19-04-2004, 10:58 AM
Ok, I read this book on Friday night - took from half seven to just after eleven pm.
What can I say about it? Well, it does make you think in places, and in others is very disturbing. The social life she describes is so alien to my own life back in South Africa that I found it hard to identify with it. There was however a strong sense of shared experiences in some of the incidents she related, and a tangible sense of loss/dying around Kimberley toward the end of the book.
Her writing style was very broken. I found the early part of the book in particular very disjointed - mind you, that is probably reflective of the way we think anyway. Traditional story telling always has a beginning, middle and end, but life is seldom like this, and that you could see in the book. The result was that it got confusing at times - I was never quite sure how old she was in parts of the book, as the timeline was disrupted.
Overall - whilst it is a book I would recommend selectively, it was an interesting and thought provoking read.
What can I say about it? Well, it does make you think in places, and in others is very disturbing. The social life she describes is so alien to my own life back in South Africa that I found it hard to identify with it. There was however a strong sense of shared experiences in some of the incidents she related, and a tangible sense of loss/dying around Kimberley toward the end of the book.
Her writing style was very broken. I found the early part of the book in particular very disjointed - mind you, that is probably reflective of the way we think anyway. Traditional story telling always has a beginning, middle and end, but life is seldom like this, and that you could see in the book. The result was that it got confusing at times - I was never quite sure how old she was in parts of the book, as the timeline was disrupted.
Overall - whilst it is a book I would recommend selectively, it was an interesting and thought provoking read.