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Title details for Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton - Wait list

Cry, the Beloved Country

by Alan Paton
Charles Scribner
Audiobook
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A worldwide best-seller when it was first published in 1948, Alan Paton's impassioned novel about a black man's country under white man's law is a work of searing beauty.

Cry, the Beloved Country is the deeply moving story of Stephen Kumalo, a Zulu pastor, and his son, Absalom. Set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s, it is also the story of a land and a people driven by racial injustice. The book is written with such keen compassion and understanding that the listener shares fully in the gravity of the characters' situations.

Paton said of his book: "It is a song of love for one's far distant country." Thus, it is a tale that is passionately African while also being timeless and universal. Ultimately, Cry, the Beloved Country is a work of love and hope, of courage and tragedy, born of the dignity of man.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 1, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481583077
      • File size: 282572 KB
      • Duration: 09:48:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 630
    • Text Difficulty: 2-3

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This moving and apparently timeless novel is as fresh and powerful as it was upon its first release in 1948. Its Zulu hero, Stephen Kumalo, a modest and very provincial Anglican priest, goes to Johannesburg to find his sister, gone to the bad in the big city, and his only child, Absolom, about whom there will be worse news. The marvelous British actor Michael York brings the white South Africans, with their idealism, their prejudices, and their own provinciality, vividly to life. His native African characters, perhaps inevitably, sound more Anglo than tribal, but it makes small difference. With the haunting, incantatory rhythms of its language and the human complexity of its story, this is a polished, elegant production of a true classic. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      A man's search for his son also tells of the loss of a way of life, and the struggle of South Africans to find their place in a new order. It is as timely today as when it was first published more than forty years ago. African place names and proper names have a lyrical quality, and the narrator handles the changing dialects and accents with skill. One can almost hear the peace that once was Africa in the soothing tones of the reader, who also conjures up feelings of despair and hopelessness as the story moves toward tragedy. Later, the voice of hope shines through. This is a beautiful audio performance of a profoundly moving novel. C.A.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:630
  • Text Difficulty:2-3

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