autobiography or a non-fiction novel? 'My Place' raises a lot of questions about how we define these categories, and about the nature of history and memory work.

People might be interested to know that the book also attracted a considerable amount of backlash from the Aboriginal community itself: she is often criticised for asserting an Aboriginal identity that, by her own admission, she did not grow up with. Unaware of her Indigenous origins for most of her youth, she claims her Aboriginality without ever having lived with what it really meant to be Aboriginal in the 1950s-70s. Because she has fairer skin than the stereotypical Aboriginal person, she had the luxury of pretending to be of a different nationality - an option simply not available to many Indigenous Australians - and was thus not subjected to the same level of prejudice which she might otherwise have been.

If you're interested in Australian history and Aboriginal issues you should probably read Sally Morgan's 'My Place', not because it's good writing, but because it has certainly been a landmark in the recent history of Australian literature. However, I also suggest trying to lay your hands on some of the material which critiques Morgan's work in order to gain a more balanced perspective of Indigenous Australia. Alternatively, for an all-round better account of what is now known as the Stolen Generation, try Doris Pilkington's 'Rabbit Proof Fence', or the film by the same name. If read with a critical mind, 'My Place' is worthy of a look, but it is highly problematic taken at face value.

I really enjoy this series & this book starts it all off. Phyrne Fisher is a free spirit, and she always wins.

While the Phryne Fisher series is set in the '20's, they seldom feel like it to me, which is part of the appeal. Stephanie Daniel does an exceptional job with the voices on the CDs, making them most enjoyable. Bravo!!

The first entry in a long-running Australian series. This book is deeply flawed -- the climactic scene revolves, not around wits or daring, but a public display of affection -- but it's one of the few high points in the series. Phryne is charming, brilliant and amoral, and would be almost likable if the narrative wasn't continually telling us how special and remarkable she is. It's hard to generate tension around a character for whom the normal rules of society don't apply. However, the Jazz Age Australia setting is well-realised, and this is an entertaining start to a series best enjoyed as part of a drinking game.

The Phryne Fisher series came highly recommended by a man not usually given to Affirmative Action crits, but I can't help feeling that if this had been written by a bloke . . .

Female readers may well enjoy the anachronistic cheap shots at Twenties' inequalities, and God knows there could be worse heroines for the Noughties. (Or do we call the present decade the Oh-Ohs?)

Lovers of crime fiction will surely be disappointed, and not only by the fact that the King of Snow was obvious from the start. This is an amateurish effort, best illustrated by having the members of a White Russian noble family speak French (rather than Russian) when alone with each other in private, the better to be eavesdroppedupon by our French-speaking heroine.

It's not bad wordsmithery, as you might expect of a lawyer who moonlights as an author, but I'm guessing most male readers will not find this enough.

Phryne Fisher is so refreshing. She's young, smart, sexy, compassionate and bold. I'm looking forward to many more. Can't wait!!

What can be said about this book? Well...maybe that it's very interesting how the author, was able to embed so many well detailed moments into the story AND the emotions that a young man feels. How's to say what is right and what is wrong for a man to feel when he's confused and in search for answers? That is pretty much what the author tries to explore throughout the story.

However, there are a few things in which I was [am] a bit puzzuled about. Was the reason for not exploring the characters moments with sex something to be best left to the imagination or just being caucious? What becomes of the characters with their families, friends and society?

My believe is that maybe the author left these details out so that maybe...just maybe some day, he could pick up the story again and continue it. I can clearly see this story being continued and explored more...so, how's to say?

This is a sweet book. The story is short but given the intended audience that is probably a good thing.

The author wastes no time in getting his two protagonists together as friends. After a rocky start, they develop a tentative but devoted relationship. When it comes to talking to one another, the two boys don't do much to explore what their friendship really means. The author seems to stretch things a bit when it comes to having the two of them sleep together in an embrace yet not become sexual. I don't know if we can really believe that two teenaged boys would be able to hold back, especially since the older boy, Theo, clearly establishes himself as a risk-taker who is not afraid to make bold moves.

