South Africa Books

To be honest I did NOT like the ending. I LOVE PEEKAY he is quite possibly my favorite fictional character. His tragic death at the end really tore me up. I sent a letter to the author telling him I want a sequel. Of course he would not do it just for me but just like with voting I am hoping many others request a sequel from him. The ending was ambiguous enough that a plot device could be used to keep him alive for a sequel without making any continuity errors or being too unrealistic. And if he is not kept alive as I hope then the continued adventures of his friends AND his son since he impregnated Tandia would be a good way to do a sequel.

This is an author I hate to start reading. He is no lover of happy endings. He is so great an author it feels bad when its over. It feels as though your mother just left you at the nursery school door and you are five years old. So forlorn.

Mama come back I am forlorn because this book has ended. Yes he is a glorious writer.

Bryce Courtenay writes books that make such an impression. When I have simply told others about small parts of his books they were quiet and just wanted to hear more. Sometimes the ..entire book... [[Tommo and Hawk, The Potato Factory]]

His books are an emotional investment. Once you start it, it will grip you and sieze your emotions and change you and make you think and reflect. Wow.

Of all his books, which are exceptional, each of them, of these exceptional books, I liked Tandia the least of a great series. She was not a very likeable character as far as charisma. Many of his main characters thruout his books were downright reprehensible as people. Rotten as to be the bottom of the barrel, and worked hard at it to be that way but had charisma.

I didnt find that element charisma in how Tandia's character was written. I felt adrift at the end of the book. I was not happy with how some loose ends were left unaddressed...

Now I have a bone to pick about those loose ends. I finished Tandia a few weeks ago and this still bothers me.

What about Hymie? What makes Peekay think that his devoted friends won't come after him. I am finishing "The Power of One" now and his devoted following was entrenched and dedicated to him as a kid. It is even more inconceivable a search party or tracker will not go and hunt down ..the former Welterweight Champion of the World? the Missing Tadpole Angel?

I am finishing the "Power of One" and he gave Doc an oath never to let anyone else know about or violate the santity of the Crystal Cave? He promised Doc never to reveal its presence to anyone. Now all kinds of people are going to find it when they go looking for Heldenheiss, and Peekay. When they follow the same blood trail Heldenheiss did.

Thus my conclusion is, with all the unlikely accomplishments Peekay made in his lifetime, his next was to leave the Crystal Cave in the sequel that was never published or I never found.


I recommend all his books I have read: The Potato Factory, Tommo and Hawk, The Power of One.



I listened to the audiobook and that had an additional element that added to the book because the narrator for Mr. Courtenay's books is truly one of the most gifted ever. That guy deserves fan letters himself.

I found the book engrossing but slow to start just as the power of one but I never realy connected with tandia and I was to say the least dissapointed with PK. Even though i know the gaol was most likely to humanize him in this book. I felt his ideals and basic charecter remained the same but, for some reason the thought of him as a main stream adult didn't apeal to me as much as him as an adolescent child or even a mine worker. The ending is good but i wasn't sure it was done as well as it could have been but then agian my name isn't Bryce Courtney, i wonder if there is a sequal.

It is hard to believe that this book was written by the author of The Power of One. What I'd hoped would be a fitting sequel was, as another reviewer aptly described it, "Harold Robbins"-ish. Contrived and cliche-ridden, none of the warmth and beauty of its predecessor - not quite a disaster, but not worth the agony of reading tortured descriptions such as "socks as white as driven snow" while trying to ignore the inexplicable plot devices and coincidences that moved the turgid prose to its inevitable conclusion. This book needed a judicious editor. The only reason I gave it two stars was that the historical references encouraged me to read more about apartheid and its impact on the country and its people.

Tandia is the sequel to The Power of One and in many ways it is similar and in many more ways different. It is a much darker book. Peekay no longer deals with problems that a child might face, he now faces a whole system of hatred and racism, also known as apartheid. Therefore, Tandia is much more realistic than its predecessor, because reality is harsh, but in the process it's not as heart-warming and as much a joy to read. The 900 pages are worth reading nevertheless because this is an exceptional novel in its own standing and continues the story of PK and his struggles as an adult. I really do recommend this book to anyone who has read the Power of One, but I also advise you to keep an open mind because this book is very different and has its own personality. The ending is great but not as magnificent as the first one and also many of the plot points are slow to develop. For example, PK does not come in to the storyline up to I think page 250 or 300. Tandia is a great read nevertheless by this great South African author.

"Michael K" is not your grandma's South African novel. It would be expected that this book would discuss the oppression of Apartheid, but it goes above and beyond this by capturing the essence, in a most unwilling and unaware character, of the human spirit's ability to survive on practically nothing but its own sheer will. Michael K is an oppressed character under the Apartheid regime, yet the politics of the country are only vaguely referenced here in various facilities Michael visits and people he meets; instead, we are led to see the oppression of colonialism more through the way in which Michael views himself and his environment. Michael absolutely cannot catch a break; amidst his mother's death, imprisonment, sickness, homelessness, and continuous battles with starvation, he becomes an opponent to Apartheid in the way he simply continues to live. What becomes apparent as the story develops is Michael's connection with the land; to him, the land embodies his freedom and his utter humanness, his "return to nature," yet this land, in its pure, untouched form, always alludes him. In fact, under the Apartheid regime, such "free land" does not exist. Michael, even when he is alone, is never free. But it does not occur to him to despair in the futility of that realization, which leads others as well as Michael K himself to label him a "simpleton." There is an irony here, then, that the simple-minded are the survivors; in this light, Michael K does not seem so simple at all, but rather among the ranks of genius. But what truly resonated with me in this story is the idea of the unshakable human faith in survival. In this way the book concludes in an almost spiritual metaphor that, if you simply have a teaspoon and a string, you can drink water from a well.

