Customer Reviews

Slipping into Paradise: Why I Live in New Zealand

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This book..I loved it and I hated it. Overall-what a disappointment.There are so few books that are written to give you a 'feel' of New Zealand. As well, not much is written on the contemporary scene of that island. Thumbing quickly thru Slipping Into Paradise at the bookstore really raised my hopes. But again,disappointing. After reading his book you find that Jeff Masson is not a Kiwi, he is an American transplant who has lived in New Zealand a very short time. His outlook is American-style liberal, that is the shading he puts on his version of New Zealand. An inaccurate description in my opinion. Just a few examples.....One of the most interesting chapters, surprisingly, is about the odd trees of New Zealand and the splendid uses they afford. Of course, this led to over logging with the result that lot of fantastic trees are now quite rare. So to save their native woods and still have a building material, the Kiwis imported Monterey pine tree saplings from the US. They were planted in large tracts and are now used extensively for lumber. Great solution! Win-win. Not for Masson- he felt sad. While it is important to preserve and conserve the beautiful native woods, by bringing US pines to New Zealand the Kiwis were,in effect, 'capturing'a living thing from one continent to be used as a 'slave' on another continent for "nothing else than to satisfy greed". No Kidding! Masson really said this! Excuse me Jeff, don't you live in a house? Didn't you move to New Zealand necessitating this cruel bondage? There is a chapter on the Maori. Great, some on-site observations. You'd expect perhaps a discussion of contemporary tensions surrounding the Treaty of Waitangi. Maybe something of Maori tribal values melding into a modern world. There's little or nothing of that.There is ,however, lots of PC hyperboly, which includes 3 pages on the evils of spanking children and child abuse. Seems like there should be a little more of substance on the Maori. Lastly, the overall motive of this book is darkly suspect. Masson titles his book so as to identify New Zealand as 'paradise', He goes on and on (half the book literally) about how much of that 'paradise' is the result of so few people living there. What is Masson's course of action? He moves there-denigrating paradise by his mere presence. Further, his course of action is to write a book to attempt to entice others to move there-further denigrating paradise. I'm not sure the real Kiwis value this kind of appreciation. So what is the author's motive, entertainment, crass commercialism, satisfy greed? I have to recommend to potential readers, pass this book up. Masson doesn't impart a 'feel' of the country to you. While he is strong on much of his natural history, his descriptions will drive you nuts with their PC tone.

Jeffrey Masson gushes about NZ with passion only a non-native would expose to the public. Our green gem in the South Pacific is depicted as a child-friendly egalitarian social democracy, full of friendly unthreatening people, where women occupy important political posts, and where the sun shines like no other place on Earth. Masson writes best as a social historian: comparing New Zealand to Australia, marking 50 important dates in NZ history, and transcribing a conversation with Sir Ed Hillary. The author advocates for political correctness, but then explains the Maori worldview, a decidedly un-PC deed for a Pakeha.

This 'part memoir, part philosophical reflection, and part travelogue' seamlessly weaves through nine chapters to a conclusion ('Should You Move to New Zealand?'). The NZ bush rates high praise, although facts about fauna and flora often err and conflict: 'The seal was practically the only native mammal in New Zealand', but later Masson describes four (?) native bats. Native parrots 'are rare enough that you are unlikely to spot one', yet the kea parrot appears on the next page, and is well-known to anyone who visits the Southern Alps. Pre-European ecological damage 'was by no means total or irreversible', yet moa extinction cannot be reversed. The author cannot see why feral cats are considered pests, 'because I love them,' argues against 'possum genocide', and sings the praises of ginger and other invasive alien weeds. 'It is hard to see the damage that an "introduced" tree can do, I say let a million plants grow!' Masson states that pukekos get along well with other birds, and he's never seen one fly. In fact, pukekos do fly, and they prey on ducklings, which is why DoC culled thousands of them on Great Barrier Island. The author repeatedly extols Auckland's pristine air quality, attributed to 'southerly airstreams that remove pollution'. Anyone who's spent time in the Big Smoke knows otherwise; the lack of auto emissions control is a national embarrassment.

The book's targeted audience must be armchair travelers, because natives will chafe at the book's inaccuracies. St. Heliers, Kohi, and Mission Bay are depicted as little beach towns. 'Well, town is to big a word for a single street with a bank, a bookstore, a fruit store, a travel agent, a real estate agent, and a post office.' Other offbeat assertions: the reason why children walk barefoot is because there are no snakes. Racism is rare in NZ. All signs in NZ are written in English as well as in Maori. The book would benefit from tighter editing. Describing ferns as 'small babies asleep' is cute the first time, not the third. Repeatedly lamenting a lack of NZ intellectuals gets boring. Masson highlights the 'I' in his book title - we learn about his beautiful intelligent wife (25 years younger than him, told repeatedly), his house, his car, his cats, his kids, the topics of his previous books - animal rights, child welfare, psychoanalysis, the Holocaust. It seems self-centered. Perhaps it's my point of view: an American reviewing a book by another American. Our perspectives certainly diverge, beginning on page one, when he describes falling in love with 'Newzillin' as his plane circled over Auckland. My first aerial view of the city caused a panic attack - Auckland sprawled like Los Angeles! NZ society is more complex than described by Masson, its cities more arty and edgy, and its backblocks wild, exciting and dangerous. Instead of a source for accurate travel information, this book can be recommended as a soft-focus narrative of one man's life-long search for peace and a place to call home.

