Cry, the Beloved Country (Oprah's Book Club) by Alan Paton
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Book Reviews of Cry, the Beloved Country (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: So Glad I Discovered This Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
The story of one man's quest to find his son and to seek forgiveness. I had never heard of this book prior to the 1001 Books To Read list (it had not been required reading in high school), and I am sorry I didn't read earlier. This book is one of the most memorable books I've ever read, and I know I will look forward to re-reading it again one day.
I understand some here have not taken kindly to Mr. Paton's writing style, but I found it engaging and very easy to read. His descriptive style, for me, was far from boring and kept me involved in the story to the point where I could envision all that was happening. For me, his words just flowed so evenly.
The story may be a little dated for today's politics being as the novel was written in 1946; however, it provides a thought-provoking point of view of the beginnings of apartheid in South Africa. The issues are complex, and the answers are not always easy or simple, but the effect on people is amazing and long-lasting. Mr. Paton describes how every facet of life is touched through this horrible policy. The dilemma of complexity is driven home when the stories of two men, Kumalo and Jarvis - one black, the other white - come together. Sympathies for both men are strong and the reader can find their hearts wrenched at what happens simply because that's the way it is done.
Well done and thoroughly enjoyed!
Book Review: Unbelievable
Summary: 5 Stars
I can yet to fathom how some people gave this book 1, 2 and 3 stars out of five. Most of the people giving these low scores admitted that they were being forced to read the book at high school, and found it boring and dull. Please dont corrupt these reviews with those opinions.
The biggest problem is that most of the people rating the book low took it right out of the context for which it was intended. It was not written as a 'novel' in the conventional sense. It was a social commentry, a cry out to the hatred, the demise and the vehement degradation of the times. The book was to showcase the plight of the black South Africans on an international level. It had no intention of providing a source of entertainment for ignorant, naive, myopic minds of 15 year old some 55 years later.
Paton writing style has been criticized greatly in this forum. Remember, Paton was a poet- not a novelist. Most poetry is difficult to understand, and hard to read for long periods of time- but it is the imagery and flow that captures the imagination. Think of Cry, The Belovered Country as a poem- not a Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy thriller.
While probably NO-ONE will ever be able to understand Cry in the same way as those in the context and time it served, it will go down as one of the classic literature endevours of our time.
Book Review: the real thing
Summary: 5 Stars
"What are master-pieces and why are there so few of them?" was Gertrude Stein's rhetorical question. Gertrude would have found plenty to criticize about Cry, the Beloved Country. Sentimental; politically correct; intensely personnal; carefully crafted; embedded in a time, a place, and a people - Alan Paton's novel is everything that Ms. Stein despised in novels. But it is also undeniably a Master-Piece.
Cry, the Beloved Country is at once a poetic portrait of South Africa, a testament of racial justice, and the universal story of suffering and despair overcome by hope and love. The protagonist is a village parson, Stephen Kumalo, who travels to Johannesburg in seach of his loved ones (son, sister, and brother) who have been lost to urbanization. In his search, Kumalo loses more than he thought he had to lose. But his stubborn integrity is rewarded in all the ways that matter.
The literary quality of this novel is undeniable. Paton shows a fine facility with with dialect, description, point of view, and voice. I was particularly impressed by Paton's effective use of the second person in passages that evoke sympathetic internal dialogs and solidify his varied characters.
Book Review: The compelling and sad tale of South Africa
Summary: 5 Stars
Reverend Stephen Kumalo lives with his wife in a remote village, Ndotsheni, where he is a respected umfundisi. His sister Gertrude, his brother John and his son Absalom have all gone to live to Johannesburg. One day The reverend receives a letter from Theophilus Msimangu urging him to come to Johannesburg because Gertrude is very sick.
And so begins Stephen's long descent from the mountains to the capital which almost resembles a descent into Hell. Indeed, he is to discover that Gertrude is a prostitute and liquor seller who doesn't care about her young daughter, that John is a politician fighting against the white leadership and that Absalom has murdered a white man.
Mr Paton admirably portrays all the contradictions which the people of South Africa endured in the 1950s. And he does so through the eyes of a forlorn old man who tries to make sense of the way the members of his family behave. The author's humanity, compassion, generosity and wisdom are apparent in every sentence he writes and his novel shows with sensitivity the complex social and racial issues in a country where so many had to suffer for so long.
Book Review: A Book Worthy of its Praise
Summary: 5 Stars
With this book Mr. Paton gives us an inside look at South African apartheid in the 1940's. We live this story through the eyes of a poor Zulu pastor who decides to travel from his small village to Johannesburg in hopes to save his son from mounting troubles. The migration of gold mine workers to the cities has increased the crime rate due to the separation of families. Exploitation of these laborers has caused a political unrest in Johannesburg.
Stephen Kumalo, our Zulu pastor, has to question his own parenting and lifestyle when he sees the poor decision making of his own son. Stephen meets a varied barrage of people, some who help and some who choose silence as the easiest way to stay out of trouble, when searching for his son.
CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY is a must read book. The story gave me insight on this foreign culture and the hardships experienced by not only the exploited workers of the South African gold mines, but the destroyed families of said workers. This book is mandatory criterion for schools in South Africa and it is worthy of this praise.