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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was recommended to me by a friend so I desperately wanted to like it. But it just wasn’t for me.
The book is set in 1870s Africa, and learning plan out it through this book was definitely interesting and something is never learnt about before. But as a feminist, I found it every hard to read. 19th century Africa has a very different and some misogynistic view on women and I found it hard not to chuck the book across my room.
Also, the ending. My friend promised me I would be crying for days, because he had cried for 3 hours afterwords and he never cries. People, not a SINGLE TEAR was shed.
The ending was almost predictable and I saw it from a mile off. Granted, it’s sad and unjust, but it could have been solved by one, tiny, conversation. I really hate the miscommunication trope with a deadly passion.
I mean hats off to Wilbur Smith, you really embodied an 1870s, mid twenties, selfish and misguided boy really realistically. And I think you definitely knew a lot about men and women’s relationship history in Africa.
Anyway, read it if you want to educate yourself more on African history and are not a feminist or you just want to see why I’m complaining. But, trust me, I won’t be reading this one again.
The book is set in 1870s Africa, and learning plan out it through this book was definitely interesting and something is never learnt about before. But as a feminist, I found it every hard to read. 19th century Africa has a very different and some misogynistic view on women and I found it hard not to chuck the book across my room.
Also, the ending. My friend promised me I would be crying for days, because he had cried for 3 hours afterwords and he never cries. People, not a SINGLE TEAR was shed.
The ending was almost predictable and I saw it from a mile off. Granted, it’s sad and unjust, but it could have been solved by one, tiny, conversation. I really hate the miscommunication trope with a deadly passion.
I mean hats off to Wilbur Smith, you really embodied an 1870s, mid twenties, selfish and misguided boy really realistically. And I think you definitely knew a lot about men and women’s relationship history in Africa.
Anyway, read it if you want to educate yourself more on African history and are not a feminist or you just want to see why I’m complaining. But, trust me, I won’t be reading this one again.
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having only read a couple of other Wilbur Smith novels, I didn't know about this Courtney Family series. I picked up When the Lion Feeds completely cold to its place in Smith's work. It turns out that it's a massive collection of some seventeen novels detailing the lives of the Courtney family from the seventeenth century until the late twentieth century. It's very much in the same vein as the multi-generational fictional histories that James Michener, James Clavell, and, of late, James Carlos Blake created.
For some reason, I've never cared much for novels set in Africa, apart from Haggard and Talbot Mundy. And they are adventure works. This novel purports to be much more than that. I suppose it is. For it has an organic feel to it. That is, the story seems to come from within a cultural tradition and a national history. And unlike much contemporary South African literature, it is not a reaction against history. Thus it avoids spilling anarchic energy and replaces the experience of the Courtneys with a validation of their trials, hardships, and tragedies. What sort of legitimacy such a view has for contemporary South African readers, I don't know. Likely, it's problematic. But it's still an epic tale, a history of families writ as large as the horizon against which it takes place. The justice of that point of view, I'll leave to others to evaluate.
The story itself is sweeping, encompassing two brothers' lives during the Anglo-Zulu War. Garrick becomes a hero due to his actions at Rorke's Drift, while Sean survives the massacre at Isandlwana. Later Sean goes into the business of gold mining and stock speculation in Johannesburg. Fortunes are made--and lost. For what it's worth, Smith's book came out the same year as the landmark film, Zulu, with Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. So 1964 was a good year for Zulus. They come off as heroic and honorable in both Smith's novel and Cy Endfield's film.
For some reason, I've never cared much for novels set in Africa, apart from Haggard and Talbot Mundy. And they are adventure works. This novel purports to be much more than that. I suppose it is. For it has an organic feel to it. That is, the story seems to come from within a cultural tradition and a national history. And unlike much contemporary South African literature, it is not a reaction against history. Thus it avoids spilling anarchic energy and replaces the experience of the Courtneys with a validation of their trials, hardships, and tragedies. What sort of legitimacy such a view has for contemporary South African readers, I don't know. Likely, it's problematic. But it's still an epic tale, a history of families writ as large as the horizon against which it takes place. The justice of that point of view, I'll leave to others to evaluate.
