Live Bodies

by Maurice Gee

An Austrian Jew in a 1940s antipodean and colonial society, Josef Mandl is in harmony and in conflict with Austrians, Germans and New Zealanders alike. His story mirrors the alien experience everywhere.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, 20th Century

264 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 1998

About the author

Maurice Gough Gee was a New Zealand novelist. He was one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and having won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.
Gee's novel Plumb (1978) was described by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature to be one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand. He was also well-known for children's and young adult fiction such as Under the Mountain (1979). He won multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award by the Children's Literature Foundation in recognition of his contributions to children's literature.

Reviews

[Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love his character insights as always. Interesting to read because I think a number of the themes get worked in more depth in Going West

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maurice Gee is a wonderful writer. He is so good he can write great books for children, not just for grown-ups. Live Bodies is one of his books for adults.

Gee's books all have a kind of an undertow to them. There is a surface life that is described to you, for you to make your own judgements from. But you know that under the surface the book is seething with darkness, repression, danger, anger...Skillfully, he draws the picture for the reader, telling you not to look, not to pick up the cover, not to open the door, but of course you do. It's the ultimate in 'don't look down' writing, really. Almost Roald Dahl-like.
Just think of his book titles, 'Under the Mountain', 'The World Around the Corner', 'Live Bodies', 'In My Father's Den'. They are all a bit maggoty really - a dark and disturbed underbelly.

In Live Bodies, the main character, Josef, is an immigrant from Vienna - he arrives before the War, and is interned on Soames Island. The book is a reconciliation. A truth that must be told, 'I feel the need for fullness and the rounding out of things. It cuffs and buffets me with 'not enough' and 'start again'. And I must try to tell no lies, for there's no one in a position to find me out.'

You don't warm to Josef. You're not meant to. He finds the whole human relationship thing - well - difficult:

'The rolls are firm and tender and spread with the home-made blackberry jam sent to me across the strait from Nelson. Blackberries. Another taste that brings a memory - but I'll leave it now and concentrate on what's before my eyes. Not that girl eating berries from her tin billy in the sun all those years ago, but this one on my lawn, with her hair shorn up one side and weighted on the other, and rings, half a dozen, ruining one ear, and a silver stud like a pimple in her nose. There's a tattoo on the point of her shoulder. That is new. Please do not let her put tattoos anywhere else.
I'm surprised that I care enough to ask. It comes not from love, for love is rare, but close connection; from shared blood, which binds in a knot I can't unpick. My son's daughter, my grand-daughter, hurts me and concerns me and I am shaken by the depth of it.'

I am glad I have reread this book, although I find I am still unable to write a plot summary. This is all about character and observation. It makes me think a little of 'The Forrests' by Emily Perkins, in fact. Josef tells us that he has a very accurate memory, 'My senses have always been sharp and my memories are precise, and when I recall smells, sounds, textures - the smells of chocolate and coffee and cigars and marsh mud and hot leather and river water, the sound of creaking suitcases, the grinding of tram wheels, the texture of silks and lace and hair -then I experience a kind of suffocation as time stops and breathing is held still and one small part of existence becomes the whole.' And yet, he misses much of the human point of the moment - observing life carefully, experiencing moments, but never quite putting it all together.

Takes a bit of getting through at times, but worth persevering.

[Mihai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good re-telling of the immigrant experience in a New Zealand context. Some regional references went over my head, but overall this was a well-crafted story - if vague at times, especially in the sections where the elder narrator deals with contemporary issues. The main thing I took away from Live Bodies was the knowledge that internment camps during World War II sprang up everywhere, even in the most unexpected places like 'at the end of the world.'

[Jonathon Hagger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This very short novel was well written but it lacked any real plot. There were many different threads that popped up that could have been explored much more I feel. This felt like a story churned out in between better works.

[Gerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have said it before, but Maurice Gee is a wonderful writer. I always love his novels. They have a lot in common but they're all very different, but very moving.

