Owen MarshallBesprekingen

An excellent collection of stories that show Marshall as being our (NZ) foremost short story writer, perhaps writer.
The stories evoke the South Island well - the fabulous island I grew up in.

The most literary of the Ockham New Zealand 2020 short list is, in my opinion is Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall. Great cover artwork and a strong character driven story by one of my favourite New Zealand writers. He captures the essence of rural New Zealand communities and Pearly Gates definitely bears recognisable traits along with the other members of the cast. They are presented with both strengths and flaws.½

Owen Marshall (b. 1941) is a well-known author in New Zealand, with a very substantial body of work and some impressive accolades from the KiwiLit community, not to mention mentions in three shortlists noted on this blog — but it was not until I came across John McCrystal's review of his new novel Pearly Gates in the New Zealand Review of Books (about which I have enthused before, see here) that I got round to chasing up one of his titles. (Which just shows you the value of an enticing review, eh?)

It's a surprisingly interesting book, given the quotidian nature of its characterisation and plot. It's very everyday, just the tale of an ordinary man in small town New Zealand and his late life crisis of conscience, but I couldn't put it down. It's a remarkable achievement to make a reader care about the ethical fate of a man whose success in life has made him complacent and a little too proud of his somewhat mundane achievements.

Aged 64, Pat 'Pearly' Gates is a real estate agent, and in his second term as mayor of the small provincial town he lives in. He is comfortably married to Helen, and they have two adult children regrettably living far away but not estranged either. Pearly is a recognisable face around town, and admired for his long ago feats playing rugby for Otago although injury forced him out before he could achieve his ambition to play for the All Blacks. He's a good 'people person', comfortable with listening to the inevitable complaints from constituents, and with a good team around him at the council, reasonably responsive to reasonable requests. He's mildly obsessive about appearances, becoming unduly irritated by a scratch on his car and passing over a best-qualified job applicant because his shoes were dirty, but not realising that he's not exactly a smart dresser himself until late in the day when out-of-towners more successful than he, return for a school reunion.

But he is a bit smug:

Pearly reviewed his decision to stand for a third term. He enjoyed being mayor, although he was now fully aware of the tedious nature of many of the responsibilities and functions. And his satisfaction in the role wasn't just an expression of his sense of achievement, of entitlement. Pearly had real affection and concern for his home region. Indeed for the country as a whole. He liked to see decent intentions and decent people succeed, as he had himself, and he rarely doubted his own judgement. Pearly was his own role model. (p.10)

So it comes as a surprise when this basically decent if complacent man stumbles across political advantage and slyly uses it for his own benefit. Actually, it's more than a surprise, it's quite shocking. No one know about Pearly's role in it, not even his victim, but it preys on his mind. Along with some other stupid out-of-character things he's done...

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/09/05/pearly-gates-by-owen-marshall/

This is shaping up to being one of the best collections of New Zealand short stories I have read and it proved to be so. A wonderful collection by many of our accomplished writers and a few that are new to me. They are arranged in chronological order, opening with Katherine Mansfield in 1922 to the most recent which include Eleanor Catton, Charlotte Grimshaw and Craig Cliff. A collection I will savour again.½

(7.5) This book drew me in very quickly and I was keen to return to it's pages. I find this author's observations of human interaction and indeed mature marriages/relationships authentic and recognisable. I very much enjoyed the beginning phase of the evolving friendship, however it palled for me. Maybe because I felt that Sarah was making the wrong decision and it could only lead to angst and maybe because Hartley was too good to be true. However I guess it is a sign of the writer's skill when he evokes an emotional response. I found the conclusion a bit melodramatic. Although the opening quote was an accurate portend of what was to come - "When love is not madness, it is not love."

Again an excellent selection of short stories from this author. He quickly builds recognisable characters and situations. I especially enjoyed 'Buried Lives', 'Family Circle', Minding Lear' and 'Watch of Gryphons'.

This is a quiet reflective read. Sheff's life is in limbo following the breakdown of his marriage and his job as a journalist for a daily newspaper leaves him dissatisfied so he resigns. He is contemplating a trip to Europe but realises that first he needs to return home to see his parents as his father is dying of cancer. His sister Georgie, who is a medical doctor suggests they make the trip together.
The time proves valuable as Sheff finally confronts the grief that caused the disintegration of his marriage and forges new bonds with his family. This is a thought provoking read which will strike a chord with many.
(8.5)½

This is the best short story collection I have ever read. The author beautifully captures realistic moments and creates recognisable characters. I found this a marvellous distraction on sleepless nights.

I found the lack of direct speech difficult at first, but by the end I had nothing but admiration for the way Marshall had turned my allegiance from Connie to Dougie and then William. I think the psychology of an affair was what I found most fascinating - motivations, self-delusion and justifications all artfully controlled and manipulated by the author.½

I was delighted when I first read of this book. I had the pleasure of visiting Larnach Castle in Dunedin a few years ago and was intrigued by the family history and thought surely there is a novel to be written. I was doubly pleased that an author of such repute had taken on the task and I was not disappointed.
William Larnach was a politician and self-made man who built what is known as Larnach's Castle on the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand. Unfortunately during this project his wife Eliza died. He married her sister Mary, who lived with them, largely to provide a mother figure for his youngest daughter, Gladys - a marriage of convenience.
Mary also died 5 years later and William is drawn to the much younger, attractive and well educated forthright Constance de Bathe Brandon, daughter of a parlimentary colleague, who became his third wife.
The marriage began with promise, William finding Constance an asset to his social standing in Wellington and she too was content. However when William's beloved daughter Kate dies of typhoid, William becomes depressed and morose. William's other adult daughters in Dunedin have never accepted their father's choice of bride and make life unpleasant for her in Larnach. Her only allies being young Gladys and his younger son Dougie, only seven years younger than Conny.
William's suffers financial set back and a couple of accidents, which make him more depressed. Meanwhile Conny and Dougie develop a close frienship which gradually becomes a love affair.
The story is narrated by Conny and Dougie in alternate chapters and the author handles the differnt voices well. A backdrop of the social and political climate of the late nineteenth century weaves smoothly through the story.
I found this a very satisfying novel to read. It is also beautifully bound.

Story of affair between William Larnachs wife and his son and his ensuing suicide. Told alternatively from the perspective of wife and son. Beautifully written½

Highly enjoyable book from New Zealand - I was lucky to pick this up in a charity shop - the original price tag showed it been bought over there, and I don't think this author's books are widely available in the UK.

The back cover gives the impression that it's about a woman who hides out in a shack in the back of beyond in NZ to avoid having to hand her son over to her estranged husband. Really it's mainly about the journalist who, being the only person to know where she is, writes articles about her to garner support for her cause.

I liked the relaxed way in which the story was told - for much of the time we are just following the journalist, Theo, as he meanders through his everyday life, getting topless massages, jogging with his (highly witty) colleague, and - a particular highlight for me - attending a hilarious protest over a wind farm. Allt his left plenty of room for some pithy observaions on life, sexual politics etc. If there was a bum note in this novel, it was the fact that the author felt he had to keep reminding us of the presence of the woman in the shack. Suddenly, in the middle of some interesting daily encounter, Theo has to start thinking about her, draw some profound parallel with her experience, and the text becomes predictable and trite (barren landscape ... blah blah ... sod roof .... blah blah).