Welcome to Litsy!

#BookedInTime South Africa Apartheid
@Cuilin @dabbe

It was more of a me problem than a book problem. It‘s a great book. Just probably not the right time for me.

Had this forever just deciding to read it. Already loving the rich descriptions of the African lands.

I assumed this book detailed a larger political picture of South African apartheid but instead read about the humanity of two fathers. One is a Black Zulu parson searching for and coming to terms with the actions of his son, and the other is the White father of the missionary killed by the parson‘s son. The way the two come together is a beautiful story.

More than once, I‘ve bought my friend Kristy a copy of Cry, the Beloved Country, not realizing I‘d already gifted her a copy. She still hasn‘t read it. Now, when I see a copy, I often let her know I‘m not going to buy it. 😆 She decided to not go to the library book sale with me this weekend, because she has no more room for books, has been actively culling her shelves, and library sales are dangerous. I promised I wouldn‘t buy her anything. ⤵️

This was a powerful story, both heartbreaking and ultimately a bit hopeful as well. Set in South Africa in the 1940s, it provides a very clear sense of time and place.

#1001books #audiobook #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #ReadingAfrica2022 #SouthAfrica

"Love is greater than force."

Reading the book for the first time and teaching it in a couple of weeks- excited to see what's in store for me this afternoon!

A good book. But a dated story.

- But there is only one thing that has power completely, and this is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.

#InspiredNewYear @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TheKidUpstairs
#Beloved

This is another on my TBR list. 📚📚📚📚

I didn‘t expect I would truly enjoyed this book but I did 😘 Written in an easy to understand yet sing song prose, it seemed a little hard to grasp at times but overall a lovely read!

“Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that's the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing. Nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him if he gives too much.”

📷: Made w Typorama

I actually finished this book in December. It was such a powerful read. Although it was written in 1948, the conflicts between races still rings true today. Spare, poetic writing. Grabs your heart. I had no idea what to expect when I chose the audio version at the Library. By the way, the audio enhanced the experience. This book has now become an all time favorite.

Now that my sling is off and I can drive again, I can return to car reads! Here‘s my latest!

Such lyrical, beautiful prose! He is a painter with words! I am a bit more than halfway through, and know it is a pick.

This #classic (published 1948) was assigned high school reading for me, and even after all these years the descriptive #setting and events of apartheid South Africa has stayed with me.

I picked up this copy not too long ago with the intention to re-read — thinking that‘ll have to happen soon!

#Maylovesclassics

#1001Books

#LitsyAtoZ. C) Cry, the Beloved Country. This is my brother‘s favorite book and I am glad I finally read it. I think it will stay with me for awhile. Other finishes for LitsyAtoZ are Eleanor Oliphant, The Baker‘s Secret and The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper. 11 down 15 to go. @BookishMarginalia

Paton's most celebrated novel is a novel about a place, and how inextricably a place can be linked to our sense of self. It is also a novel about how a place we love can betray us, and how we can betray it. This novel has made me feel like I understand South Africa- a place where diverse race and class make for complex and often brutal social conflicts. Paton is expert in his crafting of setting and development of character.

💔

This book gives me such a sense of place...it is exceptional 💯

Slay all day. This book is giving me the feels.

Well this book is really just exceptionally well written. 😭

#readharder2017 a book published between 1900 and 1950

This powerful look at racism seems even more relevant today than when I read it years ago in International Lit. Except that racism isn't just "over there," it's right here. And I feel, as a white woman, I need to do more about it. #racism #whitepower #bethechange

How could I have not read this book all those years? It has been on my shelves for ages and I didn't know what I was missing. What a wonderful, sad book. Mourning and hope. South Africa. Deeply moving. #1001books

(Picture: Aboard on the SS Rotterdam)

I read Cry, the Beloved Country on the eve of a year living in Pretoria, South Africa. I took this picture during that year, at the Union Buildings in downtown Pretoria. It's always interesting to visit places you've read about, and this was both a sobering and inspiring place: Nelson Mandela was inaugurated here, at a building originally meant to symbolize the union of the British & Afrikaner governments. #setinSouthernHemisphere #junebookbugs

#setinthesouthernhemisphere #junebookbugs

I really love the moral of this story, but I was rushed to read it and unfortunately I had a really hard time understanding the writing style.

ATTN: Blake Levin....is this your book?

#17booklove Day 4: Love in the title (or in my case, 'beloved') 😊

#booknerdproblems when you update your LibraryThing database after being mostly AWOL there for a few months (thanks to now spending most of my non-reading free time on #Litsy) and realize somehow you acquired this many books, most of them still TBR. Winter is coming, good to be prepared in case of being snowed-in ❄️📚☃️📚❄️📚!

Just putting this out there in case anyone needs it. The only good thing I can think of right now is that election night - that horrible, nauseating, back-and-forth anxiety attack - is over. For better or worse, there's no more uncertainty. I really want to keep politics out of this account, but I'm still cycling through the five stages of grief and trying to process. This quote has helped me make sense of things in the past.

Do you have an aversion to previously highlighted books, or do you enjoy it, or does it not matter to you?
In college, I usually liked it. Less work for me! But it has to be done similarly to what I would do, else it annoys me.
What about you? Preferences?

I am torn. As much as I enjoyed the story, I found the descriptions often longwinded. I know it was written in, and for, another time, but it did often take away from the story.

Starting this for my bookclub.

Quite a good read for anyone interested in the content matter. Even if Africana history isn't of interest to you, the emotional story and tugging pathos should be enough to keep you lured in. The foreign wording took some work getting used to, but hardly a burden once you do.

This was one the most beautiful and touching books I have read. It gives insight into the injustices in South Africa at the time. It will stay with you.