tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post2959438341783547587..comments2023-10-23T13:37:06.448-07:00Comments on Ripping Ozzie Reads: Dave Freer on moving home and WritingRowena Cory Daniellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-5818153730591714242010-03-22T23:56:32.745-07:002010-03-22T23:56:32.745-07:00I sympathise with Dave's difficulties in getti...I sympathise with Dave's difficulties in getting into Oz. Most of us don't realise how hard the government makes it for people to get into our country. <br /><br />Even people who have skills on the 'scarce skills' list have to wait over a year to find out if they qualify. Not to mention the tests...And the South African government has recently made it difficult for those leaving to transfer their savings out of the country...Chris Largehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14515115955119082498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-62240796776064010892010-03-22T23:48:29.289-07:002010-03-22T23:48:29.289-07:00Hi Rowena,
Most writers in Botswana write about B...Hi Rowena,<br /><br />Most writers in Botswana write about Botswana and not much else. <br /><br />There's a bookstore in the captital Gaborone (4 hours drive) but if you want anything non-mainstream you need to get down to Johannesburg.Chris Largehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14515115955119082498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-22865234604404432692010-03-22T13:58:15.117-07:002010-03-22T13:58:15.117-07:00Good luck to you Dave!
It's sad to hear you ...Good luck to you Dave! <br /><br />It's sad to hear you had to leave under such difficult circumstances but I hope the new year and the new decade brings the fresh start you want. <br /><br />best wishes<br />RhondaRhonda Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15049563304174871974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-64868827291254548922010-03-22T13:52:56.474-07:002010-03-22T13:52:56.474-07:00Dave,
District 9 was very black humour, but under...Dave,<br /><br />District 9 was very black humour, but under it, at its core was a sweetness. The main character really did love his wife. Ad the ultimate irony was that his story was a tragedy of Love lost.Rowena Cory Daniellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-78948180345720035752010-03-22T13:25:36.608-07:002010-03-22T13:25:36.608-07:00On District 9 - I haven't seen it yet. For a s...On District 9 - I haven't seen it yet. For a start life has been... busy. For a second thing I watch a movie at least once a year, whether I need to or not ;-). I would probably not have chosen to see this particular one, as although it had a South African director, it still had to pass hollywood's filters. Hollywood can't even do a reasonable portayal of America most of the time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-68472565551042274602010-03-22T13:21:14.501-07:002010-03-22T13:21:14.501-07:00Chris it is frustrating to have everything through...Chris it is frustrating to have everything through an American lens. But that's actually because they dominate the writing field, IMO. It is possible to write so that it passes their sensibilities, and yet so that any South African would know instantly it was written by a South African. It's difficult to live up to their preconceptions of 'exotic' sometimes. PYRAMID SCHEME as a classic eg. - I got an outraged critique from a reader - Liz De Beer reads like an American. Hadn't the writers done any homework?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-21420002869194186222010-03-22T13:13:19.255-07:002010-03-22T13:13:19.255-07:00Rhonda - on Gerald Durrel and My Family and other ...Rhonda - on Gerald Durrel and My Family and other Animals. I wonder if the tourism authorities (or those custodians of a country's image ever realise just how enormously and long-lastingly influential books are? More so than movies IMO, because although typically movies get seen by more people they engage the punter for far less time (I read fast but for many people, they'll 'live' in that book's world for days or even weeks). They engage in far more depth than any movie can (look at the length of a movie script) and finally books societal retention time dwarfs movies. Movies (even with rentals on DVD and re-runs) unless they are spectacular are gone in 6 months. A book, because it is a solid purchased object, hangs in there. It's still circulating and influencing 20 years on. The Durrells are at the root of a million pax a year tourism business on Corfu - and a surprisingly large number go on tours to see Larry and Gerry's places, still. The impact of fiction set in a country are equally immense (Shute for eg. made a vast contribution to Australia. It would take a multi-billion ad campaign to equal his contribution to the image of Australia - whether you liked it or not). Yet the powers that be worry about the movie industry, and virtually ignore writing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-43449230591499648442010-03-22T12:54:57.688-07:002010-03-22T12:54:57.688-07:00Rhonda - it's a balancing act. Foreign readers...Rhonda - it's a balancing act. Foreign readers are as I said that mixture between xenophobes and xenophiles (yes in the same reader, but in different propoportions). You're never going to please all of them, but most enjoy at least some touch of exoticism. Other than a small section of masochists who love to hate and despise their own culture but wouldn't dream of leaving its comforts or lifestyle, actively 'dissing' them (which for instance I have frequently heard Brits, South Africans, Australians do about America - to the point where the subtle disdain creeps in to any mention) is probably a poor idea. And there are cultural red lines. Ameriacans for eg don't do scatological humour. Jokes about the dunny are not funny.