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A review by toebean5
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
3.0
I kept going back and forth on this book. There was a lot of racism and violent situations that made me uncomfortable, but since it is set in apartheid South Africa, I guess that is just par for the course. But I learned a lot- this is not a region I'm very familiar with- and some of the scene setting and relationships were really lovely. But there is a scene with a chicken death that really wrecked me- I had to put it down for a couple of weeks because it was just too wrenching for me. But then again, to be able to write about a chicken death in such a way that wrecks a person? That's kind of impressive. See? Back and forth.
I think that one of the themes that made me the most uncomfortable was that our white, male protagonist was sort of depicted as a savior for Africa, a person to unite the races. However much Peekay didn't want that role, it was still written by the author, and just made me feel a little... hrmph. (Because that's an adjective) The undeniable parallels with the American prison industry and institutionalized racism was pretty hard to ignore, which worked in its favor. Back and forth.
But for what it is worth, the group really liked this title. Racism, violence, and all. Go figure.
I think that one of the themes that made me the most uncomfortable was that our white, male protagonist was sort of depicted as a savior for Africa, a person to unite the races. However much Peekay didn't want that role, it was still written by the author, and just made me feel a little... hrmph. (Because that's an adjective) The undeniable parallels with the American prison industry and institutionalized racism was pretty hard to ignore, which worked in its favor. Back and forth.
But for what it is worth, the group really liked this title. Racism, violence,