Cry, The Beloved Country
I finished this book last night:
Cry, The Beloved Country
By Alan Paton
I read this because its Oprah's new classic book choice. From the beginning, it spoke to my heart. The resolution of racial tensions has always been important to me. This book was published in 1948, the same year South Africa passed Apartheid legislation. The book describes the conditions in South Africa just before Apartheid.
I didn't think much of Paton's writing skills at times, and I feel guilty for that because overall the book is so awesome. The plot was excellent. The social exposé of South Africa - wow! What a great thing this author did in writing this novel. You can see his compassionate philosophy and heart of gold shining all through it.
But... many times when a scene dragged a little I wondered if this was the author's first or only novel. (Its not the only one - I checked the BN website and he's got other books in print.) Maybe I had these thoughts come to me because I read it just after reading John Steinbeck, who was a true literary genius.
Anyhow, two thumbs up for Alan Paton's Cry, The Beloved Country -- what a beautiful man he must have been.
[Additional notes: Here's a good bio of Paton with a list of his works. I was right - Cry, The Beloved Country was his first published novel, but according to this bio, he wrote two novels after finishing college, then destroyed them!]
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