Nicki had finally made it to Bali. Island
of the gods, the hotel
AUTHOR'S UPDATE escaping paradise Since the tragedy of the Bali bombing in October 2002, some readers are approaching Escaping Paradise from a different perspective. Did I think terrorism was likely when I wrote the book? Yes, I expected that desperate people were likely to resort to violence to achieve their political objectives. There's nothing new about this. Terror comes in many forms: deadly laser-guided missiles from a stealth bomber, or fertiliser triggered by a mobile phone. The twisted metal and burning flesh are horrible reminders that the narrow politics of prejudice and greed will sometimes provoke such ghastly consequences. How do we react? Blaming and retaliation never end it. Any victim of a schoolyard bully, any refugee of war understands that. It's often easy to adopt the media labels: 'freedom fighters' or 'terrorists' - depending on which uniforms are being worn, which television channel is reporting. The struggles in Belfast and Jerusalem are proof that violence is never the solution. Discussion, education and understanding - these are the sources of hope and change. Lower ratings for the TV moguls, but in the long run, the only way towards mutual respect and peace.
Warren
REVIEWS �Escaping Paradise� is richly ironic. The hotel Nicki and her mum are staying in is called the Hotel Paradise Mirage. Perhaps most Australian tourists never see beyond the travel agent�s fantasy. Flynn suggests we need to escape that fantasy, if we are to embrace the humanity of our nearest neighbours. And Nicki, unfortunately can only escape through the most terrifying of imprisonments. The author deals with all these important ideas in a cracking, nail-biting plot which is cleverly developed through shifting perspectives and voices; the voices of Nicki�s Australian friends and family as they attempt to deal with her disappearance, and those of the various Indonesians whose lives intersect with Nicki�s on her journey out of darkness. I urge you to read it! I for one couldn�t put it down. Not only does Flynn maintain a suspenseful plot that keeps one wondering until the end, but he also succeeds in getting inside the skins of a remarkable range of characters. The contrast between the profanity of Nicki�s 16 year old mates back home and the restrained intensity of the young Indonesians who help to save her is wonderful. All these characters are sharply realized, but my favourite was Holly, the passionate high school rebel back in Perth. She is Nicki�s soul-mate and she has a patois all her own which is pure poetry. �I knock my heel on the rock to the brick of my heart� she cries in anguish as she longs for her friend to be safe. There is poetry too in the voice of the Empu, the ancient craftsman who mysteriously fashions a masterpiece, a traditional knife the blade of which is �sharper that tiger�s teeth to slice through bone as if it were banana ...�yet this blade is for protection against evil, it will be used in a fight for peace and reconciliation. After Nicki�s escape from paradise she will never be the same again. She has seen a reality which binds her, she has accepted the gift of the sacred Kris, she knows �the good people of the world must help each other.� And that she must take the lead. It seems to me that this novel does something really special. It�s pretty difficult for your average teenager to have much interest in or understanding of events in Indonesia. Though traumatic stories might hit the headlines everyday, such tales are so far outside their experience as to seem incomprehensible. Nicki is very like those readers and she takes them with her as she tries to make sense of the world in which boys her own age might be committed terrorists and prostitution might be a means to survival, where the soldier with the machine gun represents a constant threat. Flynn has done his research well. His Indonesian world is credible. He is certainly helping his readers to �Access Asia�. This year Warren has been successful in securing an AsiaLink residency in a university in Seoul in South Korea. He�s also giving a workshop in China. I�m looking forward to the book(s) that might result from these experiences. It�s very clear that we have a lot more to hear from him in the years to come. Libby Corson
PATCHWORK PORTRAIT (extracts) Escaping Paradise follows the adventures of Nikita Scoperta, a Perth teenager visiting Bali with her mother. Their package tour to Nusa Dua quickly degenerates into a holiday in hell when Nicki is kidnapped by political activists. A terrifying journey across the island of Java ensues, taking the reader through a cross-section of contemporaray Indonesaian culture, seen through Nicki's eyes. Nicki is forced to confront her demons: her parent's divorce and the changing nature of her relationships amid the danger that threatens to overwhelm her as she evades recaputre in the highlands of Java. Flynn tackles a wide reange of issues, from race, religion and politics, to relationships and self-identity. (He) offers a picture of hope, knitting the narrative together with the unifying power of love across all boundaries, real and imagined. Bunbury Herald, April 3, 2001.
BALI THRILLS (extract) Five years ago, a journalism tutor at Curtin
University subjected her students to a weekly current affairs and general
knowledge quiz. "The results � were sometimes frightening," she wrote later.
Sixteen year-old Nicki is on holiday in Bali. A happy time of shopping, satay and surf turns into an unexpected nightmare (and not because her fuss-budget mother won't let Nicki have Sex on the Beach). The holiday looks promising. But on the way back to Nusa Dua one afternoon � it all goes wrong: Nicki is abducted by a group of political activists. What to do? Nicki fights back and bears up well despite rough treatment and a bad dose of what might be dysentery. And for someone who used to switch off when foreign reports were on the TV news, she does a creditable job of trying to figure out who her captors are, what drives them and what they want. While Nicki successfully pulls off something daring, it only results in her being out of the wok and into the fire. At the simplest level, Escaping Paradise is a well paced and intriguing adventure yarn of imprisonment, danger and escape. The shifting points of view in Escaping Paradise should challenge readers, instead of deterring them. The bulk of the story is told through Nicki's eyes, but there are also chapters centred on her parents, her captors, her friends back in Perth and even a knife-maker. The book's title is a winner. Nicki is trying to escape from an island paradise, but readers will also reflect on how she is also being forced to escape from her former sheltered and comfortable existence. She comes face to face with poverty, injustice, prostitution - what, if anything, can she do about it? Regular and reluctant readers should like Escaping Paradise. It's a well-written and exciting book, and kids can't go wrong with those. David Cohen The West Australian, Big Weekend Sat Feb 17, 2001.
COMMENT This is one of the most realistic books I have ever read. Its relevance to these times puts things in perspective. The characters are alive and jump out from the page. The mother-daughter thing really works - it's like the arguments teenagers have every day. The part where Josh is in the psych's office was so cool. It was totally AWESOME!! Erin Dunbar, Newman.
AUTHOR'S BACKGROUND NOTES escaping paradise The idea of writing about an exotic location
is one which has fascinated me for a while. As I started learning Indonesian,
the possibility of setting a story in Bali or elsewhere in Indonesia gained
momentum.
Warren Click here to buy this book at bookworm.com.au
| ||||||||||