On the first page of The Life and Times of Michael K there is a beautiful similie - the newly born Michael's hare lip curling 'like a snail'. That's all you are going to get in terms of finely wrought imagery from here on in. The rest of this compact novel unfolds in tough, sinewey prose. Hard, spare and with a dry elegance that is Coetzee's signature style.

Michael K is a gardener, a man of limited intelligence who lives a sort of hunkered down life, battling bravely on his own terms to live his life, and care for his mother in a South Africa riven by a war depicted in almost science fiction terms - it is ever present and brutal, though the political realities of it are rarely alighted upon. Michael ends up being treated appalingly - as a prisoner of war, and goes on hunger strike. But still he insists on connecting with the natural world in a feral way - there are many pages devoted to his careful tending of the world around him, growing tubers, finding fresh water to drink. He persists on living life on his own terms.

It is an affecting story, but this novel, one of Coetzee's earlier efforts, fails to life off with the core human values, raising up worlds in the space of a sentence, that he has managed in some of his more accomplished works (in particular 'Disgcrace'). Much of the prose unfolds in a fairly wooden, workaday style, and I found reading it a little like chewing on bland oatmeal. It is sustenance allright, but nothing inspirational.

este libro me re shockeó. me impactó mucho el punto de vista del protagonista, que me llevó de paseo por lugares que me eran desconocidos. me impresionó cómo está contada la historia, con un lenguaje crudo, llano, visceral, contundente, pero sin golpes bajos. también me impresionó la falta de piedad del autor con su personaje. y el grado de verosimilitud que logra siendo que le pasan tantas cosas que uno podría decir "no puede ser". pero es. y es y es y uno no puede parar de leer. la dimensión histórica del libro también me flasheó. hacía mucho que no leía algo que me shokeara tanto. un libro que enhebra el contexto social con la problemática del protagonista de una manera tan radical y al mismo tiempo, lo lleva de una manera que nos obliga a repensar un montón de cosas que suelen darse por sentadas. lo terminé de leer hoy y aún estoy impactada.

People just will not let you live a way of life they don't understand. Michael K, misunderstood by just about everybody, finds out in this dark but beautiful novel. Coetzee describes the struggle of someone who, being neither smart or beautiful, finds it impossible to withdraw from the world. Michael is a simple man with a hare lip who wants to be left alone and live life on his own terms. However, in the war-torn South Africa through which he ends up journeying, no hiding place is secure from bullying war fractions or unwanted beneficiaries.
The style is strong, plain, dark and very efficient in picking the right details to make any situation come to life. For all his faults, I was able to relate to Michael and suffer with him. And even though there was a lot of suffering, the book didn't depress me. I still don't know why.
The only pity is that the author added part 2 with the external viewpoint (at least I do not understand the purpose). It gives us interpretations that we can perfectly make ourselves, and a certain baroqueness - that is so pleasantly absent in the rest of the book- creeps into the prose. Otherwise a beautiful book on a great theme.

Literary historians credit much of Ireland's rich literary tradition to its often tragic history. No surprise then that the nation of South Africa, likewise so rich in grief that it might as well diamonds, has produced so many extraordinary writers, two of whom, Coetzee included, who can boast a Nobel Prize. Which brings us to one of his many fine novels, the Life and Times of Michael K.

Telling the tale of a black man caught in the twisted and violent web of Apartheid might appear at first an obvious tale, but then again, so might the story of a child who turned to crime in London in the 19th century or one of a boy and his friend journeying down the Mississippi. It is in this vein which one must see The Life and Times of Michael K, one which captures a place and an age. Other reviewers have focused on the tale of the central character, Michael K, so I would instead look at another aspect of the novel. Despite writing about a place and a story where race surrounds every character and facet like smog, Coetzee never once tells us anyone's race. At first I found this strange, discerning it in its broad aspects but finding the absence the stated fact more than a little strange. It was then that a south African friend explained to me that while I could tell only the characters' races in the broadest sense, she could tell it easily, immediately, and down to which subgroup each belonged. Indeed, like an Englishman knowing the class of a countrymen by their accent, she knew this based on job, dress, and dialogue.

This then is to me part of the genius of Coetzee's novel, giving his reader a story that is at once subsumed by race and yet never mentioning it. True, as some complain, Michael K does not grow to a character larger than life, becoming some hero; no he is a simple man, living to the best of his common ability in a world where evil is so common that it deserves no mention.

I would be remiss not to mention Coetzee's gift for prose, his ability to distill a scene or a feeling down to a few words, like grain alcohol. Many Americans remain unfortunately ignorant of this writer and his country's other extraordinary authors, like Freed and Gordimer. This is a tragedy, which I urge every reader to correct.

"Flashman and the Tiger" is made up of 3 short stories, the only book of the Flashman series written in such a format. The writing is just as good as ever, but the stories lack the zest and frisson of the others, perhaps because they deal with a late middle-aged and elderly Flashman, which necessarily limits the deranged situations the author has in which to place his creation.

