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A Conversation with my Country
A fresh, personal account of New Zealand, now, from one of our hardest-hitting writers.
Following Once Were Warriors, Alan Duff wrote Maori: The Crisis and the Challenge. His controversial comments shook the country. A quarter of a century later, New Zealand and Maoridom are in a very different place. And so is Alan - he has published many more books, had two films made of his works, founded the Duffy Books in Homes literacy programme and endured 'some less inspiring moments, including bankruptcy'.
Returned from living in France, he views his country with fresh eyes, as it is now: homing in on the crises in parenting, our prisons, education and welfare systems, and a growing culture of entitlement that entraps Pakeha and Maori alike.
Never one to shy away from being a whetstone on which others can sharpen their own opinions, Alan tells it how he sees it.
Following Once Were Warriors, Alan Duff wrote Maori: The Crisis and the Challenge. His controversial comments shook the country. A quarter of a century later, New Zealand and Maoridom are in a very different place. And so is Alan - he has published many more books, had two films made of his works, founded the Duffy Books in Homes literacy programme and endured 'some less inspiring moments, including bankruptcy'.
Returned from living in France, he views his country with fresh eyes, as it is now: homing in on the crises in parenting, our prisons, education and welfare systems, and a growing culture of entitlement that entraps Pakeha and Maori alike.
Never one to shy away from being a whetstone on which others can sharpen their own opinions, Alan tells it how he sees it.
- GenresNonfictionAudiobook
256 pages, Paperback
Published July 2, 2019
35 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Alan Duff
40books53followersAlan Duff (born October 26, 1950, Rotorua, New Zealand) is a New Zealand novelist and newspaper columnist, most well known as the author of Once Were Warriors. He began to write full-time in 1985.
He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name in 1994.
Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.
He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly -- later bi-weekly � column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.
State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella in 1994.
The Books in Homes scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made in to a film in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary, the story takes place in Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama.
He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name in 1994.
Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.
He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly -- later bi-weekly � column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.
State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella in 1994.
The Books in Homes scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made in to a film in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary, the story takes place in Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 22, 2019
Easily one of the worst books I've ever read - am surprised a publisher pushed on the green-light for this. An embarrassment to all concerned. Out of touch Kiwi that disappeared due to his own scandal - not paying people, bankruptcy - returns to "Take the temperature" of "his country"; ends up plugging his 25-year old books and trotting out anecdotal evidence in place of stats. As one wag already said, this should have been called "A Conversation with Myself". Basically a self-help book for someone who helped themselves to lashings of ego then disappeared entirely when the road got tough.
November 9, 2021
Confronting and inspiring.
The majority of my reading about NZ history, and therefore NZ racial politics, comes from Pākehā writers and academics, and I've always felt comfortable with their harsh lens of colonisation and roseate view of Māori culture prior to the whitey's arrival. Duff comes out with a passionate and brusque counter view that took me by surprise.
Full of references and cited sources from trusted studies, as well as anecdotal experiences, A Conversation With My Country is full of good stuff. Some of it feels mean or discompassionate, but this shouldn't matter when the aim of the book is to be useful. First and foremost, Duff wants change. He wants elevation of Māori, and believes we should acknowledge and accept unsavoury truths in order to gain it.
He's also a huge fan of reading and literacy and his charity organisation Duffy Books has walked the walk. I've been a Duffy Hero for 7 years now and have visited over a hundred schools and thousands of kids, and I've seen firsthand the incredible and beneficial work it does. Perhaps because of that, I gave this book more consideration than I otherwise would have, and I appreciated the viewpoint on our country's inequality from an accomplished, intelligent Māori man.
Ka tino rawe!
The majority of my reading about NZ history, and therefore NZ racial politics, comes from Pākehā writers and academics, and I've always felt comfortable with their harsh lens of colonisation and roseate view of Māori culture prior to the whitey's arrival. Duff comes out with a passionate and brusque counter view that took me by surprise.
Full of references and cited sources from trusted studies, as well as anecdotal experiences, A Conversation With My Country is full of good stuff. Some of it feels mean or discompassionate, but this shouldn't matter when the aim of the book is to be useful. First and foremost, Duff wants change. He wants elevation of Māori, and believes we should acknowledge and accept unsavoury truths in order to gain it.
He's also a huge fan of reading and literacy and his charity organisation Duffy Books has walked the walk. I've been a Duffy Hero for 7 years now and have visited over a hundred schools and thousands of kids, and I've seen firsthand the incredible and beneficial work it does. Perhaps because of that, I gave this book more consideration than I otherwise would have, and I appreciated the viewpoint on our country's inequality from an accomplished, intelligent Māori man.
Ka tino rawe!
