How to Be Dead in a Year of Snakes

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book How to Be Dead in a Year of Snakes by Chris Tse, Auckland University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Chris Tse ISBN: 9781775587552
Publisher: Auckland University Press Publication: January 1, 2015
Imprint: Auckland University Press Language: English
Author: Chris Tse
ISBN: 9781775587552
Publisher: Auckland University Press
Publication: January 1, 2015
Imprint: Auckland University Press
Language: English

In 1905, white supremacist Lionel Terry murdered the Cantonese gold prospector Joe Kum Yung to draw attention to his crusade to rid New Zealand of Chinese and other east Asian immigrants. Author Chris Tse uses this story—and its reenactment for a documentary a hundred years later—to reflect on the experiences of Chinese migrants of the period, their wishes and hopes, their estrangement and alienation, their ghostly reverberation through a white-majority culture. Along the way readers visit the gold fields of the south; a shipwreck in the Hokianga that left the spirits of 500 Chinese gold miners in an unmemorialized limbo for a hundred years; and the streets of Newtown, Wellington, where Lionel Terry went out one night "looking for a Chinaman." Chris Tse's flickering use of imagery, resonant language, and flexible pronouns are particularly suited to the historic events he describes and the viewpoints he shifts through. How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes is a welcome poetic addition to New Zealand literature.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1905, white supremacist Lionel Terry murdered the Cantonese gold prospector Joe Kum Yung to draw attention to his crusade to rid New Zealand of Chinese and other east Asian immigrants. Author Chris Tse uses this story—and its reenactment for a documentary a hundred years later—to reflect on the experiences of Chinese migrants of the period, their wishes and hopes, their estrangement and alienation, their ghostly reverberation through a white-majority culture. Along the way readers visit the gold fields of the south; a shipwreck in the Hokianga that left the spirits of 500 Chinese gold miners in an unmemorialized limbo for a hundred years; and the streets of Newtown, Wellington, where Lionel Terry went out one night "looking for a Chinaman." Chris Tse's flickering use of imagery, resonant language, and flexible pronouns are particularly suited to the historic events he describes and the viewpoints he shifts through. How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes is a welcome poetic addition to New Zealand literature.

More books from Auckland University Press

Cover of the book Dear Sweet Harry by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Makers of Fortune by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Today is the Piano's Birthday by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Historical Frictions by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Labour's Path to Political Independence by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Strangers Arrive by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Julius Vogel by Chris Tse
Cover of the book The Limits by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Country of Writing by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Coates of the Kaipara by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Te Koparapara by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Gleam by Chris Tse
Cover of the book The Rise and Fall of National Women's Hospital by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Walls to Kick and Hills to Sing From by Chris Tse
Cover of the book Whale Years by Chris Tse
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy