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Remember Me
REMEMBER ME compellingly evokes the hopes and hardships of the postwar world, and examines what can happen in a close, cosy community when the world comes knocking at the door..and how redemption may lie in the most unlikely hands.
390 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
11 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Derek Hansen
31 books45 followersDerek was born in London in June 1944 about the same time Hitler thought London was a great place to send his V1 flying bombs.
At the age of four he convinced his parents to emigrate and spent the next sixteen years in Auckland being called a Pommy and a wimp for playing soccer and not rugby.
His first published short story appeared in his grammar school yearbook.
Equipped with a million ideas for novels he approached the leading national newspaper for a traineeship and was told he was too undisciplined; approached publishers and was told he was too young; approached an advertising agency and was welcomed into their embrace – they knew a fast, facile, fashionably glib mind when they saw one.
His talent took him London in the sixties where his quirky style and commercial instincts brought a rapid rise through the ranks to the country’s top advertising agency, accumulating many international awards along the way.
Derek was lured to Australia by the usual inducements – money, sunshine, money, lifestyle, money, etc – and spent the next twenty-five years doing ads and wishing he was writing novels instead.
About the time Bryce Courtenay wrote The Power of One and Peter Carey wrote Bliss, Derek and his partners sold their advertising agency and three years later he was free to pursue his true writing ambitions.
Having spent a lifetime reducing masses of information to less than 100 words or thirty seconds of TV time, working in exactly the opposite direction did not come easy.
An idea for a novel can be written on a folded napkin. What follows takes thousands of tablecloths.
One day over lunch Derek had the bright idea of breaking his novel down into more easily managed bite-sized pieces and so the idea for the Lunch series was born.
Lunch with the Generals became an instant bestseller in Australasia and was sold into Britain, Scandinavia, France and Germany. Lunch with Mussolini followed but it was Sole Survivor that piqued American interest.
Simon and Schuster decided to publish an American edition and Kennedy-Marshall (Sixth Sense, Snow Falling on Cedars) bought the rights to the movie on behalf of Disney in a $US750,000 deal.
Three weeks before the movie was due to go into production, shooting began on Castaway with Tom Hanks. Two movies about a man on an island surrounded by salt water was deemed one too many, and Sole Survivor the movie bit the dust. How typical of Hollywood to choose to make the wrong movie.
Derek has subsequently published a further five novels and three collections of short stories, but nothing quite as quirky or funny as his latest novel, A Man You Can Bank On.
Derek is married, has two grown-up children and lives most of the time in Avalon on Pittwater, and some of the time in Doonan on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Kingfish, salmon, bonito, bream and flathead live just outside his back door and the surf rises a short walk from the front door.
Someone had to have this life and Derek is just so glad that someone is him.
At the age of four he convinced his parents to emigrate and spent the next sixteen years in Auckland being called a Pommy and a wimp for playing soccer and not rugby.
His first published short story appeared in his grammar school yearbook.
Equipped with a million ideas for novels he approached the leading national newspaper for a traineeship and was told he was too undisciplined; approached publishers and was told he was too young; approached an advertising agency and was welcomed into their embrace – they knew a fast, facile, fashionably glib mind when they saw one.
His talent took him London in the sixties where his quirky style and commercial instincts brought a rapid rise through the ranks to the country’s top advertising agency, accumulating many international awards along the way.
Derek was lured to Australia by the usual inducements – money, sunshine, money, lifestyle, money, etc – and spent the next twenty-five years doing ads and wishing he was writing novels instead.
About the time Bryce Courtenay wrote The Power of One and Peter Carey wrote Bliss, Derek and his partners sold their advertising agency and three years later he was free to pursue his true writing ambitions.
Having spent a lifetime reducing masses of information to less than 100 words or thirty seconds of TV time, working in exactly the opposite direction did not come easy.
An idea for a novel can be written on a folded napkin. What follows takes thousands of tablecloths.
One day over lunch Derek had the bright idea of breaking his novel down into more easily managed bite-sized pieces and so the idea for the Lunch series was born.
