Customer Reviews

Transvaal Episode

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

 

 

I knew nothing beyond the basics of apartheid in South Africa until I read Harry Bloom's incredibly powerful book. Even now, I cannot claim that this book has made me an expert, far from it, in fact. But, I have a much greater appreciation of what like was like in the Transvaal (or black locations) in South Africa. Even though the title is a work of fiction, I believe that the reader will get a much greater understanding on this topic. (And like other reviewers, I admit I picked this up because it is written by Orlando Bloom's father.I will use any excuse to pick up a new and different book! )

Bloom's story is set in the fictional town of Nelstroom, S. Africa. We are introduced to two main characters, Du Toit, the location manager and Mabaso; a black man who has come from Johannesburg with the hopes of easing the hardships of life in the location. Du Toit begins his job with the best of intentions, trying to make life better while still enforcing the laws of apartheid. He will eventually, of course, give in to the higher ups. Mabaso is an educated man. He makes the people of the location aware of how they suffer. And we all know education is a powerful thing. The people who stand behind these two men will clash and begin to rebel against each other. This is a book you know will not have a happy ending from the first page.

Since I can't find the words from my own experiences to describe the total unfairness and confusion of apartheid, I would like to take a quote from the book, which stuck with me from the point I read it until I finished and long after that. "Facts are twisted, illusions fostered, truth destroyed to prove that the perverted is normal, the sordid noble, the brutal beautiful, the guilty innocent, the coward a hero, disaster a victory-and the reverse of all these things."(Pgs 277-278). Harry Bloom was imprisoned for writing this book, that alone is testament to its truth. Despite its heavy subject, it is a great, fast paced read. And a book that will stick with you for a lifetime.

I must admit that I originally picked up this book for the curiosity factor of it having been written by actor Orlando Bloom's father. However, from the very first page the gripping tale of oppression, hopelessness, and desperation in South Africa sucked me in like few novels I can remember. The writing style was lush in its descriptive power, and the author's intimate knowledge of both the people and the problems of the region shines through page after page. Although one knows from the very first page that this tale will *not* have a happy ending, even in its horror the conclusion makes perfect sense and holds one until the very last paragraph. The one minor gripe I had with the novel was the shifting perspective and timeline; however, both were required to gain a full sense of the events and the insanity behind them. This is a serious work for the serious reader and definitely worth more than a single reading. I highly recommend this work.

Walter Mabaso, a black freedom fighter who comes to Nelstroom, a fictional town in Africa, and Hendrik Du Toit, the newly arrived white Manager for Nelstroom's "Location," the segregated ghetto where the African population must live, are the two major characters whose psyches and lives Harry Bloom explores with the skill of a literary surgeon. They and the other characters are strikingly drawn, reminding me of the clarity of characterization in John Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH. Both novels deal with dispossesed people struggling to salvage their lives and their dignity against poverty and oppression, except in Bloom's gentle masterpiece, the oppressors are the proponents of apartheid in South Africa. Now we live in a world where Nelson Mandela has triumphed, but Bloom's story takes us to the early days of the fight for racial equality, and goes beyond it. The plot is elegantly structured to show how oppressive governments create a vicious system where the victim becomes the human fuel it runs upon, until the ruling class' blithe disregard for the human rights of the under class ignites into a storm of confrontation . . . one so volatile that no cover-up can sweep away the ashes. Add to this a use of language that is so concise, every word builds a sparse clear picture in the reader's mind and eye. Transvaal Episode won the British Authors Club Award in 1957 for best novel of the year. What amazes me is how the characters and events in this novel could be equally played out today in other countries where human right struggles are still ongoing. This novel should be required reading for anyone dealing with national and international politics and power. It teaches us to understand how easily those in power can brainwash us into believing what we think we see, when we're really seeing what they want us to, and the true picture is totally different. A book for all people, all countries.