The first and longest story- "The Road to Charing Cross"- involves Flashman in a plot to save the Emperor Franz Josef from an assassination. The story, while amusing, is rather far-fetched and none too memorable. The second story, "The Subtleties of Baccarat", is worth the price of the book. It is expertly constructed and written, based on a historical incident, with a surprise ending which will leave you laughing in shock. The third story, "Flashman and the Tiger", has its moments, particularly the elderly Flashman's verbal sparring with Oscar Wilde and his run-in with Sherlock Holmes, but it too is somewhat contrived and a little silly. All in all, a fun book, but two of the stories just don't rank in quality with the other Flashman books.

Given that my introduction to the Flashmen series almost coincided with the tragic (although not unexpected) death of George Macdonald Frasier I have made it my news years resolution to let people know about his wonderful books.

I have to say that this installment of Flashy is actually a better, rounder and tighter notation then a story that is the length of a novel. The first story is in my opinion only a three star but it may be just what other people have ordered it is not my place to judge.

The other two installments are where this particular collection shines in the second story readers finally get to see what I have what I have suspected for awhile Flashy's wife is capable of being quite devious when she wants to be.

The third story where the collection gets its name is probably my favorite Flashman yet Fraser managed to pull the nose of old Sir Arthur Conan Doyle good for him.

You will find yourself wanting more of this particular installment but they are alas too brief. If ordinary Flashman novels aren't your thing you might want to give these collections a try.

'Flashman and the Tiger'; consists of a novella and two short stories. The shorts, which involve an infamous baccarat scandal that touched the Prince of Wales, and the unexpected fallout from the Rorke Drift military disaster are a definite improvement over the novella, which treats an assassination attempt of Emperor Franz Josef in the 1880's.





The novella occupies roughly two-thirds of the book and wanders along aimlessly. If you are unfamiliar with Flashman and especially the Royal Flash (Flashman) you are likely to be more confused than amused.





Fraser is not at his best here. The whole book has an unfinished, unpolished feel. Flashman is aged at the time of the events (not just at the time of the writing them down), but I don't think that is the problem. Flashy still rogers along or fondly recalls past rogering, shrinks from danger, and does his foes dirty - behind their back, of course.





The final short, the eponymous Flashman and the Tiger, contains a good riff on Sherlock Holmes deducing (wrongly on all points).





Recommended only for established Flashman fans. If you are new to to Harry Flashman, best start in the beginning.Flashman: A Novel (Flashman).

Fraser squeezed another Flashy episode into that brief human life and me, I'm glad. So will you be also.

The Flashman Papers continue to offer up new episodes in this series. In this one Flashy's reflections are more more mature, but his cynicism remains intact, his wisdom a human one recognizing our weaknesses as humans, none more than his own.

Flashman and the Tiger is more a collection of 3 Flashman short stories than a single coherent novel. As a result, it is sort of a mixed bag. The first (and longest of the three) is also the best. It deals with an attempt on the life of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz-Josef's life, and true to Flashman form is full of debauchery, double-crossing, and cowardice mistaken for courage and honor.

The second centers around a gambling scandal with the Prince of Wales, the third with a matter of honor and Sir Flashman's granddaughter. Both of these stories were good, but sort of a let down after the delightful and complicated first story. Nonetheless, Flashman fans will be sure to enjoy the book as did I.

The Futurist is written by a budding Tom Wolfe but with less cynicism and a bit of soul searching. Nevertheless, it is the ice pick in the cake rather than the icing on the cake when the writer dons his scuba gear and flippers and guide us to the deepest bottoms of moral turpitude and brings us to the brink of the surface before our oxygen tanks run out of air. The experience is harrowing enough that the reader would breathe a sigh of relief that even if we almost ended up drowning and floating to the surface with the life and viridity of virals infested turds in a towel bowl, there is alway hope that we could be much, much, more than that.

I came into my reading of the THE FUTURIST expecting witty, biting satire, and an overall intelligent send-up of contemporary American Culture, politics, terrorism, media, and everything in between. What I got was a mildly interesting book that was short on wit and any original insight, full of clunky prose, repetitive scenes, a HEAVILY contrived plot, and overall, not very funny. Additionally, the book is already quite lean at 229 pages, and it still felt about sixty pages too long. It reads like a novella, or even a short story, that some editor advised the author to pad to attain novel length. I am a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut, George Saunders, George Orwell, Haruki Murakami, and all the great satirists of our time. This book is a pretender to the throne. Be forwarned.

It's hard to read about a main character that you just don't like and enjoy the book at the same time. The main character is such a jerky ... well, jerk, that I just couldn't care about the book. From reviews it's obvious that others did, but this is just not my kind of book. I prefer characters that I don't want to slap.

Halfway through this book I stopped and asked myself why the heck did I give a hoot about this Yates character (fyi, he's the futurist). The answer came simply: because he is me. He's actually all of us, though I'll keep this in appropriate Reviewer-Review Reader terms so as to allow you to judge for yourself.

Yates is a globe trotting futurist who is drunk more ofter than sober, has parent issues, has commitment issues ... well, he's got a helluva lot of issues yet somehow has the insight and understanding to determine what's new, what's next, and what's coming for the rest of us. It is that contradiction in Yates' character where the brilliance of "The Futurist" lies. Yates is a mirror for the reader to see themself, and more often than not as we find in our own lives, Yates' valor loses to Maker's Mark and all his good intentions seldom lead to action.