I think this might be one of his best (though I always think that after putting one down). He writes very well, but it is his characters that are so good. Such real people, all of them. We've all known people just like the characters in his books.

And yet often (but not always) his narrator or protagonist is a man, usually middle-aged to elderly, looking back on their life. Family is always very strong, the father-son relationship explored probably less commonly than the father-daughter relationship, the gracefulness of being in love and having a long-term wife or husband.... Often a strong male friendship (important for men though rarely explored or discussed in many cultures).

And an interesting historical slant to this one, in particular, with the protagonist being an exile from Austria before WWII (jewish) and being imprisoned on Somes Island as a potential German Spy (with actual Nazis!). This actually happened, with his story being based on an actual Austrian Jew who's story is discussed in other places and found in archives.

Maurice Gee doesn't just write well and naturally, he's also an old-fashioned writer in his research, archives and libraries, and probably writing in long hand.

Sadly he's now dead but there are still quite a few of his books I've never read. I'll probably enjoy them each as much.

[J. Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Live Bodies is Maurice Gee's interesting attempt about an immigrant in New Zealand who has a large history that affects how their life has been, comparing the protagonist's viewpoints from before WWII and afterwards. The story points out the protagonists struggles and how they adapt to change, despite New Zealand itself changing both as a nation and as a people.

Although the first chapter or two is a bit helter-skelter, Maurice Gee redeems himself by staying true to a dual plot convention by having the protagonist recall his past and how things affected him. Coupled with being very awkward due to being an outsider (and not being able to relate to social norms very well), the protagonist's recollection is really back and forth. The story isn't linear at all, and with the shaky start to the story, the reader can feel overwhelmed with how much the situations jump back and forth. But as for a historical piece of fiction for New Zealand, it's a fascinating take on the 50s-60s.

For myself, I did enjoy it, but the story was quite hard to get into at first. But once you get through the awkward—all over the show—start, the story unfolds. However, the protagonist is very hard to relate to at times, so if you're after a read that feels familiar, then this book isn't for you. The overall comfort of this story is to make the reader feel alienated, which Maurice Gee has pulled off effectively.

[Anne Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book. We trace the life of Josef Mandl - his world views, his journey from Europe to New Zealand, his internment on Somes Island, his relationships and his life, work and family after his release as he lives out his days in Wellington. The exploration of kiwi racism and ignorance concerning the politics of Europe are as relevant today as they were when Gee wrote this. In fact, this book explains a lot! It really was only mid last century when blatant xenophobia was entirely socially acceptable. Gee's understanding of human motives and the impact of trauma on lives is near perfect. Some of the best narrative I've ever read which enabled me to fully explore and enjoy Josef as a character.

[Martin Boyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot in this book of interest - not least the immigrant becoming interned alien and coping with a new life in a distant country. The weakness of the novel is just this "lot." Too much material, with a loss of focus to go with it. Ideas are sparked - and then somehow fizzle out. The story is disjointed by forward and backward time-shifts, again without any apparent clear purpose.

I'm not condemning the novel completely (it was readable, if not greatly edifying!), but it was quirky in a haphazard way that I felt was a bit tedious and repetitive while not really leading to any better understanding. Not a book I would recommend.

[Klaas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the immigrant experience where you never feel quite at home in the new, but also can’t go back to the old. Also exposes the darker side of New Zealanders in the second half of the 20th century with prejudice, non-inclusion/acceptance of otherness and expectation that immigrants should just assimilate with their culture

[Anna McIntosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a while to get into due to the style of prose but eventually I got the hang of it. Enjoyable and interesting characters and style of storytelling.

Very touching and at times so harsh but a main character that would really absorb the blows.

Also funny to read a book set where you live.

[Sarahjane De Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gee's prose is, as always, beautiful. Those criticising the lack of plot might sit back and consider the overarching themes of the novel- everything falls into place, and it's a heart-breaking book. I enjoyed the Vienna and Soames Island segments in particular.

