(DOWNLOAD) "Continuing Accomplishment: Novels in 1988." by JNZL: Journal of New Zealand Literature # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Continuing Accomplishment: Novels in 1988.
- Author : JNZL: Journal of New Zealand Literature
- Release Date : January 01, 1989
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 219 KB
Description
Writing in July 1938, O. N. Gillespie presciently proclaimed that '... we are on the eve of a Golden Age in New Zealand literature'. In relation to the novel, he pointed to reprints of classics by William Satchell and Jane Mander, the 'boldly original work' of John A. Lee in the realistic novel, the 'opulent imagination and riot of fantasy' of Robin Hyde in the non-realist novel, and to the high quality popular fiction of Ngaio Marsh and G. B. Lancaster. (1) Fifty years later, in 1988, the New Zealand novel was not so much on the eve as in the midst of a period of considerable accomplishment. As Mark Williams has noted, although there were few major novels compared to those of 1984 or 1986 (Janet Frame's The Carpathians was the only novel that might be considered major), the novels of 1988 'showed, in spite of flaws of execution, the various energies of the fiction scene, the discontents with old habits and forms, and the unsteady attempts to fashion new kinds of writing. (2) In fact, in addition to The Carpathians there was another excellent novel that Williams does not mention, Colleen Reilly's Christine, as well as a number of other good first and second novels in several modes, including some in the growth area of postmodern fiction. The following survey will end with a discussion of The Carpathians but will place it within the context of the other novels of the year (and of the reviews and criticism they have received). THE REALIST ROMANCES