From the back cover:
"Cry, The Beloved Country approaches the racial problems of South Africa with an intelligence, a simplicity and a compassionate sincerity which makes its reading an absorbing and deeply moving experience. Alan Paton has thought deeply and impartially and has put his heart into his subject, but he has made it bigger than argument or emotion; I don't think you will soon forget the resigned sorrow of its closing pages" --Observer

"Mr Paton's record of a simple Zulu parson's search for his delinquent son in the maelstrom of Johannesburg is as moving in the biblical simplicity of its style and drama as it is imaginatively disinterested as an accoutn of the problems of race relations. This is as remarkable a novel for its facts as for its truth." --Guardian

This is going on a very short bookring:
kelwood (Ohio, USA)
Ramya (New Jersey, USA)
Gooby (Victoria, Australia)
senna1 (SA, Australia)
Back to tantan in Queensland, Australia!
Cardamaz (England)
Back to tantan in Qld, Australia!

Released on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 at By Mail in Sent to a fellow BookCrosser, Bookring Controlled Releases.

Sent to kelwood on a short bookring.

Just received this today in a bookring mailing. It arrived much quicker than I expected. Looking forward to reading it. Thank you tantan!

I hardly know where to begin and can hardly believe how long ago it was written. Long before I was born, before I'd ever heard of apartheid, before Nelson Mandela became a world figure, Alan Paton wrote this soulful tribute to the people of South Africa. The pain and injustice of white/European treatment of the native Africans is real and truly sad. And yet from the sadness two men learn to forgive and rebuild. I would recommend this to anyone.

Shipped to Ramya 7/13/04 via US mail. Enjoy!

Received over the weekend from kelwood as part of a bookring. It's next in line for me to read after "Holes", another bookring book.

Thanks, kelwood, for the Ohio postcard!

16 August 2004

I have finished reading, but am still working on comments. I've written to Gooby for address to send on but have not yet received a reply -- will resend.

“There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it.” As a singer who has sung music of power, grace, beauty, I found these opening words particularly powerful. Describing a land to be lovely beyond singing it – when I know the power of musical expression – is invoking an awesome power. But this lyrical opening moves, in a couple of paragraphs, to grief at the destruction of the land’s beauty and fertility in over-grazed valleys and hillsides, and within a few pages, the story moves into a foreboding of the deeper grief that arises from the system of apartheid.

This book is well subtitled “a story of comfort in desolation” : from the profound desolation of two families, one black, one white, who have lost their sons to violent death, comes eventually a blurring of the color-line between the two fathers, spiritual renewal through their pain, and new life for the once dying land.

Thank you, Tantan, for offering this book as a ring. I had read this book many years ago, but didn't remember anything of it. I wouldn't have thought to simply check it out of the library, but when I saw it offered as a bookring, I decided it was time to reread it. The people, the images are haunting and moving, especially looking back at that period from today's perspective of South Africa.

I will -- finally -- get this in the mail to Gooby tomorrow.

29 September 2004

Finally (really!) in the mail to Gooby today -- it's on its way.

Received from Ramya, New Jersey postcard and all!

I loved this rich, gorgeous, engaging book. From the first description of the valley, where maize grow less than the height of a man, I was hooked.

The phrases

... according to their custom.

... for such a thing is not easily done.

were for me the essence of this book. The customs of tribe and "european" South Africans hold both the values of old, which will sustain the new society, and the evils of new "values" which will tear it apart. It is the wisdom to know when to act "according to the custom" and the courage to break out of it to do "a thing not easily done" that will lead the country forward, and it is those who hold these qualities that can reconcile the races.

Paton also holds the fear in society - each group for the other - and the sacrifices we make for this fear forward, into the light of scrutiny. Whilst we may not live in this situation, we each live with our own fears, which cause us to creep silently through life and not feel its richness. May we see our own fears and overcome them, so that we may lead our own society out of these fears also.

Thanks, Tantan, for sharing this book, which may well be my book of the year, despite being the only one completed so far! I've posted it off to Senna1 today.

Received today from Gooby. I can't wait to get into this book judging by the reviews! I have another bookring to finish first and then I will be straight onto this one.
The book was received not attached to the cover. Just thought I'd make a note of it here.

Yes, sorry, was going to mention the book's condition but got caught up raving about its content! The cover was almost off when I received it and despite my best efforts some page sections have separated. I was thinking about glueing but figured that "if it aint (completely) broken, don't fix it" was worthwhile following as I didn't want to do more harm than good. It's all present and accounted for - just requires a careful hand when reading.

Wow! What a powerful, moving book. I read this while studying for an exam and really didn't give it the time it deserved but I still got so much from the book. Other journallers have commented on the beauty of the written word and I agree with them 100%. I was overwhelmed by the discriptions of the landscapes. As a wannabe writer, it has taught me a lot.
The struggle of the 'native' man against white settlers was well portrayed and I think a lot of people in Australia could learn a thing or two if they compare the South African plight to that of our indigenous people. Whilst they aren't identical, the dialogue about the purpose of the 'native' would make a lot of sense to everyone.
Simply amazing.
Thank you Tantan for sharing your book. I have tried to fix it but I'm no expert so hopefully you're not too disappointed with the condition when you get it back.

Received in the mail today after journeying through the United States and Australia. I found another copy today (same cover and all) which I will now be sending out to Cardamaz in England, and will keep this edition for my permanent collection. Thanks to all in the ring. I'm glad you all enjoyed this story. I intend to re-read it at some stage in the future if only for the beautiful prose alone. One of my favourite paragraphs in literature has always been the closing sentences of this book, which I can post here now that you have all read it:

"Yes, it is the dawn that has come. The titihoya wakes from sleep, and goes about its work of forlorn crying. The sun tips with light the mountains of Angeli and East Griqualand. The great valley of the Umzimkulu is still in darkness, but the light will come there. Ndotsheni is still in darkness, but the light will come there also. For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing. But when that dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret."

So beautiful...