SIGNS OF LIFE, by Amy Head (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30)
At a time when "pandemic plots" are featuring more frequently in fiction, Amy Head turns to an earlier disaster, one that was local not global: the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. The linked stories in her new collection examine the texture of daily life when the ordinary has been profoundly disrupted, if not entirely dismantled.
The ruins and rubble of the innercity cordon may have been the stuff of nightly news bulletins, but Head is more concerned with the shipping containers, the bollards, the wonky paths and abandoned houses of the suburbs where people are trying to carry on, navigating their way without the landmarks that used to orient their lives. "I'm all right as long as I'm upright," one character says, articulating what many in these stories embody: a persistence that is not quite optimism but a simple desire to endure, requiring more than a hint of courage.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 26, September 1 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 26, September 1 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
