The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Five Sons & A Hundred Muri of Rice – Sharyn Steel
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Chosen by Jodie
The true life story of Kharika Devkota, a five-year-old bride in rural Nepal.
➽ “While the subject matter of this book is extraordinary and quite an education, I felt the story had been done a disservice by the authors. The text is more a literal translation of what Kharika has said rather than a shaping of the information into something more affecting. Kharika’s story is incredible and worth knowing but I did struggle with the simple and at time’s waffly narration. I know many other books which detail stories half as incredible but are more powerful due to the author’s talents. For me, the highlight of our discussions was Jodie’s research and perspective on the subject matter as someone who has spent time in Nepal.” – Rachel
➽ “The woman at the centre of this semi biographical book is extraordinary – she has lived an incredible life filled with poverty, hardship, violence and loss. This book certainly provided a very interesting education into rural Nepalese life, a life for Kharika that is shadowed by sexist and oppressive customs. Women are second class citizens and although they seem to carry out most of the heavy work as well as running the home and looking after the children, daughters are largely regarded as burdens. One of the most disturbing parts of this book for me was Kharika’s marriage when she was left with complete strangers at the age of five. The book did plod along at times and seemed more like a record of her life which was quite repetitive at times – an opportunity lost to make the most of telling this amazing story.” – Jo
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Published 2014
Paua Publishing
428 pages
When I Hit You: Or A Portrait Of The Writer As A Young Wife – Meena Kandasamy
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Chosen by Rachel
An unnamed narrator tells a story of domestic violence and modern marriage in India through the beauty of literature.
➽ “Named for James Joyce’s debut novel, this book examines modern Indian marriages and brutality in a way not done before. It is not simply a novel about domestic violence, it is an analysis on the art of writing about abuse. Kandasamy’s narrator does not perform victimhood but rather lays the facts bare in a banal, expected kind of way. In doing so she demonstrates how women of all walks of life suffer as such, and that they are women of intellect and ability, with hopes and dreams, not just “battered women”. I think the author has done here what so many writers have attempted before but failed at. She has written an exposé on domestic violence without using shock value, empowered others in the same position and created a work of art. It was a deeply satisfying read.” – Rachel
➽ “The poetic writing style of this suspected (not overtly confirmed by the author) autobiographical story makes for a beautiful read despite the horrific violence recounted. I feel educated about domestic violence – I always thought I understood why women stayed in abusive relationships but after reading her account my comprehension has deepened considerably. The survivor in this story needed to make sure others could see what she had been through in order to successfully escape without bringing further shame on herself and her family. A truly disturbing reveal of domestic violence and societal expectations and prejudice in India.” – Jo
➽ “When I Hit You is a raw and powerful novel about a young Indian women’s abusive and oppressive marriage. Kandasamy reveals what can happen behind closed doors of a marriage, a scary look into what some woman have to endure. Kandasamy has written a harrowing account of domestic violence in a beautifully artistic way – I thoroughly enjoyed her way with words. An incredible piece of writing I highly recommend.” – Jodie
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Published 2017
Atlantic Books
256 pages
2018 NZ Book Awards
Social commentary is a traditional feature of literature, but with Millennials coming of age, outspoken hypothesising on the state of the world looks to become a staple of modern story telling.
This year’s Ockham’s shortlist highlights this.
A solipsistic tale of youth and immediacy, an immigrant’s lot in today’s NZ and Gen Xers pitted against Millennials make up three quarters of the shortlist. Salt Picnic breaks the mold with a highly academic look at two years of Janet Frame’s life written by a stronghold in the NZ fiction world. However, it’s complexity and bravado keeps it under the indulgent umbrella.
However, with time and contemplation, us couple of Gen Xers were able to see through the decadence and accept where these novels had hit the mark, even when we felt they were slightly annoying or unconnected to us.
Our summations: Salt Picnic is a very literary book that should be recognised but has a limited audience. Sodden Downstream portrays a slice of NZ that people may or may not agree with, but no one can deny the book’s haunting atmosphere.
Our views differed on the remaining two books, Suzy was more captured than Rachel by both. Though we did agree The New Animals had two parts (one which was superb) that didn’t really connect with one another. And that Baby was either brilliant or brilliantly annoying. We wondered if this surmounted to the same thing … but what we did agree on was that Jochems is someone to watch.
In the end it came down to two books: Baby and Sodden Downstream.
Baby hits all the checkpoints in a vernacular which young adult readers in particular will gravitate towards.
Sodden Downstream paints a gritty, moody picture of NZ’s social climate that advocates for the dispossessed in particular will love.
It depends whether you like your books perfected, as VUP books tend to be, or something less highly polished.
Suzy and Rachel concluded in this instance we preferred the rawness of Sodden Downstream and as such have earmarked it as our preference for the win at this year’s Ockham Book Awards. But we wouldn’t be surprised if the new talent of Annaleese Jochems takes it out.
Salt Picnic – Patrick Evans
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
Mimicking Janet Frame’s travels, a young woman arrives on the island of Ibiza in 1956 and falls into a relationship with an American photographer.
➽ “Patrick Evans is an accomplished writer and obviously has a lot of intelligent thoughts swirling around in his head and just as many different ways available to him of offering that information. Unfortunately not all his readers share his intellect. By that I mean me.
“Salt Picnic is his ‘imaginative response’ to the time Janet Frame spent in Ibiza in 1956-57. The protagonist is not Frame, he is at pains to point out, but perhaps she should have been, for Iola Farmer is bland and unconvincing imo. The book wants for plot lines and unfortunately this is not countered with any type of character study.
“What the book does offer is a history lesson, with the Island’s status post-war heavily referred to, and intensely detailed commentary about things and places and ideas and historical occurrences. There were some wonderful monologues, but there were also periods of time where I had no idea what was happening. It certainly lacks Evans’ dry humour I enjoyed in The Back Of His Head.
“This is not a book for everybody, and in fact I would say it has a limited audience.” – Rachel
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Published 2017
Victoria University Press
351 pages
The New Animals – Pip Adam
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
Current and last generation fashion designers compete for fame on the streets of Auckland.
➽ “Ugh this book made me hate myself quite frankly, but once I moved past my self-loathing I was able to enjoy it in all of its glory. It was the Gen Xers working alongside the Millennials that felt awfully recognisable to me and this part especially was a killer:
‘She was wearing the same type of clothes as them, she listened to the same music, she knew exactly what they were talking about, but right now she knew she was old. Not cute, cool old, just very old…‘
“Anyway I am determined not to turn this review into an introspective psychological assessment so let’s move on.
“This novel started as a superficial, typically Auckland novel and I was not having it, but once I was into the rhythm of the characters’ lives I felt deeply invested in what was happening.
“The last part of the novel is stunning, confusing, beautiful, weird and in marked contrast to everything else prior. Is Pip Adam a genius? Perhaps.
“However, while this is a must-read novel of 2018 but I’m not sure if it’ll take out the Ockhams.” – Suzy
➽ “At first I was put off this book because of its superficiality. The narrative seemed merely observational and didn’t delve deeper into the real issues it mentioned in passing.
“As with Baby this was a book aimed at Millenials and I wondered: is this what that generation want to read about? Sex. Porn. Bodily Functions. Masturbation. Superficiality. Garishly presented without meaning or subtly? Pip Adam was losing me.
“Then the last third of the book arrived. Amongst what I took as references to Maori myth was a truly emotional and beautiful psychological awakening. Though I’m still unsure if it was metaphorical or literal, it was easily the highlight of the novel and I actually couldn’t tell what the connection was between that and the rest of the book.