The story itself is sweeping, encompassing two brothers' lives during the Anglo-Zulu War. Garrick becomes a hero due to his actions at Rorke's Drift, while Sean survives the massacre at Isandlwana. Later Sean goes into the business of gold mining and stock speculation in Johannesburg. Fortunes are made--and lost. For what it's worth, Smith's book came out the same year as the landmark film, Zulu, with Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. So 1964 was a good year for Zulus. They come off as heroic and honorable in both Smith's novel and Cy Endfield's film.
Mr. Smith’s deeply racist portrayals of Black Africans ruined this for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence
Well gosh. What an incredibly powerful (and stressful!) book. Wilbur Smith's ability to transport you to another land is near-unparalleled. How I wish, therefore, that his books could be happier!
Nie wszystkim książkom udaje się ta sztuka, ale ta wywołała u mnie różne emocje - od radości, poprzez obawę do ogromnego smutku (aż w końcu uroniłem łzę). Zależało mi na bohaterach, ta sama postać potrafiła mnie na pewnym etapie życia irytować, bym później mógł zaobserwować jej przemianę i zacząć jej kibicować. Książka jest dość obszerna, a i tak pozostało masę wątków, które zostały tylko napoczęte - mam nadzieję, że gdzieś są kontynuowane, ponieważ czuję ogromny niedosyt!
Podobał mi się klimat Afryki dziewiętnastego wieku. Szczerze mówiąc, nic praktycznie nie wiem na ten temat, więc zacząłem poszerzać swoją wiedzę szukając informacji związanych z przedstawionymi wydarzeniami, miejscami czy postaciami. Zadziwiające jest jak bardzo świat przedstawiony przypomina... Dziki Zachód - podejrzewam, że po prostu historia kolonizacji nowych lądów przez białego człowieka cechuje się pewnymi podobieństwami, niezależnie od tego który kontynent weźmiemy na tapetę. Zawsze sprowadza się to do zagarniania ziemi, podporządkowania sobie lokalnej ludności i eksploatowania złóż naturalnych, a afrykańskie farmy i miasteczka są podobne do tych założonych przez amerykańskich kolonistów.
Językowo jest bardzo dobrze, czytanie takiego tekstu sprawia przyjemność samo w sobie - mam wrażenie, że Wilbur Smith to jeden z tych pisarzy, którzy mogliby pisać o lepieniu garnków z gliny przez kilka stron, a ja i tak byłbym zachwycony konstrukcją zdań i mistrzostwem w operowaniu piórem.
Podobał mi się klimat Afryki dziewiętnastego wieku. Szczerze mówiąc, nic praktycznie nie wiem na ten temat, więc zacząłem poszerzać swoją wiedzę szukając informacji związanych z przedstawionymi wydarzeniami, miejscami czy postaciami. Zadziwiające jest jak bardzo świat przedstawiony przypomina... Dziki Zachód - podejrzewam, że po prostu historia kolonizacji nowych lądów przez białego człowieka cechuje się pewnymi podobieństwami, niezależnie od tego który kontynent weźmiemy na tapetę. Zawsze sprowadza się to do zagarniania ziemi, podporządkowania sobie lokalnej ludności i eksploatowania złóż naturalnych, a afrykańskie farmy i miasteczka są podobne do tych założonych przez amerykańskich kolonistów.
Językowo jest bardzo dobrze, czytanie takiego tekstu sprawia przyjemność samo w sobie - mam wrażenie, że Wilbur Smith to jeden z tych pisarzy, którzy mogliby pisać o lepieniu garnków z gliny przez kilka stron, a ja i tak byłbym zachwycony konstrukcją zdań i mistrzostwem w operowaniu piórem.
Great read a few sexual intimations that disturbed me but otherwise it was totally enjoyable wish books had adult ratings like movies though.But I still highly recommend it.
Fantastic first start to this family chronicle. Love, hate, adventure and a bit of history. Couldn't be better.
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes