- Paperback: 315 pages
- Publisher: Picador; New Ed edition (4 Aug 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330444832
- ISBN-13: 978-0330444835
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 13.3 x 2.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 635,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Geographical
‘Poignant and thought-provoking’
Evening Standard
'will hit a nerve with this civil rights protester.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anyone wanting to read an honest, heartwarming and funny account of growing up in South Africa must read this book. Christopher captures both the beauty and the hardships of growing up in a township in Johannesburg. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry and it will stay with you for a very, very long time. Thank you Chris!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've just finished reading 'Shirley...' a second time and my estimation of it as one of the best memoirs I've read was re-affirmed. Van Wyk puts his phenomenal memory and eye for detail to great effect as he recounts his upbringing in Apartheid ravaged South Africa. The result is a potent story that never descends into self-pity; levity that does not veer towards bathos. Wyk excels as an anecdotalist. 'Shirley...' isn't a mundane list of significants events in Van Wyk's life. The characters that populate his childhood, good, bad or indifferent, are vividly captured thanks to the author's canny observations. Van Wyk writes in the present tense; as Chris sees the world through a child's eye so does the reader. We grow up alongside him; his memories become our memories. The political situation is not glossed over; the reader becomes aware of it as Chris does. As it slowly pervades every aspect of his daily life, Van Wyk embraces the struggle against Apartheid without failing to take the reader along with him.
At one point Van Wyk mentions his admiration for Richard Wright's autobiography 'Black Boy'-a masterclass of a memoir- describing it as 'terse and searing' and wonders '..if I'll ever be able to tell my own life story with such craft...'. Oh the irony! For indeed Chris, you have succeeded more than you might know. 'Shirley, Goodness and Mercy' is nigh on par with Wright's book and Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings...' and subsequent volumes. Stylistic differences aside, together these books set the standard for what makes a great autobiography. I only wish Chris spread his story out over more volumes; I am sure he has much more to tell.
At one point Van Wyk mentions his admiration for Richard Wright's autobiography 'Black Boy'-a masterclass of a memoir- describing it as 'terse and searing' and wonders '..if I'll ever be able to tell my own life story with such craft...'. Oh the irony! For indeed Chris, you have succeeded more than you might know. 'Shirley, Goodness and Mercy' is nigh on par with Wright's book and Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings...' and subsequent volumes. Stylistic differences aside, together these books set the standard for what makes a great autobiography. I only wish Chris spread his story out over more volumes; I am sure he has much more to tell.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Hilarious But Deep Township Insights
31 Jan 2012
Format:Paperback
This author is a South African poet, novelist and short story writer. Here he writes autobiographically about the situation in the Coloured Community of South Africa as he grew up. I bought this in December 2006 in Bedfordview, South Africa, as part of my reading plan on cultures in South Africa, and read it a few months later.
Van Wyk's specific focus is autobigoraphical, telling stories from his experiences of growing up in the township of Riverlea, not far from us in Johannesburg. The book includes several of his original poems, relating them to the context in which he wrote them.
He tells about the liberation struggle against Apartheid, and his part in it. Though this is a serious and reflective book, it is humourous. Van Wyk does not hold himself exempt from his own satire.
For instance, his title arises from a childhood memory. His mother was named Shirley. He tells that as a young child he would quote the Bible verse "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ..." as "Shirley, goodness and mercy..." He envisioned his mother being involved in that hope for care in his life.
He tells some hilarious stories of events with his family. Some of these humourous stories also help bring out the pathos of the hemmed-in life of people under Apartheid. Likewise his thoughtful portraits introduce us to some thoughtful people of various races in his childhood and youth.
It was interesting to hear Van Wyk's thoughts about the variety of people lumped all together as Coloured by the previous Apartheid government, English-speaking, Afrikaans-speaking, Christian Muslim, and his mosaic of ethnic life in the township.
Van Wyk's specific focus is autobigoraphical, telling stories from his experiences of growing up in the township of Riverlea, not far from us in Johannesburg. The book includes several of his original poems, relating them to the context in which he wrote them.
He tells about the liberation struggle against Apartheid, and his part in it. Though this is a serious and reflective book, it is humourous. Van Wyk does not hold himself exempt from his own satire.
For instance, his title arises from a childhood memory. His mother was named Shirley. He tells that as a young child he would quote the Bible verse "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ..." as "Shirley, goodness and mercy..." He envisioned his mother being involved in that hope for care in his life.
He tells some hilarious stories of events with his family. Some of these humourous stories also help bring out the pathos of the hemmed-in life of people under Apartheid. Likewise his thoughtful portraits introduce us to some thoughtful people of various races in his childhood and youth.
It was interesting to hear Van Wyk's thoughts about the variety of people lumped all together as Coloured by the previous Apartheid government, English-speaking, Afrikaans-speaking, Christian Muslim, and his mosaic of ethnic life in the township.
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