Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forging a National Consciousness through Mutual Respect, 29 Sep 2008
Playing the Enemy is a very timely book. In these days when nations are often more divided than before, Nelson Mandela's instinct to show respect, friendliness, and common purpose with those who saw him as an enemy is a beacon that lights up the potential for all people to come together to accomplish more. John Carlin has used the Rugby World Cup imaginatively to illustrate the essence of President Mandela's approach. Mr. Carlin is a wonderful story teller, and you'll feel chills as you read the many great moments he brilliantly captures in Playing the Enemy.
Leaders have always used foreign enemies to bring their purpose together. Who realized that this could be done at the level of sport rather than through war as a way to unify a country where people were deeply suspicious (even paranoid) about one another?
I was glad to see that Mr. Carlin provided lots of background about how someone imprisoned for decades became the leader of a reconstituted nation in South Africa and went on to accomplish things that not even the most optimistic would have expected. President Mandela's story is one for the ages, and this way of telling the story makes it easier to understand for those who never saw South Africa during the Apartheid regime.
Although I had long studied and worked to help change the government in South Africa from the inside and outside, the political impact of the international boycott of the South African rugby team had been lost to me. I hope those who would like to encourage governments to behave more appropriately towards their people will remember this example.
Bravo, Mr. Carlin!
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Incomplete, yet wonderfully moving, 18 May 2009
Well, might as well admit it. I cried, and not just remembering how that shocking, ear-splitting low-level fly-over - on top of one of the worst hangovers I've ever had - almost gave me a nervous breakdown right there in Ellis Park, Jo'Berg.
Reading the book, the great memories came flooding back. The blubbing started when Carlin described how the players learned 'Nkosi Sikelele iAfrika'- a story I'd never heard - and the happy tears flowed again - more than once - before the end.
Carlin had already impressed with one of the great introductions of all time, checking out his idea for the book with Mandela, the great man's enthusiasm for the project immediately becoming ours. Sheer class!
He spent the book building the emotion by providing extensive background to the struggle and the characters from all sides of ther political spectrum. Even when the narrative became a bit tangled at times he managed to carry us through with his obvious love for Mandela.
Then, finally, we came to the game itself, and the wonderful memories of that haunting song, "Shosholoza." John's explanation of the background to Shosholoza, and how Mandela used to sing it in captivity, was a marvellous nugget of information to help enhance those memories.
But for a moment I wondered whether Carlin was actually there at the final, because the most memorable thing about Shosholoza on the day was that some cheeky chappy played it through the stadium tannoy system at scrums, inspiring the South Africans to greater strength even as the match was played out. This was a very controversial - perhaps even unsporting - thing to do, but it worked. That was the great sporting significance of Shosholoza on the day, and Carlin missed a trick by not highlighting that controversy alongside the huge political significance of the song. Together they would have had a tremendous impact.
Did he really have to portray the day as quite so utterly perfect in every respect, without dealing with a few realities too? After all, he had dealt with the political realities with a colder analytical eye for most of the book. I reckon I would have cried anyway, even with a little more truth about what went on with regard to the match.
All Blacks captain Sean Fitpatrick was asked afterwards if he objected to the fact that New Zealand had been up against the tannoy-Shosholoza during the game. "No," he said diplomatically. "I quite like the tune." Like others, he realised that he had been part of something greater than even his own country's obsession with rugby. So even if Carlin had addressed the realities, many of us non-South Africans would still have been crying with joy as we remembered how the drama unfolded.
Similarly, how could he decide to make no mention whatsoever of the very plausible theory that New Zealand were poisoned before the match? (The New Zealand coach certainly thought that was exactly what had happened). At the very least he might have said that, since several All Blacks were ill and Jeff Wilson among others had to run for the toilet during the match, the gods seemed to be on South Africa's side. Again, I can understand him not wanting to destroy the romance of the day, but I think it would have been an even stronger book had he described the realities of the day and explained that no one really cared about the underhand tactics because on this day of all days, this result simply had to be.
One last point - on the moments straight after the final whistle. Though Carlin mentions in passing that the players knelt in prayer, he doesn't really convey just how moving and unusual this was, both visually and emotionally. At that precise moment of triumph, to see the players all humbly on their knees in a circle like that, it really was one of the strongest images of all for those who were there.
But this is a wonderful book and I never knew the story of how Mandela came to wear the Springbok shirt - or just how close he came to NOT wearing it. Some of the quotes Carlin extracted were so moving and fitting.
This is a book of monumental brilliance. Not perfect, but then neither were some of the tactics - in purely sporting terms - that ensured the success of the day. The Mandela Final was, however, a perfect piece of nation-building, a perfect piece of history, and nothing - not even some of the shadier realities of the occasion - could ever have detracted from that positive, enduring truth. Thanks to Carlin, mission impossible is achieved: the most loved man in the world - Nelson Mandela - becomes loved even more.
You deserve your Movie, John, and all the acclaim you have received. (Can I stop crying now?)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost a great book, 15 Nov 2009
Carlin's book is wonderful from a political point of view. If you are a rugby fan (and you read it probably because you are) then be warned - the book is more about the transition to democracy than the World Cup tournament and the historical role of the Springboks.
Unfortunately Carlin has made the facts suit his story instead of the other way round. A chapter about the Boks' role in White Society (and the reverse for Blacks) would have lent his story more weight instead of relying on prior knowledge on the part of the reader. It doesn't fit his story but from 1970-76 the Boks played 22 internationals (plus the 1977 Northern Transvaal celebration game) and from 1980-86 they again played 25 games (plus the 1989 controversial World XV games to mark the SARUs centenary for which all were paid but that's another story!). True the Boks could only tour a few times (France 1974, South America 1980 and New Zealand 1981 with a stopover in New York) but reading Carlin you would think that the Boks didn't play any rugby at all after 1981. Yes some of those internationals were against anyone that would risk condemnation and visit the Republic (such as various South American teams, weakened England sides and of course the Kiwi Cavaliers). None of this rates a mention, not even the aborted 1986 Lions Tour. Only the 1985 All Blacks do - but that tour did go ahead, in a way.
The story would have been more powerful if Carlin had showed how the Boks became increasingly isolated, not just tell us it happened. Luckily the rugby side of things has been told elsewhere, by Edward Griffiths (covering the period 1992-95) and Chris Greyvenstein (just ignore his dated excuses for apartheid). Also the artificial 1979 South African Barbarians tour of the UK (made up of a third white, third black and third coloured players) gave the insular world of rugby an excuse to readmit the Boks to the international calendar.
But it's a good read nonetheless and with background knowledge can be appreciated fully.
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