Pacing is a little uneven, and the space hotel drama was more cumbersome than helpful as a sub-plot, but overall the story is a rollercoaster ride aboard Yates' mouth and indiscretions. The journey covers a world of trouble, scenarios that while stretched to the brink of believable, are very appropriate for the satirical and cynical picture Othmer paints in his debut novel.

And that's what is best of all. This is but a first novel in a career which using "The Futurist" as an indicator should be one filled with keen insight; great storytelling; and a fresh, honest perspective. Get to know James P. Othmer now because you will be reading him in the future.

The book's writing makes it move along at an international pace. But its greatest strength is social satire. It is a commentary on globalization, and the corporatizing of everything, from war to terrorism to the publishing world. It's funny, but agenda funny. Radically, anti-corporate actually. Not for everyone, but if you're politically minded and can laugh about really horrible things, it's for you.

Take a voyage: this book is full of action, adventure & exploration. Let yourself get wrapped up in the pages & you'll have a ball!

Twenty years have passed since Tom and Dorian Courtney escaped the clutches of their enemies and settled at the Cape of Good Hope. Each had married the woman he loved, who bore each of them a son. Tom and Sarah Courtney's son Jim is a brash young man who irrevocably alters their destinies when he falls in love with a lovely young woman on a prison ship moored in the harbor. His plans to help her escape become a little more public than he intended when he has to rescue her from a sinking ship and spirit her away into the wilderness. Jim and Louisa suddenly have a number of enemies when a Dutch colonel sends a party after them. They have lots of harrowing adventures with both wild animals and the natives as a small band of Dutchmen trails them across the veld. Meanwhile, back in Cape Town, Colonel Keyser's men have provided him with evidence implicating the entire Courtney clan in Louisa's escape, and the Courtneys must band together even tighter when they learn that some of Dorian's old enemies from his years in the Arab world are on his trail, as well. With old enemies popping out of the woodwork and new ones appearing over the horizon, it's nonstop action for the whole Courtney family, no matter where they go.

Compared to most books I've read, this one is nonstop action and excitement from start to finish. Held next to its predecessor, Monsoon, however, this book pales. It couldn't reach the heights of excitement or match the nail-biting intrigue found in the last Courtney adventure, and often the violence in this book seems superfluous to the story. Life has become more comfortable, and thus, less intense for the Courtney clan, but compared to anything else out there, this book delivers top-notch adventure. Though it doesn't quite measure up to the high level of quality I have come to expect from this author, it's still a very good swashbuckling adventure.

I love a good "book" while travelling alone in my car, thus I purchase the audio books on a regular basis. And one can never go wrong with Wilbur Smith. Blue Horizon was particularly good and held my interest for several days during my commute.

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Fluff or not? Mostly highly enjoyable fluff
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---- Comments ----
Much like Smith's more recently works this is non-stop action; the story is filled with gore, war, elephant hunts, love, treachery, evil twins, mercy, and family all set in the backdrop of Smith's fantastic Africa.

---- What I liked ----
Africa is a great backdrop, there were no dull sections, great descriptions, and just plain easy, fun reading. Every once in a while that's what I need.

---- What I didn't ----
It's fluff. If you're looking for an historical treatise on anything serious this is not for you. Also, not for children as there is lots of gore and more than a little sex.
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I have read almost all of Wilbur Smith's Books, starting with "Gold Mine" , which led to the movie, "Gold", about the South African Gold mining industry. In Blue Horizon, and Monsoon, he seems to have become too pre-occupied with sex and torture, attempting to meet the cravings of lustful man at his lowest points, rather than artfully depicting events with great literary expertise that once caught my eye. Read the preface to "Gold Mine" , where he describes the volcanic beginnings of the African Continent in vivid detail. This was the Wilbur Smith's writings that I learned to love. His more recent works are filled with violence and sadism that I, for one, prefer to avoid. None of these recent books are worth reading, buying, nor recommending to young readers. Even if you are over age 13, I highly recommend that you avoid Wilbur Smith's recent writing!

This is a good book. This book is good for childrens all age.The book talks about these kids Naledi and Taolo trying to save their land from the Europian. Naledi and Taolo found numbers on house that ment everything to the whole town. The town had a metting that chief Skete had set up. Chief skete had to brake the news to them to tell them that they have to go home because the government is kicking them out of the land but Mma Tashedi said this is our land we have nowhere else to go and i don't want to leave. Naledi knows somethings wrong and shes going to do what ever she has to save her land .Naledi and the town marched to the town to fight against them.As the go on they get stronger and wiser.Naledi find out that her friend Taolois gone. Iwonder what she is going to do.This book is good for childre because it teaches them to always fight for what they love.

Chain of Fire is about a small town in South Africa called Bophelong living in the time of apartheid. The people of the town find out that they are going to be moved from their homes. Soon the school children start a plan to protest. Naidoo tells the story in a way that makes you really see the story. At some parts it is confusing, but in the end the reader figures it out. There are some suspenseful parts, but it is sort of boring. If the reader likes books on history and rebelling read Chain of Fire.

Review for Chain of Fire

The book Chain of Fire is about a small village in Africa and how they try to defend their own land. One day a group of men come from Europe to invade and take over parts of Africa. The village men and women are forced by the government to move their houses and find another place to stay. Majority of them refuse to move because they have bought the land and they have been paying for it so they find no reason why they should be removed from their own houses. It is a very suspenseful story and many problems occur. The villagers don't give up. Read the book Chain of Fire to find out what happens to the villagers land even with all the consequences in their lives.