I was less taken with the Holocaust subplot. Although the author probably intended it as a way of giving more dimension to Theo's grandmother, I'd have prefered more time seeing how the boys interacted.

The author's style is pleasant -- just right for the material -- and the New Zealand slang came across as rather charming to this American reader. The character of David does seem like a nice kid.

Recommended, but only if you are not looking for a sex romp every five pages.

David is the star of his school's rugby team and he is famous throughout his New Zealand community for being so. But gradually he's discovered that rugby isn't something he's really interested and as is natural he needs to painfully pull himself out of that role in the community. At the same time he is doing this he meets Theo, a mysterious newcomer to the community. There is an unspoken bond between the boys from when they meet and a gradual friendship is created. Theo is extroverted, rebellious against adults and blunt in trying to bring issues to the forefront whilst concealing aspects of his identity and feelings he finds hard to vocalize. Green-thumbed David is the opposite, a good boy who always does as he should and gets along with adults, but who is able to insist on what he needs to make him happy. It's interesting the ways these boys are shown to come together from different parts of society to form a romantic relationship that neither of them fully understand. It is a relationship which proves through various tests to be a lasting one.

This novel is beautifully written. It never fully tells what the boys relationship is because it is in a slow process of formation. It isn't a representation of a typical coming out story or gay discovery, but a unique discovery of new sexual feelings for two sharply drawn individuals. It seems strange at times that for hormonal boys of their age there is no realisation throughout the narrative of their sexual feelings, but this is explained to be because they literally don't know what to do yet. The presence of Theo's grandmother sometimes distracts from the main story of the boy's budding relationship, though she is an interesting enough character that seems to be crying for a story in her own right. This is a very lovingly told, nice tale that explores how "normal" boys adjust to new aspects of their identity.

This is one of the better books I've read on the subject of coming out, aimed at a young adult audience. But that's not saying much. I think a kid who is struggling with his (or her) identity would be better off reading and 'adult' book like Edmund White's gorgeous "The Beautiful Room is Empty". The writing is what elevates this book to better than average. The plot is fairly typical. A young, gifted athlete (why are they always athletes?) discovers his attraction to another boy is mutual. At first they don't discuss this attractions; instead sublimating with fast driving, wrestling, and a hunting expedition. The author began to lose me when, after the boys confront each other with their feelings, they remain incredibly chaste, even during mutual showers and nights spent in the same bed, half-nude. They learn to sublimate their sexual feelings by long runs followed by the aformentioned showers. The main character, David, while seemingly less worldy then Theo, seems willing. He is physically more powerful than Theo, more imaginative, and at times more persuasive in his arguments so it isn't too big a stretch to imagine him finding away to gently force the issue. Theo, who seems to have little control over his other appetites; smoking, drinking, fast driving; has remarkable self-control when it comes to sex. Naturally, this is a young adult book and the author has to be fairly discreet but one has to suspend their disbelief a bit far to accept that with all their opportunities (they are left alone for the weekend on more than one occasion) they don't even kiss.
Also, with such a short novel, short even by young adult standards, the author should have concentrated on one storyline; that of the two boys and their developing relationship. The side story of Gretel, Theo's grandmother, was distracting and out-of-place, having little bearing on what was happening between the boys. At the end, when we learn about her tragic past, it seems rushed, a device to shed some light on Theo's behavior, as well as her own. The author got so caught up in this character that he lost sight of his readers. I picked up this book in the hopes of reading an engaging story of two teenage boys discovering the joys, the heartaches, and the thrills of first love. Instead, I found myself growing impatient when at times Theo seemed to be a third wheel in the friendship between David and Gretel. I can't imagine the average teenage reader will have more patience for this than I. Perhaps the author should have saved Gretel's story for a different kind of book.

