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Product Description
About the Author
Alan Paton attended college in Pietermaritzburg where he studied science and wrote poetry in his off-hours. After graduating, he wrote two novels and then promptly destroyed them. He devoted himself to writing poetry once again, and later, in his middle years, he wrote serious essays for liberal South African magazines, much the same way his character, Arthur Jarvis, does in Cry, the Beloved Country.
Paton's initial career was spent teaching in schools for the sons of rich, white South Africans, But at thirty, when he was teaching in Pietermaritzburg, he suffered a severe attack of enteric fever, and in the time he had to reflect upon his life, he decided that he did not want to spend his life teaching the sons of the rich.
Paton was a great admirer of Hofmeyr, a man who dared to tell his fellow Afrikaners that they must give up "thinking with the blood," and "maintain the essential value of human personality as something independent of race or color." Paton wrote to Hofmeyr and asked him for a job. To his surprise, he was offered a job as principal of Diepkloof Reformatory, a huge prison school for delinquent black boys, on the edge of Johannesburg. It was a penitentiary, with barbed wire and barred cells, and under Hofmeyr's inspiring leadership, Paton transformed it. Geraniums replaced the barbed wire, the bars were torn down, and soon the feeling in the place changed.
He worked at Diepkloof for ten years, and though it was certainly a fertile period, at the end of it Paton felt so strongly that he needed a change, that he sold his life insurance policies to finance a prison-study trip that took him to Scandinavia, England, and the United States. It was during this time that he unexpectedly wrote his first published novel, Cry, the Beloved Country. It was in Norway that he began it, after a friendly stranger had taken him to see the rose window in the cathedral of Trondheim by torchlight, Paton, no doubt inspired, sat down in his hotel room and wrote the whole first chapter. He had no idea what the rest of the story would be, but it formed itself while he traveled. Parts were written in Stockholm, Trondheim, Oslo, London, and the United States. It was finished in San Francisco. Cry, the Beloved Country was first published in 1948 by Charles Scribner's Sons. It stands as the single most important novel in South African literature.
Alan Paton died in 1988 in South Africa.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Something different to read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Too Late The Phalarope (Paperback)
In my junior year of high school, I was required to do a research paper on two books. I was looking for something different to read and write about and I came across Alan Paton's novels, "Cry the Beloved Country" and "Too Late the Phalarope". Reading these books, I am aware of the harsh realities of apartheid but was mesmerized by the literary input that Alan Paton wrote of his countrymen and South Africa. Peter was a travesty to himself and to his family. He had an affair with a native and caused a rift between his father and himself. He is forced to confront the reality of how people in society are treated. Frankly, I got a B for the research paper.
5.0 out of 5 stars
emotionally wrenching and beautifully written,
By ld (Monte Sereno, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Too Late The Phalarope (Paperback)
This is the first time I have been so moved by a book that I have written a review of it. When I think of "the lieutenant" and his goodness, his sin, his longing - deep longing - for fulfilled love with his spouse or his father or his G-d, my heart aches. Because of his physical beauty and bearing, others have set him apart. Where is he at home? Not in either of his own homes, not in his own body or mind. Locked in the unforgiving and puritanical society of the Afrikaaners, the lieutenant is doomed to destroy himself and all around him. The characters are multi-layered, fully believable. His Aunt, as narrator, serves as the conscience of the times. She reveals herself as she details the downfall of the family and as she does, she and the captain question man's right to condemn self-righteously - when G-d condemns and then forgives.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intense and Intriguing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Too Late The Phalarope (Paperback)
This is the first of Alan Paton's books that I have read. I was struck by his Steinbeck-ish style of writing (which is fabulous, of course!) But comparison's aside, Paton has crafted an intriguing and extremely meaningful story. I'll avoid going over the plot but suffice to say there was not a moment when I did not feel a strong connection to the characters and their motivations. The views into Pieter's mind contributed to an intense emotional line through the book. Apartheid was not the focus but through Pieter's entries we can definitely understand the horrors of the situation (and perhaps apply the knowledge to our own situations). Truly an inspirational work! I encourage you to read this book ASAP!
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