Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alan PatonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-12-02
ISBN: 074326195X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Scribner
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Book Reviews of Cry, the Beloved Country
Book Review: A Timeless Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked this book up from my bookcase, where apparently, I had bought it sometime ago when it was recommended to me by someone. I was in between books and thought for Christmas, I needed a classic to read and this book is way better than I ever expected. It is a classic for the ages and the language is absolutely beautiful, heart-wrenching and lyrical. What makes this book even more beautiful is that I can relate to it even today, though I know little of South Africa and its history. Unfortunately, I see a lot of similarities between South Africa and our own history.
The back of the book simply states that this book is about a man and his son in the depths of South Africa. Do not be misled by that simplest of blurbs. This book is about a lot more than a complicated father-son relationship. It is about the deep love the natives have for their country, the deep divide between the minority (the whites that have come to power) and the natives, and the unsettling of the tribes now that the land can no longer provide for them. It is a complicated book about a lot of issues that comes to head when the minister's son killed a white man. It gets even more interesting when the white man's father (Jarvis) finds in his heart the ability to listen to what his son was trying to do all those years. It turned out that Jarvis' son was a social worker in the highest sense of the word. He was trying to reconcile the divide between the natives and the uprooting of their tribal customs and trying to bring about the differences. The minister, Stephen Kumalo, went to Johannesburg to look for his son, but only was he too late to save his son.
Paton touched upon so much in this tiny book and handles all the difficult subjects well. One could feel the anguish of Kumalo when he finds his son and hears his sentence of death. One could feel the pain of a man who is called to attend to his son because his son was murdered and that he knew his son's murderer's father. Interwoven throughout the men's pain and grief, are stories of a land that is now rendered apart by two different races.
One cannot just pick this book up and read it without being affected. This book is one of those that will haunt you long after the last page has been turned. It is a book about love, hatred, indifference and greed but also of hope and promises. It is rich in details and it is one of my absolute favorite books to recommend for others to read. It really is a must-read for all serious readers because it will touch upon your heart.
12/28/09
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