My latest reread!

The main character, Peekay, is a young boy who comes of age in South Africa during and after the Second World War. He is a memorable character -- almost too good to be true, but very admirable. He's academically brilliant, and a gifted boxer, but mainly he just radiates goodness and love for his fellow man, especially the black Africans who surround him. Written in 1989, this novel is more about the boy himself rather than the politics of the country, but is also enlightening in the way it portrays race relations among the English, Boers and Africans in the 1940s and hints at the sweeping changes on the horizon.

One of my top 5 all time favorite books

3.5*

This turned out to be much better than I thought it was going to be. It contains descriptions of boxing and mining but the book is about much more. It is the story of young Peekay overcoming adversity from the young age of five.

Where, oh where do I start with this review? I noticed a few months ago that this book kept appearing in others' Favorites lists, impressed that it has such a following after 20 years. My overall verdict is that I derived some enjoyment from reading the book, at least in parts, but found it to be incredibly lacking and frustrating in others. Part of my issue with this book was that it was just plain written wrong. Not necessarily badly, just wrong. Had the entire story been written by a more adept author, it would have been, first, believable, and second, influential. *SPOILER ALERT!*

When I started reading the story, I found the main character, Peekay, endearing. He was just the type of character that makes a book vivid and appealing. I enjoyed the beginning stories of Peekay and Nanny, of Peekay and Grandpa Chook, of the horrible Judge and Jury at boarding school, and especially enjoyed Peekay's introduction to boxing by Hoppie. But as soon as Peekay had his life's ambition set in stone (to be the Welterweight Champion of the World), my issues with the story began in earnest. I started with these questions:
What was the purpose in Peekay's name? (The reader doesn't really find out. It's a gimmick. I think the author wanted the reader to divine that Peekay chose his own path, and thus his own name, his strange name of Peekay sets him apart from others and it's supposed to give weight to The Power of One title. All of these literary tools are fine and good when done correctly. Courtenay just doesn't deliver here.
As I moved through the book, I started tallying up everything that Peekay could do (and do amazingly), and those things he failed at. Let's see:
He had a magical chicken.
He easily recognizes and can verbalize his distrust of Evangelicalism, and makes conscious decisions about his religious beliefs (starting at what, age 5?)
He befriends much older people than himself and essentially lives in their world as a peer.
He becomes an expert on succulents.
He is by far the best student at school.
He recognizes the cruelty inherent in Apartheid and racisim, despite being raised by a cooky Evangelical mother and incommunicative grandfather.
He has an innate ability to connect with people of all races. Going along with this:
He can speak about, oh, 5 different languages fluently.
He is able to relate with prisoners and vice versa.
He develops a highly functional letter-writing and smuggling operation in the prison.
He finds the Crystal Cave of Africa with his best friend, Doc, who is about 80 years old. I can't even get into the whole "Crystal Cave of Africa" commentary. What was that about?
Doc composes a piece that unites all the African tribes of prisoner in joyous song, a feat which Peekay instigated and the piece later becomes basically the "anthem" of Africa.
He is essentially a Jesus like figure to the African people the entire way through the book.
He is accepted into the elite academic team called "Sinjun's People" - there is no point to this story in the book, for it adds nothing to the mix aside from one more example of how amazing Peekay is.
He is an excellent rugby player.
He is an excellent chess player.
He starts a school of literacy for black Africans.
He can debate with his friend Morrie in the same unbelievable way that the Dawson's Creek kids could speak way too well for their age.
He is naturally an expert mine worker.
He wins EVERY SINGLE BOXING MATCH he has ever been in.
He fails at nothing.
These are just a sample of my observations (there is a word limit on these reviews).

I was quickly tired of all these amazing things that Peekay could do, or be, or amount to. I was increasingly frustrated with Courtenay’s unforgivable mistakes. If only he had not written it in first person. If you have 500 pages of a small boy telling you how amazing he is, and how he is a legend to the people of Africa, then you start to think him a bit big for his britches. I felt like Courtenay had just read A Prayer for Owen Meany and decided to write a book about a smaller-than-average boy dealing with injustices and obstacles, who nonetheless overcomes his situation. (Is it a coincidence that Owen Meany was also published in 1989?) But the difference is that Owen Meany was written in third person. And it was written by Irving, who knows how to write about a savior-like figure and legend without instilling disbelief in the reader. And Irving doesn't choose such a predicable, non-descript title for his books, either. "The Power of One" could be the title to any Barnes & Noble featured self-help book on improving your self-image. It's a ridiculous concept for a boy of 5 to grasp and work toward all his life. And it's a crummy title for a fictional book.

Finally, the ending. Oh, the ending. I sensed that Courtenay was done writing about Peekay, so he just gave up. He sent Peekay off to work in the mines. Peekay almost gets killed but miraculously doesn't. Frankly, I was wishing he would be killed because at least that ending would have reinforced the entire 500 page theme of "Peekay as a martyr for the African people." Oh wait - that would have been way too dangerously close to plagiarizing Owen Meany.
So instead Peekay is recovering from the accident and, in the final pages of the book, encounters a crazed Botho, ironically the man on the other end of Peekay's extraordinary mining work - the man that has reaped the rewards and riches of Peekay's fantastic ability in the mines. Botho is out to kill Peekay (only because he is drug induced by the fumes of the mines) and, surprise, surprise, turns out to be the former childhood bully of Peekay's; the individual whose terror upon Peekay spawned the concept of "The Power of One" - to overcome adversity, depending only upon yourself. What irony - Peekay and "The Judge" (Botho) meet again in such circumstances! Once again, Courtenay has the chance to really set the story on edge and have Botho kill Peekay, thus shattering all hope of Peekay being the most amazing person that ever lived. Our fearless Peekay instead beats Botho to a pulp. And the book ends.