Lunch with the Generals became an instant bestseller in Australasia and was sold into Britain, Scandinavia, France and Germany. Lunch with Mussolini followed but it was Sole Survivor that piqued American interest.
Simon and Schuster decided to publish an American edition and Kennedy-Marshall (Sixth Sense, Snow Falling on Cedars) bought the rights to the movie on behalf of Disney in a $US750,000 deal.
Three weeks before the movie was due to go into production, shooting began on Castaway with Tom Hanks. Two movies about a man on an island surrounded by salt water was deemed one too many, and Sole Survivor the movie bit the dust. How typical of Hollywood to choose to make the wrong movie.
Derek has subsequently published a further five novels and three collections of short stories, but nothing quite as quirky or funny as his latest novel, A Man You Can Bank On.
Derek is married, has two grown-up children and lives most of the time in Avalon on Pittwater, and some of the time in Doonan on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Kingfish, salmon, bonito, bream and flathead live just outside his back door and the surf rises a short walk from the front door.
Someone had to have this life and Derek is just so glad that someone is him.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 22, 2025
A very well written book - written from the perspective of a 12 year old. so innocent and fresh in respect of the observations of life in 1950’s Auckland and the lingering after affects of the war on the residents of Ponsonby. It is so well written the reader can’t tell whether it is fact or fiction or where one starts and the other ends. A really enjoyable read - quite different from other books.
February 28, 2025
I bought this book randomly off the shelf at a second hand bookshop in Rotorua, New Zealand. I wanted to read a book by a New Zealand author while on holiday there. And it did not disappoint in that regard. I loved the historical fiction look at Auckland, and the story ended up being good too. I didn't really understand the title, but oh well.
July 8, 2018
Compelling. A great read!
April 2, 2020
Insight into youth
Description of the complexities of growing up. Description of how prejudice can destroy and how bravery can overcome obstacles. Stand up against bullies.
Description of the complexities of growing up. Description of how prejudice can destroy and how bravery can overcome obstacles. Stand up against bullies.
July 26, 2022
Really enjoyed this book. It was nostalgic and humorous in a subtle way and just a well written story.
January 31, 2012
A child's world is an extraordinary place. At once small and insular with defined physical boundaries, and yet the possibilities of the imagination create whole new worlds and ways of looking at the same world we adults live in.
In 1956, New Zealand is indeed a very small and insular place. Ultra conservative and British to its core, the population is still dealing with the fall out of World War II. In the search for normality and stability, conforming is the key. Those with 'war issues' are expected to keep them close to the chest and deal with them in their own way - alcohol, religion, denial, violence. You get the picture. Yet as we know, the issues that these behaviours cover are never far from the surface.
But we live in an ever-changing world, and children of course have no knowledge or experience of war, hunger, deprivation, losing limbs, POW camps, battle and so
on. They take what they see going on around them and interpret it in a way that may not quite meet with the universal approval of those around them.
The narrator in this gem of a book is a twelve year old boy, nameless as it so happens although I didn't realise this until quite some time after I finished. Like many twelve year old boys, he has a sense of adventure, an inquiring mind, and best of all an extraordinary gift for writing. He lives with his Mum and Dad and two older brothers in an ordinary suburban street in Auckland. He goes to school, has good friends, knows almost everybody in his local community, loves fishing, rides a bike and totally loves his life. His teacher Mr Grainger, regularly sets the class essay topics which our young hero embraces with huge energy, seriousness and diligence. The story he writes to the topic "The Burden of Responsibility" is a great story our young man bases on a man in the community. Any twelve year old boy would fall over themselves to know such a story, but it has the potential to rip apart this little suburban community, and turn upside down their preconceptions and prejudices.
But not only is this a jolly good yarn. It so brilliantly captures the tone and character of what 1950s post war New Zealand society would have been like, packed with the details and nuances of daily life. The author grew up in a place in New Zealand just like this in the 1950s. It is almost as if he has found his own diary from boyhood and built his story around it. He is also a very astute observer of behaviour and how people interact with each other. I really enjoyed this story, and think it would be great reading too for younger readers.
