SA reads discussion

Welcome to week 2

The location is never specifically identified in the book except that it is on the coast. I suspect that it was intentional since there are instances which I personally associate more with the inland areas that are placed in the actual location.

The mention of hostel violence is one example. I cannot remember that being a feature of any coastal area in SA, but very much a Gauteng feature of the early 1990s. There's a thinly veiled reference to the shenanigans of Inkhata and the old government in the book which I associate with KZN and Gauteng more than any areas. Does anybody else have a sense of geography being used creatively?

Carolien wrote: "The location is never specifically identified in the book except that it is on the coast. I suspect that it was intentional since there are instances which I personally associate more with the inla..."

Durban had a number of townships with hostels: Kwa Mashu, Umlazi are two I can remember.

Did they expect similar levels of violence? Then again in KZN in the early 1990s everywhere was violent.

There were violent protests affecting coastal areas. We lived there at the time and remember second hand accounts. Maybe the violence was less publicized

This story is slow, and appears to have little or no plot. Zakes does entertain with authentic township and cultural detail (as he should) but I am hoping that the first half of this story finds deeper resonance in the second half.

Agreed, it's mostly a description of their history. A nice read, but not obvious in terms of plot.

It is more of a history, but the detail is rich.
I'm interested in how others see Toloki as a beggar instead of someone performing a vital service (which is how he sees himself). It appears that he has created the role for himself. He reminds me of Don Quixote in this respect.
The township life snippets are colorful, occasionally I have to backtrack on characters.
Does anyone feel that Noria was as bad as the village felt initially. It's i terrestrial g that Toloki is more curious about her than resentful of the way she monopolized his father's affections.

I'm always surprised at how more American slang has gotten into the townships. Like 'homegirl'. Is it that American life pictured on TV is something to aspire to? An ideal perhaps?

Lisa wrote: "It is more of a history, but the detail is rich.
I'm interested in how others see Toloki as a beggar instead of someone performing a vital service (which is how he sees himself). It appears that he..."

Yes. I find Toloki's self deprecation mildly irritating. I hope it has a silver lining.
Actually, I find myself hoping a lot for this book, but I am running out of pages! Have I become too Westernised in my expectations of plot and character development?

BTW, Lisa, what the h... is i terrestrial g??

John it's meant to be 'interesting'.
Hello autocorrect

Lol! I think the book was a sort of stepping stone from writing plays to writing fiction for the author. It will work very well as a play, but it is a bit meandering as a book. I found The Heart of Redness much more complex which was either his next book or third book.

I'm reading it as short stories. It works well as a collection of stories about a village.
Noria made me sad. I wonder how much her story exemplifies that of rural women?