Customer Reviews

Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As an American transplant to New Zealand, I have to say that I found Christina Thompson's book an absolutely fascinating read. And as the author of two books on New Zealand myself (the second one a work-in-progress), I have to say that her volume has add immeasurably to my effort to understand, not only the historic Maori, but Maori today. I can also appreciate her cross cultural experience via marriage, being that my wife was born and raised in France. If Pakeha--Europeans--have historically viewed Maori with some ambiguity, I can testify to the fact that my French in-laws view me in a similar fashion. To put it politely they see me as a creature only a generation off the frontier that doesn't even know how to use a knife and fork properly--the French version of a savage, one might say. Ms. Thompson's Maori in-laws, on the other hand, impress me as being my idea of what in-laws should be. (I hope my mother-in-law doesn't read this.)
I have only one complaint about this book, and that is that I found the lack of signposts disorienting. That is to say that the reader has no way of knowing when Ms. Thompson's journey began. Was it in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s? Except for that omission, I would have to give this book five stars.

I picked up this book at my local bookstore and could not put it down. Thompson's book mixes memoir with historic research to create a very accessible and interesting book. She smoothly combines her research on the literature of colonial-Maori contact with her own story of how she met and married her Maori husband. One of the best books on the contacts between very different cultures that I have read in a long time. And it will make you want to go to New Zealand too.

Ms. Thompson makes a good point in her book, saying that she always got the feeling that `she never quite got what was going on in NZ.' Unfortunately she went on to write this book anyway, and that is regrettable.

There are two parts to this book, history and memoir. The history is narrow and it tends to focus on sensational (exotic?) aspects that might appeal to an American audience, like shrunken heads and tattooed faces. For anyone interested in a broader account of NZ history, Michael King's `The Penguin History or New Zealand' is the best place to start. The memoir aspect should be a little more interesting for US readers - after all, it's unusual for someone from Boston to marry someone from NZ, let alone a Maori.

Not content to frame NZ concepts in American language for her audience, Ms Thompson told her story of NZ through US cultural lenses. This caused her to interpret things incorrectly. Two examples are; Firstly, when she first arrived in NZ she was looking for signs of where Maori might live - presumably so she could visit them and experience their culture (as if they were separate from the rest of the population like native Americans?) The concept of `finding where Maori live' is as absurd as visiting a reservation or plantation to see native Americans or blacks. If she wanted to find Maori, driving into the first suburb she spotted would have been the best place to start.

Second, her `fury' that her husband was `directed' into trade school (rather than university) because he was Maori is ridiculous. Trade schools, apprenticeships and polytechs (community colleges) offer training for highly valued and well paid jobs in NZ. Skilled trades people are important to the economy and ALL school children are exposed to those options in high school. Due to geographic isolation, those jobs must come from within NZ's population - there is no pool of cheap labor over the border from which to draw. Unlike America, most NZ families do not expect, or even hope, that their children will go to university (even in 2008).

The book also includes observations that are wrong, annoying or generalized. Ms Thompson implies that NZ'ers believe their racial integration is evidence that there is no racism in NZ. That is incorrect. Of course racism exists in NZ, as it does in any society with more than one ethnic population. But integration has resulted in good race relations, which is an important achievement (particularly when you compare it to neighboring Australia or race relations around the world). Her constant use of the words Maori, Pakeha and Half-Caste is annoying. Those terms are not used by NZ'ers to describe each other in 2008 and may even be considered offensive. NZ is a multi-cultural melting pot and those terms are no longer relevant. Her description of the coffee that `Seven's' family drinks is generalized to the entire country implying a lack of sophistication. NZ is an espresso mecca. I focus on it because when I came to the US I drove my husband mad trying to find a decent cappuccino.

From my perspective the book missed all the wonderful subtlety and complexity of NZ. Ms. Thompson should have stuck closer to home in her choice of topic. There are two things that make me sad about this book 1) American's who might be thinking of visiting NZ will read it and think its an accurate portrayal, and 2) that it might be published in NZ. While I am not generally in favor of book-banning, I might make an exception here : )

I thought the author became a bit lost between the history of the Maori people and her own biography. At times I almost felt that she married her Maori husband as a research project and then failed to tell the reader about it. However, I did learn a great deal of the history of New Zealand.

As a white north american once married to an African-Jamaican man, I appreciate Ms Thompsons' framing her book as one of contact between colonizer and colonized, sharing some of the history and showing as much awareness as she has of the snares of partnership across culture and class. I missed more details of the marriage itself, how they navigated these complex waters, even though I honor her statements about not wanting to cross privacy boundaries of her husband or his family. The book strikes me a valuable mix of her professional skills as an anthropologist and researcher and an honest personal story. A lively and valuable read for anyone interested in how we make contact and enter relationships across our many differences in this world. Can't disagree that Penguin History of NZ would be better history, but that is not purpose of this "story." Well written as well. Highly recommend.

In this book we read an unusual life story, starting with a student's life-changing encounter on a stopover New Zealand, and continuing with her subsequent family life in Australia, Hawaii, and her native New England. At the same time we follow and ponder her developing ideas about the tsunami-like effect of Europeans on Maori civilization, as reflected in individual lives, historical and current. Almost all of this was new to me and I found the book completely engaging.

I found this book to be an interesting approach to writing a memoir. There are many parallels to current events in my life and have found inspiration from the author in how I can accept change and differences. Therefore I make a strong personal recommendation to read and enjoy this book.

I have mixed emotions with this book. I think it was interesting - but I think it was too scholarly and there wasn't as much personal emotion invested in it. That's disappointing considering it could have been so much more. I feel the author's husband is someone I would have enjoyed reading more about - even the children. But, maybe there was too much trying to be squeezed into the book - crossing back and forth between historical anecdotes and familial (much like the crossing back and forth between new and old homes) left too much ground to cover and not enough time to do it.

This book taught me more about New Zealand and the Maori than I'd expected, and for that I am grateful. I was especially charmed by how the author placed familiar historical figures (Darwin, Captain Cook) on a timeline vividly and intuitively.

If only she'd shared as much insight in the personal parts of her story. Why did she hold back so much about the love and lust and joy and tears that are the meat of every marriage? At the very least, it would have helped if the book had included photographs of her husband and her homes. The cold, unsmiling headshot of the author provided little further emotional insight.

Early in the story, she mentions how her thesis proposal was criticized (arrogantly, in my opinion) for being overly emotional and personal. This criticism seems to have cut deep. I was left wondering if she'd applied it to her life... and this book.

That said, though, it is an interesting and unique story. Certainly a must-read for anyone traveling to New Zealand.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it was a helpful part of my vacation in New Zealand, I was able to cross reference some of the things she wrote about in the book with some Maori words & customs we encountered. We actually drove quite near to Mangonui but before I got to the mention in the book. Travel guides and tour info tends to be focused on science, nature and art - the sociology and culture of a place is sometimes more elusive, so I found this book a valuable addition to my reading. I also appreciated the author's voice, she explores issues around colonization, class, race, cultural values; all with a stance that she explicitly identifies as one of disinterested intellectual curiosity. I read the kindle edition on my iPad, all the better to carry multiple books.