3.77 AVERAGE

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

starting a ghost fight club so I can punch alan paton in the face
challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Excellent in passages, and incredible at creating a “mood”, but I was never able to enjoy it or feel engaged with the characters. 

Probably one of the most beautiful books I have read in my life and certainly the most thematically rich! A not to be missed novel about life, relationships, and what it means to be truly self-less.
challenging dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Lyrically written, 'Cry, the Beloved Country' is a great book of the relationships of spirit, man, government, and nature. A great insight into the challenges of South Africa during the pre-apartheid years and the quiet (but not silent) destruction of tradition and land which bred inequality and anger in the poor, urban Blacks.

The great red hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth. Down in the valleys women scratch the soil that is left and the maize hardly reaches the height of a man. They are valleys of old men and women, of mothers and children. The men are away, the young men and girls are away. The soil cannot keep them any more.

p34

In the deserted harbour there is yet water that laps against the quays. In the dark and silent forest there is a leaf that falls. Behind the polished paneling the white ant eats away the wood. Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools.

p224

Yes, God Save Africa, the beloved country. God save us from the dep depths of our sins. God save us from the fear that is afraid of justice. God save us from the fear that is afraid of men. God save us all.

p259

The writing is poetic you could see the South African rain pouring with artistic rhythm. The repetition of phrases is well used here for emphasis and some sort of longing. The world is a somber valley but Paton managed to spark that hope in the little actions and decisions of the characters. The story started with hope of finding his son and ended with hope of finding freedom while in between sprinkling hope to each character and to each people of Johannesburg and Ndotsheni.
I can never fully feel the oppression and the poverty experienced by Kumalo and the natives but Paton managed to get empathy from the reader with all those wonderful dialogues. I would have wished to read this in Zulu, or Afrikaans, or Xhosa; all those beautiful languages. With Black Panther showing a non-colonized Africa and afro-futurism I can only hope for them, with the description of just starting Johannesburg. This was written decades ago and surely South African now is different if not better but I hope Kumalo's and the characters' desire would be achieved at last.

This book is indeed heavy, Umfundisi.

A must-read. Rife with the beauty of the land and its connection to humanity, and a piercing view of the beauty of man despite the continual calamity of social constructs that constantly breed fear, hatred, and violence. The theme of this book is love, overpowers all obstacles. It may not "win" the game, but it allows for a vision of hope.
challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced