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The mentor
Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Graeme Lay
65 books12 followersGraeme Lay is a prolific writer, editor and manuscript assessor. He has published or anthologised forty works of fiction and non-fiction, including novels for adults and young adults, three collections of short stories and three of travel writing. He has been Books Editor for North & South magazine and for over twenty years was secretary of the Frank Sargeson Trust.
Graeme began writing short stories in the late 1970s. His first novel, The Mentor, was published in 1978 and his first collection of short stories, Dear Mr Cairney, in 1985. Since then he has won the Lilian Ida Smith Award (1988) and was named Reviewer of the Year at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards (1998). Graeme is a three-time finalist in the New Zealand Travel Writer of the Year Award. He has also twice been a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards and was also included on the 2002 Storylines Notable Senior Fiction List. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he devised and edited five collections of New Zealand short short stories.
From the 1990s onwards, after travelling to New Caledonia and Rarotonga, Graeme developed a deep interest in the islands of the South Pacific and the history and culture of that region’s peoples. Many of his books, both fiction and non-fiction, are set in the South Pacific. His latest novels, a trilogy based on the life of the famous English explorer James Cook, all became best sellers. They were: The Secret Life of James Cook (2012), James Cook’s New World (2013) and James Cook’s Lost World (2015).
Graeme began writing short stories in the late 1970s. His first novel, The Mentor, was published in 1978 and his first collection of short stories, Dear Mr Cairney, in 1985. Since then he has won the Lilian Ida Smith Award (1988) and was named Reviewer of the Year at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards (1998). Graeme is a three-time finalist in the New Zealand Travel Writer of the Year Award. He has also twice been a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards and was also included on the 2002 Storylines Notable Senior Fiction List. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he devised and edited five collections of New Zealand short short stories.
From the 1990s onwards, after travelling to New Caledonia and Rarotonga, Graeme developed a deep interest in the islands of the South Pacific and the history and culture of that region’s peoples. Many of his books, both fiction and non-fiction, are set in the South Pacific. His latest novels, a trilogy based on the life of the famous English explorer James Cook, all became best sellers. They were: The Secret Life of James Cook (2012), James Cook’s New World (2013) and James Cook’s Lost World (2015).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 4, 2015
Just started this book. Ashamed to say had not heard of Graeme lay before! Picked his book up because I gave the book group at work the task of reading an author who would be talking at the 2015 Auckland Writers Festival and I was getting some books for our display.
Loving the book so far (only up to page 22 so far), especially love the style and some of the sentences such as ... " ageing aunts, as smug and plump as spayed cats" ... The image I now have in my head! Fabulous stuff.
The first few pages took me back to my childhood and to my first days in London.
God I wish I could write like this guy! Why have I not read him before now?
If you write, there are some interesting passages between the main character and fledging writer, Paul Hopkins, and the Mentor, for example, page 64: 'The secret of creativity in writing lay not necessarily in recording the histrionics of existence - Hemingway wars, Poe's horrors - but rather the imaginative treatment of human dramas enacted in the day to day lives of ordinary people.'
The relationship between Paul and the Mentor is engaging and heart warming, an island within the dark tones that underpin this novel, it is a darkness that threatens to seep into your soul. A slow burner conspiracy.
Loving the book so far (only up to page 22 so far), especially love the style and some of the sentences such as ... " ageing aunts, as smug and plump as spayed cats" ... The image I now have in my head! Fabulous stuff.
The first few pages took me back to my childhood and to my first days in London.
God I wish I could write like this guy! Why have I not read him before now?
If you write, there are some interesting passages between the main character and fledging writer, Paul Hopkins, and the Mentor, for example, page 64: 'The secret of creativity in writing lay not necessarily in recording the histrionics of existence - Hemingway wars, Poe's horrors - but rather the imaginative treatment of human dramas enacted in the day to day lives of ordinary people.'
The relationship between Paul and the Mentor is engaging and heart warming, an island within the dark tones that underpin this novel, it is a darkness that threatens to seep into your soul. A slow burner conspiracy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review