THE PARADISE PEOPLE

by David Lytton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 1962

Beautifully and simply told, this is a story of Ouma and Oupa (the author's grandparents) with incidents ranging from an apprenticeship served under a water diviner, to a hilarious courtship, to grimmer tales of civil war. It is filled with faithful black friends and a ""whole gallery or great-uncles leaning on their exploits"", all told by a man-who grew up among the Boers, when General Smuts was Prime Minister,- for the present generation, especially his own daughter, to counterbalance the current image of South African whites. While very different from The Goddam White Man (1961) those who remember the earlier book will again admire the qualities of this writer; There are haunting images and phrases; a Hottentot's song is as chilling as ""a pterodactyl's cry""; a murdered policeman is ""a piece of the law hunting to itself under a cloud of blue flies"". It is certainly refreshing to find a man unashamed and able to draw his pioneering forebears as he remembers them- all 15 feet tall. Over it all, there is a vivid if nostalgic sense of the dark vastness of Africa.

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1962

Categories: FICTION