Wow... incredible!!!
I fell in love with Peekay even 'before' he was five years old, starting in South Africa, when he shares of being nursed from his lovely black nanny before being sent to boarding school. ( although we follow him from age 5 to 20 - from the late 1930's to mid 40's).

Our oldest daughter attended a boarding High School in Michigan for a short time -an academic/arts school. The family separation was painful. I can't begin to imagine sending a 5 year old away to a boarding school even in the 'best' of conditions.
And the fact that this story is inspired by the authors real life....for me, this is one of the most wrenching parts of the entire book...."being sent away from his family at age 5 -- from 'love' he was receiving to 'hatred' he was walking into.

Peekay is bullied and abused almost immediately upon arrival as a 5 year old at his boarding school. He's the youngest child in the school.
Missing the comfort of his Black nanny ( Peekay is English and white), who would soothe his hurts...missing his mother who was sent away due to a nervous breakdown, Peekay was the first live example of the congenital hate they carried for his kind.
"The Boer War had created great malevolent feelings against the English, who were called the 'rooineks'. It was a hate that had entered the Afrikaner bloodstream and pocked the hearts and minds of the next generation".
Given that Peekay, spoke English, he pronounced sentences that killed their grandfathers and grandmothers to the world's first concentration camps. Little Peekay had no advance warning that he was wicked before coming to the school.

One of the other kids - called 'Judge' abused Peekey regularly. Peekay even made a deal with him to do the Judge's homework and make sure he didn't fail-- but he still continues to abuse him. - really 'tortured him.
We see how Peekay begins to survive- horrific conditions at such a young tender age: Peekay says:
"One thing got to them more than anything else. They could make me cry. Even the Judge, with all of the fear he could provoke, could not make me cry. I suspect they even began to admire me a bit. Many as them brothers my age at home, and they knew how easy it is for a five-year-old to cry. In fact, I had turned six but nobody had told me, so in my head, I was still five".
"Not being able to cry was the hardest part for me as well. Crying can't be a good camouflage. In truth, my willpower had very little to do with my resolve never to cry. I had learned a special trick and, in the process, had somehow lost the knack of turning on the tap".

Peekay is a diamond in the rough....an inspiring character. He's smart, open minded, and doesn't have an ounce of bitterness or hatred in him. He develops meaningful friendships with teachers and mentors who teach him to read. He meets a healer, and a boxer. We learn a tremendous amount about boxing. We also learn a lot about the history of South Africa through the eyes of a child.

The themes of discrimination were well defined by the author: the Boers vs. the English - South Africans vs. the Germans - the Jews vs. the Germans - white Africans vs. the Black Africans.
Violence is graphic - so be warned.

It's a cruel and beautiful world we live in!

I found this book to be a mixed bag. For example, I loved the story of the main character's relationships with others, particularly with an old German professor who helps to shape his mind. However, I got bored with the focus on boxing, something I have no interest in but which permeated every aspect of the story. I thought the treatment of racial and cultural issues was excellent, especially the insights into struggles among the Boers, Afrikaners, and English settlers. On the other hand, I got tired of the story itself, which had five or six climaxes and denouments. I thought the author's treatment of South African nationalism was very good, and it helped me understand later issues of apartheid and Mandela. On the other hand, I really disliked the end, in which the main character finally gets revenge on a man who had tormented him when he was five years old. I wanted him to find redemption through his power to forgive rather than through the power of his fists. The narrator of the audiobook (which is how I "read" it)has a wonderful Australian accent and is very expressive, but reading this in print form might give you the chance to skip over the endless boxing scenes.

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.

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.

An absolutely wonderful read with amazing characters. South African historical fiction. Highly recommended.

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.

Peekay is a young English boy brutalized at a South African boarding school when World War II breaks out. The prejudices, indignities and suffering Peekay endures become a light that fuels an inner drive to become something stronger and smarter and more important. With help from some fantastic characters along the way, Peekay is able to harness "the power of one" and succeed beyond all the odds.

