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Cry, the Beloved Country: A Story of Comfort in Desolation
 
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Cry, the Beloved Country: A Story of Comfort in Desolation (Paperback)

by Alan Paton (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £4.79 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (1 Aug 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099766817
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099766810
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 29,910 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > P > Paton, Alan
    #14 in  Books > Fiction > World > African

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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

Product Description
"Cry the Beloved Country" is the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set against the background of a land and a people riven by racial injustice. Remarkable for its contemporaneity, unforgettable for character and incident, "Cry, the Beloved Country" is a classic work of love and hope, courage and endurance, born of the dignity of man.

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Cry, the Beloved Country: A Story of Comfort in Desolation
94% buy the item featured on this page:
Cry, the Beloved Country: A Story of Comfort in Desolation 4.2 out of 5 stars (45)
£4.79
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Customer Reviews

45 Reviews
5 star:
 (25)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (45 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Tale in times of apartheid, 26 Mar 2007
By Jay "The Amazon Reviewer" (Mauritius) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
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 time? The beginning of the game is slow and tedious, but the cascade effect is worth it. Some classics are like setting up dominoes. They begin slowly, and the unfortunate reader will put the book down in disgust and never return to it. A more persistent reader is richly rewarded for their patience. Cry, The Beloved Country is that kind of a classic, others are Tale of Two Cities, Dickens and Jane Eyre, Bronte.

The language is beautiful, I don't enjoy flowery descriptions of scenery, but in Cry the descriptions helped you feel as if you were there without being too lengthy. The characters are well developed, and some are people I would really love to know. However, because I did care about the characters, the story in the beginning, is just so sad that I almost fell into that catagory of unfortunate readers who quit reading early and miss out on the treasure. I'm grateful that I didn't.

Inspite of the difficult beginning, this has become one of my favorite books. It carries you from despair to hope. It is a story about South Africa and its people, but it is also a story that has something for each of us.

Cry, The Beloved County leaves you a better person when you put it down than when you started it. It is a journey not to be missed.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The compelling and sad tale of South Africa, 3 Feb 2006
By Philippe Horak (Zug, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
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.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story, 3 Feb 2005
By Sancho Mahle (Charlotte, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
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
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 7 months ago by Jacqui Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars 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
Published 17 months ago by Sello Kekana

3.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Sam J. Ruddock

4.0 out of 5 stars 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
Published on 1 May 2006 by Ellen

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story
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. Read more
Published on 26 Jul 2005 by Sancho Mahle

5.0 out of 5 stars gripping story
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. Read more
Published on 26 Jul 2005 by Sancho Mahle

1.0 out of 5 stars Cry, the beloved country
This must be one of the worst books I have ever read. After reading an exciting, fast-paced thriller (Angels and Demons by Dan Brown), I settled down to commence this book which I... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars A simply wonderful book
Stephen Kumalo, an old, poor Zulu priest from the drought-stricken, dying village of Ndotsheni in the Natal, must use his meager life savings to travel to 1940s Johannesburg, to... Read more
Published on 24 Jul 2003 by Crebocchio

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply a must have!
This book is beautiful. I am dyslexic but read it in two days. It will make you laugh and cry and understand South Africa in a way you never thought possible.
Published on 11 May 2003 by annanomsa

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving
One of the the most moving books I have ever read. An emotional roller coster. You can't put it down, you just have to blink back the tears and read on.
Published on 10 May 2001

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