This has been my favorite book for the majority of my life. I must have read it for the first time when I was about 14 years old, and I've read it so many times since. I have to say that it really changed my life, and my views.
It's about a kid called Peekay who was born in apartheid South Africa. As an 'English' child, he attends an Aafrikaner boarding school where he first discovered racial intolerance. It follows his journey where he meets a German Pianist/Scientist who is detained in a prison because he's German, and Peekay is taught to box by a mixed race prisoner. It highlights all the intolerance and violence, while celebrating peoples best qualities at the same time. He grows up to become a World Champion boxer.
It's not so much Peekays journey that I love, although his story is incredible, but it's the real historical events intertwined in the story that I love. Most of Bryce Courtenay's books follow this format where stories are based on real events. Apartheid, Soweto Riots....so many things are included.
I used to be obsessed with South African history because the injustice towards all racial groups and ethnicity astounded me. Not just the appauling treatment of the blacks, but even the English and Affrikaaner interactions. The history behind it all is just so interesting. I can't stand racism at all, and I'm proud that as a New Zealander we have pretty good (not perfect though) race relations, to a point where we don't notice peoples ethnicity, or it just doesn't matter. I think as a culture we try to celebrate different cultures.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll read with your jaw dropped to the floor, but you'll love this book. You'll look back to it during challenging circumstances in your own life, and be inspired.
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