I read this book on someone’s recommendation. The subject of a schoolboy’s aspirations to become a boxer didn’t sound very appealing to me but from the very first page I found myself gripped by his story. This small frightened child who is subjected to years of injustice and bullying finds strength and support from the most unexpected quarters. Growing up in south africa in an era where racism and brutality are commonplace it is the black people who help and care for him that are his saviours. He is befriended by a German professor who becomes his mentor and most beloved friend but when war breaks out events occur that shape this young boy into a resourceful and determined character who is driven by his determination to become the welterweight champion of the world.

This is the story of Peekay, a young boy growing up in South Africa before, during, and after World War II, and the good people he met along his way to becoming the welterwieght boxing champion of the world. The memorable characters included (among many) Giel Peet, an imprisoned black man who taught Peekay to box; Doc, a gentle 6'7" German professor who taught Peekay to love nature and music and books; and, Miss Boorstein, a brilliant Jewish teacher who fostered Peekay's intellectual genius through her guidance and tutoring.
I learned many things in this book- the complex art of boxing, how bad and inhumane apartheid is, and how much more I might have accomplished if I had grown up in an era where there was no television or other distractions. I know I would have read more and practised that piano more and given of myself more as well. I also find myself wishing for those mentors like Peekay's who saw the great promise he had and gently guided him to his full potential.
Through this book I also learned to appreciate the idea of the "voice" of the writer. The book began when Peekay was about five and ended when he was about 18. Along the way his words slowly matured and changed from that of a young child to that of an educated young man.
Finally, I had no idea how bad apartheid is. I had heard talk of it, but did not really understand the indignities the colored race suffered in South Africa at the hand of the ruling white race. Racism is bad and I think we are to fight it wherever and whenever we encounter it or at least try to help our fellow man like Peekay did.

One of my top 5 all time favorite books

This was given to me quite a few years ago and has been sitting on the shelf waiting to be read. I would probably give it 4.5 stars, taking away that last bit for the ending & parts that slowed to a crawl. Overall, a surprising wonderful read full of life's lessons. I have underlined quite a few quotes in this one.

A coming of age story set in South Africa in the 30's & 40's. We follow Peekay from age 5 to 20, an English boy caught in a world of prejudice and racism. I loved that we see the people behind the ethnicity through his eyes. If I could describe him in one word, it would be resilient. He suffers losses throughout the book especially in his formative years and yet is able to take what he learned and turn it into a strength. His desire for knowledge is stoked by some incredible people he meets throughout his life, some for just a short time such as Hoppie who taught him the power of one and gave him a dream, to Doc who became a mentor for most of this time period. An "absoloodle" of a novel!

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.

Technical knockout?

Pretension made me sceptical of Bryce Courtney. I have come to associate him with the dozen-volume-strong libraries found on the shelves of relatives I only visit on Christmas. But – softening as I get older – I thought I should form my own view by making my way through his best loved book.

Our narrator and hero, Peekay, begins his life in a boarding school where he is ruthlessly bullied by his Boer classmates for the crime of being English in Northern South Africa. Once free from the boarding school, Peekay determines to overcome future persecution by becoming a boxing champion and meets various friends, allies, and teachers that guide him on his journey across the country.

People talk about this book as if it’s a ground-breaking story of defiance in the age of apartheid, essential reading with something profound to say about race and injustice. Indeed, the narrator talks about his story in the same way - often mentioning the "power of one" - without ever taking to time to explain what this means. Both the reader and Peekay are wrong: it’s a straightforward coming of age story. I expected stories of revolution and political upheaval. I got a young man collecting cacti in a pleasant forest glade.

But my misguided apprehensions shouldn’t be taken as a criticism, the coming-of-age story was more than enough to make this a great book. It’s almost folkloric in its directness and – apart from several almost incongruous flashes of racial violence – a pastoral and nostalgic recollection of childhood. In fact, after his initial torture in boarding school, Peekay doesn’t face any problems that aren’t easily overcome in ten pages. The lack of tension made for perfect summer reading.

With direct, unfussy language, Courtney draws immersive settings and memorable characters. I can’t think of the last time I had such vivid mind pictures of a novel’s scenes as when I was reading this. The pictures Courtney paints of South Africa were both idealist and immersive.

