uncommongrace25 's review for:

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
5.0

This was , of course, on my high school reading list. I remembered having loved it but little else beyond the barest story outline. Older, wiser, more aware it touched me much deeper this time. I appreciate that it deals with an extremely complex situation, revealing multiple aspects of the causes and potential cures. While a message of hope it is also tinged with deep sorrow and no easy answers. Reading it this week in the midst of our nation’ s own debates about class and tribe was particularly thought provoking.

This quote is one that will remain with me:
“The truth is that our civilization is not Christian ; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of living charity and fearful clutching of possessions.”