That's it, it's over. All this talk about his number one goal of being Welterweight Champion of World. Courtenay doesn't even give the reader the courtesy of telling us how he accomplishes the goal.

This book got me more worked up than others I have read, for the simple fact that the story really did have potential. It was a worthy piece of fiction that was destroyed by ineptitude. What a shame.

Well written and thoughtful, even with the raw reality of South Africa and growing up.

I wasn't sure whether I would like this book since all I knew was that it was about boxing which I am not a big fan of, but a girl had told me this was her favorite book so I thought I would give it a try. I loved it. In some ways it is a fasinating look at South Africas devastating history, but the protagonist's innocent perspective just draws you into his story. The characters in the story are what really make it great, Peekay's mentors, friends and even the evil adversaries he has to overcome. Even if you know nothing about boxing, the fight scenes are written in an accesible way anyone can picture and enjoy. I recommend this book to anyone who if you would enjoy a bildungsroman about having a dream and not ever giving it up...

My all time favourite book!

When talking about The Power of One, it is easy to be distracted by "the power of one" itself and place ultimate importance on Peekay's slippery personal philosophy. But to do so to the exclusion of all else but racism is to read only a small portion of Bryce Courtenay's masterwork.

The Power of One also deals with class, religion, science, obsession, faith vs. reason, objectivism, homosocial intimacy, and in one of the finest literary expressions of its kind, the importance of violence.

Peekay's use of violence is controlled and seemingly benevolent, but he doesn't just use violence, he needs violence. It is the very basis of his obsession with becoming the Welterweight Champion of the World. It is at the root of everything he fights for and against. And it is the question and the answer to the defining struggle of Peekay's life.

One need only look to the final pages of The Power of One for the answer to the question. Peekay savagely destroys Botha, the Judge that started him on the road to violence; while Peekay is violent in self defense, he perpetrates his violence with a ruthlessness and controlled savagery that dwarfs any of his childhood persecutions at the Judge's hands. The final, brutal mutilation of Botha -- an act that likely raises few eyebrows amongst readers directed as it is at a symbol we consider pure evil -- is an overtly violent catharsis that brings peace to Peekay's spirit (but not an end to his need for violence).

It is difficult to see Peekay's conquering of Botha as anything but just. Not only is Botha responsible for the abuse that dehumanized Peekay as a child (although Botha was a child himself at the time of the abuse) and about to take Peekay's life, but Courtenay overdetermines Botha's desert by making him a branded acolyte of Adolph Hitler, a Nazi racist who is apparently beyond redemption.

But beneath and behind this easy rationalization of Peekay's violence is an important commentary on our need for violence.

Violence isn't something that we need to erase from human behavior because we actually need it -- especially on a personal level where it is most in danger of being sterilized from our lives (already it is only an appropriate response in our popular mythology). Violence is something we need to control and embrace and realize is part of who we are as humans. Violence is essential to both men and women. Violence is an integral part of our humanity.

Violence of the kind Peekay engages in against Botha serves several purposes: it is defensive; it is purifying; it is redemptive; it is responsible; it is empowering; and it is healing.

Many find themselves supporting Peekay's actions without a second thought. But were a similar situation to play out in our North American reality, Peekay would find himself going to prison for a very long time, and most would agree that while he was defending himself at first, Peekay took things too far and deserves to be punished.

Amongst its many concerns, The Power of One tells us that we need to reconsider our personal relationship with violence. It reminds us that we need to keep violence as a tool of our own, rather than passing it off as a tool for our governments, our armies, or any other persecutors who may use it against us. And so long as we use violence "first with our head, then with our heart" it can lead to positive change.

Even if we never use violence ourselves, however, even if we only admit that we are violent animals who need violence as deeply as we need love making or tenderness, even if all we do is recognize its place in our human natures, we can start to overcome things that before we simply let overcome us.

n  Audiblen


I came across Bryce Courtenay through the narrator. I was such impressed by Humphrey Bower performance in Shantaram that I immediately started to look for his other works after I had finished it.

It is a fate. Now I'm looking forward to reading more by Bryce Courtenay, because his books are exactly the kind of a life story I am seeking for.

The Power of One takes place in South Africa and covers the period of time from the early 1930s up to the late 1940s, the birth of apartheid. It tells a touching and a moving life story of Peekay, an English boy, beautifully written and with a great insight into the cultural background of the country, and a lot of love to the people and the continent itself.

Excellent character development and a very strong story-line.

Despite my loving of Humphrey Bower narration and his astonishing skills to present all kind of dialects/accents in different voices, I have contradicted feelings about his narrating here. My own fault though. I shouldn't have picked up this audiobook immediately after Shantaram, too strong were the connection of Humphrey Bower to Lin (Shantaram).
Lin narrating a five year old boy took some time for me to get used to it.

Reading Challenge 2017 - 26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited. (South Africa)

I don't usually review a book unless there is something about it that grips me more than usual. This one had a lot going for it, in spite of the information that repeated two or three times, which should never have got past the editor and likely would not have these days.

The ending nearly spoiled the entire story for me. The story and the boy, had one major goal that he was determined to reach for the entire novel, one that was repeated throughout no matter what happened to him. I would make a great deal of sense to me if, once a character changed and grew into something more than he had been in the beginning, that goal would finally change into something perhaps more worthwhile. That did not happen here. Not only was the goal never reached in the book, but the author turned the ending to one of merely revenge and violence--a horrible beating of the character (now an adult) who had bullied our protagonist when he was a child. That is where the so-called Power of One is supposed to triumph? This was the most disappointing ending I have ever read.