A Dry White Season in Reading 1001

Feb 28, 2019 Kristel rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-challenge, 1001-books, south-africa, apartheid, 2019-botm

I liked this book but also found it not that compelling at times.

I am old enough to remember apartheid and segregation. I have never visited South Africa. I often wonder what it would be like to visit South Africa. It seems that both the US and South Africa struggled more than other countries in giving up the mistreatment of a person based on their color and that struggle caused serious problems for the countries.

Legacy/Achievement: This is not the only book about apartheid or about South Afr I liked this book but also found it not that compelling at times.

I am old enough to remember apartheid and segregation. I have never visited South Africa. I often wonder what it would be like to visit South Africa. It seems that both the US and South Africa struggled more than other countries in giving up the mistreatment of a person based on their color and that struggle caused serious problems for the countries.

Legacy/Achievement: This is not the only book about apartheid or about South Africa. He is not that celebrated author though did win some well known prizes for his writing. Gordimer born 1923, Brink 1935 and Coetzee 1940. All are award winning writers. Alan Paton's work was probably the first. So really Brink did not offer much as far as Legacy.

Plot: this is a story told by episolary method. Ben sends all his notes and data to his friend who sorts through it and organizes it and we the reader share in this process so we know the ending and we share in the unfolding of the events.

Characterization: I liked Ben but I also thought he might be a fool. It did seem like while he stood for something admiral, he was really spitting in the wind. I can't feel that anything he did really helped or hindered the cause. He was one man, Gordon and Jonathan were just individuals. I did not like Ben's wife. She was not a sympathetic character and her character does make the infidelity understandable. I liked Ben's son. Seemed like a good kid. His daughters really were not so much. I really liked Melanie's father.

Readability: at times it read okay but it wasn't compelling. I had no trouble putting it down and reading something else.

Style: I think I read that Brink was one of the first few authors to challenge the restrictions of writing sexual content. I did not find this a necessary part of the book. I was okay with Ben and Melanie's attraction to each other but not with the details of the actual sex. How did whoever took the picture, know that the spare bedroom would be used. I didn't find this part of the story believable. Ben had not been in the habit of staying at Melanie's home. ...more

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Apr 15, 2019 Beverly rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019, april-book-count, 1001-bymrbyd

I had absolutely no idea what this book was about but it's one I needed to strike off my list at some point and I really enjoyed the book. It's basically about racial discrimination in south Africa. A black man who's a janitor at a college has a son who gets involved in a protest. He's arrested and never comes home. His father, who is the janitor at Ben Du Toit's school (Du Toit is a white schoolteacher in suburban Johannesburg), comes to Ben and describes what has happened to his son and tells ...more

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Aug 31, 2016 Tracy rated it really liked it

Very timely read about Apartheid, and the coverup of a man's death while in police custody. Well-written, and, though not an easy subject, an easy to follow story that is very affecting.
This would be a great book group read, though it could easily spark some volatile discussion. ...more

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