As I watched our taped Daily Show from last night, Trevor mentioned something about how much he had learned from his mom, and I was able to understand where he was coming from having finished the book last night. Though we have some idea of how oppressive apartheit was, Trevor shows it to us through the eyes of a little kid--a kid whose mom was black and father was white. The book's organization reminded me a bit of Larry Sander's Incoming in that is was sort of chronological and sort of his normal-ish to really traumatic! These are stories, loosely organized, that give insight to South Africa under apartheit and the during the gradual ending (and not ending) of apartheit. Noah's personality, sense of humor, and style make this eminently readable. Loved it and learned from it.
I have now started Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. At first, the length of it--1006 six pages of very fine print and the character of Dr. Strange in the Gotham TV series made me think it might be a comic book story made really long. I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. After reading the blurb on the back of the book and the reviews, I figured I'd read the first chapter and decide then. I'm only 8 pages in, and nothing has happened, but the writing is engaging and a little humorous...so we will see...
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