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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Gorgeous language! It is clear why this piece of literature ends up on many must-read lists. The story and characters compel me to learn more about Apartheid and to understand how it could exist in the world. I would read it again and again.
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A prophetic message to South Africa, delicately exploring the impossible balance between tribal law and the new democracy.
In it, he depicts a miners' strike where 3 are killed by police. In reality this occurred in 2012, 64 years after the book's publication. At Marikana, 34 were killed and 173 injured in the exact way Paton described.
A beautiful story of loss and reconciliation, underpinned by a serious message that has gone unheeded.
More relevant than ever.
In it, he depicts a miners' strike where 3 are killed by police. In reality this occurred in 2012, 64 years after the book's publication. At Marikana, 34 were killed and 173 injured in the exact way Paton described.
A beautiful story of loss and reconciliation, underpinned by a serious message that has gone unheeded.
More relevant than ever.
The main triumph of this book is the beautiful writing. Like idk if the dude writes poetry bit he should. I thought it was interesting how much he was really saying how simple complicated situations can be if you have compassion. I was a little nervous he was going to get racist or white saviory at the end but I think he pulled it back just in time
“For there is enough hating in our land already.”
This novel was written over 70 years ago, published in 1948, the year the segregationist apartheid policies were first implemented in South Africa. The tale starts with an ageing Zulu parson, Stephen Kumalo, taking the train from the village of Ndotsheni to Johannesburg to search for his delinquent son.
As Paton so eloquently writes, bigger isn’t always better. In Johannesburg, Kumalo’s daughter and son have fallen upon hard times, and it is up to the parson to use his influence within the church network to bring them to safety.
For the younger generation Stephen Kumalo and his ilk are the white man’s dogs, stuck in their ways unable to change. The younger generation dream of a change in which whites and blacks live side by side in peace and prosperity and Nkosi Sikelele iAfrika (God bless Africa – the pan-African anthem of solidarity) becomes a reality.
The land around the village is parched and a young African from the city comes with new farming techniques to stop soil erosion, by ploughing around the hills not up and down.
The older generation in the characters of Msimangu, Stephen Kumalo, and James Jarvis showed magnanimity toward the end of the novel. Even though a heinous crime had been committed, the fathers were not going to stand for the crimes of their sons and might even accept that a change is coming to a new South Africa.
Paton touches on almost every level of trouble in post-colonial South Africa: racism, classism, elitism, residual imperial feelings, how wealth corrupts natives, arbitrary segregation, the loss of family values, the loss of social pride, the abandonment of positive religious teachings, the inability of government and the misunderstanding of the new laws. It doesn’t blame white people or black people; it creates complex individuals who embody multiple faults, and when such people make up a new nation, it shows how such a system could collapse and increase human suffering.
When Stephen Kumalo visits the pregnant woman abandoned by his delinquent son, Paton captures the bleakness of her situation:
Alan Paton served as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for young (native African) offenders from 1935 to 1949, where he introduced progressive reforms. Paton himself adopted a peaceful opposition in protests against apartheid. His passport was confiscated upon his return from New York in 1960, where he had been presented with the annual Freedom Award. It was not returned to him for ten years.
This novel was written over 70 years ago, published in 1948, the year the segregationist apartheid policies were first implemented in South Africa. The tale starts with an ageing Zulu parson, Stephen Kumalo, taking the train from the village of Ndotsheni to Johannesburg to search for his delinquent son.
As Paton so eloquently writes, bigger isn’t always better. In Johannesburg, Kumalo’s daughter and son have fallen upon hard times, and it is up to the parson to use his influence within the church network to bring them to safety.
For the younger generation Stephen Kumalo and his ilk are the white man’s dogs, stuck in their ways unable to change. The younger generation dream of a change in which whites and blacks live side by side in peace and prosperity and Nkosi Sikelele iAfrika (God bless Africa – the pan-African anthem of solidarity) becomes a reality.
The land around the village is parched and a young African from the city comes with new farming techniques to stop soil erosion, by ploughing around the hills not up and down.
The older generation in the characters of Msimangu, Stephen Kumalo, and James Jarvis showed magnanimity toward the end of the novel. Even though a heinous crime had been committed, the fathers were not going to stand for the crimes of their sons and might even accept that a change is coming to a new South Africa.
Paton touches on almost every level of trouble in post-colonial South Africa: racism, classism, elitism, residual imperial feelings, how wealth corrupts natives, arbitrary segregation, the loss of family values, the loss of social pride, the abandonment of positive religious teachings, the inability of government and the misunderstanding of the new laws. It doesn’t blame white people or black people; it creates complex individuals who embody multiple faults, and when such people make up a new nation, it shows how such a system could collapse and increase human suffering.
When Stephen Kumalo visits the pregnant woman abandoned by his delinquent son, Paton captures the bleakness of her situation:
Will he ever return? he (Stephen Kumalo) asked, indifferently, carelessly.
-I do no know, she said. She said it tonelessly, hopelessly, as one who is used to waiting, to desertion. She said it as one who expects nothing from her seventy years upon the earth. No rebellion will come out of her, no demands, no fierceness. Nothing will come out of her at all, save the children of men, who will use her, leave her, forget her.”
P72
Alan Paton served as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for young (native African) offenders from 1935 to 1949, where he introduced progressive reforms. Paton himself adopted a peaceful opposition in protests against apartheid. His passport was confiscated upon his return from New York in 1960, where he had been presented with the annual Freedom Award. It was not returned to him for ten years.
Cry, The Beloved Country, had me in between the feelings of wanting to cry, yet gave me a cause to extremely love. The writing style was very different than what I was used to but after some time the words seemed to have weighed more to me than how they were written. At times I felt the chapters dragged and consisted of a language I didn’t understand, but overall by the end I throughly enjoyed the storyline, the characters and the way everything was portrayed.
This story takes us along the journey of Kumalo and Jarvis, both from two different worlds, two different cultures, two different circumstances but both along the same journey of finding what they lost. The journey was hard but what was just as hard was losing someone you held dear. A tragedy, us humans can never truly comprehend. And sometimes the hardest part isn’t just losing them but it’s the way they were lost. The questions provoked, begging us to wonder if we could had done something different to save them. But all life’s a journey and sometimes we need the struggle to understand our journey to the fullest.
This story takes us along the journey of Kumalo and Jarvis, both from two different worlds, two different cultures, two different circumstances but both along the same journey of finding what they lost. The journey was hard but what was just as hard was losing someone you held dear. A tragedy, us humans can never truly comprehend. And sometimes the hardest part isn’t just losing them but it’s the way they were lost. The questions provoked, begging us to wonder if we could had done something different to save them. But all life’s a journey and sometimes we need the struggle to understand our journey to the fullest.
I read this for summer reading in high school. Really powerful book, moved me to tears after reading it almost. Literary classic!
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I learned a lot about the history of South Africa in this book. Many parts were difficult to read, but ultimately it was a story of hope. This book was written over 75 years ago now- it’s been ages since I’ve read a book this old!