The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
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Chosen by Suzy
Treasure Island features Jim Hawkins, an inn-keeper’s son, who becomes interested in a guest’s chest. Billy Bones is protective of the chest and concerned about the potential appearance of a one-legged man. When Billy mysteriously dies, Jim looks through the chest and discovers a treasure map. Jim gains access to the ship Hispaniola and along with Long John Silver and other colourful cast members they head off in search of the treasure, marked with an X on the map.
The book is narrated by Jim, who is a naive narrator: young, impressionable and though not stupid, he is being exposed to many new experiences and thus relays events and twists in the plot and character development in a lively and dramatic but simple manner.
Stevenson invented this world of pirates, maps, buried treasure, eye-patches and one-legged sailors after drawing a map for his stepson. It became elaborately filled with harbours and land formations, creating the perfect course for a treasure hunt, hence the setting being highly detailed in the book. Stevenson’s family had a history in lighthouse design and the author’s understanding of nautical elements and seafaring activities adds to the believability of the story.
Amongst the adventure filled pages are thematic constructions of good vs evil, and a coming-of-age story that sees our young protagonist mature after being involved in skirmishes and who must make plans to not only find the treasure but stay alive.
It was Silver’s voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world. I lay there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for, in those dozen words, I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended on me alone.
Despite this being a classic and the origin of the now widely used pirate stereotype, none of the freerangers had read Treasure Island before. Of course the story is known, and there have many iterations of it over the years but none of us had ventured back to the place where it all began. It was a huge adventure to read the book with young Jim Hawkins the perfect guide to bravely lead us through the perilous lands.
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Published 1883
Cassell & Co
316 pages
Freedom – Jonathan Franzen
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Chosen by Sophia
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen tells the story of the lives of the Berglund family, an upper-middle class family from Michigan. Walter is an environmental activist, his wife Patty is a stay at home mum. They have two children, Joey and Jessica. Patty narrates the majority of the book, sometimes in real time, other times via her memoir entitled Mistakes Were Made.
As a portrayal of modern American at the turn of the century, Freedom details a portion of the Berglund’s life where controversial decisions are made, where suburban life and middle age and teenage years all combine into a perfect storm of realism, humanism, tragedy and comedy. Franzen chucks in other big topics too, politics, liberty, rape culture, mental illness and of course freedom.
People came to this country for either money or freedom. If you don’t have money, you cling to your freedoms all the more angrily. Even if smoking kills you, even if you can’t afford to feed your kids, even if your kids are getting shot down by maniacs with assault rifles. You may be poor, but the one thing nobody can take away from you is the freedom to fuck up your life whatever way you want to.
While the wacky characters and modern thematic considerations made the novel appealing, it was noted that the book is full of well-off white people, and men who describe women in less than respectful ways. Sure these kind of people exist, so if the book is intended to be a portrait of American at the turn of the century then yes it hits the mark. Despite the obviously yuck, we did all appreciate the full gambit of relevant themes and character types and how succinctly all their crazy lives flowed together. There is certainly an art in throwing together all of this content into a book that is nicely paced and easy to read.
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Published 2010
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
536 pages
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
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Chosen by Jo
Anna Karenina was written by LeoTolstoy in the 1870s. It reflects many aspects of his own inner turmoil about affairs, spirituality, city vs rural living and peasantry.
The dual story narration introduces two main characters, Anna and Levin. The latter represents Tolstoy, a landowner and pastoral man, who is unlucky in love, so moves to the country, immerses himself in his relationship with the land, writes a book and attempts to work with peasants in order to make their lives better. The beauty of the seasons and the pragmatic work of harvesting absorb Levin as they did Tolstoy.
In contrast is Anna’s enigmatic and destructive passions. Though married she undertakes an affair with wealthy army officer Count Vonskry and is traumatised about how to conduct her activities due to the impact on herself and others.
Anna Karenina is considered an important work because of its exploration of the human psyche and emotions common to all generations. Tolstoy was considered a master at dissecting psychology, observing the smallest changes in consciousness and recording them in detail.
Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, the horrors of disease, and all the agonies of the soul, but for all time his most tormenting tragedy has been, is, and will be the tragedy of the bedroom. – Leo Tolstoy
At 800 odd pages it was a big and sometimes arduous read for all the freerangers. But through all the hard to digest Russian social commentary and historical context are two very personal stories which are easy to connect with: a passionate love affair that becomes overwhelmed by jealousy and societal expectations, and the story of a man’s connection to the land and compassion for those who work it.
Everyone was pleased to have indulged in it but also pleased to have turned that last page.
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Published in Russian 1878
First translated into English in 1886
874 pages
The Female Eunuch – Germaine Greer
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Chosen by Rachel
✔ The Female Eunuch is a 1970s book that became of international note for being an important text in the feminist movement. The author’s theory is that the traditional family represses women sexually, and this devitalises them, rendering them eunuchs.
