Rhino Chasers

Rating:
Summary: Author's reply to Vicky Reutter's review
Review: I was impressed to read Vicki Reutter's review of my novel "Rhino Chasers". It was thoughtful and well-written and it is rewarding for an author to have a someone undertake such a close reading of their book.

I felt, however, that my novel may have been slightly short-changed. "Rhinos" is accused of portraying surfers as a "misogynistic lot who can't utter a sentence without using profanity". I think this is definitely true of Aldo who is guilty of both these things. He is a narrow-minded racist who takes a heavy tumble for his poor attitude. His bad language indicates his inarticulate nature and was a cause of some concern to me both during and after the writing of "Rhino Chasers". Those who I talked to (editors, teachers, fellow classmates in my creative writing course) all said one thing: the language is authentic and entirely in-keeping with Aldo's character. He is also a misogynist, mainly due to his inability to relate to women, but I don't think either Goog or Castro are; and I'm certainly not willing to attach this label to all surfers. The surfer culture is fairly male-orientated and, although that is changing, I wanted this story to be about three young guys. I didn't set out to exclude female characters it just happened that Goog, Castro and Aldo took over the narrative.

As to the comments about the Aboriginals the boys meet on the road being "red-necked" they are far from that. Without entering into a dialogue about land rights and how the first inhabitants of Australia have been marginalised and robbed of their culture, I wanted to show how Aldo would react when he comes into contact with them. That he shouts at them that it isn't their land, it is Australia (his land), highlights a common perception among certain people that this country doesn't have traditional owners.

I am glad that Vicki enjoyed the "wonderful imagery" associated with the sea. It is my love of the ocean and surfing that inspired me to write "Rhinos". I hope she can read through the profanities and into the subtext of the novel. I also hope she will enjoy the sequel to "Rhino Chasers" which will be published next year by Allen & Unwin.