Royal Rother
20th February 2007, 10:47 AM
I have to confess I am extremely surprised that this author's name does not appear ANYWHERE on BGO.
Some friends of mine have been raving about him for a couple of years and I have just borrowed "The Power of One" his first novel. Started it last night and it is a very interesting read, written from the perspective of the adult Peekay (an English boy) looking back on his life as a (so far) 5 and 6 year old boy in South Africa.
Set in South Africa in the 1930s it is full of cultural references and the description of the abuse meted out to him by the much older bullies in the Afrikaner Boarding School he is sent to, are rather reminiscent of The Children's War I felt.
The pace of the novel I found quite interesting - it chugs along beautifully, without me feeling there has really been a beginning, middle or end to the scenes described.
It deal far more with the thoughts and feelings of the writer than giving a detailed description of the scenes and events involving him. There is no real plot-building going on, it is just taking the reader through a series of events.
So far, so very good!
Bryce Courtenay (born 14 August 1933) is an Australian novelist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He spent most of his early years in a small village in the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa's Limpopo province.
While studying journalism in London, Bryce met his future wife and eventually emigrated to Australia. They married in 1958 and had three sons, Brett, Adam and Damon. Damon had haemophilia and died at age 24 from AIDS, contracted through a blood transfusion.
His novels are primarily set in either Australia, his adopted country, or South Africa, the country of his birth. His first book, The Power of One, was published in 1989 and, despite Courtenay's fears that it would never sell, quickly became one of Australia's best selling books by any living author. The story has since been made into a film - as well as being re-released in a version fit for children to read.
Today, Bryce Courtenay lives on a rural property on the Central Coast, just north of Sydney, Australia.
Some friends of mine have been raving about him for a couple of years and I have just borrowed "The Power of One" his first novel. Started it last night and it is a very interesting read, written from the perspective of the adult Peekay (an English boy) looking back on his life as a (so far) 5 and 6 year old boy in South Africa.
Set in South Africa in the 1930s it is full of cultural references and the description of the abuse meted out to him by the much older bullies in the Afrikaner Boarding School he is sent to, are rather reminiscent of The Children's War I felt.
The pace of the novel I found quite interesting - it chugs along beautifully, without me feeling there has really been a beginning, middle or end to the scenes described.
It deal far more with the thoughts and feelings of the writer than giving a detailed description of the scenes and events involving him. There is no real plot-building going on, it is just taking the reader through a series of events.
So far, so very good!
Bryce Courtenay (born 14 August 1933) is an Australian novelist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He spent most of his early years in a small village in the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa's Limpopo province.
While studying journalism in London, Bryce met his future wife and eventually emigrated to Australia. They married in 1958 and had three sons, Brett, Adam and Damon. Damon had haemophilia and died at age 24 from AIDS, contracted through a blood transfusion.
His novels are primarily set in either Australia, his adopted country, or South Africa, the country of his birth. His first book, The Power of One, was published in 1989 and, despite Courtenay's fears that it would never sell, quickly became one of Australia's best selling books by any living author. The story has since been made into a film - as well as being re-released in a version fit for children to read.
Today, Bryce Courtenay lives on a rural property on the Central Coast, just north of Sydney, Australia.