“My recommendation – read Kirsten McDougall’s Tess off the longlist instead.” – Rachel
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Published by 2017
Victoria University Press
224 pages
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote
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Chosen by Sonya
The unnamed narrator writes of his experiences with Manhattan socialite Holly Golightly. A famous American Classic.
➽ “Breakfast At Tiffany’s was a fun, easy read. It had plenty of depth and character and I enjoyed dipping into post-war America and the the life of what other reviewers had described as “An American Geisha”. I loved Holly Golightly, her character, her clothes!, her quirkiness and unapologetic lifestyle. Unfortunately, however, I have seen the movie more than once, and so I struggled to shake that adaptation, the characters and their portrayls from my mind. As such, it didn’t feel like an honest read on my behalf. I felt like I probably missed some of the metaphors, messages and meanings behind characters and events that you get when you read a book and absorb it in the way that is intended.” – Sonya
➽ “The American classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s remains a favourite of mine. Its depth despite its simplicity is a drawcard as is the construction of the enigmatic Holiday Golightly, a country girl turned New York cafe society girl and part time escort. Set during the post war sexual revolution it is highly readable, more so for the beautifully flawed protagonist. Her manner with men is appropriate for a person with her past and I enjoy the narrator’s relationship with her, like a standoffish friend who knows so much he almost knows nothing. I loved her cat-like nature, sidling up to people from whom she can see herself gaining advantages, and her unbreakable resolve. A wonderful book.” – Rachel
➽ “It’s hard for me to understand how Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a classic. It’s an interesting story and Holly Golightly is quite a piece of work however I was left thinking ‘is that it?’ A bit underwhelmed I’m afraid by this one.” – Jo
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Published 1958
Random House
142 pages
Baby – Annaleese Jochems
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
In this debut novel, young lovers run away, stealing money to buy a boat but inciting disaster wherever they turn.
➽ “I think we are all capable of horrible acts, depending on circumstances and surely we all sometimes wonder how far we would go given the situation. Baby explores this idea beautifully and looks at what happens when two regular people are placed slightly out of their comfort zones. I felt I was in no position to judge the characters’ actions as what would I have done if faced with their options (or lack thereof)? I absolutely loved the dark humour of this novel, but I never quite decided whether I really liked the whole thing. The glowing recommendations on the cover from Eleanor Cotton and Emily Perkins tell me maybe I could do with a re-read and reassessment. As a small aside, this is the second Ockham shortlisted novel I have read with a dog as a minor character and I am hoping for a strong showing from cats in 2019.” – Suzy
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Published 2017
Victoria University Press
219 pages
Sodden Downstream – Brannavan Gnanalingam
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
A refugee walks through a Wellington storm to get to work but must rely on the kindness of strangers to get there.
➽ “A journey or expedition is a staple in fictional themes, however here this is turned on its head with the protagonist’s trek being through a storm in order to get to her cleaning job. Without it she cannot feed her family, it’s as simple as that, yet her story is told with the same power as some of the more well known odyssean stories.
“The completeness of the NZ themes are what sets this book apart. The Kiwi colloquialisms are raw and true, albeit a bit cringeworthy and the author paints a detailed picture of his interpretation of our current social climate, especially for immigrant refugees.
“I did think all of this was beautifully and fully done, but did find it a bit preachy. But it certainly details a moment in history that will be referred back to in time, I’m sure, and deserves its place on the Ockham’s shortlist.” – Rachel
➽ “I read this book a while ago now and I still think about it every day. Sita attempting to reach central Wellington has to be one of literature’s great journeys, right up there with The Hobbit, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn etc.
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Published 2017
Lawrence & Gibson
178 pages
Oryx & Crake – Margaret Atwood
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Chosen by Jo
An unforgettable story of love, friendship and biologically modified humans in an alternative reality where pharmaceutical companies rule.
