Mafeking Road (The anniversary edition of Herman Charles Bosman)

By Herman Charles Bosman

Book Overview

Mafeking Road is the first published collection of Herman Charles Bosman's Oom Schalk Lourens stories.This edition contains the original and unabridged text.Set in the Groot Marico in South Africa the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0798139021
• ISBN13: 9780798139021
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Human & Rousseau (Pty) Ltd
• Length: 151 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.4" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Delight in an Almost Mythical World

As good as any of the gems crafted by Hemingway, Kipling or Saki, these short stories conjure up a bygone world with affection and irony. Hardship and tragedy are never far away in the Groot Marico, but Oom ("Uncle", an old Afrikaaner term of respect to a man ten or so years old than oneself) Schalk Lourens treats these subjects with tenderness and gentle wit. To the modern reader, the handling of relations between Boers, Africans and rooineks (the English) will jolt, but has the ring of authenticity. Not to be missed!

A gem of a find!

If you love irony, then this book is for you. Set in the African Transvaal during the Aparthied, Bosman weaves his magical storytelling style to hit the reader with irony in diverse forms. Dark and penetrating, without the rancour that is normally associated with such novels, Bosman discusses dangerous subjects with disguises of innocence. An awesome read!

First Rate Unknown South African Author

South Africa has produced a number of notable writers and Nobel Prize Winners:Athol Fugard, Zakes Mda, Andre Brinks, Coetze, Gordimer. Here is another first rate writer with a perspective unknown to almost every American reader: an Afrikaner writing about the Afrikans. This collection of short stories, written from a wise fool narrative perspective, has a style which is a cousin of the great Checkov stories about ordinary Russians. Together they present a vivid picture of a culture little understood but remarkable in its resillence, its ties to the soil, and unique existence in Africa and the world. Archipelago has again produced an elegant volume that should grace many a book shelf.