Australian and New Zealand Fiction

I am taking an extended trip (3 months!) to New Zealand and, to a much lesser extent, Australia. I would love recommendations of books to read while I'm there! I have Keri Hulme's The Bone People, and everyone talks about Bill Bryson and In a Sunburned Country. I've seen other travelogues of trips in the area, but does anyone recommend anything else, maybe? Particularly books that take place in New Zealand. I'd love to hear any suggestions!

Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera is a short novel set in New Zealand which was made into a striking movie a few years ago.

Three recent Australian novels which I thought had an incredible sense of place are The White Earth by Andrew McGahan, The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey, and The Secret River by Kate Grenville. They are all historical fictions but set at different time periods.

Thanks, avaland! I've read the Peter Carey one and found it wonderfully well-written (though that made it difficult to read, with the lack of punctuation, etc.). I will certainly look into The Secret River. That sounds very much up my alley.

Also, there is the book Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington, a true story about the author's mother. It was also made into a very good movie a few years back.

If I started talking about my favourite Aussie and Kiwi writers, they would not be contemporary ones, and so perhaps I should abstain.
On second thought, I don't think it would be a very good idea, because there are a lot of wonderful books written by authors who lived in the '20s and '30s. I would just jot down a few names and, if you are interested, you can do a little research.
First of all Miles Franklin, and then Eleanor Dark, Katherine Susannah Prichard, Jean Devanny, Patrick White (Nobel Prize for Lit), Nevil Shute, Vance Palmer, Drusilla Modjeska, Janet Frame, Dorothy Hewett.
I will stop here. I am sure you will find something you like among their books. Enjoy!

P.S. I am sure I have forgotten someone, but I think you have enough names anyway!

I am in NZ at the moment, but being very slow reading the locals. However, I have read one absolutely outstanding book by a Maori author that addresses land issues and Maori heritage, which is Potiki by Patricia Grace. It completely blew me away, and resonates with a lot of the things I have seen and heard here.

The relentlessly grim Once Were Warriors has become something of a national book. It describes the alcholism, domestic violence and worse (if possible) of a Maori society stripped of their pride by the pakeha (whites). It is set in Rotorua, which I thought was very nice, so goes to show what I know.

btw, books are really expensive here, but there are a lot of good second hand shops. All bookshops have a separate section for NZ writers, so finding the locals is easy, and they pay reasonably well for your old books in exchange for others.

#6 > lucky you!!!!

Thank you to all above. I am especially excited by message #6 as I will be spending the majority of my time in New Zealand and so would love to get a look at the culture there. However, #4 and #5 are very valuable insights as well. #5, I prefer historical fiction, so non-contemporary authors are fine by me!

I find it fascinating the way different cultures approach race and the definition of racism. I think in the US, race makes up a large portion of our culture and, to a great extent, we joke a lot about it- for example, a lot of comedians make so many racial jokes, and they are still received fairly well. But I think that's a big no-no in Australia and New Zealand and probably in other areas of the world as well.

You might like to try the Janet Frame autobiography. She is an early 20th century writer and well worth the trouble. It is not, however, a travel book.
Make sure you get to the South Island - well worth the extra time.

I was very impressed by Dirt Music by Tim winton. Set in Western Australia (I believe Winton is from Perth) it was not only a good story but the spare but effective prose style conveyed the atmosphere wonderfully. I'm a Brit who's only visited S.E. Austral ia so I wonder what Australian readers think.

#8 > Ah, well, you'll hear plenty of racial comments in NZ if you stick around long enough.

You can try some Maurice Gee - I've only read The Burning Boy but his Plumb series is supposed to be good as well. He's one of NZ's better known writers.

Kokopu Dreams by Chris Baker is an engrossing read, a post-apocalyptic travelogue with plenty of Maori mythology mixed in.

For some real Kiwiana, pick up Tales from the Shearing Sheds by Tony Williams. It's about the culture that surrounds sheep shearing.

I keep meaning to read Patricia Grace's Baby No Eyes but haven't yet gotten around to it.

I'm just back from three weeks holiday in NZ, so I'm really envious of you having three whole months. I read almost nothing while I was there, which shows how good it was. Most book shops have a good section devoted to NZ fiction so you should have plenty of choice.

I read Barbara Anderson's Long Hot Summer a while ago and would thoroughly recommend it. Set in the 1930's, some families from the city spend the summer at the beach and get involved with local Maoris while making an amateur cowboy movie. Lots of interesting connections and interactions.

