Book review

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 7, Issue 335, 8 May 1990, Page 7

Book review

'Ohakune - Opening to a New World'. Author: Merrilyn George. REVIEW BY CHRIS MELODY for thee who, mindful of The unhonour'd dead Does in these lines their tale relate Thomas Gray wrote the above lines dwelling on lives been and gone. As he sat among the graves in a country churchyard his thoughts became speculative. He was, I suggest, contemplating unrecorded history.

The poem is also a plea to acknowledge that our lives are but part of the procession march of past, present and future. Merrilyn George's book, 'Ohakune Opening to a New

World,' is a history that by its sheer breadth constitutes a magnificent insight into lives and events been and gone. Though titled 'Ohakune' this comprehensive work records the concurrent development of an extensive surrounding region, namely the southern King Country. However, long before their was any King Country the Tangata Whenua had reached far inland and settled. 1 I know of no other modern account as full in detail as this is of [ their lives and of the I land as it was then. The exploration and | settlement by a second j wave of migrants follows, then the growth of this town from nonexistence to Borough. I Whole chapters are I devoted to single as- | pects of the past, the i building of the main j trunk line, market garI dening, sawmilling,the I mountain. I found the | book always interesting I and often fascinating. I Throughout, the auI thor's narration is neu- | tral, apart from (I sus1 pect) a bias toward ex- | cerpts that are gems for | their power to astonish I or delight the reader. Determined to be true | to their craft this | historian has simply ^ recorded what she has | collected. This is in noticeable contrast to some contemporary writing (school textbooks for example) in which the

Tangata Whenua are described living in a kind of pastoral innocence where the sometimes disagreeable reality of human nature had been banished or had never existed.

No such misguided (some would say fraudulent) attempt to draw the reader to thinking this way or that is made in these pages. In confining herself to saving the past from neglect George has written a book that leaves us to form our own picture of yesterday. From the mapy imageries, eye witness accounts and the wealth of detail, I gained a fuller understanding of the present too than I ever had before. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the region's history. Though

lengthy at nearly 400 pages it is conveniently arranged with many chapters devoted entirely to particular subjects. It is certainly not light reading but the style is concise and straight forward. While a number of typographical errors were noted by this reviewer, these will no doubt be corrected before the next printing and do not detract from the significance of 'Ohakune'. It may well in time be considered an important New Zealand regional history.