Books that have inspired us
“Books break the shackles of time – proof that humans can work magic.” – Carl Sagan
What does “inspired” really mean? There are as many opinions as there are readers: an inspiring read can amaze us, move us, goad, encourage or entertain us. Plenty of literary works qualify as “inspiring” – some are international awardwinners; some sit quietly on your bookshelf, their message meaningful only to you.
The roll call of great South African writers is long: Breytenbach, Brink, Gordimer, Galgut, Malan, Smuts, Coovadia, Sithole, Sachs …
Here are just a few titles, whose sales numbers and reputation over the years testify to their wide appeal.
● With a storyline that has lost none of its power or relevance 75 years on, and dressed in Alan Paton’s lyrical prose, Cry, the Beloved Country was one of the most beloved works of the 20th century.
Paton’s experiences as principal of Diepkloof Boys’ Reformatory shaped the novel, which was a protest against the strictures that prefigured apartheid.
Its reach extended far beyond SA. The book was launched in New York on February 1 1948 to enormous acclaim. It sold out on the day of its publication, and was immediately reprinted. It was adapted into a 1949 musical, Lost in the Stars (with songs by Kurt Weill), and two movie adaptations followed, in 1951 and 1995. By the time Paton died in 1988, 15-million copies of Cry, the Beloved Country in 20 languages had been sold.
● Published in 1980, Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coetzee is a chilling depiction of the effects of apartheid on individuals and the communities they move in (and through). It’s a cautionary tale about oppression, injustice and cruelty, and the harm wrought by fearfed rumour.
Its power was recognised locally and internationally: Penguin chose it for its Great Books of the 20th Century series. In recognition of this and his other works, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 2003. Barbarians continues to elicit widespread interest: US composer Philip Glass wrote an opera based on the story, and a movie was made in 2019.
● A real-life wartime adventure that reads like fiction, Commando by Deneys Reitz (1931, revised 2009) is widely regarded as one of the best accounts of the Boer War.
At just 17 years old, Reitz served on the Boer side. He said he bore no hatred for the British but “as a South African, one had to fight for one’s country”. He fought with different Boer commandos, where each commando consisted mainly of farmers on horseback using their own weapons. After the Boer defeat, he lived in self-imposed exile on Madagascar, where he wrote this vigorous record of forced marches, ambush, night-time attacks and narrow escapes.
● SA’s beloved “Arch”, Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, published
The Rainbow People of God, a collection of his writings and speeches, in 1994. It gives a glimpse into significant pre-democracy events — events that were infrequently covered in the media but were influenced by his insightful and restraining presence.
● Magersfontein, O Magersfontein! by Afrikaans farmer-writer Etienne Leroux was written at the height of apartheid in 1976. This parody of an episode in the Boer War follows a film crew as they make a movie of the famous 1899 battle of Magersfontein. Leroux was a member of the influential Afrikaans group of antiapartheid writers Die Sestigers, which included Andre Brink, Breyten Breytenbach, Adam Small and Ingrid Jonker. UK author Graham Greene said of Leroux: “His audience will be the audience that only a good writer can merit, an audience which assembles slowly in ones and twos … the rumour spreads that here [is] an addition to the literature of our time.”
● With numerous books and awards to his name, Zakes Mda received particular acclaim for his third novel, The Heart of Redness, a compelling blend of history, the effects of colonialism, myth and “realist fiction”. His tale centres on the prophecy of Nonqawuse, who, devastatingly, urged the Xhosa people to kill their cattle and burn their crops, thus ensuring that the spirits of the ancestors would drive the colonial English into the sea.
● Popular journalist, producer and radio presenter Redi Tlhabi won the Sunday Times Alan Paton nonfiction prize for her debut work, Endings and Beginnings. It traces her relationship with a notorious gangster after the brutal murder of her father and paints a vibrant, disturbing picture of Soweto in the 1980s.
● In Rape: A South African Nightmare, Pumla Dineo Gqola examines the trends and motives behind the scourge of rape in this country — and why SA is losing the battle against rape.
● No list of inspiring works is complete without Nelson Mandela’s triumphant Long Walk to Freedom. The autobiography profiles his early life, education, law career, political activism and 27 years in prison. It won the Sunday Times Alan Paton award for nonfiction in 1995 and has been published in several languages, including an Afrikaans translation by Antjie Krog. Some 15million copies have been sold worldwide.
Honourable mentions
We South Africans take sport and food seriously, so it’s not surprising that many local bestsellers over the years have ranged from rugby reminiscences to recipe books. Jan Braai’s first book, Fireworks, sold over 30,000 copies in 2015; Springbok Saga: A Complete History From 1891 (Chris Greyvenstein) was reprinted several times, eventually selling 47,000 copies.