Greer comments on biological differences and historical definitions of the two sexes as well as the psychological differences that result from social conditioning. She examines women’s perception of self and critiques what is considered normal. She also argues that men hate women, though women do not realise this and are therefore taught to hate themselves.
In the popular imagination hairiness is like furriness, an index of bestiality, and as such an indication of aggressive sexuality. Men cultivate it, just as they are encouraged to develop competitive and aggressive instincts, women suppress it, just as they suppress all the aspects of their vigour and libido.
We all agreed this was not our usual kind of bookclub read. Greer is bold, coarse and confronting in her choice of language and subject matter and one must remember the book was written in the 60s, when yes things were much worse for women. We acknowledge there is still progress to be made in accepting women for who they are and not who society wants us to be, and for that reason there were parts of the book that were empowering. But all parts of it were thought-provoking and good conversation fodder, though perhaps not as shocking as it once was.
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Published in 1970
Harper Collins
400 pages
Sons For The Return Home – Albert Wendt
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Chosen by Suzy
A Samoan family migrates to Wellington in the 1960s, leaving the sons unsure to which culture or country they belong.
✔ “Sons for the Return Home is a love story set amongst a time and setting of racism. A post-colonial work, it tells the story of a young Samoan who lives in New Zealand and falls in love with a white female university student. The man is expected to become a doctor and one day return to his home but his new love affects his parents’ plans for him.
“Wendt uses several techniques to make the experiences of many Samoan New Zealanders also the experience of the characters. He examines racial prejudices from all angles, especially how it intersects with other factors like education, culture, and religion. Polynesian myths and history sits poignantly alongside contemporary life in New Zealand, providing a real grounding to this story. Importantly, this was one of the first novels ever published by a Pacific Islander – in 1973!
✔ “This book seemed to encapsulate a lot of what NZ & PI societies were experiencing as they slowly merged together. My knowledge of this particular period in NZ’s history was fairly small and I relied, rightly or wrongly, on this book to help me understand what it was like for both ‘sides’. It’s also a love story. I’m not being particularly articulate am I? Anyway I can highly recommend this lovely novel.” – Suzy
✔ “The basic premise of this story is one which many people can identify with, and that’s confusion over identity. This was such a real story with true-to-life characters, it’s impossible to not feel connected to it. I loved it.” – Rachel
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Published in 1973
Penguin
228 pages
Ragtime – E L Doctorow
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Chosen by Sophia
Centering on an unnamed New York family, Ragtime hosts an array of fictional and real characters who seek to find their way at the turn of last century.
✔ Ragtime is a snapshot of life in the US between the turn of the century and World War I when poverty affected many families, racism was rife, and immigrants struggled to integrate into the American way of life.
There is a tapestry of fictional and real life characters introduced to bring this snapshot to life. The primary narrative focuses on a New York family, referred to only as Father, Mother, The little boy, Mother’s Younger Brother, and Grandfather. They feature on the opening pages with Harry Houdini crashing his car outside their house.
From here the family’s life is altered when Mother discovers an abandoned new-born baby in the back yard. The child’s troubled mother, a black woman called Sarah, eventually comes to stay with them. Father returns from an expedition to the North Pole to learn of the new addition to the household and how it has affected his relationship with his wife and family. Younger Brother, meanwhile, is infatuated with the pin-up girl Evelyn Nesbit, and learning to make explosives.
There are immigrant peddlers, ragtime musicians and other notable people such as Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, JP Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit and Sigmund Freud who slip in and out of the pages.
Poor Father, I see his final exploration. He arrives at the new place, his hair risen in astonishment, his mouth and eyes dumb. His toe scuffs a soft storm of sand, he kneels and his arms spread in pantomimic celebration, the immigrant, as in every moment of his life, arriving eternally on the shore of his Self.
The narrative moves with pace at all times, sliding between people, scenes, dialogue and moralities without slowing down. Sometimes this and the sheer number of characters can be too much, but everyone has their story to tell and you just need to accept the hive of activity and roll with it to truly appreciate it. It is a portrait of America at a turning point in its history, but history never stops and it feels like this book and it’s messages won’t either.
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Published 1975
Random House
270 pages
Crime And Punishment – Fyodor Dosteovsky
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Chosen by Jo
A Russian student commits a murder believing humanitarian ends justify the crime
✔ “Raskolnikov is a destitute and impoverished former student who wanders through the slums of St Petersburg in this 1866 Russian classic. Without warning he commits a random murder with no immediate remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law, and that humanitarian ends justify vile means.
Unlike crime stories of the time, there is no mystery as to the crime or the perpetrator. Instead the story concentrates more on the psychology of the murderer than in the specifics of the crime.
As such Raskolnikov embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator. Though he is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden sex worker, can offer the chance of redemption.
Like many of the great 19th century novelists, Dostoyevsky often uses a series of incredible coincidences to move the plot forward. Nonetheless, the story takes on a life of its own. Dostoyevsky’s use of parable, dream sequences and a cast of memorable characters is also notable.
