Ultimate Underdog: The Triumph of the Human Spirit

What a wonderful education about South Africa, boxing, and the indomitable spirit of a young boy named Peekay. I will never forget this endearing character.

Peekay is an adorable five-year-old who's ripped from the warm bosom of his African nanny and sent to an awful boarding school where he is bullied and abused. This kid is a survivor. He channels his mistreatment into the dream of becoming the boxing welterweight of the world.

So many people and life events try to derail him, but the Peekay train chugs full speed ahead, bolstered by loving mentors from all walks of life. There's a fantastic cast of characters: 1) Hoppy, a train worker who sparks Peekay's dream via his David vs. Goliath boxing match, 2) Doc, a German music professor/scientist who teaches Peekay to question everything except for his own internal wisdom, 3) Geel Piet, a Black prisoner who teaches Peekay how to box and survive crushing odds, and 4) Morrie, a Jewish classmate who teaches Peekay friendship and money management. Now that I list Peekay's main mentors, I realize each is an oppressed underdog in his own way (Hoppy too small, Doc a German during WWII, Geel Black and imprisoned, and Morrie Jewish and smarter than many adults.)

Noticeably absent as a mentor is Peekay's mother. She has suffered mental illness and turned to fire-and-brimstone religion, telling her son he is doomed to hell unless he becomes born again. When Peekay asks Doc about his damned soul, Doc responds:

"Peekay, God is too busy making the sun come up and go down to be concerned with such rubbish. Only man wants always God should be there to condemn this one and save that one. Always it is man who wants to make heaven and hell. God is too busy training the bees to make honey and every morning opening all the new flowers for business."

Amen!

As a White English boy in a country on the cusp of Apartheid, Peekay is taught to view the African people with disdain. But he doesn't succumb to such racism, mostly because he finds more decency and goodness in Blacks than in many Whites. And the Africans come to revere him. The tribal concert at the prison is a magical moment of cultural enrichment, showing that character is much more essential than skin color in defining humans.

Over the course of this journey, I couldn't help but root for such a compelling underdog. With faith and perseverance, Peekay succeeds at whatever he puts his mind to. (I never quite understood why he calls himself Peekay. Did we ever learn his real name?)

4.5 stars. My only quibbles are the meandering length and the disappointing ending. Peekay mentions his dream to be the welterweight champion of the world approximately 834 times, then the book ends without any mention of him pursuing the dream? And what about the even more important aspiration to fight against Black oppression, perhaps to unite Whites and Blacks? If anyone could do it, Peekay could. I also find that ending on a note of revenge belittles the beautiful themes of the story. As a reader, I feel misled.

7/12/17

Have read most of Bryce's books. This is the only one I really wanted to re-read.
Have re-read some sections several times. Did not watch video. Would have been less likely to read story if had seen
in advance the promotion oriented (and over-emphasis on) on the boxing aspect . The sequel, Tandia, wasn't one I wanted to re-read, but reading it added considerable perspective on South Africa.

The Power of One & Tandia

**

During the decades buying books for the library, how many thousands of review could I have read? : "Booklist," "Publishers Weekly," "Library Journal" ... and during the days of buying from Ingram, I found their "Advance" publication quite useful.

The New York Times book review section didn't fit well the reading profile of "Cowboy County." Nor did I buy reviews from Kirkus. Now, for Goodreads, I like to netswipe their opinions ...

(Fuzzy memory - Kirkus charged a $400 fee to publishers to provide a review?)

KIRKUS REVIEW (Caveat, as Kirkus reviews frequently do, this one contains spoilers.)

Ideals must be back, for Courtenay's first novel is a fast-paced book with an old-fashioned, clean-cut hero, easily identifiable villains, no sex, and saintlike sidekicks. All done in sturdy, workmanlike prose. Set in South Africa in the 1940's, the novel resembles those enormously popular books on southern Africa written by John Buchan and H. Rider Haggard. Courtenay's Peekay, like those earlier heroes, inspires devotion from a disparate band of followers, which includes a witch doctor, a German professor, a barmaid, Gert the Afrikaans policeman, Morrie the Jewish refugee, and his Oxbridge headmaster. Courtenay lovingly evokes an African landscape of small town and bush as he describes the journey of Peekay--from a horrendously cruel boarding school to a triumphant vindication as a young man in the copper mines of what is now Zambia. At his first school, Peekay, as the only English child in an otherwise Afrikaans school, is held accountable for all the wrongs inflicted by the British. But a fortuitous meeting with an amateur boxer, "Kid Louis" Groenewald, supplies the young Peekay with the means and the drive to fight back. Peekay learns to box (boxing fans will particularly appreciate the vividly described fights) and thereafter is forever serving justice and earning Brownie points. His first teachers are the tough Afrikaner jailers of his hometown prison and a black prisoner. Later, at a prep school in Johannesburg, while the victorious Afrikaner Nationalists introduce apartheid, he is taught by the best trainer in Africa. As well as being a scholar and everybody's favorite young man, Peekay also earns a reputation among the blacks as a great chief--"The Tadpole Angel"--who is destined to save them, but not in this book. Peekay is just too noble, and his political views, perhaps reflecting those of his times, are paternal to say the least. But, nevertheless, this is a somewhat endearing, if uncritical, celebration of virtue and positive thinking. Despite the lack of shading and the chipper philosophy, then, a surprisingly refreshing debut.

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)