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Stories ideal length to pick up

23/6/2022

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Pocket Money & Other Stories
by Vivienne Lingard


The 21 stories in this collection might have been written or selected to present a balance, they being neatly divided in terms of first and third person narration, and with males and females as central figures – their ages spanning the life range though with a preference for youngish adults.
    The characters are New Zealanders but the settings of the stories are also fairly even divided between this country and overseas locations. In New Zealand people live in or visit Dunedin, Wellington, Napier, Nelson-Motueka, Manawatu or pop up on the Heaphy track.  Elsewhere we meet them in London, Delhi, Prague, Rome, New York.
    Their voices vary, particularly and appropriately in those with first-person narration.
    In one respect, however, they depart from this spread. The human subjects are Anglo, European – apart from one story, there is little mention of Aotearoa as a Pacific nation.
    Despite this, I find two I particularly enjoy are set elsewhere – a woman visits New York with her brother, “forty-two, but he could have been nine”; and in the very short How To Make A Bear, a woman talks to a pair of children in a train on the Piccadilly line. The best of human nature is reflected in these two tales.
    Overall, they tend towards the vignette or slice-of-life style short story. Art is a recurrent and well-handled theme, a reflection no doubt of the author’s background as an artist. In broader subject matter, though there are such situations as broken marriages and family problems, they largely avoid the darker areas of human society. 
    Why, then, the dark and depressing cover, I wonder? In one tale, 
Ways of Riding a Storm, there’s a description of a picture that makes a woman shiver – “a skinny girl standing in a dark alley, teardrops spilling from wide googly eyes…it was ugly and downright depressing.” Not exactly the cover pic but close enough to accentuate the question why?
    The stories in this collection are all of an ideal length to pick up and read in a break, or in bed – none too long. The beginnings pull the reader into each, and all reward the time spent.

Review by Norma D. Plum
Title: Pocket Money & Other Stories
Author: Vivienne Lingard
Publisher: Artistry Publishing
ISBN: 9780473619336
RRP: $37.99
Available: bookshops
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Beautiful book to celebrate new holiday

9/6/2022

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Matariki Around the World
by Rangi Matamua & Miriama Kamo
with Isobel Joy Te Aho-White


From the first sight, and touch for even the feel of it is seductive, I was in love with this beautiful book, published in good time for the first celebration of Matariki as a national public holiday, 
    My admiration grew as I read through the 80 pages, the first section of which gives a simple explanation of the cluster of stars we know here as Matariki, and the stories of the legendary figures which make it up. All are given their own story, placing them within the wider scope of Maori cosmology. 
     If you know any of the Matariki songs that have become popular over the past few years, you’ll find yourself singing to yourself as you turn the pages – Tipuānuku, Tipuārangi, Waitī, Waitā…
    The accessible language of the text makes it especially suitable for children, but it should appeal to all ages, even up to grandparents. The conversational tone lends itself to reading aloud to little ones.
    Each story is accompanied by stunning supporting illustrations – note the appropriate choice of colour in each. The only reservation I have here is, even though beautiful artistically, the coloured print of some of the text against the background artwork may be difficult to read by those with poor sight or in low light levels.
    The first section, to page 37, deals with Maori lore, then it moves to corresponding stories of the same star cluster in other cultures in each inhabited continent. In the Pacific, we learn of Matariki equivalents in Cook Islands, Tahiti, Hawaii, and Australia. Asian legends are from Japan, China, and India. Further stories from Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, North and South America tell how the group is viewed in other cultures. Between them there are many similarities. 
    The book also includes a short glossary of terms used and an index for quick reference.
    Full praise must be accorded to the team – authors, Rangi Matamua and Miriama Kamo, and illustrator Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. In spite of my slight reservation mentioned above, I’d like to nominate the publishing team for a design award. This is a volume that may be produced with children in mind, but it can take its place with pride on any coffee table in the country. 

Review by Bronwyn Elsmore
Title: Matariki Around the World
Authors: Rangi Matamua & Miriama Kamo, with Isobel Joy Te Aho-White
Publisher: Scholastic NZ
ISBN: 9781775437420
RRP: $34.99
Available: bookshops
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Novel sparks memories of 1970s & ‘80s

1/6/2022

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If That’s What It Takes
by Les Allen


Les Allen’s book rollicks through the New Zealand of the 1970s and 1980s in 231 pages and some 97,000 words. In the main it is a nostalgic evocation of what many of us remember as ‘the good old days’ when a fax machine was a novelty; when hair was long; when trousers were flared; when only cissies drank stubbies or wine; when ladies brought plates to functions; when evenings before the TV ended (much earlier than at present) with ‘Goodnight Kiwi’, and when overseas experts knew much more than we did about anything that wasn’t involved with agriculture or rugby.
    The story revolves around a Northland lawyer, Jim Mansell, who appears able to solve the problems of anyone who consults him, through a mixture of tactical ‘nous’, good fortune, loyal staff and an absolutely unsustainable workload. 
    He needs to do so because the villains of the piece, who range from Mansell’s crooked law partner to a ruthless captain of industry by way of a plethora of hard-hearted bureaucrats, feckless farmers, rugby-obsessed teenagers, dodgy financiers and ethically-challenged real estate operatives have all adopted, as a motto and modus operandi, the slogan of the title — “If That’s What it Takes”. 
    Throughout, the villains are deep-dyed and black, and Mansell and his faithful legal executive, Natalie, and his ever-resourceful secretary Kelly, battle on through setback, betrayal and disaster. They are aided by the peripatetic Rory, reputedly a private investigator, who seems never to have had any training in those dark arts, and Tony, the law firm’s accountant who is an ever-present figure of doom. 
    The story develops against a background of New Zealand icons: an idyllic landscape with Land Rovers, Holden Commodores, Morris Marinas to the fore, and self-taught engineers, a ‘Dally’ who has prospered through hard work and shrewdness, several ex-rugby players, and the odd boat-owning fatcat. 
    The work isn’t without its drawbacks. Time intervals tend towards the unrealistic and/or contrived and some episodes and characters appear to offer little to the story as a whole, but generally the book presents a pre-Internet New Zealand that seems much more than forty years ago. Or am I showing my age?

Review by M J Burr
Title: If That’s What It Takes
Author: Les Allen
Publisher:  Illustra Press 
ISBN: 978-0-473-60765-4
RRP: $37.95
Available: bookshops
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