Ultimately, Theo is just too undeveloped a character. The reader is first introduced to him as a rebel who cares little for what others think of him. Very quickly the author seems to run out of steam when it comes to delving any deeper into Theo's motivations. His rebelliousness seems to be mere bravado; a pose. He initiates contact with David by making a rather brazen proposition on the second page of the book. Later, when he confesses his terror at the prospect of being gay for the rest of his life it doesn't ring true. Up until then he has seemed to sure of himself and of his ultimate success at hooking up with David. The far less worldly David instinctively realizes that there are strength in numbers when he confides in Theo, " It doesn't seem quite so bad when we're together. When we get to see each other and be together." This isn't out of keeping with David's character. Early in the book, he quits rugby after coming to the realization he is playing for the wrong reasons. He consistantly shows himself to be a young man unwilling to be untrue to himself. He has spent a great deal of time getting used to the idea even to the point of examing himself all over and concluding that he is not different from other boys accepting who he is attracted to. He has few illusions about who he is attracted to and is ready to accept it as long as he has love. In David, the author proves he can write a believable and consistant character so it is a mystery why he didn't work a little harder to flesh out Theo. The grandmother is a more fully realized character than Theo. One never has any doubts what motivates her behavior. She too is one with very little illusions about herself. I believe the author's intentions were good in developing Gretel the way he did; her horrible past is meant to provide insight to Theo's character and at the same time provide a bit of a moral lesson about hate which is clearly meant as a plea for tolerance for the young gay protaganists. As a message device is was handled far less clumsily then most young adult authors manage. Unfortunately, the author relies to heavily on our acceptance that Theo's personality has been shaped soley by the reality of Gretel's past. While it would surely have some bearing on Theo's character, too much is left out. When David confronts Theo, demanding to know why he hasn't been told about Gretel's past, accusing him of not caring, Theo retorts, "What the hell d'you mean? It is me. That is what I am. She is what I am. That, and more besides. Stuff she hasn't told you, might never tell you." We do learn the rest of the story, but not until the penultimate page of the book. While Gretel's revelation does provide some insight into Theo's character, it merely leaves one wondering why the author chose to clue us in at the end, when it doesn't really matter any more, at least not to the reader, and after all, who is the book for if not the reader?

This is one of the most difficult reviews I have written. First of all, I am a 37 year old, gay man from the U.S., so I know I am not the average reader the author expected to reach. However, I am a consultant to a library about gay/lesbian youth books, so I read dozens of "coming of age" books every month. "The Blue Lawn" threw me for a loop. The New Zealand language is stunning and beautiful to an outsider. The way the author also blended the effects of World War II into the book and the present is fantastic. Most of the characters seem so real.

However, the book lacks a few key elements. Without reveling any of the plot for those of you who decide to read the book, allow me to try to explain. The boys are so quick to anger, yet never seem to reach any degree of real longing for each other. Their anger, due to their love/lust for each other, comes so quickly; but when presented with opportunites for physical contact and expressions of their apparent love, they fall short and I find it hard to imagine that two 16 year olds would not have progressed beyond a simple kiss and sleeping in the same bed (clothed). While I understand that the author may have wanted to avoid any explicit sexual situations (as I believe this book was written for the younger reader), he could have at least had the boys been a bit more physical - something more realistic in this day and age.

If I may be so bold as to offer advice to to the author... take this book, expand it a bit more, explore each character a bit more and make the relationship between the two sixteen year olds just a bit more realistic. You kept them just a bit too pure and a young gay boy reading this book may want to know that doing more than just sleeping in the same bed is okay.

On the other hand, I must commend the author for his fantastic use of words, his blending of the past and present, and for allowing non-New Zealand readers to understand the role rugby plays in a young man's life. I would not hesitate to read more by this author and I have to say that this book is worth the price. It could be better, but, it is worth the price. My final thought.. I hope William Taylor writes another, longer, more drawn out book. I'll be the first to buy it.

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!

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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.