Determination and resistance is the only thing that Naledi and the villagers, from the Chain of fire have left after the European's took everything else away from them. Chain of fire by Beverly Naidoo will captivate readers as they see how the South African's struggled and fought for freedom. The South Africans are willing to do anything that will help them have a say in their own land even if it means going behind the European's backs. The Europeans with all their force, power, and control only have to tell the South African's what to do and if they disobey, then they will have to face the serious consequences. This book deserves 4 stars as it is truly amazing with all the detail that Beverly Naidoo has put in. The book makes the reader realize how tough life was for the South African's in their own land. With every new crisis that occurs the chain of the community becomes stronger, longer, and brighter.

Chain of Fire is set in South Africa, during the time of the apartheid. One morning in the small village of Bophelong the main characters Naledi and Tiro find white numbers painted on their house. Later they found out that everyone in the village was to be relocated to a new "homeland". The village they lived on was bad enough, everyone struggled to make ends meet and the land was like desert. So everyone, with the help of the Dikobe family, tries to fight back, but their efforts are in vain. Students on a peaceful march are attacked by the police, but nothing deters the villagers and their "fiery chain of resistance".

This is a good "reference" for someone who is seeking some surface knowledge about African Americans and their histroy, but I was hoping for a little bit more "meat". It is a well written text, but it is like a dictionary with very little specific insight into the subjects mentioned in the text. It gives the reader more of an overview of topics. Additionally, some very importanat people in African American history are not included in the text. If you are looking for something that is comprehensive, this is NOT the book to get. It is possible that the entire Africana would be more appropriate for my needs.

Scholars Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., paid homage to the great W.E.B. Du Bois' dream to produce an encyclopedia cataloguing the achievements and history of the African Diaspora with the publication in 1999 of the massive 2,095-page AFRICANA: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Appiah and Gates duly acknowledge Du Bois' many contributions to history, literature, and the struggle for human rights around the world with: their dedication of the book to him, a regular encyclopedia entry on his achievements, and an "interpretation" by Cornel West of his historical significance.

While AFRICANA is exactly what the title implies, it is also quite a bit more. The book itself represents a major achievement of publishing technology. What Du Bois was not able to accomplish by sheer brain power and intellectual camaraderie, Appiah and Gates achieved through developments in modern communication technology, the computer, and a global team of dedicated intellectuals. The scope of AFRICANA encompasses literature, religion, music, dance, sociology, politics, and, above all, history. In reading the book for pleasure or referencing it for specific topics, one realizes just how much of the African-American and African experience has shaped and defined the greater modern human experience.

Aberjhani
Author of THE WISDOM OF W.E.B. DU BOIS
And ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

Thank you for your promptness. The recipient truly loved the gift. Thank you once again. Bernadette

As the author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities, I was disappointed to not see any reference to the nine African American Fraternities and Sororities, particularly since W.E.B. DuBois was a member. It seemed like a strange omission for such a comprehensive book.


--
Lawrence C. Ross, Jr.
The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities (author)
The Ways of Black Folks: A Year in the Life of a People (author)
Sometimes Rhythm, Sometimes Blues (contributor)
Friends With Benefits (author: September 2005)

As a university professor in African American Studies, I looked forward to the first edition and bought it. But I was disappointed by the woefully lacking index which is also the case with the 2nd edition.

The five-volume 2nd edition is much easier to handle in terms of weight for each volume than the VERY heavy one volume 1st edition. However, one must wonder how Harvard professors (the editors) could allow a lack of a comprehensive index the second time around.

I bought the 1st edition, but I recommend not buying the 2nd edition. If a future edition has a comprehensive index, I will buy and would urge you to buy, as there is a wealth of information.

As for this (2nd) edition, save your money. Use the volumes at your school/university or community library for good general background information on the African and African American Experience.

Nadine Morgan is a woman who can't pass up a fresh, vital new story! Her best friend, Lilly, tells her she's just running away, escaping from fear of eventually settling down. Even after Nadine is seriously injuried while covering a story in Mexico, she still feels the compulsive call of another story. For Nadine is very, very good at what she does and right now she's got a choice to make. Will she return to South Africa where Bishop Desmond Tutu's amesty trials, better known as the Truth and Reconciliation Committee hearings, are in full swing? Will she remain with Harold, the first man she could possibly see herself marrying, having children, in all settling down with?

There's one particular story that's demanding her attention, the story of an American boy, Jason, who was murdered in broad daylight during a riot of furious native Africans reacting after years of apartheid brutality. Contrived as it may seem, his parents share his journal spanning his teens and young adult years with Nadine. The combination of his aspirations and the questions, fears, dreams and violence she meets on her second arrival makes for riveting albeit predictable reading.

The ending, however, will leave every reader shocked and silent with the essence of just what all this contemporary violence is really about. While there may not be so much unusual in the plot line, Amanda Eyre Ward does a superb job at plumbing the depths of fury, misunderstanding, forgiveness and shared grief! The result changes Nadine's life and choices forever! Unforgettable and all too real!!!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on February 25, 2008

Confusing to follow in some places, and I didn't really enjoy Ward's stark-bare-bones writing style. The middle of the book was really great, the plot had great potential, but I just was lost for the first and last parts of the book. I was hoping for so much more.

