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Group Read
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Tim
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Jan 28, 2009 05:07PM

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Landings by Jenny Pattrick is the best selling New Zealand adult fiction book for 2008, though I have no idea what its about.
Mister Pipby Lloyd Jones is the current New Zealand fiction bestseller.
Well, I have The Six Pack Three but haven't read it yet, so that sounds good to me! And I've read Mister Pip already.



In my co-moderator role, I have set up a poll for which book we'd like to read for our Group Read. The candidates are the five books suggested in the discussion above.
The poll closes on the 12th of Feb, and you can find it at
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/20...
The poll closes on the 12th of Feb, and you can find it at
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/20...

I noticed that with Six Pack Three - but I don't think it will stop people voting for their preferred choice - in fact, I just voted, and it worked fine.
The results of our "Group Read" poll, which closed late last week, were:
Landings 2 votes
The Jigsaw Chronicles 0 votes
Whale Rider 2 votes
Mister Pip 1 votes
The Six Pack Three 5 votes
So, The Six Pack Three is the winner!
The Six Pack Three consists of five short stories and a mini-collection of poetry. It's 156 pages, so shouldn't take long to read. I suggest we aim to finish it by the 20th of March, and that people taking part can choose to either post their comments on the whole book when they've finished, or post comments on the individual stories/poems as they go.
Does that sound OK?
Landings 2 votes
The Jigsaw Chronicles 0 votes
Whale Rider 2 votes
Mister Pip 1 votes
The Six Pack Three 5 votes
So, The Six Pack Three is the winner!
The Six Pack Three consists of five short stories and a mini-collection of poetry. It's 156 pages, so shouldn't take long to read. I suggest we aim to finish it by the 20th of March, and that people taking part can choose to either post their comments on the whole book when they've finished, or post comments on the individual stories/poems as they go.
Does that sound OK?
Well, tonight I have started reading The Six Pack Three, although I am only a few pages into the first story so far. Has anyone else started the book yet, and how are you enjoying it?


The first "88" took me back to my childhood at school.
"Virtuoso" a story about a father and his attitude to his son. Well worth the read.
"Write Poetry" - great visuals. In case you don't know what "whakama" means - its shy.
I love good Science Fiction and "Mirror Mirror" could be considered to be in this genre. Don't let that put you off if you don't like Sc Fi. The author says "the idea ... came when he was shaving and had the unnerving thought of how weird it would be if his reflection suddenly walked away".

I thought this story had great potential, and Maepu is no bad writer. She skillfully captures primary school life in New Zealand - I remember handball too!
does anyone know if there really was ethnic tension between Tongans and Samoans in the 80's? I've never heard about it before.
But I felt the climax of the story was too idealistic to be believable. Although I'd like to believe that education can overcome anything, but I couldn't swallow the idea that a teacher could talk a young angry boy out of murder with a lecture on ancient Greece. But perhaps I'm too cynical.
Does anyone have any other thoughts on '88?
I'll comment on the stories when I've finished the book (I'm on the David Geary story at the moment), but I do know that there have been Tongan-Samoan tensions in South Auckland for many years. (Though I only know it from the media, not always the most reliable guide.)
So here's my quick thoughts on The Six Pack Three:
Marisa Maepu - '88: I enjoyed this - nicely told and the right length for the material it covered. Maybe the ending is unrealistic, but I didn't have a problem with it while I was reading it.
Sue Wootton - Virtuoso: This was very well written - my only reservation is that "the harried businessman who's alienated from his own life" is something of a stock character in New Zealand fiction. Sue Wootton is a very good poet & I think this story shows that she is a good short story writer as well.
Aroha Harris - Write Poetry: I like poetry, and I enjoyed these poems, especially "Rain Again". One of the things I like most about the Six Pack series is that they include poetry as well as prose.
Ian MacKenzie - Mirror Mirror: While it's good to see a genre story included, the scenario of this story is almost exactly the same as a prominent plot element of the first season of the TV series "Heroes". Although Ian MacKenzie has definitely got talent, this story was a miss for me.
David Geary - Gary Manawatu: This was by far my favourite story in the collection. Such a mixture of humour, art-world satire, sly political comment and verbal exuberance is all too rare in New Zealand fiction. This makes me want to read more of David Geary's work.
Kate Duignan - Swallow: Yet another in the long list of "sensitive young artist struggles with difficult family which doesn't appreciate his/her genius" stories by New Zealand authors. Katherine Mansfield did it first and best. Kate Duignan puts words together beautifully but I'd prefer a story with more oomph to end the collection.
Marisa Maepu - '88: I enjoyed this - nicely told and the right length for the material it covered. Maybe the ending is unrealistic, but I didn't have a problem with it while I was reading it.
Sue Wootton - Virtuoso: This was very well written - my only reservation is that "the harried businessman who's alienated from his own life" is something of a stock character in New Zealand fiction. Sue Wootton is a very good poet & I think this story shows that she is a good short story writer as well.
Aroha Harris - Write Poetry: I like poetry, and I enjoyed these poems, especially "Rain Again". One of the things I like most about the Six Pack series is that they include poetry as well as prose.
Ian MacKenzie - Mirror Mirror: While it's good to see a genre story included, the scenario of this story is almost exactly the same as a prominent plot element of the first season of the TV series "Heroes". Although Ian MacKenzie has definitely got talent, this story was a miss for me.
David Geary - Gary Manawatu: This was by far my favourite story in the collection. Such a mixture of humour, art-world satire, sly political comment and verbal exuberance is all too rare in New Zealand fiction. This makes me want to read more of David Geary's work.
Kate Duignan - Swallow: Yet another in the long list of "sensitive young artist struggles with difficult family which doesn't appreciate his/her genius" stories by New Zealand authors. Katherine Mansfield did it first and best. Kate Duignan puts words together beautifully but I'd prefer a story with more oomph to end the collection.





I also agree with Tim on 88, the ending wasn't really believable but still really enjoyed it.
I'd have to say Aroha's "defining moments in her story" stoodout the most for me.
Books mentioned in this topic
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (other topics)The Picture of Dorian Gray (other topics)
Macbeth [With CD] (other topics)
The Whale Rider (other topics)
Mister Pip (other topics)
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