Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful [Paperback]

Alan Paton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx) (1982)
• ASIN: B0028MANI2
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,593,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paton at his best., October 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ah but Your Land Is Beautiful (Paperback)

"Ah But Your Land is Beautiful" is far and away one of the best books written about the old South Africa, and in many ways still applies very much so to today's "Rainbow Nation." Taking the reader into all of the minds in South Africa at the dawn of apartheid, this gripping multi-viewpoint docu-fiction is an amazing experience for those with everything from a little to an extensive background in South African history. It is a must for anyone who was captivated by "Cry, the Beloved Country," and in my opinion is his best work.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!, June 9, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Ah but Your Land Is Beautiful (Paperback)

I finished reading Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful quite a while ago, but I'd read it again it I hadn't borrowed it from the library. While you can't always tell which character is speaking, I find that that is good because it shows the complexity of views in South Africa in the 1950s. When you start reading a new section, you don't think, "Oh, that's just what Hugh Mainwaring thinks." You realise that the statements were actually what real people, not just characters, thought. Especially in this day and age, I think that this book helps a little to get in to the mind of terrorists today, even though the issues at stake are markedly different. I would recommend this to everyone, especially those who enjoy history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Cow!, May 23, 2009

By 

Joe Advocate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ah but Your Land Is Beautiful (Paperback)

As others mentioned, this book is confusing, and after a while, I forgot about who was speaking and let it dawn on me. Reading other reviews, I now guess that he wanted readers to be confused and to hear the viewpoints and react to them before we know who made them...who knows.

Either way, I loved this book. It has truly taught me something that I had thought about for decades...specifically, how can people do the cruel things they do to others...Paton's message to me is that if we are hurt and threatened, we then lash out at someone else to express our pain. I won't share any more because it's a review of the book, not an essay.

His writing style is amazing to me...the emotional quality and humanity he conveys, and the depth of understanding of human nature compares with Shakespeare, but much warmer in my opinion- and he is equally understanding of every one of his characters, regardless of their situation.

If I could emulate this writing style successfully, I would become a writer just to do it. Although I am still a little confused, I love this book, and it has fundamentally altered my understanding of human nature...it makes me want to be a more understanding human.