Thirtyish international journalist Nadine travels the hot spots of the globe in pursuit of the story. However, when she journeyed to a small village outside Mexico City to interview the parents of twelve recently murdered young boys, two thugs battered her breaking ribs and more. When Nadine regains consciousness she finds herself in the Cape Cod B&B owned by her estranged father and his fiancée. Dr. Duarte provides her needed medical care.

Nadine feels this is the last place she wants to be while healing. She reads in the paper an article on a local couple traveling to Cape Town, South Africa to attend the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. The pair needs to hear why a black woman killed their white son in 1988. Nadine feels a deep need to cover the story so without official backing, she flies to Cape Town, a place where she lost the love of her life. She meets grieving Americans; who give her their late son's boyhood journal.

FORGIVE ME is an interesting morality drama starring an interesting protagonist who believes the story comes before her safety although her Mexican incident has left her with doubts. The tale cleverly uses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings to spotlight Apartheid, but could have been any prejudicial ism especially state sponsored. The journal that the parents give Nadine leads to her reflecting back on her failed relationships with her father and her soulmate. Although some spins feel forced and false, fans will appreciate Amanda Eyre Ward's deep look at motivation of individuals and countries.

Harriet Klausner

I would send Amanda Eyre Ward a fan letter about her book "Forgive Me," but I'm afraid she would take time to read it and I would much rather she spend her time writing. She has remarkable talent; I have loved every book of hers, and can't wait for the next one.

Books that reveal insight about foreign lands and historical events while also delivering a powerful story are none too common these days, so I was delighted with "Forgive Me" from page one.

Ward also has a keen talent for presenting memorable characters. I could relate to Nadine and her sense of adventure, while knowing I am also like Nadine's best friend, just loving the babies.

I found the plot twist at the end very clever. I just love it when I'm surprised!

One more compliment? I love how Ward treats us to such interesting phrases, such as when she used the term "buttery summer."

Bottom line: books like Amanda Eyre Ward's are why I'm a reader.

Ward tackles two disparate themes in Forgive Me: the psychological depths of motherhood and the ugly face of apartheid in South Africa. Journalist Nadine Morgan has long sought comfort by chronicling the problems of others. After her mother's early death from cancer, she is rudderless, dependent on a devastated father for the marginal emotional support he can offer. While best friend Lily becomes a wife and mother, remaining in Cape Cod, Nadine escapes into her work, arriving in Cape Town, South Africa, during the tumultuous days of rage that erupt in black townships (slums). Exhilarated by the danger all around her, Nadine falls impulsively in love with a photo-journalist, Maxim, the two tracking the violence as it erupts throughout Cape Town, years of oppression coming to fruition.

It is there that tragedy strikes in the death of a young American, Jason Irving, who is killed by an angry group of young people, one of whom is only a girl, the sister of one of Nadine's new township acquaintances. A more personal tragedy follows and Nadine flees South Africa, beginning a long pattern of fear of commitment and self-knowledge. Ten years later, Nadine is left for dead in Mexico after a severe beating by members of a local drug cartel. She wakes at her father's place in Cape Cod, childhood memories stalking her every waking moment, confined by her injuries but yearning to flee. As a local doctor treats Nadine's injuries, he also offers a measure of calmness, giving Nadine a short respite from the drive that has so fueled her life until now. But an article in a local paper send Nadine skittering back to South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about to hear the case of the American volunteer so brutally killed. In a coincidence that feels like fate, Nadine is on the same plane as Jason's parents, his bitter and defeated mother unwilling to forgive her son's murderers or grant Nadine an interview. As soon as Nadine lands in Cape Town, the old days come rushing back, along with the guilt she has carried since her first visit.

But there are two levels to this novel, a subtle sub-plot contained in the diary of a young boy dreaming of stardom, his difference from others only endurable as he considers the future. Interspersed with Nadine's agonizing journey to the past, this new thread is woven into an intricate melding of personal demons, motherhood and the harsh realities of a cruel world. Torn between her old habits and the promise of a secure and loving future, Nadine revisits a world she has successfully avoided until now, the adrenaline-charged days of apartheid and its consequences and the reality of her own identity. Horror is unveiled during the TRC hearings, society attempting to move past its blood-soaked history. Inhabiting a lifestyle that allows her to avoid introspection, Nadine is finally face to face with how she has limited her own happiness. Courageously, this flawed young woman finally comes home to herself. A surprise twist threw me for awhile; upon reflection, although it does not enrich an already powerful tale, Ward's unique talent is validated in gifted prose ("They told each other ribbons of stories.") and a vision that transcends the ordinary. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

The age of the creatures that predated the dinosaurs--the protomammals and their ilk--is a fascinating and little-known chapter in the history of life on earth, and I was interested in learning more about these creatures. So I bought this book.

I shouldn't have.

Not only did I learn nothing, the book is truly painful to read. Ward's style swings from jaw-poppingly boring "what I did on my summer vacation" accounts rendered in grindingly banal prose to incomprehensible science jargon, sometimes in the same paragraph.

Along the way, he manages to get in some cheap shots at colleagues, congratulate himself for having solved the mystery of the dinosaurs' extinction--and, oh, by the way, having figured out what killed the Gorgons and their kin, too--and indulge in a bit of handwringing over apartheid in South Africa, where he did his digging.

Which is laudable, certainly, but what it has to do with paleontology is beyond me.