But then there’s that ending: we suddenly go from pastel coloured grammar school hijinks to Dante’s inferno. The nightmarish narrative flash point in the flaming bowels of the earth doesn’t even get a whole chapter to itself and then the apparent climax doesn’t even get five pages. Once again though, Courtney snatches victory from the jaws of defeat and what is ostensibly terrible pacing comes across as exciting, hallucinatory, and profound.

So, like Peekay, this was a head versus heart experience. For all its strange and often lumpy characteristics, The Power Of One was unmatched in terms of reading enjoyment. If this was more closely aligned with my expectations, I probably would have found it pompous and bloated. As it is though, this is just a good read.

To indulge in cynicism on the way out, I will say that it confirms my suspicions that TPoO is the favourite book of people who have only ever read one.

Bryce Courtney's debut novel, The Power of One left me hungry for more of his compelling characters, Peekay,
Doc, Granpa, The Prison Gang, Miss Bornstein, Ms Boxall, the Judge and on and on. Set in South Africa during WW II it offers a tantalizing journey of a young English boy, Peekay, thrust into situations that would test the mettle of the most morally and physically strong amongst us, and yet he conquers all. His chief mentors in life, a German professor, English librarian, and an unlikely assortment of Africans, Boers and others take a strong interest in his intellectual and physical development.

Blessed with keen intelligence and tremendous willpower Peekay's goal is to become the Welterweight Champion of the World. Boxing is the catalyst for much of the action and it is critical in the gut wrenching finale, where Peekay encounters his long-time antagonist, The Judge, in the most unlikely of encounters.

Masterfully done. A Great read.

When did this book sneak up on me? It's a story of a prodigy - mentally, physically, in geology, botany, boxing, gambling, chess, in pretty much anything but music, where he's merely competent. Bryce Courtenay's hero should irritate the hell out of me. And yet somehow he doesn't. It's also the story of how a white boy becomes a symbol of power for black South Africans. I'm a little uncomfortable with that, and yet, it's handled as well as such things can be.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

I am giving this book eleven out of ten! Absoloodle!

I am embarrassed and upset to say that I feel disappointed in Courtnay. This is the first book I have read of his and having grown up on the movie, I thought reading it would be a cinch. I was wrong. It went on and on in great depth about characters and stories that went no where. I only saw fragments of what was in the movie and even then they were twisted slightly. Why is it an international best seller? Do people like to read stories that meander on and on and in circles? How on earth did they make the movie?

When I had finished, I was throughly disappointed ,as the very last scene is of peekay, the main character , beating up the baddie.
But the baddie is mentally ill, from working in the mines, it is a sickening fight, where I felt sorry for the baddie.
The main character, peekay, what a sanctimonious, self important sh*#!
He took everything that people who loved him, gave him and threw it away, and said that it burdened him, that the more they gave him, the more pressured he felt to not be himself.

I firmly believe that a book or a movie can be about absolutely anything as long as its well written. There are a few sports movies out there that I have enjoyed, that I got wrapped up in, all because what they were really were was just good stories. This is a book like that. If you do happen to read the back cover, you will learn that the book is about boxing, but it's hardly just about boxing. Saying The Power of One is only about boxing is like saying doing well in school is only about showing up to class. Well, bad analogy, but you get my point.

The book starts off with the main character, whose real name you never learn, heading off to boarding school at 5 years old. Although it's told from his point of view, the story is not at all childish because Peekay is wise beyond his years. (Peekay is the name he chooses for himself after he is called Pisskop, which means "pisshead." I never did quite understand why he chose a name based on that insult, but he carries his new name proudly.)

The book is overly sentimental at times, but is so well written that that is easily forgiven. Bad things happen to Peekay, but the reader quickly realizes that all will work out in the end. The question is how. The book is so beautifully written that the rather basic story line of a poor kid with a big dream fighting his way to the top by staying honest becomes a truly unique tale that will stay with you long after you've put the book down.

Highly recommended.

My rating is probably somewhat closer to 4 stars. I enjoyed the story of Peekay and all the other characters but for me (I know I'm the outlier) it just took too long to tell it. I won't soon forget him though :))