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Gifted
One day in 1955, the "father of New Zealand fiction" finds a young woman on his doorstep. A writer herself, she has recently emerged from a lengthy stay in the hospital for mental health problems and is seeking a safe place to live and write. The woman is Janet Frame, and the man who willingly takes her in is Frank Sargeson. Imaginative and intriguing, this novel explores two famous New Zealand personalities through a fictionalized account of the time they spent living together.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2010
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64 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Evans
56 books11 followersPatrick Evans lives in Christchurch and has taught New Zealand literature at the University of Canterbury since 1978.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 1, 2011
Feb 14th
Below, in my earlier review, you have it: the proof that I was happily persuaded, via a narrative I knew was fictional, that I 'understood' Frame more thoroughly than I did before reading Gifted. This type of (in my case willing) delusion is just one of the reasons for the recent outraged and abusive post by Pamela Gordon, Frame's niece and the executor of her estate.
As a writer and reader, I object to her objections.
I don't think 'cultural appropriation' is a crime, unless the new artefact is devoid of any meaning, for example car manufacturers' use of Maori designs. What do we now think of any royal objections to Shakespeare's use of actual kings & princes in his history plays?
Gordon also objects to Frame being 'only 7 years dead'. I don't think that makes any difference. Time is a random factor, and apparently much more flexible than we have thought: it's only time that separates us from ancestors with whom we share nearly all of our genetic code. They are closer to us than we usually consider: does that mean we can't reinvent them?
Would Gifted be OK if no-one could remember what Frame was 'really' like? Would we then be allowed to reinvent her? If yes, then why not now? If no, then what's the difference between that and being unable to cartoonify the prophet Mohammed?
Gordon accuses Evans of portraying Frame as 'deceitful, dishonest and inhuman', which makes me doubt that she has read the book at all. For a start, Evan's Sargeson is far harder on himself than he is on Janet. He, who knows exactly what he's writing (a knowingly fallible narrator), shows himself up to be sometimes intellectually and emotionally limited, contradictory, often petty (and despite all that, deeply sympathetic).
What does Frame do, in the novel, that makes Gordon think that Evans has depicted her as such? Hide under the hedge? Give him evasive answers? Tell him that she's doing something other than going to the shops, then go to the shops? I really fail to see how Gifted is an attack on her integrity. Does Gordon mean that in life, Frame always behaved with utter consistency and reliability? She would have been very boring if that were the case.
And where does 'inhuman' come from? Evans's Frame seems to me much more human than most people: that she knew to her core the difficulties of being human, and that her love of truth often did not allow her to fake normality the way most of us [try to] do. I had the impression, after reading Towards Another Summer, that somehow she knew that if she committed all her energies towards blending into normal society, she would lose the connection to her treasures, as Phillip Thirkettle has. ('Perhaps he himself had no access to his treasures...')
And so what if I do feel 'closer' to Frame than I did previously, and if my Frame is not the same as the 'real' Frame? I *did* realise that Gifted is fiction, and that my 'understanding' of Frame is actually in some imaginative world, some kind of mirror city I guess, but (despite the biographical evidence that Frame was keen not to have the facts of her life misrepresented) I do feel that her writer self might have approved of and understood: after all, we all get a deluded idea of who a writer 'is' just from reading their books.
Maybe it's something to do with this: that the 'self' of the writer who comes through their novels are generally very different from their day to day 'selves'; Pamela Gordon knew the day-to-day Janet, and perhaps what Evans has done is to extrapolate from her novels (which he has studied so closely) and has therefore made a Frame from a somewhat different dimension. (My neighbour, who has read Acts of Love, says 'I never would have guessed that you would have written it...it's so different from my idea of you.')
Gordon also makes the very serious claim that
I do believe that the ego is not very much concerned with creating. If it is, the art it creates usually doesn't work very well, and / or isn't very interesting or longlasting. In any case, whatever Evans says about Gifted, and whatever his motives were in writing it, has nothing to do with the merits of the book.
However, if Gordon's talking about Margo White's excellent review / interview in the Listener, what Evans actually said there was
It's White who uses the word 'channelled', and it's in relation to the Sargeson character, not Frame. I couldn't find any other online interviews that referred to channeling.