But most perturbing is that at no point does the reader learn anything of substance about the creatures themselves. Nope, nothing. Zip. Nada. Bubkes. Don't believe me? Take a look at the index. The actual Gorgons--the gorgonopsids--the creatures for whom the book is named--appear on--wait for it--11 pages. Out of 288 pages, they merit mention on 11.

The interested layperson would do a heck of a lot better to read Robert Bakker's "The Dinosaur Heresies," which is far more accessible, far better written, far more significant, and far less smug. And by the way, you'll also learn more about the protomammals in Bakker's book than you will in "Gorgon."

If I want badly written and indulgent memoirs, I'll read the New Yorker. Since I'm still interested in learning more about the Gorgons, I guess I'll keep looking.

I ordered this book used but it came in perfect condition. I had been reading a library copy but it was two weeks overdue. This book has captured my intrest like no other non-fiction book ever has. I want to be a geologist or a paleontolgist now!

I used to do a bit of Fossil Hunting about 30 years ago and read a fair bit about fossils and the Fossil Record. Most of what I did was searching for Belemnites,shark teeth,and hopefully some bones in Cretaceous marl and an adjacent stream bed in New Jersey.At that time there were great discussions going on as to what caused the great extinction of the huge creatures that roamed the earth.The Cretaceous Period was 60-120 million years ago. I can't recall any discussions about creatures the size of lions roaming around 250 million years ago called Gorgons;and a possible extinction at the end of the Permian Period. So,when I saw this book ,I figured it would make interesting reading.
As other reviewers have already stated,the book is pretty short on data and provides very little proof. However,it is well worth reading for anyone who has ever searched for fossils and all the mud,muck,heat,cold,wet and just plain hard dirty work that is involved. However,the rewards come when your hunches or bull work pay off;and you find something good.What a thrill it is, when you unearth a fossil and realize that this thing lived over 100 million years ago and has been waiting there for you to find.
I found this book to be a great read and shows how people can devote years of their lives pursuing an interest or obsession.
It is well written and the author reveals himself and his associates ;and I think that is more what one should look for in this book ; rather than the answer;because the search will continue and the theories will be put forward and debated as long as there are people with the desire to find those answers.Just imagine,if every question could be answered,what a dull world it would be.The excitement of the journey often surpasses the destination.

I anticipated that this book would be a lengthy discussion of evidence proving the author's theory instead I experienced a long and not too interesting travelogue until page 224 when in five pages 'proof' of the theory was offered. No supporting data was offered. Very disappointing

By now, almost everyone must be familiar with the discovery of the iridium concentrations at the K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) boundary, and the Chicxulub impact crater, first reported in 1981, that appears to exactly the right age and the right size to have terminated most of the life on Earth, sixty-five million years ago. The author of "Gorgon" began his career with field work on the proof of the quick and terrible extinction at the K-T boundary--the death knell of the dinosaurs.

However, Dr. Ward found himself more and more intrigued by an even great extinction event that occurred 250 million years ago at the boundary of the Permian and the Triassic (P/T). Was it caused by another comet or meteor strike? Did the elimination of 95 % of Earth's marine life and 70% of all land species proceed as quickly as at the K-T termination, or did it take place in pulses over a much longer period of time?

According to the author (and others), there is no credible, unambiguous evidence for an impact as is the case for the K-T extinction. What is more likely is that massive greenhouse gas emissions reduced oxygen availability, ultimately resulting in the collapse of marine ecosystems, and most of the land-based systems as well. This was possibly caused by volcanic eruptions on the supercontinent of Pangea, in what is now Siberia (the Siberian Traps).

In the final chapter of his book, "Resolution," the author puts forth two interesting observation-based theories: (1) the abundance of oxidized, reddish rock in the Triassic beds above the P/T boundary (about 50 million years worth) implies "...the oxygen in our atmosphere plunged to very low levels as it became tied up in the rocks...so low, in fact, that any poor human...would very quickly suffer from altitude sickness, even at sea level."; (2) on land at least, the near extinction of animals that didn't use oxygen efficiently, including most but not all of the mammal-like reptiles that dominated the Permian. "Heat [greenhouse effect] and asphyxiation [were] the two agents of the long mysterious mass extinction."

Except for the last chapter, "Gorgon" is light on theory and heavy on field work and proof-of-concept. Here is how geologists, paleontologists, and other scientists interact in the field, braving the heat of South Africa's Karoo Desert, the omnipresent ticks, flies, and puff adders, and the digestive challenges of bad water and mystery-meat pizza. Dr. Ward takes his readers not only on a trip through the lost world of the Permian, but also through an African culture that seems to be on the brink of chaos. He is a sensitive and at times acerbic observer of both present and deep past. "Gorgon" is a compelling, thoroughly readable story.

