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Intelligent result of a lifetime’s scholarship

30/8/2017

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The Truth About Language: What it is and Where it Came From
by Michael C. Corballis


“Without language there would be no stories, no religion, no science, no history…. Strangely, though, we seem to take language for granted, a gift bestowed on us for the privilege of being human.”
  By choosing the title, The Truth About Language, the author sets himself a huge challenge, but one he meets with distinction. His very broad discussion of the subject – the evolution of language, prerequisites needed for its development, and its construction – goes far beyond mechanics such as structure, characteristics, uses, spread, similarities and differences. Michael Corballis, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Auckland  considers aspects associated with a range of academic disciplines beyond his own – anthropology, history, philosophy, religion, science, and more.
   Though the 20 pages of bibliography show evidence of extensive background research, this is more than a mere reworking of others’ ideas and findings. The author takes on thinkers as eminent as Darwin and Chomsky as well as other masters of language, philosophy and psychology.
   There is much throughout the whole text to inform and fascinate a range of readers. Others, as I was, will be interested in the author’s insights into such topics as language and natural selection; thinking without language, mental travel; precursors to language – gestures, signing, pointing – leading to the thought that  “Speech is facial gesture, half-swallowed.”
   Along the way some light is shed on animal behaviour – such as maze navigation by rats, communication by chimpanzees, graphic recognition by pigeons, apparent thought by other birds, and specific word recognition by dogs.
   Several words have been added to my vocabulary, even though I have worked with words for decades.
    For this reason also, I was especially interested in the chapter “Stories”, that confirms my own views on the value of fiction, about which Corballis says –
   "Fiction is in essence a simulation of the social world, in which the characters have minds with which the reader or watcher can identify. Immersed in fiction, you mentally enter the social world created by the novelist or playwright, just as in real life you enter the social lives of the people around you….it enhances empathy and theory of mind, making us better able to understand others." 
   The work is a highly intelligent and intelligible result of a lifetime’s scholarship and thought. What might in other hands become a heavy read is made accessible by Corballis due to his easy, often conversational, tone interspersed with anecdotes and personal observation to assist readers to grasp his points. There is no doubt that the author is a skilled communicator.
    For the reader’s part, The Truth About Language is well worth study as part of one’s search for the intellectual key to the social life of humankind.
    As well as the extensive bibliography, the volume includes 27 pages of notes and a full index.

Review by Bronwyn Elsmore
Title: The Truth About Language
Author: Michael C. Corballis
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781869408633
RRP: $39.99

Available: Bookshops ​
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Story of hope and courage

23/8/2017

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Seeing How: Beating Blind Spots
by Jewel Dell


A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other thing.  - Laura Wilder -
If there is a book that mirrors the above quote then it is this one.
  
The author, for whom there is no biography included for background knowledge, shows she certainly has a way with words and an incredible sense of humour. The story follows her journey into losing her sight with glaucoma and its insidious progress over the months.
   It starts with her awareness of her changing sight and progresses through to the treatments she endures – the endless appointments, the medication, intraocular injections, surgery, the eye drops – and throughout it all always finding the ridiculous side of a very serious condition.
     As the author comes to terms with her condition she describes for the reader’s benefit how she deals with problems living alone with just her cat, Muff, as an ally, but not a very effective one. She describes how she tries to teach him to stem a leak in a plastic pipe carrying the water supply to the house, though without much success despite Muff being bright enough to open doors, spoon up gravy using his paw, turn over the electric water jug and carry a mouse in his teeth. Even trying to teach him to drop a tea bag into a big mug failed as the task eluded this feline companion.
     On a more serious side, the author describes how other senses compensate for the loss of sight, and gives a great account of how the link between her brain and eye causes difficult manifestations of sight - but not as we see it. It is the Charles Bonnet Syndrome and really quite difficult to understand. It wasn’t described in my Medical Dictionary but Dr Google was a great help.
     Throughout the book there are hints on how she manages with every day chores. For example, cooking and cutting up vegetables without doing any damage to her fingers or contaminating the food with blood; but the one that I really enjoyed was how she learnt to drive the 4-wheeler Kawasaki mule around the paddocks and keeping track of her “Bovine Biddies”. Probably of not much use to urban drivers but you never know, her hints could be very handy for a rural driver on some back paddock if they were having sight problems.
     There must be frustrations, grief and angst as sight deteriorates for anyone, but Jewel Dell has turned her affliction into a positive story of hope and courage with her brand of very quirky humour. It was a book I took inspiration from.
     At the end are a couple of recipes and they sound quite delicious. One day I will give them a try.