In 1956, New Zealand is indeed a very small and insular place. Ultra conservative and British to its core, the population is still dealing with the fall out of World War II. In the search for normality and stability, conforming is the key. Those with 'war issues' are expected to keep them close to the chest and deal with them in their own way - alcohol, religion, denial, violence. You get the picture. Yet as we know, the issues that these behaviours cover are never far from the surface.
But we live in an ever-changing world, and children of course have no knowledge or experience of war, hunger, deprivation, losing limbs, POW camps, battle and so
on. They take what they see going on around them and interpret it in a way that may not quite meet with the universal approval of those around them.
The narrator in this gem of a book is a twelve year old boy, nameless as it so happens although I didn't realise this until quite some time after I finished. Like many twelve year old boys, he has a sense of adventure, an inquiring mind, and best of all an extraordinary gift for writing. He lives with his Mum and Dad and two older brothers in an ordinary suburban street in Auckland. He goes to school, has good friends, knows almost everybody in his local community, loves fishing, rides a bike and totally loves his life. His teacher Mr Grainger, regularly sets the class essay topics which our young hero embraces with huge energy, seriousness and diligence. The story he writes to the topic "The Burden of Responsibility" is a great story our young man bases on a man in the community. Any twelve year old boy would fall over themselves to know such a story, but it has the potential to rip apart this little suburban community, and turn upside down their preconceptions and prejudices.
But not only is this a jolly good yarn. It so brilliantly captures the tone and character of what 1950s post war New Zealand society would have been like, packed with the details and nuances of daily life. The author grew up in a place in New Zealand just like this in the 1950s. It is almost as if he has found his own diary from boyhood and built his story around it. He is also a very astute observer of behaviour and how people interact with each other. I really enjoyed this story, and think it would be great reading too for younger readers.
January 3, 2012
I really wanted to give this four stars - but when I thought about it, I couldn't.
I wanted to like it because I had enjoyed Lunch with Mussolini so much. I found that to be a tremendous book
Unfortunately, this didn't hit the same spot.
I found the book hard to get into (perhaps because I found a few parallels with my own childhood in Tasmania in a similar era (mundane to me, but others might find it fascinating.) After 50-odd pages, I actually read three other books and returned to it with hopes it would grab me more.
It did - and I realised at the end that the beginning had been a necessary foundation but, alas, I found the climax to the story to be a little too predictable and formulaic. A bit too Hollywood feel-good.
That's not to say I hated the book. Certainly, I'd give a Derek Hansen book another go. He's a skilful story teller.
I wanted to like it because I had enjoyed Lunch with Mussolini so much. I found that to be a tremendous book
Unfortunately, this didn't hit the same spot.
I found the book hard to get into (perhaps because I found a few parallels with my own childhood in Tasmania in a similar era (mundane to me, but others might find it fascinating.) After 50-odd pages, I actually read three other books and returned to it with hopes it would grab me more.
It did - and I realised at the end that the beginning had been a necessary foundation but, alas, I found the climax to the story to be a little too predictable and formulaic. A bit too Hollywood feel-good.
That's not to say I hated the book. Certainly, I'd give a Derek Hansen book another go. He's a skilful story teller.
July 29, 2024
I really think Derek Hansen has to be my favourite author of all time. His words just never fail to hook me. Even this story, which was slow and steady, had me gripped. The semi-autobiographical novel is written from the perspective of a 12 year old boy, who is so sweet and funny and it really feels like it is him who is talking. He loves writing stories and the novel follows the consequences of one of them. Hansen really brings to life what it was like in 1950s Auckland and how different 'family' and 'childhood' was back then.
Although WW2 has ended, Hansen brilliantly describes how for some the pain was still very much present and how it affected their relationships with others. I thought it was so well written.
