- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (26 Feb 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141183128
- ISBN-13: 978-0141183121
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 276,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'A beautiful novel, rich firm and moving...compelling' New York Times 'Cry, The Beloved Country...was the great raiser of popular awareness of South Africa...the most influential South African novel ever written' Nadine Gordimer, Observer
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
First published in 1948, Cry, The Beloved Country stands as the single most important novel in twentieth century South African literature.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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First Sentence
IT IS SOME eleven years since the first Author's Note was written. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
IT IS SOME eleven years since the first Author's Note was written. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reverend Stephen Kumalo lives with his wife in a remote village, Ndotsheni, where he is a respected umfundisi. His sister Gertrude, his brother John and his son Absalom have all gone to live to Johannesburg. One day The reverend receives a letter from Theophilus Msimangu urging him to come to Johannesburg because Gertrude is very sick.
And so begins Stephen's long descent from the mountains to the capital which almost resembles a descent into Hell. Indeed, he is to discover that Gertrude is a prostitute and liquor seller who doesn't care about her young daughter, that John is a politician fighting against the white leadership and that Absalom has murdered a white man.
Mr Paton admirably portrays all the contradictions which the people of South Africa endured in the 1950s. And he does so through the eyes of a forlorn old man who tries to make sense of the way the members of his family behave. The author's humanity, compassion, generosity and wisdom are apparent in every sentence he writes and his novel shows with sensitivity the complex social and racial issues in a country where so many had to suffer for so long.
And so begins Stephen's long descent from the mountains to the capital which almost resembles a descent into Hell. Indeed, he is to discover that Gertrude is a prostitute and liquor seller who doesn't care about her young daughter, that John is a politician fighting against the white leadership and that Absalom has murdered a white man.
Mr Paton admirably portrays all the contradictions which the people of South Africa endured in the 1950s. And he does so through the eyes of a forlorn old man who tries to make sense of the way the members of his family behave. The author's humanity, compassion, generosity and wisdom are apparent in every sentence he writes and his novel shows with sensitivity the complex social and racial issues in a country where so many had to suffer for so long.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is a blessing for a booklover to come across a story which is so deep like Cry the beloved country. The characters are dissected and made so real. The plot is awesome and the pace of the story is fast moving. Plotted in the depth of Apartheid South Africa, this story brought out the lamentation of a soul of a nation, a lamentation that is felt by all the different ethnic and racial groups involved. I watched the movie on the story "Amok" and it gave the full visual presentation of the story. I will recommend this book to all booklovers with a curious mind about an era, a people and a nation that stared at disaster straight in the eyes and chose the option of peace.Also recommended:The usurper and other stories, Disciples of Fortune,Animal farm
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read this novel twice. It is truely a work which challenges the reader on various levels. At times you are locked in a wonderful lyrical poem; the descriptions of South Africa are vivid and so authentic that you are there. Paton is wise enough to pace the action in a previous time. There is no one that is naive enough to keep the heart wretching drama in the past. It is prehaps these fact that everyone can relate to in the pathos of Rev. Kumalo in his journey to reunite the tribe and his gradual awakening to the fact that there are changes that are occurring that his compassion and tears can do nothing for. Indeed this is worth the reading. The only complaint I have is that there is not enough attention given to Gertrude. But this criticism does not decrease the value of the book. One can still see Mr. James Jarvis in the delipated church as the rain washes away his hatred and it is replaced by compassion. "Cry The Beloved Country" is not just a novel about South Africa but about the social injustices we all see around, or at least we should be able to see .
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Truth and Reconciliation
Getting involved in this and moving along with it was surprisingly leaden; I didn't think it would be such a demanding, long, `heavy' read or as terribly grim and sad as it turned... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Mrs. Katharine Kirby
Free at last, Free at last...
Alan Paton raised the issue of emancipation, from fear, as the last line in this seminal work. Paton was a member of Africa's "white tribe," the dominant one at the time, and this... Read more
Published 14 months ago by John P. Jones III
Cry, the Beloved Country
An excellent, honest story of heartache on both sides of Apartheid. A must read for everyone.
Published 22 months ago by jeancc
Lovely Beyond Any Singing of It
Stephen Kumalo, a black Anglican priest from a rural Natal village, travels to Johannesburg to search for his for his son Absalom, with whom he has lost touch, and his younger... Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by J C E Hitchcock
wise, beautiful, and not lightly read...
Cry, the Beloved Country was banned in South Africa when it was published in 1948. Later that same year the National Party introduced apartheid. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by LittleMoon
Everybody Should Read This Book
This book was on Oprah's list for a reason. Read it ... and weep. I did, again, and again, and again. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2008 by JEM
splendour beyond any singing of it
the beauty of this marvelous novel is in its language and that you cannot help but become one with long suffering Umfundisi Khumalo
like in often most quoted phrases `it was... Read more
like in often most quoted phrases `it was... Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2008 by Sello Kekana
An important vision of South Africa
It is having read this book that i understand Coetzee's Disgrace so much better. Between them they are almost like a conversation being shouted across the years, from pre apartheid... Read more
Published on 29 July 2007 by Sam J. Ruddock
Classic Tale in times of apartheid
Have you ever set up dominoes on their end all in a line, then once they are all set up you touch the first one and it sets off a cascade effect knocking them all over one at a... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2007 by Jay
cry, the beloved country
'Cry, the beloved country' is a beautiful book about discrimination of black people. It is situated in South Africa in 1948. Read more
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