Novel
Smith's Dream
C. K. Stead · 1971
Synopsis
Smith leaves a failed marriage for a solitary life on an island in the Coromandel, a version of the New Zealand dream of a retreat far from everything. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Volkner seizes power, sets up a tyrannical regime and brings in American troops to crush the rebellion spreading through the country. The war that takes hold resembles the one in Vietnam, and Smith is drawn into it despite himself.
Context
After refusals from London publishers and from the national literary fund, Longman Paul published the novel in Auckland in October 1971. It transposes a Vietnam-type conflict to New Zealand; its author called it a novel of “what if” rather than a prediction. The 1973 paperback edition carries, at his request, a different and harsher ending. Roger Donaldson made it into Sleeping Dogs in 1977, with Sam Neill.
Who it is for
A short novel, never translated into French; two other novels by the author have been, in 1993 and in 2007.
Prizes and reception
Third at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards in 1972; its adaptation was the first New Zealand film released in the United States.
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