Brothers and Sisters & Way Back Then, Before We Were Ten

 

Relevant offers

People

To Save a People John Larkins Cheese Richardson: The Gentlest, Bravest and Most Just of Men Palmer: The Parliamentary Years Elizabeth Taylor: The Lady, The Lover, The Legend Nerd Do Well Victoria Cross at Takrouna: The Haane Manahi Story Letters from Gallipoli: New Zealand Soldiers Write Home Warrior Princess Pushing His Luck: Report of the Expedition and Death of Henry Whitcombe Telling Tales: A Life in Writing

Brothers and Sisters (edited by Charlotte Wood, Allen & Unwin, $37.99) & Way Back Then, Before We Were Ten: NZ writers and childhood (compiled and edited by Graeme Lay, David Ling, $34.99): These two collections make an interesting pair, dealing with the universals of childhood – the confusion of emotions, magical experiences, and the discovery of self – but set in specifically Australasian environments with multicultural undertones.

They have been compiled by different methods, so don't quite make for direct comparisons.

The 12 Australian stories were specifically commissioned, and are literary pieces that include adult perspectives. They make a good introduction to Australian writing.

The New Zealand works have mostly been published before, and many are excerpts, which sometimes makes for abrupt endings.

They read like nostalgic magazine pieces, evocative rather than insightful, though Suzanne Gee's story of growing up on a Taranaki market garden adds a new flavour to New Zealand literature.

The writing is more uneven, but the best, like Peter Wells' memoir of discovery of the power of words and reading, and Janet Frame's story of visits to her Invercargill cousins, are gems.

- © Fairfax NZ News