From There to Here

From There to Here by Joe Bennett (2023 HarperCollins paperback 280pp)

 

Joe Bennett (real name Julian as this book reveals) first appeared in the local media spotlight about 30 years ago when he often took on the role of outspoken educator in the news and from there, he went to be a frequent guest on radio and television chat shows (back when we used to actually have local television in Christchurch). Soon he was a national figure writing books and as seems to be the fate of everybody in that period, he was writing regular opinion columns in newspapers and magazines. I pretty much wrote him off as serious voice at that point – most columnists seemed to go out of their way to be controversial and reactionary and I mentally grouped him alongside the rest. However, over the last decade several of his non-fiction books were turned into radio programmes and I found those often funny and illuminating. The one that sticks in my mind was where Bennett bought a multi-pack of cheap underpants from a local store and traced them all the way back to their origins in mainland China. So, when I saw he had a new memoir out I took a chance and bought a copy.

“From There to Here” recounts Bennett’s life from early childhood up to his early 30s. His life in a small town in South East England is full of school friends, Cricket and fishing adventures. He has a good memory of school, his teachers and friends with many hair-raising stories of bullies and cruelties dished out by children and teachers alike. Early on we are introduced to his troubled older brother Nigel who seemed distant and estranged from his parents and whose life ultimately has an unhappy ending.

As Bennett grows older, he becomes more aloof and self-involved. A frequent theme of this book is his shame and guilt about how badly he treated his friends and family during this period. He takes menial jobs to get by and drifts aimlessly for a while. He’s troubled by his sexuality, his attraction to what he considers beautiful young men confuses him and leads to what seems to be lifetime of unrequited love. Before reading this book, I had no idea he was gay and recall him deflecting questions about relationships in the past, often answering with a quip about having dogs instead. Now in this book he’s very honest about his attractions and where it eventually leads him – often to long term friendships and but few romantic connections.

Taking jobs as an English language teacher in Spain and France starts him on what will be the twin tracks of his future – teaching and travel. I think this book is at its best when he writes his hitchhiker’s impressions of Europe and North America and about his seeming inability to extract himself from what he sees as the looming doom of a teaching career.

Well-written and heart-felt, this book was a pleasure to read. It manages to mix laugh out loud humour and sombre reflection. My only disappointment is we don’t learn much about his impressions of life here in New Zealand where a teaching job brought him in the late 1980s. Around four pages after he arrives the book ends abruptly with him buying a house in the harbour town of Lyttleton. The rest I guess is history.