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Cry, the Beloved Country 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.
The eminent literary critic Lewis Gannett wrote, “We have had many novels from statesmen and reformers, almost all bad; many novels from poets, almost all thin. In Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country the statesman, the poet and the novelist meet in a unique harmony.”
Cry, the Beloved Country is the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son, Absalom, set against the background of a land and a people riven by racial injustice. Remarkable for its lyricism, unforgettable for character and incident, Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic work of love and hope, courage and endurance, born of the dignity of man.
- ISBN-13978-0743262170
- Edition1st
- PublisherScribner
- Publication dateNovember 25, 2003
- LanguageEnglish
- File size459 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
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Review
"The greatest novel to emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa, and one of the best novels of our time." (The New Republic)
“We have had many novels from statesmen and reformers, almost all bad; many novels from poets, almost all thin. In Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country the statesman, the poet, and the novelist meet in a unique harmony.” (Literary Critic Lewis Gannett )
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand.
The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams in every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.
Where you stand the grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. But the rich green hills break down. They fall to the valley below, and falling, change their nature. For they grow red and bare; they cannot hold the rain and mist, and the streams are dry in the kloofs. Too many cattle feed upon the grass, and too many fires have burned it. Stand shod upon it, for it is coarse and sharp, and the stones cut under the feet. It is not kept, or guarded, or cared for, it no longer keeps men, guards men, cares for men. The titihoya does not cry here any more.
The great red hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth. Down in the valleys women scratch the soil that is left, and the maize hardly reaches the height of a man. They are valleys of old men and old women, of mothers and children. The men are away, the young men and the girls are away. The soil cannot keep them any more.
Copyright (c) 1948 by Alan Paton
Product details
- ASIN : B000FBJHL2
- Publisher : Scribner; 1st edition (November 25, 2003)
- Publication date : November 25, 2003
- Language : English
- File size : 459 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 320 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0743262174
- Best Sellers Rank: #133,192 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #371 in Classic Literary Fiction
- #453 in Education & Reference (Kindle Store)
- #929 in Historical Literary Fiction
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It is a book on human nature, man's inhumanity to man, man's kindness to man, and on the philosophy of life - especially, its frailty and fatality. It is a book on how the poor build that which the powerful destroy. How the poor work, and the rich enjoy. How the poor get poorer and the rich try harder to keep it so.
The characters are realistic: the humble village parson of Ndotsheni, Rev. Stephen Kumalo, his sincere and helpful newfound friend, Rev. Msimangu, the most accommodating Mrs. Lithebe whose philosophy in life is, "Why are we born if not to help each other?" Then there is John Kumalo, so different from his older brother, the kind, humble, soft-spoken, Rev. Kumalo. So refreshing are Kumalo's innocent and cordial conversations with the boy with "a brightness in him," who rides past the church on a horse, they prove that one who is forgiving and one who is innocent can, between them, transcend any prejudice and hatred. And finally, how Kumalo's humility and sincerity change the heart of a pro-Apartheid white farmer who discovers a silent rebellion in his family, but only when it's too late.
Thank goodness Alan Paton finally found his calling as a writer after being a reformatory-school administrator, an experience which no doubt has helped him write this beautiful everlasting piece. His description of South Africa's outstanding natural beauty is fluent and picturesque. You can almost see the rolling hills disappearing into valleys, smell the earth after the rain, hear the call of the titihoya, and feel yourself rocking in the train bound for Johannesburg in the night. His prose is non-traditional but very understandable. It is hard to agree with reviewers who have had difficulty in understanding who was saying what in the book's dialogues. Forgive me, but if one has had an eighth-grade education, one should have no difficulty in extracting the marrow from this book.
To read this book is to cry for humanity but still hold out a hope for it!
The language of this book is amazing, poetic but also critical in the development of character. In large part the book is a love song to the land of South Africa, a place of great natural beauty which has been badly treated by man. But the language is also wonderful in expressing different personalities, different experiences, and different ways of thinking -- it changes and shifts with the subject.
The plot and characterization are very powerful. The people are rounded, neither all good nor all bad, and each speaks with his or her own voice. The story pulls one forward with the minister on his journey -- I read this almost without stopping. To a degree, some elements may be jarring for some readers today, particularly readers of color. The book was written almost seventy years ago, and it was written by a white South African, perhaps with the intention of reaching other white South African.
The ideas are compelling, and go far beyond the political. For me, the novel as a whole is about many things, about forgiveness and redemption and the tragedy of death and the miracle of new life The politics, of course, can't help but dominate the foreground. It is sad to think that the subjugation of South Africa's blacks continued for most of the next 50 years. But it is also inspriring to remember that apartheid ended without a civil war, and with reconciliation rather than revenge. A great book, worthy of its subject..