[B. Tollison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only just gets 3 stars.

This is purely literary fiction. As such, there is essentially no plot. The characters are the only thing driving the story.

The synopsis on the back cover is a pretty accurate description of the book itself. It is a first person account of the main character (Josef) in his old age recalling his life. We learn about his internment on Somme's Island in the Wellington harbour during the second World War, as well as his early life in Austria, his acclimatising to New Zealand culture, his family, and the business that he comes to own and operate. Every third chapter Josef brakes his reminiscences to discuss what is currently happening in his life; what his children (as adults) are doing with their lives and a rather engaging side-story regarding his grand-daughter who has come to board with him.

Imagine sitting next to your grand-father for a few hours while he recites his life story to you. That's what this story is. It reads, more or less, like an autobiography or the memoirs of a Jewish immigrant. Interesting in some parts, not very interesting in others. Sure, the characters are very realistic and believable in their behaviour, dialogue, and beliefs. And sure, the internship on Somme's Island is a unique experience that offers some interesting insights but there is little propelling this story forward. There is little incentive to turn the pages since it reads like an old man over indulging in long gone memories. It doesn't help that we aren't witnessing these events first-hand but are having them narrated/ told to us by an old man staring out the window to his backyard. This only creates an unnecessary boundary between the reader and the story, really separating us from the action and dulling it somewhat.

There are some smaller side plots that make it a bit easier to turn the pages in some parts (namely the present day story of Josef's grand-daughter and her severely strained relationship with her father, Kenny (Josef's son)) but these are few and far between and are really overshadowed by the constant reflections and introspection of Josef.

Unless you have a specific interest in the immigrant experience and you want that experience to be told in a very realistic manner than there isn't much to recommend Live Bodies. Josef's life story just isn't interesting enough to warrant having an entire book dedicated to. I commend Maurice Gee for his dedication to realism but just because something is realistic doesn't mean it's worth reading about.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I am a little drunk, and that is as drunk as I ever get, I lose my resentment and my fear and all knowledge of a social existence and know my being as molecular, like this wine in the glass, French wine, Swedish glass, or like the good cloth of my trousers that once was wool on the back of a Southland sheep, and grass before that, minerals in the soil, rain sucked from an ocean on the other side of the world... You see where I am heading? It is enormously comforting to make the journey into the universe and into time and understand that I come from there and will go there and that consciousness will be put aside....

I have not yet put together the hows & whys that connect the opening sentences/paragraph with the rest of this novel, but i enjoyed it, from start to finish, much as a slow-cooker might enjoy the stew.

A simple novel in the form of a memoir, i guess. There is no haste on the author's or the narrator's part, and so i did not feel overeager to be done with it. That's a trap that i can fall into with many fun, exciting, enjoyable, or great books. So it felt like a meal that was extremely satisfying, served at just the right temperature, and at exactly the right portion size. (My apologies, but i don't think i can be more specific about why i like this book.)

[Bettie]

Description: An Austrian Jew in a 1940s antipodean and colonial society, Josef Mandl is in harmony and in conflict with Austrians, Germans and New Zealanders alike. His story mirrors the alien experience everywhere.

For Emily

Opening: When I am a little drunk, and that is as drunk as I ever get, I lose my resentment and my fear and all knowledge of a social existence and know my being as molecular, like this wine in the glass, French wine, Swedish glass, or like the good cloth of my trousers that once was wool on the back of a Southland sheep, and grass before that, minerals in the soil, rain sucked from an ocean on the other sider of the world...

[Te · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a beautifully told portrait of a life, what Gee does best. Also, I read a library copy of this book, and fascinatingly, it had a puzzle hidden within the pages - a set of clues around the city.

[Christine Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maurice Gee is such a good writer. Quiet humour and such good characters. Enjoyed this book