August 11, 2019
It's exactly what the title says it is, a conversation, an exploration of what parts of NZ society he knows about. I like the fact he is authentic and acknowledges his human frailty along with his humanity, I like his style and his grip on reality,and his common sense. Because I am old enough to know much of what he is talking about, as a former highschool teacher and tutor and later as a registered nurse, working lastly in the mental health arena for several years. Nurse friends work in prisons. What he says I agree with and support, because I have reached the same conclusions. He describes a NZ I recognise. I have groomed dogs in some of the districts he mentions. I've been a city restaurateur, and also worked in the tourist trade amongst Maori in the Rotorua district. Wonderful experiences. All of them instructive. Our world is, in the end, just made up of people who make good and bad decisions. None of us has all the answers, but Alan Duff has stuck his neck out to say what he thinks. Well done.
September 6, 2019
A first class piece of writing with numerous scenarios that I fully recognise as authentic, having grown up in a racially mixed community and school in NZ. Alan Duff is not the least bit "politically correct" and comes down hard on those people and institutions who have effectively made things worse for a significant part of the Maori population. He particularly excoriates the social welfare dependency culture which even in the early days was discerned by Maori leaders like Sir Apirana Ngata to be totally toxic for Maori people. This book has a fluid style and is very easy to read. I found his general thesis so compelling that I kept reading it at every spare moment...a page turner.
July 24, 2020
First thoughts were that this was a little self indulgent however on finishing my overwhelming view is that this is a brave and poignant work that our policy makers should be forced to read. Duff is controversial but he speaks good sense, suggests positive solutions and the betterment of the Maori people is unquestionably his core motivation. I would love to see a government bold enough to take up his challenge.
June 12, 2022
I read this after reading Alan Duff’s disappointing biography of Sonny Bill Williams. This was Duff back to his best, both auto biographical and investigating many of the difficult aspects of New Zealand society. This is a book designed to make the reader uncomfortable and challenge accepted assumptions.
Duff reveals he based Once Were Warriors ‘Jake the Muss� and his explosive anger not on a man, but his own Mother who would brawl with her sisters, commit domestic violence against his Father and his siblings. “All my adult life I’ve asked the question � Why? Why us? Why are my mother’s people so violent? Why do so many Maori parents hate our own children?’� (p 36). It is brutal and addresses under-performance in education, prison, welfare, parenting (or lack of parenting skills), and alcohol and drug use. Duff acknowledges his own faults and that he himself spent time in prison for fraud.
Duff referenced JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy to show this was not just a Maori problem, plenty of ‘white� family’s around the world engage in the same anti-social behaviour. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (Australia) and Theodore Dalrymple (England) are adding voices to the sub genre of compassionate conservative Indigenous voices that are challenging the narrative of the liberal progressive, champagne socialist intelligentsia. Dalrymple argues that the socially liberal and progressive views prevalent within Western intellectual circles minimise the responsibility of individuals for their own actions and undermine traditional mores, contributing to the formation within prosperous countries of an underclass afflicted by endemic violence, criminality, sexually transmitted diseases, welfare dependency, and drug abuse. Duff writes “Consultants would write reports and do studies on the perennial Maori social problems, which always concluded with blame heaped on colonialism, white racism and the system, and soon another government contract followed� (p 14). Duff identifies the same symptoms amongst a minority of Maori (and European), which is the same ‘underclass� with the same social problems that Vance, Nampijinpa, and Dalrymple identify.
Duff concludes by showing the sort of programs that do work and rejects the repeating of the mistakes of the liberal progressive policies that have done the ‘underclass� no favours and entrenched generational reliance on the government, whilst blaming and criticising the same institutions that provide for it. Duff puts the responsibility on the individual primarily and shows from his own family that the cycle of poverty and under performance can be ended by the voluntary acceptance of responsibility for ones self. He acknowledges his children are better people than he was, and grandchildren better still. Their is hope, but no hope in the culture of blame and identity grievance politics.
Duff reveals he based Once Were Warriors ‘Jake the Muss� and his explosive anger not on a man, but his own Mother who would brawl with her sisters, commit domestic violence against his Father and his siblings. “All my adult life I’ve asked the question � Why? Why us? Why are my mother’s people so violent? Why do so many Maori parents hate our own children?’� (p 36). It is brutal and addresses under-performance in education, prison, welfare, parenting (or lack of parenting skills), and alcohol and drug use. Duff acknowledges his own faults and that he himself spent time in prison for fraud.