Dunno if anyone'll read this, but I'm happy to engage. Would rather not be called 'vindictive', 'immature', 'mediocre' or 'pisspoor' [etc] though.
Earlier:
I'm loving being tangled up in this book. It's as though, even when I'm not reading it, Frank Sargeson is at my side, gossiping and philosophising into my ear. I have to keep reminding myself that it's fiction (though actually I don't very often, as I love the delusion) because, probably aided by the knowledge that Frank and Janet were 'real', part of my brain does believe the book contains Frank's memoir.
I'm struck by the difference in my enjoyment of Gifted, and my recent consumption by Franzen's 'Freedom'. I haven't worked through the following thought, but it seems to me something to do with Franzen's more obvious manipulation of his readers. I'd love to be able to do what he does, but Freedom left me feeling bloated and weighed down. Reading Gifted, I feel light, fizzing with the excitement of such a well-wrought fiction. I suppose it's not as manic as Freedom's accumulation of detail. (And as said before, I couldn't forget about the characters while I was reading Franzen's book, but they haven't stayed with me.)
Below, in my earlier review, you have it: the proof that I was happily persuaded, via a narrative I knew was fictional, that I 'understood' Frame more thoroughly than I did before reading Gifted. This type of (in my case willing) delusion is just one of the reasons for the recent outraged and abusive post by Pamela Gordon, Frame's niece and the executor of her estate.
As a writer and reader, I object to her objections.
I don't think 'cultural appropriation' is a crime, unless the new artefact is devoid of any meaning, for example car manufacturers' use of Maori designs. What do we now think of any royal objections to Shakespeare's use of actual kings & princes in his history plays?
Gordon also objects to Frame being 'only 7 years dead'. I don't think that makes any difference. Time is a random factor, and apparently much more flexible than we have thought: it's only time that separates us from ancestors with whom we share nearly all of our genetic code. They are closer to us than we usually consider: does that mean we can't reinvent them?
Would Gifted be OK if no-one could remember what Frame was 'really' like? Would we then be allowed to reinvent her? If yes, then why not now? If no, then what's the difference between that and being unable to cartoonify the prophet Mohammed?
Gordon accuses Evans of portraying Frame as 'deceitful, dishonest and inhuman', which makes me doubt that she has read the book at all. For a start, Evan's Sargeson is far harder on himself than he is on Janet. He, who knows exactly what he's writing (a knowingly fallible narrator), shows himself up to be sometimes intellectually and emotionally limited, contradictory, often petty (and despite all that, deeply sympathetic).
What does Frame do, in the novel, that makes Gordon think that Evans has depicted her as such? Hide under the hedge? Give him evasive answers? Tell him that she's doing something other than going to the shops, then go to the shops? I really fail to see how Gifted is an attack on her integrity. Does Gordon mean that in life, Frame always behaved with utter consistency and reliability? She would have been very boring if that were the case.
And where does 'inhuman' come from? Evans's Frame seems to me much more human than most people: that she knew to her core the difficulties of being human, and that her love of truth often did not allow her to fake normality the way most of us [try to] do. I had the impression, after reading Towards Another Summer, that somehow she knew that if she committed all her energies towards blending into normal society, she would lose the connection to her treasures, as Phillip Thirkettle has. ('Perhaps he himself had no access to his treasures...')
And so what if I do feel 'closer' to Frame than I did previously, and if my Frame is not the same as the 'real' Frame? I *did* realise that Gifted is fiction, and that my 'understanding' of Frame is actually in some imaginative world, some kind of mirror city I guess, but (despite the biographical evidence that Frame was keen not to have the facts of her life misrepresented) I do feel that her writer self might have approved of and understood: after all, we all get a deluded idea of who a writer 'is' just from reading their books.
Maybe it's something to do with this: that the 'self' of the writer who comes through their novels are generally very different from their day to day 'selves'; Pamela Gordon knew the day-to-day Janet, and perhaps what Evans has done is to extrapolate from her novels (which he has studied so closely) and has therefore made a Frame from a somewhat different dimension. (My neighbour, who has read Acts of Love, says 'I never would have guessed that you would have written it...it's so different from my idea of you.')
