Journal Entry 1 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Saturday, March 18, 2006

For the 5-5-5 challenge

Set in the bitter twilight of apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s, The Smell of Apples is a haunting story narrated by eleven-year-old Marnus Erasmus, who records the social turmoil and racial oppression that are destroying his own land. Using his family as a microcosm of the corroding society at large, Marnus tells a troubling tale of a childhood corrupted, of unexpected sexual defilements, and of an innocence gone astray. 

Journal Entry 2 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Thursday, May 11, 2006

It was interesting to read a book written from the perspective of a 11 year old Afrikaner boy, it gives you an insight into their thinking and mentality and as well as this we learn something of the political turmoil the country was going through at that time. His family life on the outside seems idyllic but all is not as it seems -as can be seen from the climax of the book which is sudden and unexpected (for me at least).

 

Journal Entry 3 by boreal at St Lees Restaurant in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (7/11/2006 UTC) at St Lees Restaurant in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand

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Taken along to tonights meetup and taken home by another of the attendees.

Happy reading.... 

Journal Entry 4 by AnonymousFinder on Sunday, July 30, 2006

Having just read Bryce Courtney's White thorn, also set in south Africa, I found this one disappointing. It lacks depth, and the story doesn't develop much.

CAUGHT IN DUNEDIN OTAGO NEW ZEALAND 

Journal Entry 5 by baptist at Roslyn Village in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (8/14/2006 UTC) at Roslyn Village in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand

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Journal Entry 6 by pacificrim from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Wednesday, September 20, 2006

I found this book on a seat outside the bookshop in Roslyn, Dunedin.

I enjoyed the book for its glimpse into the mind of a South African child. However, I found the flashforwards were distracting and they did not seem to add anything signficant to the story.

I intend to take this book to Lawrence in Central Otago on Saturday, and release it there.