Notes from The Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick discussion

Synopsis: The bleak isolated coal-mining of Denniston, is situated high on a plateau above the West Coast, its harsh conditions seemingly to either make or break those that live there. Into this chaotic 1880s South Island community comes five-year-old Rose and her mother, this novel depicts their struggle with the conditions & other Denniston residents...

Present: Dianne, Pauline, Susan, Denise, Merrin, Natalie, Lesley, Shari, Megan, Nola and Doreen.

How realistic a picture in Denniston at that time is portrayed in the story?The consensus was that it was a very realistic picture of life in Denniston, the author seemed to have done a lot of research, while the illustrated edition, with its photographs and maps reinforced the sense of harsh conditions. One of the group had had a family member visit Denniston and when they were there a guide said the novel was very true to life.

Does the harshness of life contribute to the standard of behaviour of some of the characters? For good? and for Bad?

The majority agreed that the harsh life definitely impacted on the way the characters behaved.

Some felt that Eva was pushed into her behaviour and her twisted use of her daughter Rose, was almost excusable. Others felt there was no excuse for the way she used Rose.

Bella was one of those that were made by Denniston the way she became respectable community leader and the teacher.

As was Mary Scobie, almost broken by her son's death and the harsh conditions she rose above her depression to become a leader during the strike and then there was no holding her back.

Totty flourished in Denniston and became a beacon of sensibleness.

Con needed the escape (Eva) from his life despite his love of Bella...and his disappearance may remain unsolved if we do not read the sequel.

There are four strong female characters in this book, Mrs C Rasmussen (Bella), Mary Scobie, Eva and Totty. Who did you relate to or feel sorry for the most?

Partly answered in the question above, but the ones that we felt sorry for the most were Bella and Mary Scobie with one bookmate describing "Mary Scobie as a central pillar of the novel", Totty was very relatable.

Do you think Rose's mother actually felt any lover for her child? If so when did she show it?There was divison whether Eva/Angel felt love towards Rose, with some thinking her treatment of her daughter inexcusable and that if she felt love it was a very twisted love...in fact she called Rose "her little pot of gold"

Others disagreed pointing out that Eva was happy for Rose to be cared for by Tooty when she was burned but was quick to collect her when she got well, but others thought that Rose was the payment for living at Billy Genesis and so she needed her back anyway.

Why did the townsfolk turn a blind eye to what Billy Genesis was doing to Rose?

Billy was needed as the blacksmith, he was a skilled one and even though no one liked him there were a shortage of blacksmiths.

When we first started the book club there were a number of us who admitted to not really liking New Zealand books/authors, now that we have read three NZ authors, Lloyd Jones, Kate de Goldi and Jenny Pattrick, have we changed our minds towards New Zealand books and authors?

The majority verdict was that we do enjoy New Zealand books and authors and were reading them, with only one dissenter who still avoids NZ books and authors like the plague.

Rating 3.5 (Out of 5) : Actual member ratings on the day ranged from 2 to 5. (4, 5, 3.5, 4.5, 2, 3, 3, 4, 3.5, 3.5 = 36)

Questions for The Denniston Rose meeting

Here are a few of the questions received so far courtesy of Lesley and Merrin..

How realistic a picture of life in Denniston at that time, is portrayed in the story?
Does the harshness of life there contribute to the standard of behaviour of some of the characters? For good? and for bad?
What do you think makes Mary Scobie such an important character in the development of the story?
There are 4 strong female characters in this book, Mrs C Rasmussen (Bella), Mary Scobie, Eva and Totty.

Who did you relate to or feel sorry for the most?
Do you think Rose's mother actually felt any love for her child? If so, when did she show it?
Why did the townsfolk turn a blind eye to what Billy Genesis was doing to Rose?

When we first started the book club there a number of us who admitted to not really liking New Zealand authors, now that we have read three NZ authors, Lloyd Jones, Kate Di Goldi and now Jenny Pattrick, have we changed our minds towards New Zealand authors and books?
Remember as usual if you have any more questions please just bring them along to tomorrow's meeting...

'Languages shape the way we think...

...and determines what we can think about.'
- Benjamin Lee Whorf

Another post about an International Arts Festival event I managed to see while home in Wellington in March 2010.

Title: The Arrival
Author: Shaun Tan

Publisher: Lothian

Year of publication: 2006

Star rating out of 5: 5

Summary: In this wordless graphic novel, a man leaves his homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new life for himself and his family. -- Publisher's description

If language shapes the way we think...what happens when anything appoximating a language is removed? I recently read (4 times in one sitting, and each time seeing something new) Shaun Tan's wordless graphic novel 'The arrival' and was blown away by its message and its impact. The beauty of this book is that it is everybody's story. It also nobody's story. Sounds implausible? You obviously haven't read the book, then :-)

Shaun Tan is, in short, a genius - he uses this wordless graphic novel to convey how it must be for a family to be temporarily torn apart. In a possibly-Asian country (the dragon tail shadow that wraps around the buildings) that looks rather European (think World War II) a father must leave his wife and daughter to take a ship to a strange country to ready the way for his family. The fear and oppression and political suppression come through so clearly when the family leave home to see the father off on his trip. Tan manages, through the use of symbols and fascinatingly multi-layered pictures, to depict not just the father's journey to start anew, but the journey of those he comes into contact with as well. I enjoyed this book so much. It really did blow my mind. There are no names, no recognisable landmarks, no identifiable cultures, no particular class or caste system - in short, nothing is anything you would recognise except the journey of the characters. The start of the book sees the family (mum and daughter) helping the father to pack a case of belongings in preparation for his journey to a new land, where he will set himself up with a job and accommodation before sending for them. His experiences - the isolation, the loneliness, the struggle to find a home, a job and friends - are very cleverly depicted in Tan's artwork. I'm absolutely stunned that all of his emotions and thoughts can be expressed without words. 'The arrival' is heartbreaking, eye-opening and oh so very clever.

In March of this year I flew home to Wellington to participate in the last part of the International Arts Festival and was able to see the Red Leap Theatre play of 'The arrival,' and it was as fantastic as I had hoped it would be! It probably helped that the venue was the Wellington Opera House (did you know that they actually have boxes? One day I'm going to sit in one just because I can). As for the play: I must admit to experiencing some slight disappointment that the characters spoke. It threw me for a moment. I guess I wanted it to be exactly like the book - wordless. So the occasional English word took me aback. Their made-up language seemed too Eastern-European sounding for me to relax and believe it was invented just for the play. I will gladly admit to shedding a tear or two (if I am honest it was much more). As someone who had returned to my childhood home for a long weekend I was able to remember the heart-wrenching move, 26 years ago, from all that was familiar in Wellington to the faster-moving Auckland - I guess I felt that in some small way I identified with the father from 'The Arrival.' Weirdly enough, I went to see the play with my gran, an activity we have never really done in any of my 34 years. It was a very enjoyable experience so I hope that, in the near future, I can take in more with her. She loved the play, although she did make the comment that she kept trying to relate all of the characters (including the animals) in the play to something physical she knew in this world :)

Readers of graphic novels or sophisticated picture books will really get something out of this. And it makes for a great discussion book/topic with children. There was a young boy at the play who had obviously gotten so much out of the book that he was fair squealing with excitement while providing a running commentary. How could you not love the enthusiasm? Read it - that's about as blunt as I can get. Thank you, Monsieur Tan, Red Leap Theatre and Gran. We really must do this again sometime.