I read this in high school (thank you, Suzy Bolton) and I remember being moved to tears. Listening to it (read by Michael York) there were again places where I was moved, but it somehow lost its power. Maybe it is something my friend Jessie says about reading things at different points in your life. I think that I was more idealistic and less jaded 12 years ago.
If you've never read the book, here is a synopsis and SPOILERS: A black country priest in South Africa journeys to Johannesburg to find his son, which he does, but too late. His son has killed a white man who was fighting for native rights during Apartheid. They go to court. The son is found guilty. The crime and punishment (ha!) are not really the point. After the son is found guilty, the victim's father (who lives in the country near the priest) offers support in various ways for the broken land. The novel ends with the priest working with a farming instructor who is teaching the natives to work their land.
The novel really explores old issues of racism and imperialism, the invasion of the white man into a society then forcing that people to abandon their ways of life for (in this case) gold-mining. When issues are huge like this, I tend to shut down. When something is too big for me to get my mind around, I turn off and ignore the problem, knowing someone else will pick up the slack. It's shameful and I know it. The great thing about this novel is that it takes a look at several relationships around one terrible event. Relationships are how change comes about. Relationships are how minds and hearts are changed. Relationships are how GOOD teachers connect with kids and how GOOD parents discipline. When you think about change happening one relationship at a time, I guess it seems not so scary and maybe I won't shut down.
