South Africa Books

I read Jock of the Bushveld by Percy FitzPatrick for a book report and i have to say i enjoyed it very much. The book is about a hunting dog named Jock and his owner, a transport rider, who narrates the story. When the book starts off the narrator talks about the puppies of which Jock is one. Jock is the runt of the litter but the narrator likes him anyway. As the story goes on Jock grows and learns to be a hunting dog. As you read about Jock you also read about the animals and people in the Veld during the Transvaal gold rush. The book is broken up into many stories. Most are about hunting with Jock, such as a hunt for a leopard and an old crocodile. Other stories are about people and the animals that Jock and the narrator face, such as when the duo gets lost in the bush, a fight with a captive baboon, a run from a wildfire, and an encounter with some wild dogs. The book ends peacefully after many years and many more adventures when Jock becomes unable to hunt and must retire.
I enjoyed the book greatly because of the history and the people that were discussed in the book. I also enjoyed the story and the way the author painted the picture of the bushveld. I could literally see two men and a dog running across the bush, away from a roaring wildfire. Jock of the Bushveld is a kind of mix between Where the Red Fern Grows because both of the stories involve a young man who gets a dog (or dogs) and grows up with it. Hunting is also a theme in the two books. It is also like King Solomon's Mines because it takes place in Africa, has many interesting stories of animals, and a history of Africa that is twisted into the story. I would recommend this book to hunters, people who have been to Africa, or people who just enjoy exiting and exotic stories.

The interplay of text, photographs and art in both Anne Emsley's books "The Owl House" and "A Journey Through the Owl House" about the life and work of the artist Helen Martins are dynamic and unforgettable. Both books have the capacity to enrich people's lives intellectually and spiritually.

THE GENRE OF THIS BOOK IS BIOGRATHY. THE THEME OF THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A GIRL AND A BOY, NAME NALEDI AND HER BROTHER TIRO. HOWEVER NALEDI AND DIENO WENT TO THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN. WHILE THEY WERE ON THERE WAY, THEY RAN INTO SOME TROBLE. WHY THEY WERE IN TROBLE BECAUSE THEY SAW WHITE MAN AND THEY CAN BE ASSESTED JUST WHEN YOU ARE ALONE. BEFORE THEY FOUND THERE MOM. EVERYONE WHO WAS WHITE CALLED THE BLACKS DUSTBINS. WHEN EVERYONE WHO WAS WHITE THEY KILLED EVERYONE EVEN CHILDREN. ONCE YOU SEE THE PERSON THE NEXT SEC THEY WERE DIED. THE SETTING OF THIS BOOK IS IN SOUTH AFRICAN. THE PROBLEM OF THE STORY IS TRYING TO GET MEDICAN TO THERE LITTLE SITTER DINEO AND TO HELP HER TO FEEL BETTER AND NOT DIE. WHEN THEY WERE GOING TO SEE THERE MOTHER, THEY MEET A WHITE WOMAN AND SHE WAS NICE TO THEM. ALSO SHE SHOWED THEM WHERE THERE MOTHER WAS. IN THE BEGIN OF THE STORY, IN CHAPTER THEER THEY MEET A LITTLE FARMER BOY WHO HELP THEM TO GET SOME ORANGES. THE FARM BOY SAID IF HIS OWNER FOUND OUT HE WAS GIVEING AWAY HIS ORANGES HE WILL KILL HIM AND THE PEOPLE HE GAVED TOO. AFTER THEY HIND THE ORANGES PEALINGS FARM BOY GAVED THEM THE WAY TO FIND THE TOWN. IN CHAPTER EIGHT THEY WERE AT THE TRAIN STAITION. THEY SAW A BLACK MAN AND THE POLICE CAME AND THE BLACK MAN DID NOT HAVE A TICKIT. OUR LIKES AND DISLIKE ARE. OUR LIKES ARE WHEN THE KIDS WENT TO THE TOWN AND FOUND THERE MOM. ON THE OTHER HAND THEY FOUND THE MEDICAN AND WENT BACK HOME. OUR DISLIKED WAS WHEN THE WHITE SOLDIERS WERE KILLING PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THERE WAY EVEN BLACK PEOPLE THE MOST. SOME OF THEM WERE KILLING WOMANS AND CHILDREN. WE CANT TELL YOU THE END OF THE STORY, BUT IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT WANT HAPPENS YOU NEED TO READ THE BOOK OF jOUNEY TO jO'BURG.