Gordon also makes the very serious claim that
'Actually in an online interview Evans claims his novel is the "culmination" of all that Frame never really achieved (in his opinion)... He calls this her "last novel" and claims to have channeled her in writing it.'If this is true, then it is a weird claim, but not one worth getting upset about. A work of art stands apart from its maker and the maker's ego. I reckon it has a separate consciousness and cannot be discussed in relation to the maker himself (which is why interviews with writers of fiction are such a diverting nonsense).
I do believe that the ego is not very much concerned with creating. If it is, the art it creates usually doesn't work very well, and / or isn't very interesting or longlasting. In any case, whatever Evans says about Gifted, and whatever his motives were in writing it, has nothing to do with the merits of the book.
However, if Gordon's talking about Margo White's excellent review / interview in the Listener, what Evans actually said there was
“You’re listening to a voice and thinking, ‘What’s the next line?’ It’s the writing that’s doing this … it’s coming out of a part of your brain than is not normally accessible.” After Evans’s decades of teaching and reading “the father of New Zealand fiction”, it seems the man was lurking in his subconscious, just waiting to be channelled. “Yeah, a friend of mine has said, ‘It’s your life’s work. This is what you were put on this planet to do’”
It's White who uses the word 'channelled', and it's in relation to the Sargeson character, not Frame. I couldn't find any other online interviews that referred to channeling.
Dunno if anyone'll read this, but I'm happy to engage. Would rather not be called 'vindictive', 'immature', 'mediocre' or 'pisspoor' [etc] though.
Earlier:
I'm loving being tangled up in this book. It's as though, even when I'm not reading it, Frank Sargeson is at my side, gossiping and philosophising into my ear. I have to keep reminding myself that it's fiction (though actually I don't very often, as I love the delusion) because, probably aided by the knowledge that Frank and Janet were 'real', part of my brain does believe the book contains Frank's memoir.
I'm struck by the difference in my enjoyment of Gifted, and my recent consumption by Franzen's 'Freedom'. I haven't worked through the following thought, but it seems to me something to do with Franzen's more obvious manipulation of his readers. I'd love to be able to do what he does, but Freedom left me feeling bloated and weighed down. Reading Gifted, I feel light, fizzing with the excitement of such a well-wrought fiction. I suppose it's not as manic as Freedom's accumulation of detail. (And as said before, I couldn't forget about the characters while I was reading Franzen's book, but they haven't stayed with me.)
April 11, 2019
this is a very enjoyable read that brings to life two of new zealand's most famous writers, laced with humour and literary references. the characters of janet frame and frank sargeson are skillfully and richly created through their language and actions - it's a work of fiction, but anyone who has read something of either writer will recognise them. 1950s New Zealand and a particular lifestyle from that time is also beautifully evoked.
January 15, 2023
I found it hard going.
It’s a brave concept and mostly succeeds. I found the writing rather forced with odd vocabulary choices and jarring comparisons. Sargeson’s prose was plain and spare about a world sharply observed which this book isn’t, unsurprisingly.
I’m pleased I read it and applaud the effort.
It’s a brave concept and mostly succeeds. I found the writing rather forced with odd vocabulary choices and jarring comparisons. Sargeson’s prose was plain and spare about a world sharply observed which this book isn’t, unsurprisingly.
I’m pleased I read it and applaud the effort.
February 27, 2016
I discovered Kiwi author Patrick Evans while reading The Back of His Head from the longlist for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and enjoyed his humour so much that I hunted out a copy of Gifted to read as well.
As Evans told us when he was featured in Meet a Kiwi author, Gifted and The Back of His Head are parts 1 and 3 of a trilogy drawn from his familiarity with the writing of Janet Frame. (No2 is yet to be written). Gifted is about her brief time living with the author Frank Sargeson (1903-1982), said to be ‘the father of New Zealand literature’, because he was the first to write in the New Zealand vernacular.
Now, the odd thing about Frank Sargeson’s entry at Wikipedia (viewed 28/2/16) is that while it lauds his literary legacy, it doesn’t actually mention the name of any of his books. (For that you need to go to his entry at Goodreads, where it seems that his books are highly regarded, at least by the Goodreads community). No, what the Wikipedia entry focusses on is his lifestyle, which was eccentric, to say the least, and which is what makes Patrick Evans’ Gifted so entertaining.