Duff referenced JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy to show this was not just a Maori problem, plenty of ‘white� family’s around the world engage in the same anti-social behaviour. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (Australia) and Theodore Dalrymple (England) are adding voices to the sub genre of compassionate conservative Indigenous voices that are challenging the narrative of the liberal progressive, champagne socialist intelligentsia. Dalrymple argues that the socially liberal and progressive views prevalent within Western intellectual circles minimise the responsibility of individuals for their own actions and undermine traditional mores, contributing to the formation within prosperous countries of an underclass afflicted by endemic violence, criminality, sexually transmitted diseases, welfare dependency, and drug abuse. Duff writes “Consultants would write reports and do studies on the perennial Maori social problems, which always concluded with blame heaped on colonialism, white racism and the system, and soon another government contract followed� (p 14). Duff identifies the same symptoms amongst a minority of Maori (and European), which is the same ‘underclass� with the same social problems that Vance, Nampijinpa, and Dalrymple identify.
Duff concludes by showing the sort of programs that do work and rejects the repeating of the mistakes of the liberal progressive policies that have done the ‘underclass� no favours and entrenched generational reliance on the government, whilst blaming and criticising the same institutions that provide for it. Duff puts the responsibility on the individual primarily and shows from his own family that the cycle of poverty and under performance can be ended by the voluntary acceptance of responsibility for ones self. He acknowledges his children are better people than he was, and grandchildren better still. Their is hope, but no hope in the culture of blame and identity grievance politics.
August 23, 2020
Alan Duff wrote the hard hitting book Once Were Warriors which was made into a movie, about Maori and domestic violence, which became famous in nz for the kind of gangland mentality and welfare dependency that often gets swept under the rug or put into the 'too hard basket'.
Several books 25 years later Duff looks back on how far Maori have come. It was an interesting read for me as my school is part of the Duffy Books in homes scheme that Alan Duff piloted to help Maori children get into reading and literacy, to prevent the kind of violence that he grew up with on his mothers side.
He makes points on both sides (his dad is Pakeha, Scottish, and his mum was Maori) that are trying to look honestly at the situation, which basically seems to boil down to bad parenting and a cycle of violence. I would look in deeper and say its the sins of the Fathers(ancestors) visiting the suceeding generations or a curse that only love can break. I dont know if the solution is as he puts it solely education...although that can help, but more of a spiritual malaise...Duff doesnt touch on anything like that in his book but makes a good stab at trying to make sense of why Maori have such a violent culture and are overpresented in the negative stats of crime, poverty and ill health.
Several books 25 years later Duff looks back on how far Maori have come. It was an interesting read for me as my school is part of the Duffy Books in homes scheme that Alan Duff piloted to help Maori children get into reading and literacy, to prevent the kind of violence that he grew up with on his mothers side.
He makes points on both sides (his dad is Pakeha, Scottish, and his mum was Maori) that are trying to look honestly at the situation, which basically seems to boil down to bad parenting and a cycle of violence. I would look in deeper and say its the sins of the Fathers(ancestors) visiting the suceeding generations or a curse that only love can break. I dont know if the solution is as he puts it solely education...although that can help, but more of a spiritual malaise...Duff doesnt touch on anything like that in his book but makes a good stab at trying to make sense of why Maori have such a violent culture and are overpresented in the negative stats of crime, poverty and ill health.
August 12, 2019
A must read for any NZ er.
December 19, 2019
Books is one of Duff's solutions to our issues, with which I agree, of course. "The easiest people to misinform are the unread" (p213).
February 7, 2020
Should be read by every new Zealander. Well thought out and considered.
April 30, 2020
A little egotistical but Duff attempts to promulgate a number of ideas that will help Maori break the negative cycles that push down on some.
I like and tautoko his whakaaro.
I like and tautoko his whakaaro.
April 28, 2022
“Even if a social issue leaves you hearing Yanny while I hear Laurel, the important thing is that we are engaging, interacting, conversing, connecting, trying to make the world a better place.�
This is not a conversation but a massive rant instead. I loved Once were warriors and am committed to read more New Zealand authors but wow - this is a master class into boomer thinking. Loads of meritocratic ideas, "colonisation wasn't bad", "Maori should be like the Chinese" and not to mention the overtly misoginy (especially against solo mothers!) and war against welfare.
I can see where Duff comes from as he had a very rough childhood loaded with abuse and trauma. His hate for his mother is palpable. You can feel it when he describes his upbringing. It is sad but I think it's sadder he doesn't realise that if society and government had intervened more - and not less - he could have been spared.
Duff goes to lengths of describing horrific things that Maori unfortunately have been involved with. He wants business people running the country. To end "dependency and entitlement from welfare".
Afterwards I went to research more about him & found out his very polarising.
The only good thing is his love for books and his belief that reading/writing can save children and adults alike from horrible lives - a view that I share.
This is not a conversation but a massive rant instead. I loved Once were warriors and am committed to read more New Zealand authors but wow - this is a master class into boomer thinking. Loads of meritocratic ideas, "colonisation wasn't bad", "Maori should be like the Chinese" and not to mention the overtly misoginy (especially against solo mothers!) and war against welfare.
