The first Bryce Courtenay book that I ever read was his most famous one: "The Power of One."
Bryce Courtenay (14 August, 1933 -22 November, 2012) originally grew up in South Africa, in the days leading up to World War II and, after that, the rise of the apartheid government of the Nationalist Party. Apartheid persisted in South Africa for many decades, although Courtenay himself left South Africa and went to Australia, which became his adapted home country. Most of his books, in fact, are set in Australia.
I was first introduced to Courtenay back in 2005, when someone lent me their copy of "The Power of One". I found it a phenomenal read. it offered intelligence, insight, and humor. The story has quite a bit of autobiographical aspects to it. It is about an English-speaking boy who grows up in South Africa during the age when Afrikaners were truly beginning to take over the country, during World War II and immediately afterwards, when apartheid officially became the law of the land. The boy, who is named Peekay, is raised in an orphanage, and grows up as a member of the hated English-speakers, the only English-speaker in an Afrikaner-dominated community. So naturally, he is picked on, and has to endure their torturing him. But he learns to fight, and eventually develops his skills so much, that he eventually makes it his profession. he becomes a standout boxer. In the meantime, he also minds his own education, becoming an exceptional student, and learning to speak Afrikaans (the language of the Afrikaners that originated with Dutch, from whom most of the Afrikaners are descended). It is a story of perseverance and growing strength over time, at once inspiring and enjoyable to read. It is the work for which he is best known, gaining considerable popularity with over eight million copies sold. Bryce Courtenay himself was an English-speaking orphan growing up in South Africa, and learned to be a boxer. He seems to have been picked on and bullied, and had told Radio National (Australia) that books had helped him to survive those early years in the orphanage, as well as his ability to tell stories. Those harsh years are also why he learned to box.
"The Power of One" became his most famous work, and it is the only book of his that was published in the United States (I'm not entirely sure why that is, although it seems grossly unfair, frankly). That book was made into a movie, but it seems that the movie blends that book with the follow up novel, "Tandia." The movie starred Morgan Freeman
After reading "The Power of One", I felt that I had to read the follow-up, Tandia. Only problem? It's not published here in the United States. So, I began to acquire, slowly but surely, more and more of Courtenay's works, which are available in his native Australia, as well as other English-speaking nations outside of the United States. Mostly, I got them through Ebay, and eventually managed to amass a decent collection of his works.
One of the books which I obtained was this one, "Whitehorn." He described it as his return to his upbringing in South Africa. I read it way back when, probably in 2006 or 2007. Recently, I reread the book. And after realizing that I had never actually written a review of the book - or any Courtenay books, evidently - it seemed like something which should be remedied now.
In that spirit, here is my review of "Whitethorn" by Bryce Courtenay.
So let me just give a warning, right off the bat: there will be spoilers ahead. If you intend to read the book and don't want any spoilers, you should probably stop reading here.
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Okay, so if you are still reading, than I have to assume that you do not mind spoilers with this book, one way or the other. Now, let me get into it:
When I first began reading this book, I initially thought that it was simply another version of "The Power of One," which is the book Courtenay is most famous for. Maybe, I thought, he did not quite like the way that book had come out, or wanted to alter it, and so he was writing another version of it. Even now, in rereading this book, I almost got that same kind of a feeling. I mean, sorry, but there are a lot of serious similarities between the two books. Let's put it this way: if this had been written by another author, that author might seriously have had to worry about getting sued for plagiarism.
Yet in fairness, they are different stories. However much the first parts of each book seem to resemble one another, they do go in different directions the farther you go. Also, let me be clear: I enjoyed reading both books. Yes, "Whitethorn" reminded me a lot of "The Power of One," and still did even on the second reading. Still, it is a good book which ultimately stands on it's own.
First, the part that is similar to "The Power of One." This is an English boy who grows up in an otherwise exclusively Afrikaner orphanage, back in the days leading up to, and through, World War II. In "The Power of One," the main character is known as Peekay. Here in this book, the main character actually has an actual name: Tom Fitzsaxby. An unusual name, but one that also makes him stand out, obviously, as an "Engelsman" at a time when that was a very bad thing to be. This was back when Afrikaners were flirting with the idea not only of not fighting alongside the British against Hitler's Germany, but indeed, of fighting alongside Hitler's Germany against the British, who were regarded as the enemy of the Afrikaner people. Needless to say, the English kid has a very rough time of things with the other kids, specifically because he is the only kid there who is not an Afrikaner.
Tom thus grows up alone, needing to rely on himself and his resourcefulness. But resourceful he does indeed prove to be. Also, he does make friends, although they are full grown adults living in town, and not generally much help to him at the orphanage itself. There is one other friend of his: a dog whom he saved as a puppy in the earliest part of the book. This dog meets a tragic end, ultimately, as does the one friend at the school whom Tom has: Mattress, a strong, adult black male servant. Eventually, Mattress is killed after he defends Tom against some severe bullying by Afrikaner kids. This, in turn, gets the local extremists in the school hell bent on revenge against Mattress, and he is brutally killed by locals. Tom is driven from this point onward to hold those responsible accountable.
So he continues to suffer abuses, but it generally makes him tougher, stronger, much like Peekay. Eventually, he is sent to a privileged private educational institution, where he impresses one and all. Tom gets into Oxford University in Britain, but he is determined to pay his own way. To that end, he decides to work outside of South Africa, in the mines. Then, finally, it begins to really deviate from "The Power of One." Fitzsaxby joins the Kenyan Army, and meets another fascinating character. He also falls in love with a young woman. But then there is tragedy when she is killed during the war there.
Tom goes to Oxford and gets his education. Then, he returns to South Africa with one goal in mind: to use his law degree to pass bar and become a lawyer, so that he can get a trial to hold those responsible for the murder of Mattress responsible. Ultimately, he does, largely because he had been so obsessed with collecting all of the details and being very well prepared for the trial to come. It winds up being his own and only friend, Gawie, an Afrikaner brain from the same orphanage, who is in charge of the defense.
Obviously, there is more to the story than that. But I never said that I would go into too great detail about this book.
What I will say is that this was an enjoyable read. While it is indeed similar to "The Power of One," it is different enough not to be simply another version of it. And it is an enjoyable read, one that is a mixture of fiction, along with some factual elements along with that, particularly in the portrayal of South Africa as a land where racial divisions were running rampant.
Personally, I very much enjoyed this book. If you like Bryce Courtenay's works - most of which tend not to be available in the United States - this is a must read. A very entertaining read, and in some respects, perhaps even better than "The Power of One."
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