Have fun.

Aarti,
The biggest figure in NZ literature appears to be Katherine Mansfield. She is the only writer I have noticed having dedicated museums and the like. They are very proud of her here. However, she left NZ in her late teens and became associated with the Bloomsbury Set in London (Virginia Woolf, Vita Sackville-West, etc.) so I'm not sure how NZ her books are. I have bought a book of her collected stories, and the first couple were set in NZ, so maybe she is worth a read before your trip.

Oh, Katherine Mansfield is marvelous!

Would just like to add my voice to aluvalibri's in extolling Katherine Mansfield's short stories. Absolutely superb. The only downside is that I just read the complete collection, so there is nothing else to read. It doesn't have a strong flavour of New Zealand, as I suspected, but is well worth a read. Reminded me a lot of my two favourite short story collections: Dubliners and Exile and the Kingdom, but is more shot through with humour than either of these.

On the NZ front, I have bought another Patricia Grace, following my reading of the excellent Potiki.

#15 > depressaholic, that sounds interesting...

Re: #12- that book sounds very good! I'll keep a lookout for it. That said, I have promised myself to be more social in NZ, so I hope not to take TOO many books with me to read. But, I just like having books around me!

Has anyone read The Colour, by Rose Tremain? I know that takes place in New Zealand, but I've heard very mixed reviews- that the characters are very stereotypical, mostly.

Love The Colour. It's a very good novel, trust me. Stereotypical characters in as much as there is a man, a woman, another man, and some more men.

#hazelk: I agree with you about Winton's style, although it's not much of a departure from that of his other books. A big favourite here is Cloudstreet and I loved The Riders. I also loved his children's book Blueback which is the only book that has ever made me cry.

Re: #18 The Colour is a lovely book and definitely made me want to travel to New Zealand. I don't think I could say that the characters are stereotypical; it is rather that they are remote and aloof - they did not attract a lot of sympathy. But I think that given the starkness of their pioneer experience this remoteness is understandable. The book does convey a marvellous sense of place and geography. It is worth reading.

Thank you for the messages regarding The Colour. I put it into my Pack Into the Suitcase pile!

#15 Depressaholic,

Two biographical novels of Katherine Mansfield that I know of are...

Thieves by Janice Kulyk Keefer

Mansfield by C.K. Stead.

#23 cheers for that. I know she also has a book of collected letters published posthumously. Do you (or anyone else out there) know if they are worth a read for anything other than historic value?

Just found out that Elizabeth Knox is from New Zealand! Had tucked away her The Vintner's Luck to take with me, anyway :-)

I leave in less than two weeks now- thanks everyone for the suggestions!

aarti,

I'm sure I speak for many of us who are rather green with envy bleu about your extended trip!

Do write here once in a while during your sojourn...we'd love to hear from you!

Yes, aarti, do not forget us while in wonderful NZ!!!!

Yes, I certainly shall! Actually, I'll probably be blogging while I'm gone, so you could always check my website (which I think is listed on my profile page). And I'll probably take LOADS of pictures as well, which I will of course share with you all! And my thoughts on the books I take with me- if I get around to reading them all ;-) My goal is to take them with me for company but hopefully spend most of my time doing really cool Kiwi things.

Thanks for all the well-wishes. This time in a week, I'll be on my flight!!

Elizabeth Jolley has just died, and I remember her books fondly. Has anyone read any of her books?
Many years ago I read Foxybaby , and Woman in a Lampshade. She was born in England, and had a Viennese mother, but went to Australia for her husband's job, and became a famous and prizewinning Australian author, rather late in her life.
Requiescat in Pace.

Here's the article about Elizabeth Jolley

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/writer-elizabeth-jolley-dead/2007/02/19/1171...

I picked up a few of her books, but haven't read them yet.

Bleu, you are a volcano!
;-)))

I have read The Well by Elizabeth Jolley. It's quite a short book and I recommend it to everybody.

Just an update here- I have started The Colour, but haven't finished it. Not because it isn't very good reading, but because I basically did not read AT ALL while I was abroad! I also picked up a copy of Potiki and The Secret River, but haven't read those, either. And now I'm back home, but am finally getting on track by reading Australian NON-fiction, The Fatal Shore. So basically... I'm going in a very roundabout fashion, but will take everyone's suggestions into account!