➽ “Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is another one of her chilling dystopian novels which kept me gripped right to the end. The exaggerated play on current technologies and lack of regard for our world and the environment give an unnerving sense that this future is entirely possible and therein lies Atwood’s creative brilliance. She is darkly clever with the names, brands and themes throughout and there’s so much complexity in this book that I’ll need to re read it to fully appreciate the content. I couldn’t leave Jimmy and his weird world alone and rushed out to the library and read the next book in the series – if you know me then you’ll know this means this book is an absolute hit. My mind is still whirling!” – Jo
➽ “After struggling a bit to get into recent reads, Oryx & Crake was a wonderful, interesting and exciting read. I found myself looking forward to the evening read before bed. I was in awe of Atwood’s brilliance in painting her depressing yet fascinating picture of future earth. Like watching a disturbing movie scene, I was both repelled and hooked at the same. I loved the way she blew out all of the controversial trends of our time, like our obsession with sex, youth, immortality, genetic modification, climate change and drug culture, into their future extremes, although in this respect I found the book rather depressing. Definitely keen to read more from this trilogy and I can’t wait for the movie to be made.” – Sonya
➽ “This was my fourth re-read of Oryx & Crake and though nothing will ever replace the first read, I still find reasons to re-read it. What appeals to me is Atwood’s innate ability to combine real life characters with speculation on the state of the world if current experimental biological modification trends are pushed to the nth degree. There are no inventions in Atwood’s fiction, rather an intelligent mind bending about things that actually existed at the time she penned the book. As time passes, it is interesting to see how many of her prophesies are coming true! Jimmy, Oryx and Crake are the perfect personalities to carry and ‘normalise’ the crazy story, covering the roles of crazed creator, passive caregiver and questioning observer between them. Jimmy in particular voices the reader’s concerns and therefore is the connection between our reality and Atwood’s. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, as well as the two sequels.” – Rachel
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Published 2003
Anchor Books
400 pages
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
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Chosen by Becks
On the Road is an early example of the stream of consciousness style and chronicles Kerouac’s years traveling through North American with his friend Neal Cassidy.
➽ “I love stories about people’s travels and adventures so I was excited about reading this, especially because it is considered a classic American novel. However, this was completely different to anything I have ever read before. Kerouac apparently wrote this in 3 weeks on a continuous scroll of paper in a new writing style known as a stream of consciousness. This transposed as rambling at times and made for a challenging read. I did enjoy the glimpse into the Beat movement though. Sal & Dean embodied a carefree spirit, they rejected conformity and believed in spontaneity which are typical characteristics of the Beat generation. With these beliefs they travelled America on a drink and drug fuelled roadie always in search of the next big thrill. Their friendship was based on hero-worship, in which neither Sal nor Dean acted morally responsible for their actions. Their behaviour at times made me want to cringe but in the end their carefree attitude to life is something to admire.” – Jodie
➽ “Although On The Road is a renowned famous book written in just three weeks (which is amazing), to me it is essentially a long debaucherous rant. Sal’s various trips for ‘kicks’ begin to run into each other with all his and friends’ sordid tales of drunken drug taking and sleazy sexual encounters. Sal and Dean are thoroughly unlikeable and the story in general became tedious as it went on.” – Jo
➽ “Context is important when reading On The Road. Set in the 1950s, with post-war freedoms creating a distaste for rules and regulations, the story would be hard to fathom in the current social climate. Dean is reportedly the antagonist and Sal’s opposite, but really Sal was using Dean, going along for the ride, for ‘kicks’, to see what adventure might occur. No one pulls Dean up on his misbehaviour, rather they revel in the opportunity to rebel and take advantage of people and situations. I disliked Dean immensely during the book but ended up pitying him instead, and thus enjoying him as a character. (Though, disturbing to know he was a real person!) Representative of a time in history and with poetry like prose, On The Road is an important work, that I sometimes struggled with and sometimes loved, but which I am glad to have read.” – Rachel
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Published 1957
Viking Press
307 pages
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