<br /><br />I am sure that Australia - and this island and its people in particular will creep deeply into my writing. But it's not quite 3 months...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-76825994513318054802010-03-22T12:42:54.608-07:002010-03-22T12:42:54.608-07:00:-) As far as a lot of people are concerned, I jus...:-) As far as a lot of people are concerned, I just ran away, Rowena (there is a huge amount of social pressure from certain segments of SA's pop to regard migrants as cowards and weaklings. Deciding to leave and jumping through the hoops was one of the hardest things I've ever done. And being in a strange place without any support network is tough.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-68190888625794799932010-03-22T02:31:14.961-07:002010-03-22T02:31:14.961-07:00Hi Chris,
I didn't know you were from Botswan...Hi Chris,<br /><br />I didn't know you were from Botswana. Are there many writers and readers of Speculative Fiction where you live?Rowena Cory Daniellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-81746732070771709892010-03-22T02:29:13.350-07:002010-03-22T02:29:13.350-07:00Rhonda,
District 9 was a very dark comedy. If you...Rhonda,<br /><br />District 9 was a very dark comedy. If you like that sort of thing, then you'd like it.Rowena Cory Daniellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-91934343619195897522010-03-22T01:23:42.260-07:002010-03-22T01:23:42.260-07:00Hi Dave,
I'm an Aussie living in Botswana and...Hi Dave,<br /><br />I'm an Aussie living in Botswana and know a lot of South Africans moving to Oz. Sad for SA but it will benefit Oz enormously.<br /><br />As a reader I find being limited by the American sensibility incredibly frustrating. There's so much other cultures have to contrubite, to all genres. But as you point out, there is that little detail - cash.<br /><br />On District 9, I can't comment because even though Botwsana shares a sgnificant border with South Africa and is a properous country, hardly anyone goes to the movies here. I live in the country's second largest city and we don't have a even have a cinena. So though the film might have been shown widely in SA (I don't know), it's unlikely anyone else in Africa even know's it's been made.<br /><br />Anyway Dave, hope your new home is lekker and you find what you're looking for.Chris Largehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14515115955119082498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-35920766451183453142010-03-21T15:54:39.131-07:002010-03-21T15:54:39.131-07:00Rhonda -- to a non- South African, District 9 was ...Rhonda -- to a non- South African, District 9 was really excellent. But as Dave observes, your background knowledge can completely alter your experience of a thing. I, too, would like to know what someone from that part of the world thought of the movie.Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-54647646348702475682010-03-21T15:41:27.228-07:002010-03-21T15:41:27.228-07:00Hi Rowena,
Haven't seen District 9 yet but wa...Hi Rowena,<br /><br />Haven't seen District 9 yet but want to! Is it good?<br /><br />The first book I read (as a kid) that gave me that sense of the exotic was Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals. Still want to go to Corfu because of it!<br /><br />RhondaRhonda Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15049563304174871974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-64456384891263038712010-03-21T15:34:08.135-07:002010-03-21T15:34:08.135-07:00Hi Dave
Welcome to South-east Gondwana! May your...Hi Dave <br /><br />Welcome to South-east Gondwana! May your journey here bring you all you need and much, much more. <br /><br />What a great post! I love the thoughtful issues you raised... The necessity of writing from a developed inner landscape and yet how difficult it is to make that essence accessible especially when writing for foreign markets. <br /><br />Important on going questions for us all I think... <br /><br />As a scientist who seems deeply connected to his environment have you found your new habitat has changed your sense of place yet...? Has it crept into your writing in some way? Or in how you work?<br /><br />kindest regards <br />RhondaRhonda Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15049563304174871974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350876141132999492.post-91793961875288962622010-03-21T02:08:44.320-07:002010-03-21T02:08:44.320-07:00Running away to write sounds like a wonderful idea...Running away to write sounds like a wonderful idea, Dave!Rowena Cory Daniellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.com