I can see where Duff comes from as he had a very rough childhood loaded with abuse and trauma. His hate for his mother is palpable. You can feel it when he describes his upbringing. It is sad but I think it's sadder he doesn't realise that if society and government had intervened more - and not less - he could have been spared.
Duff goes to lengths of describing horrific things that Maori unfortunately have been involved with. He wants business people running the country. To end "dependency and entitlement from welfare".
Afterwards I went to research more about him & found out his very polarising.
The only good thing is his love for books and his belief that reading/writing can save children and adults alike from horrible lives - a view that I share.
August 2, 2023
I can't with this man-child- he should be given therapy not a publishing deal. Ironically while he tells Maori to move on, while he is unable to move on from his childhood, and is reeks of mommy issues. He says he's not generalising about Maori and then proceeds to make generalisations. He still perpetuates the myth of the warrior gene which has long been debunked - he makes the same weak argument of finding instances of violence to define a population, yet name one culture without instances of violence in their history. He calls poverty and "excuse" and then highlights the "I have a dream programme" which clearly focuses on low-income communities because the issue is class. The cognitive dissonance is almost funny at this point.
There were so many painful moments with this book. Painful because of his inability to think critically, for instance: "Jake had voluntarily tossed in his job and gone on welfare because he got only $17 a week less than he did in employment." ... So you agree that the welfare system incentivizes unemployment?
This was a cool fact: "When South Canterbury Finance, a second-tier finance company, went down with $1.6Billion of debts, the New Zealand government bailed investors out. Many of these investors from the Canterbury region were farmers." Overall, this book is utter garbage.
There were so many painful moments with this book. Painful because of his inability to think critically, for instance: "Jake had voluntarily tossed in his job and gone on welfare because he got only $17 a week less than he did in employment." ... So you agree that the welfare system incentivizes unemployment?
This was a cool fact: "When South Canterbury Finance, a second-tier finance company, went down with $1.6Billion of debts, the New Zealand government bailed investors out. Many of these investors from the Canterbury region were farmers." Overall, this book is utter garbage.
June 27, 2021
This book is bound to polarise New Zealanders depending on their political leanings. For me, it is a great contribution to the debate and one which I’d
recommend to anyone interested in the future of New Zealand as a bicultural nation.
Duff is open and frank about his beginnings, his years on the wrong side of the justice system and his experience as the initiator of Duffy’s Books In schools. He is well qualified to comment, to advocate and influence our thinking on incarceration of Maori, parenting and education.
The writing quality is uneven at times but the book is a quick read and bears comparison with the recent contributions by Patricia Grace in her memoirs and Alison Jones on ‘Being Pakeha�. All see the need for change but have differing views on the future direction.
I gave this book four stars but in many ways it deserves five for its discussion of subjects vital to the future of our country.
recommend to anyone interested in the future of New Zealand as a bicultural nation.
Duff is open and frank about his beginnings, his years on the wrong side of the justice system and his experience as the initiator of Duffy’s Books In schools. He is well qualified to comment, to advocate and influence our thinking on incarceration of Maori, parenting and education.
The writing quality is uneven at times but the book is a quick read and bears comparison with the recent contributions by Patricia Grace in her memoirs and Alison Jones on ‘Being Pakeha�. All see the need for change but have differing views on the future direction.
I gave this book four stars but in many ways it deserves five for its discussion of subjects vital to the future of our country.
February 24, 2020
Hmm. This one is a tricky one to rate - there's a lot that I'm really not sure I agree with in this book, but there's also a lot that I think has merit (books; education; less talk more action). At the end of the day these are Duff's thoughts about where NZ is going/could or should go and I have to ask myself why I'd consider my opinions more valid than his. And I don't, even if I'm not sure I agree with everything he says. 3.5 stars.
February 28, 2021
A rambling "pull your self up by your bootstraps" diatribe. A Conversation with my country is long on anecdote and short on evidence. Duff manages to regularly contradict himself when he's not wallowing in self-pity or liberally quoting from his own novels.
Save yourself some cash and listen to talkback radio instead.
Save yourself some cash and listen to talkback radio instead.
November 10, 2021
I didn't manage to finish this before it was due back at the Library, but the message is clear throughout. Duff writes strongly about the need for the Maori people to move forward and not be victims, and though the book was written a few years ago, it is now increasingly correct in what it says.
November 3, 2019
He quoted his other books inside of this book. Honestly, how can I take this writer seriously when most of the book was centred around how great he is for writing his other books. Unimpressive.
May 16, 2021
Exceptionally talented writer reduces everything to the most boring facets. Full review here
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