BOOK REVIEW

 

REVIEWER: Elizabeth Attwood

Holmes at Large

Paul Holmes - Published by Hachette, New Zealand - March 2010

The cover photo is of one of the best known faces in New Zealand broadcasting and the writing style is quite unmistakeable. Paul Holmes is still remembered for his top-rating Holmes Show on television and his Newstalk ZB Breakfast Show. Following his ‘retirement’ he commenced writing a weekend column in the Herald on Sunday. This book presents a selection of what the author has chosen as the best of these articles in chronological order from July 2007 to November 2009, some 70 in all. For those who follow such things in the media those two years will be recognized as having been particularly difficult for the writer and indeed he covers personal issues with honesty and with sensitivity to others. I approached this book as I usually do with a collection of short stories intending to dip into a couple of columns at a time. However I found I could not put it down and several hours later found I had read the book in one sitting. What made it such a compelling read was that it was actually a short history of the main news events in our country over the last couple of years. There were a few columns I particularly enjoyed. One titled ‘Banksie …Less10%’ written as an interview in John Banks’ home during the Auckland mayoral campaign in 2007, a gently humorous style it never the less asked the hard questions. There were two very moving pieces on the deaths of our Rob Guest and of Paul’s longtime friend and mentor, the broadcaster, Philip Armstrong. Interviews of political leaders in their homes have also been included - John Key, Helen Clark and Jeanette Fitzsimons also each contributed a recipe from the menu the day Paul visited! This book will appeal to all New Zealanders, whether or not you were a ‘Holmes Show’ fan. It is well written and covers all the news stories from those two years in a very readable format.

 

Inheritance

Jenny Patrick - Published by Random House, New Zealand - March 2010

Jenny Patrick wrote much of this, her latest novel, while living in Menton in the south of France last year as the Katherine Mansfield Fellow. On New Zealand best-seller lists for her historical novels, the Denniston Trilogy and Landings, the latter set on the Wanganui River, this story will not disappoint her fans. Set in Samoa and New Zealand it also has a subtle connection with characters in the novel, Landings. As in her other novels the storyline is strong, the characters are utterly convincing and the background history is well researched. Gertrude McPhee, from Landings, appears in the novel as an old woman living in 1960s Samoa. As racist and embittered as ever she hunts out an unknown New Zealand heir and directs him to Samoa to take over her plantation to prevent her late husband’s Samoan relatives from inheriting. He arrives, bringing his daughter Jeanie and her husband. Jeanie subsequently disappears, then 23 years later is spotted by one of the Samoan characters in New Zealand, living under an assumed name. There is much mystery and drama here and the reader is kept guessing until the very end. Jenny Patrick lived in Samoa in the 1960s and her local knowledge shows as she refers to events and customs of the time. While she was there she used to write a fortnightly newsletter to Radio New Zealand. She has apparently wanted to write a novel set in Samoa for some time and the carbon copies of those letters provided a very useful research tool for the novel as they were a snapshot of the times just after Independence was granted. A most enjoyable read, I cannot think of any group for which this book would not have appeal!

Requiem for a Species

Clive Hamilton - Published by Allen and Unwin, Australia - March 2010

Clive Hamilton is one of Australia’s leading thinkers and is Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, based at the Australian National University. He has held visiting academic positions at Cambridge and Yale universities. Over the past decade almost every scientific publication on climate change has painted increasingly disturbing pictures of the future. Most climate scientists now conclude that the world is on an inevitable path to a catastrophic future and that it is now too late to stop it. This book is not just another such publication. Instead it discusses the why’s. Why we have discarded our ability to use common sense and our ability to reason on this issue. Why our greed, materialism and alienation from nature have caused us to ignore and ridicule all warnings. Why modern politics has failed us. The author divides the book into three parts, or goals, and I quote from the preface. ‘The first; is to lay out the facts that lead to the conclusion that it is too late to prevent far-reaching changes in the Earth’s climate. Despite the assurances of the author, I found this section challenging reading as there is much science to grasp and remember. Second; is to explain why humanity failed to respond to the threats posed by global warming. This proved to be a fascinating section with examples that I am sure all will be able to relate to. Third; is to help the reader come to terms with the implications of the great climate disruption that will unfold this century and how we must begin to act in ways that make the best of it’. This book is not an easy read - either from the point of view of the unpalatable content or the science which needs to be grasped. However it is compulsive reading with the chief message being to ‘ignore at our peril’.