Place: South African Literaray Journeys

by Justin Fox

Place is a moving love letter to South Africa, merging literature and land­scape, and taking the reader on a breath-taking journey – into the heart of South Africa’s spectacular landscape and the inner-worlds of its most cel­ebrated authors.

Genres: Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

About the author

Fox is a novelist, travel writer and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa, and is the former editor of Getaway travel magazine. He was a Rhodes Scholar and received a doctorate in English literature from Oxford University after which he was a research fellow at the University of Cape Town, where he taught part time for 20 years. His articles and photographs have appeared internationally in a number of publications and on a wide range of topics, while his short stories and poems have appeared in numerous anthologies. He has written scripts and directed award-winning documentaries and is a two-time Mondi journalism award winner (1999 and 2004). Recent books include The Marginal Safari (Umuzi), The Impossible Five (Tafelberg), Beat Routes (Karavan), Place (Umuzi) and, most recently, a World War II series of novels, starting with The Cape Raider (Penguin and Sapere) and The Wolf Hunt (Sapere). Justin was longlisted for the 2011 Alan Paton Award for non-fiction, the 2012 Olive Schreiner Prize for Literature, and his debut novel, Whoever Fears the Sea (Umuzi 2014), was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize for African literature.

Reviews

[Erica Smythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful literary letter to my home country. Lyrical prose which has me wanting to retrace Justin's footsteps and reread some of the books I read a long time ago and read the others not yet read.

[Pete Farlam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Poetic. A lovesong to South Africa and its landscapes.

[Daniella · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't fully agree with Fox on every point (when do you ever fully agree with an individual's every point?), I have come to love his explorations of the country I hold dear. Thank you for the inspiration to 'read my country' more.

[Reinher Behrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I’ve planned a road trip to visit the places written about in the book. If you love South Africa and road trips with a sprinkling of history and nostalgia, then this for you!

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must for readers who enjoy undertaking road trips in South Africa. Merging 'literature and landscape' as said in the blurb, Fox has researched and traced the settings and events that inspired some of South Africa's greatest literature. Although there are many paragraphs of metaphysical? musing, Fox also brings his road trips into the here and now, seeking out descendants on old farms and old-timers who have memories of these writers. My reading of the Olive Schreiner chapter coincided with a viewing at AMAZWI, Makhanda, of a new documentary about her, encouraging me to read 'Story of an African Farm' again. The sections on Percy Fitzpatrick, Denys Reitz, Eugene Marais and Herman C Bosman were just as engrossing - perhaps because I had so enjoyed those classics and felt I could identify particularly with their adventures. For example, Fox's shocking conclusion that 'Fitz abandoned Jock' was a punch to the gut for any dog-lover, whereas JM Coetzee's 'Disgrace' I found difficult to enjoy and his Moordenaars Karoo was unfamiliar territory. I lost my way a little in that chapter. In contrast, an exploration of Dalene Matthee's Knysna Forest (and perhaps a re-reading of her novels) is appealing. I also feel an urge to explore Zakes Mda's Wild Coast and regret that I haven't yet read 'Heart of Redness'. Although I love the Cederberg I am unfamiliar with Stephen Watson's writing - I shall put that to rights. I would've liked captions to the many illustrations in this book, but thank you, Justin Fox, for the excellent maps in the opening pages. And so 'Place' becomes part of the library of books on the back seat of our road-trip car to enrich any future itinerary. 4,5

[Tim Richman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely and memorable collection of essays, in which Fox takes specific geographical journeys to investigate the works of various South African authors. I was only compelled to read the chapters for those authors I was familiar with – JM Coetzee and Stephen Watson, in particular – so I can't recommend it as a cover-to-cover read, but certainly worthwhile if you're interested in any of those included.

[Leani]

I would've liked to continue reading this book, but didn't want to risk any spoilers for the books I hadn't read. So for now it'll have to be shelved.

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, a memorable read. And worth re-reading with the actual books he writes about.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting approach