I so much enjoyed the paperback that I went back to the hardback - there are quite a few differences. Either way it is a wonderful book,

Intense and hard-hitting Howard Rollins delivers a rousing performance. From Mathabane's oppression in South Africa, to his friendship with Stan Smith, this short story sound recording leaves a most lasting impression.

This is a nicely organized and well written book about many Bushmen groups of southern Africa. This large book has 48 pages organized into 7 chapters, a glossary, recommendations for further reading and information, and an index. About half the book is photographs, maps and illustrations related to the text. There are also text boxes with cultural anecdotes---about games they play, how they make arrows for hunting, myths and social rules. The click sounds in the languages spoken by Bushmen are fascinating to children, and they are described in several text boxes that list some Bushmen words and and how to pronounce them. I've been to the Kalahari and have read a lot about !Kung Bushmen, and this book describes and illustrates the same things I find interesting about them.

There are a lot of different groups of people in southern Africa, all called Bushmen, and this book describes them without being confusing. There is specific information in the book about the !Kung, the !Xo, the Hai//om, the G/wi, the Nharo an the /Xam, but don't worry if you can't keep all of this straight: each section of the book is self contained, so you can jump around and read what you like. Neighbors of Bushmen, like the Tswana, Herero, Kgalagari and Afrikaners, are included. The history of their interactions with Bushmen is emphasized.

The sentence structures and vocabulary of the book are appropriate for young elementary school students, but the many new and strange names of people and places were overwhelming for my 9-year-old son to take in all at once. But this is a wonderful book about Africa for children, one of the few I've seen that actually reads like it was written for them. Yet, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for anyone, any age, wanting a straightforward description of Bushmen.

Nobody's perfect: the photo on page 31 is of Herero, not Bushmen.

This is a remarkable story and a fascinating read. Peter Hewitt's account of his memoirs as a Kenya policeman reads like a novel. His colorful and cleverly written observations captivate the reader with a unique and factually-engrossing glimpse into the darkest period of Kenya's history. An interesting story for the curious reader, this is also an important writing for anyone examining the current controversy of Mau Mau detention camps which resulted from the terror raged against both Africans and colonists during the 1950s.

We found this to be a wonderful and relatively accurate source for going through Kruger Park. We followed it completely and found the best of Kruger Park. Thanks for a great resource.
Lenore.

Dr Alegi provides a unique perspective into the role of sports (soccer) and politics in Africa through his own extensive education, research and the time he has spent in the country to observe the unique role that sport plays in African societies. If you are an African historian, sports historian or sports enthusiast, this book is a must read.

After reading this work I look forward to other books by Alegi in the future.

Written by Kelwyn Sole (Professor of English, University of Cape Town), Land Dreaming: Prose Poems is an anthology of poetic landscapes - flowing waves of descriptive language evoking the visceral sense of character, place, and time. Most poems are brief; all have a uniquely vivid quality that alights the imagination. An ideal read to experience amid the wonder of the outdoors, perhaps during a rest stop while hiking. "Kommetjie": A deserted moon plumbing down its well of brightness to clot / the ocean surface with light // also wefts the clouds that spume and melt, spume and melt, / over and over, hiding the mountain's summit. // The wind stays steady from the south-east. // On the beach two sets of footprints are a broken necklace flung / behind to be slowly scrubbed away. // He stops: wants to know why her face - when she looks at / him - becomes shipwrecked between emotions // and she speaks quietly. If we have nothing more to say to one / another, whose voice is it that cries out // from inside our silence?