The book of war tells the story of a boy who comes to manhood in a
war. William Kentridge has called it, "a rare feast", and Rian
Malan, "a very good book, possibly great." An illiterate European
child is stranded on the southern tip of Africa. The British and
the Xhosa have been spilling each other's blood for eighty years
and the kid signs up for the conflict in the hope of steady meals
and a few shillings a month. The kid's new commander, The Captain,
is hardly more than a boy himself, but he has money and education
behind him. His goal is to prove that the revolutionary Minie Rifle
is the most effective killing machine available to the British
Empire. His instruments are an assortment of convicts, sailors and
drunkards culled from the port at the Cape of Good Hope; his
adversary, a strategically brilliant Xhosa general with little left
to lose. The Captain and the irregulars depart on a journey towards
a grotesque denouement around a copper vat on the slopes of Mount
Misery. They move through a landscape prowled by wild beasts, a
landscape so savage that the mountains themselves are like "ancient
artefacts whose listed purpose is slaughter". As they travel, the
distinction between man and animal becomes increasingly blurred.
Although it is based closely on first-hand accounts of the 8th
Xhosa War, the book creates the effect of an intense
defamiliarisation of a history educated South Africans will believe
themselves to be au fait with. It converts the bare facts of times
past into something terrible and strange. Anyone who has asked
themselves why South Africa is a violent country will find a
disturbing answer in The Book of War.
General
Imprint: |
Jacana Media
|
Country of origin: |
South Africa |
Release date: |
June 2014 |
First published: |
September 2012 |
Authors: |
James Whyle
|
Dimensions: |
212 x 136 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
264 |
Edition: |
New |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4314-0347-9 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Historical fiction
|
LSN: |
1-4314-0347-4 |
Barcode: |
9781431403479 |
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