tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post514955741241203577..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: What we write about when we write about history: Sue PurkissMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-39737406275357268352012-03-17T19:05:55.003+00:002012-03-17T19:05:55.003+00:00Thanks for filling out the survey, Sue. Leslie, th...Thanks for filling out the survey, Sue. Leslie, thanks for sharing your HK story.Mary Todhttp://www.awriterofhistory.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-28545373271645172192012-03-16T21:00:16.031+00:002012-03-16T21:00:16.031+00:00I too lived in Hong Kong, and found it an eye-open...I too lived in Hong Kong, and found it an eye-opening experience. Though in the 80s, HK expats - if white -had a reasonably cushy time. But I have always felt a little like a foreigner in Britain, though I am British. I'd say the British will read about other cultures, as you say, Sue, from a British - sometimes English - perspective, and feel most comfortable with that. Though many people have said they appreciate the German perspective in my novels of WW2, so I mustn't be too grumpy! I think our problem, here, is the preponderance of English - makes us less inclined to read books in translation. Or to learn enough of an other language to read in it. Amazon Germany has a whole section for English language books. We do seem to lap up US stuff, though...<br />Very thought-provoking blog, Sue. Thanks!Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-205920086021947582012-03-16T18:08:21.259+00:002012-03-16T18:08:21.259+00:00Good luck with that next one, Catherine!
Mary - h...Good luck with that next one, Catherine!<br /><br />Mary - have completed the survey. I agree - writing from the viewpoint of someone else is an excellent way to step beyond one's own experience!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-14662186979259183282012-03-16T15:29:54.667+00:002012-03-16T15:29:54.667+00:00Writing this from sodden County kildare where I am...Writing this from sodden County kildare where I am researching bogs, churches, hovels and, as it turns out, genuine Irish rain. Ireland feels more foreign to me than Italy, and the research responsibilities weigh heavily so your post really meant something to me, Sue. I am desperate not to write 'Hong Kong Paddy' but to be able to transmit a genuine, if faint, flavour of Harristown in 1855. <br /><br />In response to your worries, we must do our best on the facts, and remember that our role is to bring the past to life. That's not ALWAYS through the facts. Some it is through smelling the air and through empathy. I think we're historical novelists second, and human beings first, and the better we are at being and feeling the latter, the better we are as writers. <br /> <br />Off to dry my shoes and write up my notes! <br />Mmichelle lovrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01026972300195225090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-78057606335040053222012-03-16T11:42:05.384+00:002012-03-16T11:42:05.384+00:00Hello - a bit new to your blog and really enjoying...Hello - a bit new to your blog and really enjoying the varying perspectives. A couple of personal experiences to add to the mix. A few years back, I lived in Hong Kong for three years and that experience you write of - the incredible disorientation of being 'the other', the minority in a culture which is so distant - slammed into me very quickly. A fascinating time. Second experience was to write a novel from the viewpoint of a French woman living through WWI. Also fascinating. If you are interested, I am conducting a survey on those who read (or do not read) historical fiction. I would welcome the opportunity to share some of the results at a future time as it has questions pertaining to what time period and geographies people read. And, if you would like to participate, please visit the link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LNM7DKQ .Mary Todhttp://www.awriterofhistory.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-52520986073814697952012-03-16T11:26:42.737+00:002012-03-16T11:26:42.737+00:00Great post Sue. I have read loads over the past fe...Great post Sue. I have read loads over the past few years about eastern med history too, lovely stuff. My historical novels tend to be UK history but from a perspective that is usually ignored, however the next one - fingers crossed will make it out of the uk and maybe as far as Turkey....Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14610226884546830879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-47667050346625985702012-03-16T09:59:09.274+00:002012-03-16T09:59:09.274+00:00A fantastic, and important post - thank you, Sue. ...A fantastic, and important post - thank you, Sue. The most 'dangerous' bias is the bias we can't see... And the bias operates even within GB itself. It wasn't until I got to university that I realised (doh!) how English was the history I'd learnt. Where was the Scottish/Welsh/Irish history, not from the English perspective, but from the Scottish/Welsh/Irish perspective?H.M. Castorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08716936870601385683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-50424254102955089902012-03-16T09:49:07.130+00:002012-03-16T09:49:07.130+00:00That's just what I feel when I come back from ...That's just what I feel when I come back from Brussels, where my son now lives. And it seems very strange to me that books set in other countries and cultures don't do well; it seems to me a huge plus to learn about somewhere/something you don't know at the same time as reading a great story! Thanks, Malaika and Marie-Louise!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-87353011489420410392012-03-16T09:36:10.213+00:002012-03-16T09:36:10.213+00:00Great post, Sue.
My Scandinavian books haven'...Great post, Sue. <br />My Scandinavian books haven't been very popular here, and foreign publishers won't buy The Lady in the Tower because it's 'too English'. Really you can't win.<br />I have to say that news/documentaries/history teaching in Europe and Scandinavia is generally speaking much more outward-looking than our focus here. I'm always shocked when I get back from a spell in Denmark or Germany and see just how insular we are in the UK.Marie-Louise Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18006940874591015786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-28320138355272027642012-03-16T08:30:47.536+00:002012-03-16T08:30:47.536+00:00I love this post, Sue - it really resonates with m...I love this post, Sue - it really resonates with me. I've often thought about the filtering that happens through the accident of birth, but have never been able to articulate it as well as you do here. Not indigestible at all - but thanks, anyway, for the cake.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09186725193473313269noreply@blogger.com