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Product Description

In this magical novel, an irresistible boy tells the story of his survival and coming of age against the background of South Africa during and just after World War II.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4136 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-29
• Released on: 1996-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"Episodic and bursting with incident, this sprawling memoir of an English boy's lonely childhood in South Africa during WW II pays moderate attention to questions of race but concerns itself primarily with epic melodrama," noted PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
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. (Kirkus Reviews)

Review
“The Power of One has everything: suspense, the exotic, violence; mysticism, psychology and magic; schoolboy adventures, drama in the boxing ring.”
–The New York Times


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Read
This book is an excellent read for teens and up... specifically boys. The underdog rises to the top through life lessons and great friendships (the book follows boyhood to college). A wonderful, classic style drama, this book will be enjoyed over and over again.

Stunning "live out loud" book--a rough-edged beauty
This is one of my favorite books--it makes you want to go out and LIVE! It's beauty stems from the eloquent portrayal of a young boy's life and through his eyes we are introduced to both the horrors of the South African apartheid era as well as the enduring humanity that miraculously manifests itself in spite of awful repressive social and political conditions. This story is a reminder of the greatness and enduring beauty of the human spirit that can overcome all of our differences if only we let it...

The Power of One
This book is one of the inspirational and incredible reads one will ever find. After having read is numerous times I am still coming back for more and will soon have to purchase a new copy.