Customer Reviews

A Blade of Grass: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At times lyrical, this first novel of Lewis DeSoto begins with a great deal of potential. Here are two women who have lost--parents, husband. Here are two women in apartheid South Africa, one black and one white. DeSoto describes grief poignantly without being over the top, but he fails on two points: his dialogue is wooden and he often isn't as subtle as he could be, pointing out his lyricism to the reader too blatantly.

DeSoto has a solid start though--he will learn to develop characters through dialogue and create believable conversations. He will draw in the scenery without making obvious metaphors. After all, if he can create sorrow in such a fashion, he can create life.

A bit lengthy, this novel is still completely readable and worth the read. The chapters are short and despite my frustrations, I did have a hard time putting it down. There is an investment from the reader into these pages and I know DeSoto is a valuable author.

From the first words of this novel, the reader is propelled into the world of the inhabitants of a farm in South Africa on the eve of the increasingly oppressive laws prohibiting blacks from living in certain areas. Superbly well-plotted, the novel describes the complexity of relationships between blacks and whites during this critical historical time, and charts the reality of the effects of apartheid in the everyday lives of the characters, most particularly, the repression and violence that such a system engenders. Still, in the person of Tembi, there is enormous humanity and hope for the future, though the novel does not flinch from describing loss, pain, and violence. To me, the novel raises the important issue of how safe any home can be if it is erected on an edifice of inequity -- an issue that transcends what happened in South Africa. Throughout, the desire of each character for a meaningful, dignified life is artfully explored. And the land is delinated in such a way that it too becomes a character. I couldn't put this novel down.

DeSoto's writing brings Africa alive ... both in landscape and in the human relationships that defined apartheid. The loss in this book is tremendous and continues to break your heart right up until the end. DeSoto's strength is in his descriptions of the land and in his characters. In the framework of South African apartheid, he describes the impact of both nature and nurture on how we develop our personal relationships in the world and the price we pay when we go against all we believe is true. The back drop of the story is the landscape of a disappearing Africa; the contours of the land are loved and revered and hated, at times, by the characters. DeSoto does an excellent job of describing the different views of the land - depending on which side of the apartheid line that you live.

A truly beautiful debut. I hope that DeSoto has many more books in him! I rarely give out five stars to any book but I think Mr. DeSoto's next one may deserve it.

The story revolves around on the relationship between two women, one white the other black, in South Africa during the times of the apartheid. I found the theme is extremely interesting and since several book clubs have featured "A Blade of Grass" as their main selection, I decided to read the book. To my disappointment I found myself tumbling along the pages, due to the far from efficient execution by the author. In most cases the descriptions DeSoto presents are rich and enlightening, but the dialogue lacks depth and interest.

Marit Laurens has just moved with her husband to the African countryside after the death of her parents. The newlywed couple bought a farm, named it Kudufontein, and set out to carve their own future. Marit is in charge of handling the accounts, correspondence, bills and wages, while her husband, Ben, runs all the other aspects related to the farm. Soon after the move, Marit starts to question the cleverness of this new enterprise, since she feels very lonely during the time Ben is out on the fields. Also, she is in fear of the war going on close by, on the country's border, where guerrillas are attacking farms to regain their God-given rights over the land.

As a way to find solace, Marit tries to establish a relationship with her maid, Grace, but is self-restricted by the racial barriers and customs she has observed and practiced all her life. When shortly afterwards Grace is killed in an accident, Marit starts to get closer to Tembi, Grace's daughter, and offers her the job as a maid. From this point on, several events develop, like the strengthening of apartheid and the reception of fatal news by Marit, which bring the two women closer together.

Lewis DeSoto scores high in his description of the effects of apartheid on people on both sides of the "conflict", and the story has value in showing how race should not be a barrier in human relationships and friendship. However, he loses the reader's interest in several instances during the story, making finishing the book more a chore than a real pleasure. I hope that he perfects his writing abilities and delivers a better polished novel next time, since he has good ideas for the plot and just needs to improve in the execution.

This book moved slowly, and didn't keep me interested very well. The symbology was not very subtle, the author just laid it out in front of you, not letting you search for it at all. I thought the second half was better than the first.

Though I found this book hard to put down, I felt it was lacking. It was not fast moving, yet it wasn't meant to be. The main character, Marit, did not change or grow much, and as the end of the book drew near I felt her fate was inevitable, yet I was unsure of the lesson to be learned from it. At the end I no longer felt anything for her. The dialogue could use some work, and the symbology of the land with life was a little too obvious; it was almost cheesy. Regardless, the novel held me because it had a layer of hope hidden under the surface. It reminded me of how helpless we really are and that sometimes hard work and dedication mean nothing in a world torn by war and injustice. I felt that the author captured these feelings very well.

"A Blade of Grass" by Lewis DeSoto is one of my favorite books of all time. The main theme of the story is self-searching and looking for your place in the world. Who are you? Is it dependent on other people? Are you always the same person in different places, times and environments? What's love? What's frienship? Those and many other questions had the author in mind when wirting the novel. "A Blade of Grass" is a beautiful story of trying to survive, breaking the waves and fighting ourselves. There's no need to point out all the aspects of the book, because it's so multi-dimensional that everyone should find his own views on it. A must-read for sensitive readers, who are not afraid of asking questions and thinking on many levels.

There have been several reviews written about this book that tell you what you need to know about the subject. The only thing I'm going to tell you is that I loved it and have put it on my all time favorite list along with Moby Dick, Jane Eyre and To Kill A Mockingbird.. Enough said.