World worth a visit

Press, 22 June 1985, Page 20

World worth a visit

People of the Long Water. By Peter Hooper. John Mclndoe, 1985. 244 pp. $13.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by Naylor Hillary) When Peter Hooper produced his novel “A Song in the Forest” in 1979, one wonders if he realised he had set himself a hard act to follow. The charm of that original and sensitive story lay in its novelty. It peopled the West Coast bush and mountains with a curious and endearing tribe, the Stag People, living in a much-changed New Zealand of the future. It was a simple story, engagingly told. Much of its impact came from its freshness; it did not stand up quite so well on rereading. Now Hooper has provided a sequel, and a third book to round off the story is promised next year. The “long water” of the new title is Akaroa Harbour. The Stag People have settled north of the Waimakariri River, perhaps on the banks of the Ashley. They coexist in a tolerable harmony with the Shepherd People whom they have found on Banks Peninsula, even though their beliefs, and customs, and languages have significant differences.

Violence flickers between them and sometimes Hooper’s intention seems to be to explore the tensions that arise when a pastoral, communistic, gentle tribe, virtually without a religion, is confronted by the more virile ways of an authoritarian hunting society, proud of its god Ka Balu. Through it all runs the central figure of Tama, the youth of “Song in the Forest," now come to manhood and to priesthood among the hunters. Tama is struggling to reconcile his sexuality with his exalted position; secretly he is working on what becomes a rediscovery of a phonetic alphabet. Again, the book is written with an engaging simplicity, but this time — without novelty — it sometimes palls. The Shepherds’ welcome to their new Stag neighbours begins to sound like an idealised picture of visitors arriving in a rural commune. A bountiful nature has replaced the Social Welfare Department so that there is an ample surplus of time and of necessities to allow singing, dancing, and drinking without work.

Although this second book opens with a violent act, there is a remarkable inclination on the part of the author and most of his characters to forgive. Perhaps by the end of the book the two people had discovered that peaceful coexistence is impossible. Book three may decide the point. But in general, Hunters and Shepherds are rather too nice, too determined to find good in each other, too quick to regret any unpleasant consequences of their actions. Murder only brings a kind of periodic detention, digging in the garden. Even natural disasters — drought and fire on the plains — do not bring out the worst in people. There is a kind of restful nostalgia in walking through such a world, guided by Hooper’s sensitive and optimistic visions, but it does not quite ring true. However, this tender will still be waiting eagerly for volume three. With all its faults, Hooper’s world is worth a visit, and worth more than a few moments of reflection.