I saw the NZ reference and wanted to add – my two all-time favorite authors are NZ-ers – Ngaio Marsh and Katherine Mansfield. Both of them pushed the envelope in so many ways!! NM has been reissued is new editions, but they’re not the same as the ones I used to borrow from my aunt’s musty cupboard to read.

OoOH really? I know that Monica Edwards- an author I read a lot of growing up, isn’t really in print anymore, so the books we have are treasured.
Hahaha Mills and Boon… they weren’t by Essie Summers were they?

@pickleddragon did you know I’ve read very little Katherine Mansfield for someone who is a fifth generation Kiwi… *tsk tsk*

@sicarius Naaice! and you’d better have read all of her, as a proud Kiwi! 😀 I’ve read a lot, but not all of KM’s pieces. I’m sure they’re all available, now that they should be out of copyright. Should look for them properly. She was beyond cool.

@pickleddragon Hahahaha guess I’m a shameful kiwi then. I don’t like rugby either so it’s fine.
Well I know they’re all still available here … if that helps lmao

@sicarius Hah I mis-read you! I thought you said you’ve read “every” little KM!! My comment should be reversed then! Bliss and Garden Party are the two collections I’d look to complete…

@sicarius they are by Essie Summers, well done!

@pickleddragon I must confess to also being a disappointing kiwi as I’ve read very little Katherine Mansfield also 🙈 pretty much just the Doll’s House

*tsk *tsk @beffels and @sicarius I’m disappointed indeed. Get down to it stat! 😀

In contrast, I’m a huge fan of many things Kiwi, starting from the cricket team (I can write reams about NZ in the ’92 World Cup, or the smartest captaincy ever by Stephen Fleming) to the literature… As a college student in New Delhi years ago, I had even made plans with a classmate to go on a driving holiday in NZ (still do-able!), and work on sheep farms along the way (without a clue as to what that meant – I wouldn’t do that anymore!). Haha.

@pickleddragon do I get some kiwi cred back for being a cricket fan😆? I haven’t been able to go to a game for ages because small kids too hard to wrangle but in the Stephen Fleming years I spent A LOT of time at the Basin Reserve. 😄

@beffels Oh heck yeah!! A Kiwi cricket fan is a true cricket fan indeed 😀

Lucky you! We only have the terrible Ferozeshah Kotla here, which would sweep the awards for the ugliest cricket ground in the world, IMO. Polar opposite of Basin Reserve!

Also, I’m jealous because I could never watch Fleming & Co. live in a stadium. That era was definitely one of the greatest for Kiwi cricket (even considering last year’s epic run – minus that tragic final)…

@pickleddragon Lmao!!!! I wish I could pretend to like cricket but the truth of the matter is I honestly do not really understand what all the fuss is about.

I used to not really be any kind of sports person- but I can’t really say that now as I have found a few niche interests via youtube. I have seen a grand total of 2 rugby games in my life, neither live, and no cricket games. My brothers and dad like to talk cricket though and I uh like it when we win and dislike it when we lose for a stupid reason? And we used to play tip and run as kids, so I it’s not like I hate it. I’m just not a fanatic lol. I’ll just stick to making obscure Footrot Flats references.

I wish I could promise you that I will read more KM but the truth of the matter is I will only really read it if I think it sounds interesting enough, plus I have an awful lot of things on my to read list (much of which I even own) which will probably rank higher!!!!!
Anyway I hope you get your drive round of NZ someday and hey you could still do a farm stay lmao.
I will always maintain that the real New Zealand is seen and found behind and in between the tourist destinations- you haven’t seen NZ till you’ve been to a rural back country town stuck in a time long gone.

@ beffels I must confess to the fact that if I knew you were a kiwi before then I had forgotten and I am so sorry.
Also we have lots of Essie Summers lying around our house and I read several in my teenage years lol.

@pickleddragon that final! That was unbelievable and so freaking disappointing! What are the odds?! (I haven’t recovered yet)

I’d agree with @sicarius that the real NZ is found between the tourist spots – my parents live rurally in the middle of nowhere and it’s like another world 😂

@sicarius Haha all good, I don’t think there’s many kiwis on here? Or they are all silent lurkers like I was til recently.
I didn’t get cricket for years then one day it just suddenly clicked 😂 after years of my brothers forcing us to listen to radio sport at all times.

Oh yes! I learnt both languages as an adult myself. I learn German at the local Goethe Institut which I attended after university hours, and French while doing post-grad.

Definitely, I think I have finally won my sister round and it’s so good having a real life drama watching buddy.

Exactly. I have tried all kinds of tactics with my friends. To one, who likes masala Bollywood films, I suggested Healer; to another who likes rom-coms, I suggested WFKBJ; to this one, I suggested, Stranger… So many tries, no hits. :/ That’s why I keep returning to DB!! It’s such a relief to know you all exist, to spazz with.

@beffels That’s so cool! I have no siblings, so I have to fall back on le friend circle! :/ My IRL pals don’t seem to trust my recommendations enough, sadly, or they’re still trying to overcome that one-inch high barrier of subtitles. I don’t know. *sniff* But I’m happy to have found all of you 🙂

I also think FoS is my best KDramas I ever watched so everyone would enjoy it as well but nah.
Maybe When the Camellia Blooms is okay for introduction because it has fresh concept, or not? I don’t know lol.

Yes, you should! Stranger can easily hold its own amongst foreign crime thrillers, and I think that’s why my friend also liked it. It’s – superficially at least – not particularly Korean in sensibility, and has a universal appeal.