Reviews

The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood by Glen Retief

liralen's review against another edition

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3.0

Combine South Africa, boarding school, and questioning of sexuality -- three book topics that interest me more or less to no end -- and stir. Add a bit of seasoning; stir again. Yay?

What surprised me, I think, was how little the book had to do with the cover copy. I mean, yes, he talks about growing up in a game preserve; he talks about boarding school and the jack bank. But that's more or less where the cover copy ends, leading me to think that that was the focus of the book; as it is, the jack bank is not too much more than an anecdote, and the cover copy only takes us halfway through the book.

Much of my ambivalence about the book, then, stems simply from it not being entirely what I'd expected. The rest stems from a wish that the author had gone deeper. He talks about events, and actions, but stops short of examining what they might mean in a greater context or in terms of himself. Take as an example the titular jack bank:
SpoilerHe talks in some depth about how awful the beatings were when he was a young student -- but then mentions, almost as an afterthought, that he beat younger students too when he was a prefect. I would have loved to see him address the questions of why, and whether it troubled him, and so on -- even if he didn't have solid answers.
Or, later in the book, race:
SpoilerWhat does it mean to him that he is, or was, primarily attracted to black men?
I'm not fishing for particular answers in either of these cases -- I can just imagine a number of different answers to each and am consequently curious as to which, if any, might be true.

Interesting book. Misleading copy. Not-entirely-fulfilled expectations.

Chatter on the mythical trifecta here.

thisisbgm's review against another edition

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5.0

Loved loved loved it. Beautifully written. Deeply moving.

corey's review

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3.0

Read this for school and had the opportunity to meet the writer, a really interesting and bright fellow. To be completely honest, I didn't think I'd be all that crazy about the book, it just didn't sound like my cup of tea. But Retief's journey is fascinating and inspiring, not to mention quite well-written. I especially enjoyed the "Black Boys of My Youth" section. Retief's recollections of his adolescence are both amusing and enlightening. Definitely worth a read.
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