It's not that it's a terribly _bad_ book, just hopelessly mislabeled. A better title would be "A Dull Exposition of the Flora, Fauna, and Native Peoples of New Zealand". It's not a total loss, the author gives some insight on the pros and cons of other places (e.g.: Hawaii - too confining, London - too expensive and dirty). He also gives a nice itinerary at the end of the book, even giving directions to his beach-side house.

Several times he points out the tendency of Kiwi's to cut pretentious people down to size, which is especially ironic since the author appears to be pretentious in the extreme.

If you're looking for a book to give solid information about emigrating to New Zealand, this isn't it. If you're looking for practical day-to-day advice from someone who has done it, this isn't it. If you want a heavy dose of whining and pontification - this is the book for you.

My recommendation: "Browse" the book at a local bookstore (you can read the 1-2 worthwhile chapters very quickly) then save your money and put it back on the shelf.

Speaking as an American living in New Zealand (indeed, a Berkeleyite, just like Masson), this book really got under my skin, and not in a good way. Masson arrives in New Zealand with all his Berkeleyan world-explaining ideas (The Despoiling White Man, The Noble Savage, The Oppressed Native Peoples ) intact, needing only a smattering of experience to trot them out and apply them to his adopted country. There is next to no learning in this book, remarkably little writing of charm, insight or wit--just an endless litany of "I did...", "I felt...", "I was affected by..." paragraphs, interspersed with the kind of factual material that a high-school student might include. As journalism it is far too slapdash. As memoir, its self-regard and -indulgence far outweighs its meager helping of resonance. In short, I can't believe that this book had an editor.

This is clearly a book that was written on his veranda, for people who already take him for an intellectual/empathetic figure of note. Not having ever read anything else of his, I found nothing here to justify that standing, which makes it only the more irritating that he is so "up himself", as the Kiwis would say.

New Zealand is indeed a wonderful, wonderful places, for some of the reasons Masson describes, and for many others as well that he never notices. Even when he says something I sort of agree with, I start mentally arguing with him. GAHH!

This book was interesting, not entirely a bad read, but unfortunately, it does not even approach its potential. Rather than getting a pleasant account of Mr Masson's transition to New Zealand and a description of why he so loves his adopted land, we are given a hardcover copy of the man's political manifesto - everything from race relations to spanking to materialism - with some tidbits of New Zealand life laced between. Really, I could be spared. And, indeed - it is most ironic that while Masson repeatedly praises the Kiwis' egalitarianism, he himself comes off as something of an arrogant, self-righteous name-dropper.

I'm in full agreement with Victoria Dew, who's review precedes my own. I was intrigued by the premise of the book but my interest quickly turned to disappointment. Although there are some interesting facts about New Zealand, they are overshadowed by Mr. Masson's thinly veiled sense of self import. Ironic, given the often-sited intolerance New Zealander's have for the tallest poppies (braggarts), of which Mr. Masson is a prime example, and given Mr. Masson's apparent admiration for native son Sir Edmund Hillary who stands in stark contrast as a model of humility.

Contrary to Mr. Masson's supposition that his book would result in a sudden influx of immigrants to New Zealand, I found my interest in the islands diminished by Mr. Masson's work. What a bore!

As the new wife of an amazing New Zealander with solid plans of moving back to his native soil, I purchased this book with a craving for so much more. It is still somewhat informative and his views after living in NZ are in general very positive, as expected from the Book's tittle. Unfortunally, for a US citizen that has only been in NZ for two weeks and is planning to spend a lifetime there very soon; the reading of this book left me thirsty for more. I was expecting a better understanding of the real day to day culture, the politics, arts and indephs of the New Zealand people. His constant reminder of the lack of "Intellectuals" seemed somehow insulting even to me, this is a complex society, a country with a beauty beyond belief, I find both their people and nature incredibly fascinating, but it was hard to read thu so much detail on the flora when I am after more practical information. I only wish he could answer more questions about the new country he lives in and spent less time on writting about himself. We soon will move to Paradise, perhaps in a few years I will find a way with words to descibe the magic of New Zealand.

my husband and i liked this book when we read it, while preparing to move from california to auckland. but our opinion changed once we settled into our home, which is, ironically, just around the corner from mr. masson's. we were a little surprised to find the humble beach house he described in the book prominently featured in a nz architecture magazine, along with the story of how masson had the original shambling beach house carted away before interviewing several architects to construct a multi-million-dollar "eco-home" on the ocean-front site. in this and many other areas, masson's non-fiction book is anything but. he enjoys a lifestyle very few average kiwis can attain, and has the audacity to support that lifestyle by pretending it is accessible to anyone. Shameless.

This book isn't about New Zealand, it's about the author and his laundry list of intellectual and professional accomplishments. It's self-important drivel disguised as a travel book and his pretentious rhetoric is anything but New Zealand.

We've visited New Zealand and consider moving there from time to time, like when Dubya gets re-elected! :-) So I bought this book looking for a real review of New Zealand, its strengths and weaknesses. Instead I got is this sappy, sugar coated, drivel about how NZ is just oh, so perfect, and where it's not, the problem is analyzed through rose colored glasses. In actuality, if you can get past the thick coating of sugar, there is some meat - some facts and history in this book. I became too nauseated to go much past half way through. I've never taken the time to write a review on Amazon, but this book is just so lame I'd like to have others spend their money on something more worthwhile, like a travel guide to NZ. You'd get better information that way!