I was also delighted that having emailed Hansen, he signed and sent a copy over to me in England :)
Although WW2 has ended, Hansen brilliantly describes how for some the pain was still very much present and how it affected their relationships with others. I thought it was so well written.
I was also delighted that having emailed Hansen, he signed and sent a copy over to me in England :)
February 10, 2011
Again, Derek Hansen has captured my attention. Hansen has an uncanny knack of bringing back the substance and subtleties of time and place. His characterizations are extremely well done. Twelve year old boy who loves to write and does it well, inadvertently discovers a wartime secret and unleashes a chain of events which rip a close community apart, turning neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend. Author captures spirit of inner city life in Aukland New Zealand in the 1950's where migrants and war survivors cam to reclaim peace and a new life.
May 21, 2015
A book I suspect with limited appeal outside Australasia. Reads like a biography - which it is in many respects. Many born in the same timeframe would have similar memories and story writing was a big thing in my day and before and we enjoyed writing complicated plots full of adventure. The book conveys very well the juxtaposition between adults post war feelings towards the Germans and a kids simple beliefs in adventurous lives being tantamount regardless of whose side they were on.
An enjoyable nostalgic read.
An enjoyable nostalgic read.
February 28, 2010
This is a really good read. Written in New Zealand in 1950's and while its not a strictly true story, it feels like one. Lots about it is so kiwi but its also a really good yarn. It highlights the importance of community in this era but also how fickle and judgemental those communities can be. It also covers the depth of feeling post war which is something our generation know very little of and I found that really interesting
Read
March 16, 2013set in New Zealand the plot follows the story of a 10 year old Hansen. the tale is enjoyable, but if you only read this for the story you will miss out on the lessons to be learnt, about war, human nature, mateship, and the uncertainty of reading the people around you. I thought the dialogue interesting, seemed for me to read more like aussie lingo, slang and sayings, than Kiwi. worth the read.
July 14, 2024
This was a book group read. I am a good reader but this one I had to start 4 times. I found the first half of the book tedious and I hated the narrators voice. I hit the second half and loved it. There were so many rave reviews and no one else mentions the difficulty they had engaging with the book. The concept was fabulous and I loved the second half and the development of the characters. Hated the first part loved the second. I would have said they were written by different people.
October 7, 2013
A twelve year old boy writes an essay in 1956, which inadvertently uncovers a secret from World War II.
A snap shot of Auckland, as this nameless boy saw it. Worth reading but I felt not as absorbing as Hansen's Lunch Series.
Aucklanders should read this was part of the city's history, familiar place settings give this novel local appeal.
A snap shot of Auckland, as this nameless boy saw it. Worth reading but I felt not as absorbing as Hansen's Lunch Series.
Aucklanders should read this was part of the city's history, familiar place settings give this novel local appeal.
November 28, 2013
i have finally finished reading this book. it has taken me two attempts to finish it, and i don't regret it. the beginning is relatively slow, however the middle and end are very active. the key ideas in the book are sufficiently exposed to his audience.
overall i enjoyed the middle to end of the book.
overall i enjoyed the middle to end of the book.
May 26, 2013
Good read, especially if you live in Auckland and can relate to the setting, and good description of what was both good and bad about living in New Zealand in the post war years. Not as good as the "lunch with..." books though.
July 1, 2014
Not the best this author has to offer but still a great read with themes of forgiveness, prejudice, pride and restitution. Set in NZ but just as easily could have been Australia with the small country ideals explored.
July 25, 2010
I beautifully observed novel about growing up in New Zealand in the 1940s.
January 16, 2012
Another great story from Hansen
February 25, 2013
REMEMBER ME by Derek Hansen is a delightful book about growing up in New Zealand. I have read 5 Hansen books in the past few weeks and love them. I highly recommend them.
March 23, 2015
Main Character is a boy during WWII in Auckland. Discoveries and familiarities were warming as the story unfolded.
January 4, 2017
This was an interesting read, definitly not as good as the 'Lunch with' series, but still enjoyable.
January 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this novel. A good insight to life for kids in the early fifties in NZ
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews