Islands
by Dan Sleigh | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0099464683 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0099464683 Global Overview for this book
Registered by 
perryfran
of Elk Grove, California USA on 5/20/2011
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
perryfran of Elk Grove, California USA on 5/20/2011 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
Islands
Author: Dan Sleigh
A major work of literature, and one of the most important novels to have come out of South Africa. — Islands covers the first half-century or so of Dutch settlement at the Cape, opening with a view from inside a Khoi nation, the Goringhaicona, under the leadership of Autshumao. For the indigenous peoples it is the beginning of the end of a way of life in close interaction with the subcontinent, its seasons and rhythms, its harshness and abundance. It was during Autshumao’s time that the first key woman of South Africa’s post-colonization story makes her appearance; Krotoa, brought into Commander Van Riebeeck’s household as Eva, go-between and interpreter between the Europeans and the Khoi. It is her mixed-race child, Pieternella, who becomes the pivot of all the action in this unforgettable epic.
Through the life stories of key male figures, yet all of them defined in one way or another by Pieternella, the reader is offered an understanding of the vast historical forces at work in the shaping of the world in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Behind these “little men” lies the shadowy Dutch East India Company which, ultimately, decides the fate of all the millions ruled by it; it is as inexorable and as mindlessly cruel as Nature itself.
This is No. 20 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.
Author: Dan Sleigh
A major work of literature, and one of the most important novels to have come out of South Africa. — Islands covers the first half-century or so of Dutch settlement at the Cape, opening with a view from inside a Khoi nation, the Goringhaicona, under the leadership of Autshumao. For the indigenous peoples it is the beginning of the end of a way of life in close interaction with the subcontinent, its seasons and rhythms, its harshness and abundance. It was during Autshumao’s time that the first key woman of South Africa’s post-colonization story makes her appearance; Krotoa, brought into Commander Van Riebeeck’s household as Eva, go-between and interpreter between the Europeans and the Khoi. It is her mixed-race child, Pieternella, who becomes the pivot of all the action in this unforgettable epic.
Through the life stories of key male figures, yet all of them defined in one way or another by Pieternella, the reader is offered an understanding of the vast historical forces at work in the shaping of the world in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Behind these “little men” lies the shadowy Dutch East India Company which, ultimately, decides the fate of all the millions ruled by it; it is as inexorable and as mindlessly cruel as Nature itself.
This is No. 20 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.
Journal Entry 2 by perryfran at Paperbackswap in -- Paperbackswap.com, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Thursday, February 2, 2023
perryfran at Paperbackswap in -- Paperbackswap.com, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Thursday, February 2, 2023
Released 1 yr ago (2/2/2023 UTC) at Paperbackswap in -- Paperbackswap.com, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I tried reading this one but couldn't get into it. So sending to a PaperbackSwap member in Illinois. Enjoy!
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Please make a journal entry to let me know that this book has been caught so I know that it has found a good home with you. If you are new to BookCrossing, please consider joining and indicate that you were referred by perryfran. I hope that you enjoy the book. You can make another journal entry with your comments when you are done reading.
Then, whenever you are ready to send it on its way, make a release note to show where the book was released. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. And it’s confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.
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