The book is a marvel on so many levels. First, Courtenay does a wonderful job of incorporating history, childhood angst and amazing characters into a well-thought out and terrific story line that leaves the reader cheering for young Peekay. Second, the author's theme of discrimination is well-played out from the Boers vs. the English, the Germans vs. the Jews, the South Africans vs. the Germans and of course, the white Africans vs. the Black Africans. The perspective is poignant and insightful.

This was a five star book that shed light on inter-human tensions and those beautiful souls who can rise above it to help and love their fellow man.

There is no way I would have picked this from choice - the blurb on the back wasn't really inspiring me and I was expecting not to like it at all. Oh, so wrong!

The writing is amazing - I was immediately hooked by the character and the setting and everything about the world the author created. Maybe because it was a world that is slightly alien to me, but is was a fascinating read.

At first Peekay is quite a sad character - a small boy lost at a boarding school where he is bullied, his only friend a chicken and with no real idea of what goes on in the world around him. As he learns to deal with the tragedies in his life, creating a way to survive, you just want to hug him. He is completely endearing and completely lovable.

As his life moves on, he meets an extra-ordinary set of characters. Some are only introduced for a couple of chapters, some recur throughout, but each one is written in such a brilliant way. You couldn't help either fall in love or absolutely hate every single one, depending on how they react to Peekay.

Amazing book - so glad I read it - can't wait to read more by this author.

My latest reread!

This was a curious book because I never really knew which direction it was headed in. You would think Peekay was headed in one direction and then things would change. It was also a wonderful book and I had tears of joy and victory in my eyes more than once. The narrator was beyond brilliant. Peekay often made comments in a very dry way and the narrator really added some expression to these parts. He was wonderful and even if I listened to him in a dozen books I would always associate him with this one.

My personal favorite of the humorous bits was the discussion over "His house has many mansions". In that case Peekay didn't seem to be intentionally being humorous so much as trying to make sense of things. It was still funny.

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. First published 1989.

So much has been written over the years about this book that I can’t add anything more illuminating to what has already been said. So this will just be my concise opinion.

This would have to be my third reading of The Power of One and still, although the story is well known to me, it still has the power, ignore the pun, to move me.
Every human emotion is on display here be they good or bad. This sadly is the human condition. We have within us the ability to do great good but conversely we can often use that ability to do great wrongs. If no one makes a stand nothing changes. It just takes one person with enough power and resolve to get things started.
This for me is the power behind The Power of One.

I was surprised at how emotional I became when reading the passage about Grandpa Chooks death by stoning, or how infected I became with Doc’s thirst of knowledge. Talk about being invested in the characters.

If you haven’t read this yet, do yourself a favour and do it.

A truly memorable reading 5 star experience.

This book is a wonderful story of the hope and success of an underdog, of relationships breaking barriers of race, age, religion, wealth, and of a boy learning who he is and who he should be. I would really like to rate this book a 4.5. I loved about 500 pages of this book, but was disappointed with the ending.

***SPOILER ALERT*** For most of the book I really thought, this could really happen. And then, to make a "nice ending", of course it all comes full circle in the end and the frayed ends are all knotted. That just doesn't happen. Allowing Peekay to conquer the Judge in one simple fight left me very unsatisfied. The whole book I pulled for him to slowly, bit by bit, mature and conquer his childhood demons. It seems a little trite that with one fight, it's all over. Not to mention that the knife carving in the Judge was way over the top. Made me feel like Courtenay got so deep in the fascinating intricacies of the stories that he couldn't find a way out, got tired of writing, and tossed in that scene so I could get back to the other 15 or so books on my bookshelf... I may be a rare reader in that I would have much preferred being left not knowing what lies ahead for PK with the People, boxing, school, God, his friends, etc., hoping and cheering for him as he moves on to other things in life to continue his quest to discover himself and the world. I strive to be a forgiving soul, though, so I will not let the last 5 pages ruin the glorious journey I enjoyed with PK.