It is also an exposé of social conditions in 19th century Russia and a dramatic study of the nature of good and evil.
Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.
It is fair to say the bookclubbers were all a little nervous at the prospect of reading a many-paged Russian classic! However we were all surprised to find it was less daunting than we thought and we all liked it – albeit at varying levels. It may have sounded ominous but it was actually engaging and entertaining. The crime is committed early but there is still a catchy plot, examining the crime from every angle throughout the rest of the book as Raskolnikov himself tries to understand it and seeks redemption in the form of punishment. The serial publication of Crime & Punishment had to be taken into consideration when some pages got wordy and dragged on.”
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Published 1866
The Russian Messenger
574 pages
Bliss & The Garden Party – Katherine Mansfield
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Chosen by Rachel
Bliss tells the story of a dinner party where secrets abound. The Garden Party captures the story of an upper-middle class NZ family preparing for a garden party.
✔ “Considered Mansfield’s finest piece of short fiction, The Garden Party is said to have influenced such modernist authors as Virginia Woolf with its stream-of-consciousness and symbolic narrative style. It incorporates many of Mansfield’s defining themes: New Zealand, childhood, adulthood, social class, class conflict and innocence.
“Structured around an early afternoon garden party in New Zealand the story has clear connections to Mansfield’s own childhood in New Zealand. The main character, Laura, is an idealistic girl who wishes to cancel the planned gathering when she learns of the death of a working-class labourer who lives down the hill from her parents’ home. The story concerns Laura’s alternating moments of resistance and conformity to her mother’s idea of class relations.
“Another of her most revered short stories is Bliss, which tells the story of Bertha, an extraordinarily happy woman who spends the opening pages summing up the terrific things in her life: her home, her husband, her baby and her friends.
“As she contemplates her good fortune she prepares a meal for dinner guests who are friends of the couple, glancing out the window at a stunning pear tree which she considers represents herself and her wonderful life.
“The friends arrive and the dinner proceeds but the conclusion of the evening is not the outcome Bertha was expecting.
“At the time of its publication in 1920 the story was considered controversial, dealing with infidelities, sexuality and superficial characters.
What did garden-parties and baskets and lace frocks matter to him? He was far from all those things. He was wonderful, beautiful.
✔ “These two short stories were our favourites of all the Katherine Mansfield we read this month. Not only astounding that so much can be said in such a short space, but that important social and moral commentaries are woven amongst the decadent narrative. Stunning imagery, too – We all seem to recall these stories vividly.”
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Published 1918
The English Review
In A German Pension – Katherine Mansfield
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Chosen by Rachel
A young woman observes the absurd and grotesque while staying in a German pension.
✔ “In A German Pension was Mansfield’s first short story collection, written when she was 22. The stories are semi-autobiographical because Mansfield herself was sent away to a German pension for being unmarried mother to be.
“The collection’s narrator is stuck in the pension and feels she is surrounded by grotesque fools. She unleashes her disgust by writing sharp and satirical anecdotes of them, which usually portray their revolting habits
“The stories are about gender roles and sexism, violence towards women, class discrepancies and the exploitation of children. The stories start off lightly satirical but get progressively more absurd and unpalatable.”
✔ “Very much a book of character studies, with short stories all featuring the same protagonist, a young Englishwoman in a German pension. As the story unfolds we discover her complexities – she feels she is kind of pitted against the Germans, who all seem to be described as grotesque. Fascinating.” – Rachel
✔ “My attention was captured by Mansfield’s often tragic themes and boring everyday life written so sharply and with a dark sense of humour. Especially interesting considering such quality of writing was produced by someone so young at the time.” – Jo
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Published 1911
134 pages
Where We Once Belonged – Sia Figel
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Chosen by Suzy
Where We Once Belonged is written in the traditional Su’ifefiloi style. Literally this means a woven garland of flowers. As a narrative technique, it refers to the stringing together of individual stories or fragments, told in different styles without regard to order or continuity, producing a slowly revealed plot. The story reveals the coming of age of 13-year-old Alofa and her traditional and sometimes brutal upbringing as she finds her place in the world as a Polynesian and a woman.
✔ “Oooh spooky, when I started typing this up Sia’s Chandelier came up on Spotify. Moving on … Nice to read a book about young Samoan females set in Samoa by a Samoan author. A series of interlinked stories that I felt I happily floated amongst.” – Suzy
✔ “This book is engrossing right from the first page with its merging of poetry, prose and mythology. Alofa is well written, and it is heartbreaking to read about the difficulties she endures in her regulated childhood.” – Rachel
✔ “This story involves domestic violence and cultural repression of sexuality in a coming-of-age story set in a Samoan village. The themes of racial and sexual discrimination are disturbing at times. I enjoyed the way the Samoan language peppers this book, however this was sometimes frustrating as not all words/phrases were included in the glossary translation. A good read.” – Jo
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Published 1996
248 pages
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