Evans (rightly anticipating the outrage of Janet Frame’s literary heirs) is at pains to point out that only two of his characters were real people, i.e. Frame and Sargeson, and that the book is a work of fiction. But it does seem to depict Sargeson’s living arrangements with uncanny accuracy. Sargeson lived in what Kiwis call a ‘bach‘ and what Aussies would call a ‘shack’, a rudimentary dwelling which is a far cry from the stylish and capacious holiday houses that middle-class Aussies have today. Today tourists can visit Sargeson’s Bach, but it’s important to note that it was the second one he had on his parents’ land – the first one was condemned by the local council. Yet this site is a sacred site for KiwiLit because this bach, and the re-purposed army hut in the garden, became a hub for a new generation of Kiwi authors, of whom Janet Frame was one.
Gifted begins with the arrival of Janet Frame at Sargeson’s bach brought there by her friend Molly, who says she needs somewhere to develop her talent – to get back on her feet. But either Frank hasn’t been listening properly (a propensity of his) or Molly is evasive, because it takes months for him to learn where she’s been.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2016/02/28/gi...
As Evans told us when he was featured in Meet a Kiwi author, Gifted and The Back of His Head are parts 1 and 3 of a trilogy drawn from his familiarity with the writing of Janet Frame. (No2 is yet to be written). Gifted is about her brief time living with the author Frank Sargeson (1903-1982), said to be ‘the father of New Zealand literature’, because he was the first to write in the New Zealand vernacular.
Now, the odd thing about Frank Sargeson’s entry at Wikipedia (viewed 28/2/16) is that while it lauds his literary legacy, it doesn’t actually mention the name of any of his books. (For that you need to go to his entry at Goodreads, where it seems that his books are highly regarded, at least by the Goodreads community). No, what the Wikipedia entry focusses on is his lifestyle, which was eccentric, to say the least, and which is what makes Patrick Evans’ Gifted so entertaining.
Evans (rightly anticipating the outrage of Janet Frame’s literary heirs) is at pains to point out that only two of his characters were real people, i.e. Frame and Sargeson, and that the book is a work of fiction. But it does seem to depict Sargeson’s living arrangements with uncanny accuracy. Sargeson lived in what Kiwis call a ‘bach‘ and what Aussies would call a ‘shack’, a rudimentary dwelling which is a far cry from the stylish and capacious holiday houses that middle-class Aussies have today. Today tourists can visit Sargeson’s Bach, but it’s important to note that it was the second one he had on his parents’ land – the first one was condemned by the local council. Yet this site is a sacred site for KiwiLit because this bach, and the re-purposed army hut in the garden, became a hub for a new generation of Kiwi authors, of whom Janet Frame was one.
Gifted begins with the arrival of Janet Frame at Sargeson’s bach brought there by her friend Molly, who says she needs somewhere to develop her talent – to get back on her feet. But either Frank hasn’t been listening properly (a propensity of his) or Molly is evasive, because it takes months for him to learn where she’s been.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2016/02/28/gi...
January 6, 2013
I sometimes worry about authors trying to inhabit real characters. However, with this book I had to keep reminding myself that Frank was actually Patrick, for two reasons.
Firstly, Evans seems to have a real affinity for and understanding Sargeson and his time. Rarely do the colloqialisms and the setting feel contrived. This is a book that feels very set in its time, the fifties, at the emergence of a sense of New Zealand literature beginning to have a place and validity. Sargeson, as Evans has him ironically self-quote, reminds us that he is the 'Father of the nation's fiction' several times throughout, although he is self-deprecating and talks about 'cobbling' bits of writing together to create stories.
I also think that the book gives a fresh view of Frame; one that is not (apparently) blurred by time and more modern understandings of mental health in general and schizophrenia in particular, since the book was apparently penned (fictitiously by Sargeson) in 1955. While Frame remains interestingly peripheral to the story of 'Gifted', the exploration of her writing, and of her view of the world, and of her view of language, while mediated by Evans and Sargeson, makes me want to read 'Owls do Cry' again.
