Marla Parker's Weblog

The Power of One
My mother, born in Kenya, enthusiastically recommended that I read The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. (The book has multiple covers, here is the one that matches the copy I read, and I think the best cover. One cover with a small boy and plane on it makes no sense to me at all.)

Wow, was Mom ever right! It is a wonderful book. Exquisite writing, exciting action, and yet another tale of growing up different, but what a tale! I never would have expected to enjoy a book so much that is largely about .....boxing!!?

I love books with characters that are complex and believable, especially when the author picks characters that represent people we are unable or unlikely to personally get to know in our day to day lives. This is such a book. I look forward to reading the sequel someday, even though it is something like 900 pages long and probably not as good. Courtenay has written a dozen or more books, and from the reviews on Amazon, some are not so great, but high praise seems to be: this one is as good as The Power of One.

I see there is a movie, but I'm not sure I want to see it. Would be difficult to make a good move out of such a rich book. Just too much to put in a movie. Plus, the apartheid violence is evil enough in the pages of a book - I really don't think I need to see any interpretation in video, thanks anyway.