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Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton (Paperback,1987)
Price: $4.49
This item is in stock
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Cry, The Beloved Country (Paperback)by Alan Paton... ISBN: 0684818949... "An immediate worldwide bestseller when it was published in 1948, Alan Paton's impassioned novel about a black man's country under white man's law is a work of searing beauty..."... _____________________... Description: Scribner, 1987. Softcover, 316+pp... Condition: Very Good condition. Tight...
ISBN: 0684818949
"An immediate worldwide bestseller when it was published in 1948, Alan Paton's impassioned novel about a black man's country under white man's law is a work of searing beauty..."
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Description: Scribner, 1987. Softcover, 316+pp.
Condition: Very Good condition. Tight binding with no creases. (see photo/scan). Owner name on first endpaper; no markings noted in remainder of book. Pages bright. Several VERY tiny speckles on last endpaper. Cover is in great condition ~ bright, colorful and attractive with a combination 'satin-y' and shiny surface. ...[ This is an EXCELLENT book! I highly recommend it! ~ Sheri ]
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Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully told and profoundly compassionate story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s.
The book is written with such keen empathy and understanding that to read it is to share fully in the gravity of the characters' situations. It both touches your heart deeply and inspires a renewed faith in the dignity of mankind. Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic tale, passionately African, timeless and universal, and beyond all, selfless.
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121 of 128 people found the following review helpful:
 Paton's creative and writing genius comes to a fore in Cry.., January 10, 2003 In Cry, the Beloved Country, readers feel an uncanny connection to three things: the land, an old black rural priest searching in a corrupt city for his son, and an old white rural man confronting the loss of his son. All three aspects of the book are connected by a common thread. And a great thing about the book is that Paton doesn't feel the need to build up to the emotional climax by setting the readers against a well defined antagonist, or even an antagonist at all; on a micro-scale, the story is a moving tribute to man's inherent dignity; on a macro-scale, the themes and plethora of symbols are applied to man's all-too mortal nature.
This book is also a can't-miss for any fans of poetry who want to read a good work of prose. As the New Republic puts it, Cry, the Beloved Country is "the greatest novel to emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa, and one of the best novels of our time." I would be inclined to agree.
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63 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
It impressed me years ago, yet again when I re-read it, October 15, 2002
I first read the book when I was in high school for our novel section of AP English. As a writer now, it is strangely thrilling to see how Paton's ideas and poetry influenced my own prose. "The Grapes of Wrath" by Steinbeck was good, but I felt that it lacked the words of the heart that Paton writes with. Never have I read a more simple and profound book, so lovingly crafted, so authentic and natural, that some fifty years later after Paton wrote the novel, it still has not been superceded. Kumalo's plight is everyman's plight; his burden our burden; his son our son. Dear students, don't read this book because your teacher tells you to, you will learn nothing that way. Read it, because you earnestly desire it, because it is well worth it.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
A heartbreaking story of redemption and forgiveness, July 29, 2003
Tragic story set in South Africa during a now-ended era. Cry the Beloved Country is worth a careful read for its many-layered messages of loss and faith, of murder and penitence, of guilt and redemption - and through it all is Rev. Kumalo's love for his people (and not just his, but for the inherent goodness in ALL people), his family, his church - and most of all, his country.
It's a classic that has already withstood the test of time - and will doubtless continue to do so.
Don't miss it, and share it with someone else.
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
Truly masterful, January 29, 2001
Somehow, in my slog through high school English, I was deprived of the reading of Paton's "Cry, the Beloved Country". Unlike many things, though, this was a true deprivation. I first read this several summers ago; though Paton's novel is specifically relevant to an era that is now receding into the past, his prose remains haunting. So deceptively simple is his language, yet flowing, this is almost a book best savoured aloud (well-worth the reading of to a friend).
Though apartheid has now blessedly slipped the scene, leaving South Africa with its aftermath to struggle through, Paton's story of the Reverend Kumalo's search for redemption is enduring. Perhaps most significant though, is the very simple idea at the core...reconciliation...of father with lost son, lost daughter...of murderer with the victim's kin...and...in Paton's time, and still so in our own...of each of us with our fellow humans.
This is a book that moves me deeply every time I read it, and loses nothing in a rereading. Of the thousands of books I have read, encompassing a myriad of styles, of academic fields...this is still the one book that I recommend without hesitation, without prejudice, to any and to every. This is a truly beautiful work.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Great Simplicity; Great Depth; Remarkable Humanity, July 11, 2007
Many friends recommended CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY to me over the years, but it was not until May of this year that the book came my way in the form a gift. I picked it up one evening and--much to my own amazement--read it in a single sitting. Yes, it really is that good.
Published in 1948, the book tells a simple story. Zulu-born Stephen Kumalo is the elderly Christian priest of a tiny church who has seldom set foot outside his rural South Africa village; he is both uncertain and frightened when he summoned to Johannesburg to attend his sister, who is in great crisis. Once in the city, however, he determines to locate his son Absalom, who also lives in Johannesburg and from whom he has received no news for quite some time. Kumalo conducts his search with a mounting sense of despair--and ultimately finds himself in the midst of both personal tragedy and public scandal.
Although the story is grim, the novel itself is not. Alan Payton (1903-1988) wrote several novels, but CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY is best-known and most widely read work, and much of its power rests on the remarkable way in which he styles his prose: it possesses a shining simplicity that not only seems to capture the vocal cadence of South Africa but also allows the reader to see through the novel's several levels with a remarkable sense of clarity.
Much of the novel's power resides in its portrait of South Africa in this particular era. The word "apartheid" had not attained its full implication in 1948, but Paton not only identifies the almost accidental seeds of apartheid, he forecasts the ultimate result as well. Paton also endows the novel with a very clear idea of what Christianity should be in actual practice as opposed to what it too often is in actual fact, and although the story is indeed dark, the humanity involved is such that one never feels the darkness cannot be dispelled.
The older I become, the less inclined I am to keep books; these days I read them and give them away, and new permanent additions to my library are rare. But CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY is a keeper, a book I've no doubt I'll return to again and again.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
With Thanks to Kate, Whose Gift This Book Was
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
A heartbreaking story of redemption and forgiveness, September 14, 2003
Tragic story set in South Africa during a now-ended era. Cry the Beloved Country is worth a careful read for its many-layered messages of loss and faith, of murder and penitence, of guilt and redemption - and through it all is Rev. Kumalo's love for his people (and not just his, but for the inherent goodness in ALL people), his family, his church - and most of all, his country.
It's a classic that has already withstood the test of time - and will doubtless continue to do so.
Don't miss it, and share it with someone else.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 White Man's Burden, July 6, 2004 While Paton struggled admirably to get into the mind of Stephen Kumalo, the berieved father of the son who was an accomplice in the murder of Jarvis, Kumalo is forced to turn to a benevolent white lawyer to represent his son in court. This relationship reinforced Paton view that utimately it was the white man who would save the black man by attacking his own system of government. While this served as an indictment, of sorts, against the apartheid system, it had a hollow ring to it, not taking into account the vast number of protests and other forms of non-violent demonstrations Black, Coloured and Indian South Africans held in defiance of apartheid laws. Instead, Paton reduced apartheid South African to the most simplistic of terms, unable, it seemed, the understand, or at least come to terms with, the number of gradients in the system.
Still, it is a moving novel, especially when Paton deals with what he understands most, the anguish of the conscientious white man in reconciling himself with a corrupt system of government. This is seen mostly through James Jarvis, whose son was murdered by Stephen Kumalo's son. One gets the sense that Paton put a lot of himself into Jarvis.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
My review of Cry, the Beloved Country, October 6, 2003
Cry, the Beloved Country is a very moving novel about a black man's country under white man's law. Anyone who is interested in race relations, history, or the African language will enjoy this book like I did. This is an insightful book in which I learned a lot about South Africa. I learned that Johannesburg was the center of the gold mine industry. Many people left their small tribal villages to work there in 1946 which is the year this novel is set in.
The basic premise of Cry, The Beloved Country is about a young black man who is accused of and found guilty of murdering a white man. The author does a great job of making the reader care about both the victim and the accused.
The author Alan Paton does a great job of describing the character of the victim Arthur Jarvis as a very caring person who was well respected by people of all races. Arthur Jarvis was concerned with the social problems facing South Africa in 1946 like racial crime, the lack of education of African youth, and the conditions of the gold mines, and the welfare of the workers who labored there.
Alan Paton does an equally excellent job describing the accused person. Absalom Kumalo is the son of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo who goes in search for his son in the first section of the book. The cause of Absalom's crime according to the author is a breakdown of tribal values and family bonds like working together to achieve a common goal and a sense of belonging to a group. The Western emphasis on focusing on the individual influenced the way of thinking in South Africa that led to this breakdown.
I really enjoyed how the fathers of both sons became friends in this book. The white father James Jarvis actually helped Stephen Kumalo The elder Jarvis supplied Stephen Kumalo with milk to nourish the sick children of his village. Jarvis also provided Stephen Kumalo with a person to teach his people how to farm to grow more food.
I appreciated the list of words at the end of the book, because some of the African words were hard to pronounce. I love finding out the meaning of new words even if they are in a foreign languages. Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully written book about South Africa with strong themes and memorable characters. I loved this book.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 beautifully written story.........a classic, December 27, 2005
This is a classic book, set against the amazing backdrop of a land that is in and of itself a contradiction, both lush and yet bleak, like the heart and soul of each person involved in this novel, where the consequences of each action carry on far beyond their perceived boundaries.
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24 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
My all-time favorite, January 25, 2001
Of the (literally) thousands of books I have read in my life, this is still my favorite. I first read it as a freshman in high school (in 1960, when apartheid was still the law of South Africa), and the sheer beauty of the language took away my breath. The words were so powerful that I memorized many portions of the text, just so I would be able to repeat the words aloud whenever I wished. When JFK was assassinated in 1963, I gave a presentation to my senior English class, and began it with the section of this book that starts: "There is not much talking now, a silence falls on them all...." The class was mesmerized at Mr. Paton's eerily appropriate words, and tears were shed. I've always encouraged my own children to read and they are almost as voracious with books as their dad. Needless to say, this is one of the books I highly recommend to them, because of the excellent writing, and I highly recommend it to you for the same reason. |
On Jan-17-08 at 11:36:27 PST, seller added the following information:
Changes to Shipping Discount: We have changed our shipping discount rules. In order to offer what we anticipate will be more helpful to the majority of our customers, the following rules will apply, effective 1-17-08, to all of our orders. Thank-you! *When ordering more than one book, you will be charged the highest shipping cost plus an additional $1.00 for each additional book, on a single order. IF YOU WISH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING DISCOUNTS, PLEASE DO NOT SEND PAYMENT/INSTANT PAY UNTIL AFTER I SEND YOU AN INVOICE WITH ANY SHIPPING ADJUSTMENTS. Thank-you! **If you purchase one or more books, there is no additional shipping charge to add one or more bookmarks to your order, when ordered in the same order. ***If you order more than one bookmark, but do not order any books, the shipping on the bookmark(s)ONLY(not books), will not exceed $1.75.
On Oct-22-08 at 13:35:21 PDT, seller added the following information:Please Note: Our shipping amounts in our listings, shipping discounts, & shipping promotions are ONLY for orders within the U.S.A. Thank-you for understanding!!
On Jan-26-09 at 11:28:43 PST, seller added the following information:International Buyers – Please Note:
Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying. These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up – do not confuse them for additional shipping charges. We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as "gifts" - US and International government regulations prohibit such behavior.
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