Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Where the Day Begins - Wry, laconic and deeply poetic


Wry, laconic and deeply poetic, this is a fine collection of writing, brimming with the fresh insight that only an outside perspective can bring.

Martin Bettinger is a German novelist and short story writer. He spent several years living in New Zealand, principally in Golden Bay, and this collection of 61 ‘shortcuts’ as he calls these short prose pieces, is a collection of writing that came out of this experience. 
In Golden Bay he found an intriguing mix of people: expatriates from many countries, mavericks, bach owners, alternative life-stylers and those down on their luck, most of whom were drawn to the Bay to build a new life. But so often he found that this land of promise provided no new answers, just another opportunity to make the same mistakes anew.


About the author:
Martin studied German literature and philosophy in Saarbruecken and Freiburg. He has published four novels Der Himmel ist einssiebzig gross (The sky is one-seventy high),Panfloetenman (Panflute man), Engelsterben (Angel death), Die Liebhaber meiner Frau (The lovers of my wife) as well as the short story collection Dachschaden (Roof-damage). He spent several years living in New Zealand, the last stay as a Writer-in-residence in Wellington. Martin Bettinger lives as a freelance author in the Saar-Pfalz region of Germany.

Here are a few snippets from Where the Day Begins

The Bay
When God had finished creating the Earth, so the
legend goes, he had a piece of each country left
over. A mountain from Switzerland, a river from
Sweden, a field from Ireland. From all this he created
New Zealand. When the people had finished
with God, to continue the story, something was
missing in each of them. So they set off to search.
And those who travelled longest finally arrived in
New Zealand, Golden Bay. . .

Forget about New Zealand
This country, says Father George,
is a bit like Marlynn.
Every fool goes blind in the face
of her beauty.
But that’s only a trick
to keep strangers at bay.
If you want to find Marlynn,
you have to discover her scars.
And if you want to look for New Zealand
forget about its beauty!

One for Tessie
Yesterday she made a friend,
and today they are building a castle,
and even though it’s raining, they
fetch seawater in a bucket for the moat,
and as the sun comes out, they stick
little flags on each tower,
they beg for ice cream up at
the kiosk, and as the tide
comes in, they run down to the beach
and build a dam, pushing back
all the water with hands and feet,
so the people in the castle won’t
drown.

When the day begins
When the day begins
Marlynn paddles
to the small island.
On her return
her shirt shows
a drawing of salt.
As if the sea
wrote her a letter.
Every day a new one

RRP: $29.99
Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781927213162 - Carig Potton Publishing

1 comment:

Rivers said...

Lovely book, kept it at my bedside and read a story or poem before bed every day.
It's well written, articulate and interesting, paints a sympathetic and often humorous account of the writers friends and acquaintances with great depth and humanity.
It also captures eloquently life in Golden Bay of interest to anyone even if never having visited that beautiful part of New Zealand.

JohnT