Review by Merilyn Mary
Title: Seeing How: Beating Blind Spots
Author: Jewel Dell
Publisher: Enhanced Education Fund
ISBN: 978-0-473-37697-0 Softcover
RRP: NZ$35.00 print
Available: Softcover from the Publisher by emailing the author at jeweld@ps.gen.nz; Wheelers Bookshop
Amazon as EPub, Kindle
Audio version  copyrighted by NZ Blind Foundation for client members

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Page-turner

15/8/2017

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​Slave Power
by Raewyn Dawson
 


The spectacular cover image of the arrow-wielding young horse woman will certainly capture attention on the book shelves and encourage readers to flick through the pages of this beautifully presented book.
     YA readers will readily identify with the cast of characters. Girls will love imagining themselves as pure-hearted Melo, who embraces the peace way, but is also a fearless soldier when required. Melo’s nemesis, Mithrida, selfishly manipulates behind the scenes determined to undermine not only Melo – she also covets the Queen’s power.  
 The empathic leadership qualities demonstrated by Melo and her tribe sends a positive message for teenage readers. The story is not all love and peace but does touch on darker elements of slavery, including murder, rape, and sexual perversion. Note, these are not graphically portrayed, only referred to in the context of the story. More emphasis is placed on cooperation and peaceful resolutions.
     The story clips along and I had a continual desire to turn the page as I was invested in Melo and her tribe’s plight.
     There were a couple of style issues that distracted me from the story. The first was an overabundance of exclamation marks throughout the entire novel and, in my opinion, culling 99.9% of them would markedly improve the story flow. The second would be allocating the point of view (POV) to specific characters and having a distinct break between POV changes and removing omnipresent intrusion. 
   The author must have performed meticulous research and this attention to detail alongside her imaginative flair has created a fully fleshed world, complete with an entire and credible belief system. The settings are so richly described that starting each chapter is like stepping into a mind movie. 
     I thoroughly enjoyed Slave Power, Book One, of The Amazon Series, and I would read more from this author.

Review by WJ Scott, multi-award winning children’s author
Title: Slave Power
Author: Raewyn Dawson
Publisher: Mary Egan Publishing
ISBN: 9780473389376
RRP: $25
Available: bookshops
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Horror of past comes alive

8/8/2017

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Out of Poland: when the best revenge is to have survived 
by Jenny Harrison   
             
 
    Recently, I find myself drawn more often to stories of the Holocaust, and reading a book like this, Out of Poland, by Jenny Harrison only speeds up my journey.
  Right from the start, Harrison sets the scene to this true story.
 A small family of Polish Jewish descendants, in New Zealand, discover a suitcase, which reveals some very interesting letters. The question is asked, Why did Nafthali Siegel keep these letters if he was running from a past so painful as described in this work? Why didn't he burn the letters from his parents and siblings, and wipe out his family and past? They were all he had to remind him of them, the letters and one solitary photograph.
    All history teachings aside, and they are great in number and diverse, the carnage and devastation committed on Poland, Jews and Gentiles alike, is so utterly absolute.
   Astonishing are the sheer numbers of people slaughtered. Astonishing are the vast number who lent a hand, at their own peril, to help a fellow man. The Jews who survived in Poland, owe their lives to Polish Gentiles.
   "...It was probably better to be a slave in communist Russia than a victim of the Germans. The Russians were not anti-Semitic, they just treated everyone equally badly."
   The heart that has gone into researching and writing this book deserves the best applause. It is so well-written and easy to read, the history and all its horror comes alive.
     In the end, I am left speechless...

Review by Poppy
Title: Out of Poland: when the best revenge is to have survived 
Author:  Jenny Harrison
Publisher: Lamplighter Press
ISBN: 9781539027812
RRP: $25.99
Available: Paperback from Amazon.com
Or from the author via email jharrison@orcon.net.nz or website www.jennyharrison-author.com

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Thanks to all the grandmothers…

1/8/2017

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The Women's Suffrage Petition, Te Petihana Whakamana Pōti Wahine 1893

1993 stands out in my memory for two reasons – the centenary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand, and discovering a fact about one of my grandmothers. The two are connected.
    I was in Wellington attending the centenary celebrations and took the opportunity to view the petition documents at National Archives. On the database I tapped in family names, and there she was. My paternal grandmother, Mary Aberhart, who had just turned 21 years old, had signed the 1893 petition. I spent the rest of the weekend in a state of elation – and the continuing glow has remained over the intervening years.
   Even though I didn’t have the pleasure of growing up knowing her, she has been my, and indeed the family’s, heroine since.
     It is entirely proper that such an important event as the granting of women’s right to vote continues to be celebrated. Now, just short of a century and a quarter on, comes this book.
    An introduction by Barbara Brookes, Professor of History at University of Otago, is informative and very readable – providing a handy summary of the history of voting in this country
      The petition itself is explained – how a group of stalwart women distributed hundreds of printed sheets throughout the country, collected 24,000 signatures, and put the sheets together to form a roll 274 metres long.
      The bulk of the book’s 102 pages give brief accounts of 162 women who signed the history-making document, with facsimiles of selected sheets bearing approximately 1300 signatures. Care has been taken to include each geographical area where the petition was circulated.
      Whether you’re as fortunate as our family is to have our heroine included (see page 56), or not, this is a great record of all those grandmothers, great grandmothers, great aunts and great-greats who had the foresight, the strength, and the opportunity to add their name. They are all, rightly, remembered in this nation’s history.

Review by Bronwyn Elsmore
whose grandmother is also honoured at https://vimeo.com/28974581
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Title: The Women's Suffrage Petition, Te Petihana Whakamana Pōti Wahine 1893
Editors: Jane Parkin, Nancy Swarbrick, Caren Wilton
Publisher: Bridget Williams Books in conjunction with National Library and Archives New Zealand.
ISBN: 9781988533087
RRP: $29.99
Available: Bookshops or Bridget Williams Books www.bwb.co.nz

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