This is a book that I think I will want to read again. It is sensitive, human, poetic, literary and absolutely grounded in real life. Sub-plots lead the reader through what could feel like navel gazing, but always feels necessary and important - and leads to a greater understanding of two of New Zealands most interesting literary characters.
Firstly, Evans seems to have a real affinity for and understanding Sargeson and his time. Rarely do the colloqialisms and the setting feel contrived. This is a book that feels very set in its time, the fifties, at the emergence of a sense of New Zealand literature beginning to have a place and validity. Sargeson, as Evans has him ironically self-quote, reminds us that he is the 'Father of the nation's fiction' several times throughout, although he is self-deprecating and talks about 'cobbling' bits of writing together to create stories.
I also think that the book gives a fresh view of Frame; one that is not (apparently) blurred by time and more modern understandings of mental health in general and schizophrenia in particular, since the book was apparently penned (fictitiously by Sargeson) in 1955. While Frame remains interestingly peripheral to the story of 'Gifted', the exploration of her writing, and of her view of the world, and of her view of language, while mediated by Evans and Sargeson, makes me want to read 'Owls do Cry' again.
This is a book that I think I will want to read again. It is sensitive, human, poetic, literary and absolutely grounded in real life. Sub-plots lead the reader through what could feel like navel gazing, but always feels necessary and important - and leads to a greater understanding of two of New Zealands most interesting literary characters.
May 8, 2011
I wanted to love this - in some ways I did love it - but I found it hard work. Maybe because it was too real - I have been inside Frank Sargeson's cottage, I have seen his dressing gown hanging on the back of a door. Frank's remark about the cottage becoming a shrine pinged off the page in a self-conscious way. And somehow the cottage described seemed to be of a different configuration from the cottage in my memory. I found the elusiveness a bit frustrating - why couldn't Evans spell out Frank and Harry's relationship a bit more? And Janet seemed like a sprite, some kind of garden trickster, never fully solid, never really coming into the room. She did have her word puzzles, clues to her personality, but I would never have been able to figure them out and that made me feel stupid. But I suspect that it was a much better book than I appreciated - my brain is shot, I'm too tired to concentrate and I keep on wanting to read children's fantasy books instead.
August 15, 2012
This was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. As a huge Frank and Janet fan, thanks to Patrick's lectures on them many years ago, I was excited to read this book and definitely wasn't let down. Patrick's portrayal of Frank is stunning! I loved how honest and homegrown he felt. I thought his representation of Janet through Frank's eyes was deeply moving and at times hilarious. This is a book I plan to return to time and again, which is saying something, because I barely ever read a book more than once. Gifted represents the incredible Frank Sargeson and the equally incredible Janet Frame perfectly. Loved it!!
April 26, 2016
The story here of an established writer giving shelter to a gifted but troubled would-be writer is full of lovely human tangents and philosophical hickups. Janet Frame's was not the sort of mind that Frank expected to be assisting, and Evans has beautifully sculpted a disruptive and challenging meeting (and not-quite-meeting) of minds and world views.
My struggle though was in the wordiness of it as the author attempted to create a time and style suitable to represent the voice of 'the father of New Zealand fiction'. Truth is, I would simply have loved the book at half the size, even though I really dislike being negative about honest and scholarly work.
My struggle though was in the wordiness of it as the author attempted to create a time and style suitable to represent the voice of 'the father of New Zealand fiction'. Truth is, I would simply have loved the book at half the size, even though I really dislike being negative about honest and scholarly work.
March 16, 2012
I have heard in passing Janet Frame but am totally clueless about Frank Sargeson, the father of New Zealand fiction. This novel had a wonderful grounded, earthy quality to it. You can almost feel the salty air from the sea flowing between the pages. There are no literary pyrotechnics in the proses and it reads well, almost well-mannered.
November 9, 2010
Honestly the best New Zealand novel I've read in years.
December 9, 2010
I reviewed Gifted here: http://tuitalk.wordpress.com/2010/11/...
February 12, 2011
book 16 of 2011 - aim 133 books for 2011
Read
August 28, 2013Couldn't get into it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews