I am ambiguous because I've been there and still have no answers

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	• Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton Scribner, 2003 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 240 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Cry, The Beloved Country Review by Porshia Tolbert

After reading this book, I realize that a lot of people get treated bad for no reason. Segeration was a huge part of this book and it made it even more touching in many ways. Cry,The Beloved Country is a book that makes me want to bring everyone together as a unit. From reading this book I have learned that we live a wonderful life compared to those in other countries. I would definetly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see how it feels to be in a place that we as Americans are not in.

A Book Worthy of its Praise

With this book Mr. Paton gives us an inside look at South African apartheid in the 1940's. We live this story through the eyes of a poor Zulu pastor who decides to travel from his small village to Johannesburg in hopes to save his son from mounting troubles. The migration of gold mine workers to the cities has increased the crime rate due to the separation of families. Exploitation of these laborers has caused a political unrest in Johannesburg.

Stephen Kumalo, our Zulu pastor, has to question his own parenting and lifestyle when he sees the poor decision making of his own son. Stephen meets a varied barrage of people, some who help and some who choose silence as the easiest way to stay out of trouble, when searching for his son.

CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY is a must read book. The story gave me insight on this foreign culture and the hardships experienced by not only the exploited workers of the South African gold mines, but the destroyed families of said workers. This book is mandatory criterion for schools in South Africa and it is worthy of this praise.

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I am ambiguous because I've been there and still have no answers

This book is a quick read, but the issues it approaches are complicated, difficult, and polarizing. There are no easy answers, and this book offers no explicit solutions to the individual, abstract, and institutional forms of prejudice and injustice it tackles. Was apartheid evil and unjust? There is no question it is. But, how can a country recover from its ingrained scars of such a system? There is no specific answer, but the solution is partly in what Paton illuminates in his relationship between the country parson Kumalo and his neighbor, the senior Jarvis. Or to put it more simply, the answer to systematized brutal racism can be found partly in individual responsibility, reason, and compassion.

Two issues the book left me with: I did not think the penalty imposed on Kumalo's son was just, especially considering his intent; and I thought Kumalo's Bishop who asked him to depart Kumalo and Jarvis' hometown stupidly didn't consider Kumalo and Jarvis' individual will in the face of tragic circumstances and this made him quite unreal. The Bishop especially bothered me because his position indicated enlightenment, and Paton depicted him as so two-dimensional I wonder if Paton himself believes religion reinforces the subjugation of South African natives - in subtle and more overt ways. Or if Paton wanted to portray institutional religion as more concerned with outward appearances, and acting in hypocritical ways that undermine the true benevolent role religion should ideally play in society.

I traveled through JoBo a few years ago. The economic disparity is staggering. I also taught in Namibia for several months about five years ago. (Namibia used to be part of South Africa until it gained its independence in 1990.) Namibia is probably as socially segregated today as America was in the 1950s. All the white German kids attended private school and all the black/colored kids attended the over-crowded, under-funded public schools. (In fact, some Germans even celebrate Hilter's birthday and some celebrate Kristallnacht.) The truth of my experience in Namibia is - it's a beautiful country, filled with beautful, trusting people who are generous and have no fear of connecting with white foreigners.

So, Cry, The Beloved Country raises complicated social issues, but certainly offers no explicit solutions. I think Paton does offer what he thinks are key to overcoming such social difficulties - education, true commitment to change, the bond of the family, decency, society, children -- I think Paton offers these things as the proper destiny of men.

I didn't feel as moved by this book as I did by actually seeing the problems for myself. And, in fact, my response to Paton's depiction of JoBo and its problems is pretty much "He stated the obvious very well."

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Cry, The Beloved Country Review by Porshia Tolbert

A beautiful portrait of South Africa under Apartheid, one that takes into account the struggles and heroism of all groups. Its reputed boringness is hardly a problem considering what a quick and enriching read it is.

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