Set in South Africa in the mid 1970s, and narrated by Marnus Erasmus, the eleven year old son of the well connected and politically influential Afrikaner General Erasmus and his now retired opera singer wife Leonora, the story gives real insight into how one's background and upbringing facilitate firmly held ideals and beliefs.
The Erasmus family plays host to a Mr Smith, the alias given to a visiting undercover Chilean General who sympathises with the Afrikaners' views. Through their interaction with Mr Smith, with their attitude toward their Coloured servants and their behaviour toward the Blacks, we get a very good impression of the Afrikaners' proud belief in their own superiority; however shocking such views may seem today.
But the beauty of the story is in the telling through the eyes of the eleven year old Marnus. Behr convincingly conveys the activities, expressions and innocence of youth, despite the perverted indoctrinated beliefs. His friendship with is class mate Frikkie, something of a bully and problem child at school; and his spiteful relationship with his older sister Ilse are well portrayed. Particularly endearing is the relationship he enjoys with his parents and his undoubted love and respect for them; a love than can even overcome the horrifying discovery Manus makes towards the end involving his father.
Interspersed with the current narrative is an ongoing account from the twenty four year old lieutenant Manus as he serves on the war front.
A beautifully written and revealing account, Behr succeeds in presenting an appealing view of a year in a family's life despite their horrifying attitudes and beliefs.

The beauty of this book is that it is so convincing. It helps you to understand how a sensitive, kind child can get caught in supporting a very wrong system.
There is this little boy, who wants to be loved by his mother and adored by his father, and this is so important for him that he is willing to pay any price for it. And beacuse he loves so much, he is incapable of seeing through their mistakes and finding his own route in life.
And during the book, first slowly and later with deafening speed , the pink curtains over this ideal life of the little Marnus are being torn away, and every time it happens ,Marnus still sticks to his former upbringing and stands loyal by the convictions of his father and mother. O yes, sometimes he sees the cracks in the appearances, as his sister Ilse or his aunt Tannie Karla try to show, but he cannot let the information in. That will treathen his quest for love from his parents. He tries so much... so much to behave that it is heartbreaking. His upbringing was too succesful. He cannot open his eyes,... Not when he sees how destitute Chrisjan , their former servant is, ...Not when he sees the pain of Little Neville, ...not when he sees how his infallible father mistreats his best friend. He cannot allow in his mind the realisation that the goodness of his parents is limited. And still love them despite their failings.
Yet he has learned a little bit when grown up. During the book we meet Marnus again as a grown up man of 26, when he is fighting in the South African Army against rebels on Angolan soil. Everytime the inserts appear you see how the exepriences of being twarted and confused as a child have their repercussion in his adult reactions. And you can see how he is learning and growing, albeit it piecemeal and slowly. "How come you are here as a soldier?", he asks one of his soldiers. It feels that it is one of the first times he turns towards a person of an other colour and asks a direct question about their thoughts. The first time he is really interested. And than also the remorse breaks through, so big that dying seems a reasonable option out of this guilt. Not choosen, just like he was unable to steer his own course as a child, but submitting to fate.

"Memorable for the eye-opening authenticity with which Behr catches the Afrikaner mentality at home ... Behr's novel offers a disturbing confirmation that sincere and kindly people can still be the walking representation of evil" (Sunday Times)

Mark Behr's first time novel "The Smell of Apples" won the prestigious CNA Literary Debut Award and the Eugene Marais Prize. It was a wordlwide success, because it contains one of the most expelling themes in South Africa of the last 30 years.

Behr tells the story through the eyes of the 11-year old Marnus Erasmus who lives with his sister and parents in Cape Town of 1973.Behr links many aspects throughout the story so that the reader gets to know about Marnus's story of initiation, the apartheid system, the sexual mischiefs of his parents and Marnus being a 26-year old soldier in the Angolan Civil War.
But mainly the reader is led through the week of Marnus's life becoming more smart and grown up.He and his sister Ilse especially try to behave like adults when a Chilean general visits the family. This so called Mr.Smith has a symbolic function in the novel, because he is the one(the snake)who steels the apples out the families Garden of Eden.

All in all the novel by Mark Behr is a good introduction for readers who want to inform theirselves and who are interested in the apartheid system and the life of blacks and whites in this period of time.

In his novel "The Smell of Apples" Mark Behr deals with problems of Apartheid by telling the story of a white South-African boy called Marnus Erasmus.
Throughout the book the strong relation to his father becomes obvious. Although Mr. Erasmus is really strict and authoritarian, Marnus regards him as a hero, especially because he is a general in the South African Army. Nevertheless the reader believes that Marnus's father is very considerate concerning his family, but this illusion gets destroyed when Marnus observes that his best friend Frikkie is raped.
The end of the novel is really shocking, but exactly that makes the book so interesting and readable. Telling the story through the eyes of a 10-year old boy makes the story even more dramatic.
I like the story and the characters, although the parts of the novel concerning Marnus's time in war are sometimes hard to understand

After Mark Behr's "The Smell of Apples" had earned best critics by famous newspapers like "The Sunday Times" or "The Daily Telegraph", I decided to get a personal impression of this book.
Indeed the story seemed to be quite interesting from begin on: Behr describes a harmonious family. He writes with with a sense for details and creates a perfect illusion, in which the eleven year-old protagonist lives.
This idyllic picture is first disturbed by the second time-level, which appears always suddenly without connection and ends the same way. Here Marnus is a 26 year-old soldier, who fights in Angola and finally dies.
The contrast of these two levels makes the reader soonly mistrust the harmony of Marnus's life and his family.
Little incidents engross this feeling time after time, although the really tragic end is very surprising anyway.
Mark Behr succeeds in showingthe former or maybe still actual conflict between South African Blacks and Whitesby analyzing the Afrikaner-mentality in an apparently normal Afrikaner-family.
The change of society (military) is told in a detailed and really understandable way. So you can experience the younger South African history by identifying with Marnus, who has to face bad things, but doesn't seem to learn from it anyway.
For the interested reader a real duty!