The Power of One

I have been wanting to read this Bryce Courtenay masterpiece for a long time but books thick enough to use as a pillow used to scare me, now they feel like a mountain that im about to climb, but in a good, exciting way. So my sister-in-law read it and recommended it. This is another book I'm glad i read, and also am glad i let some one else read it before me. She warned me, "theres a huge chunk in the beginning that you just have to read through but it gets exciting after here." She had even marked where the fun began for me. If she hadnt warned me, i probably would have put the page down after 100 pages. Over all i didnt understand every single little detail in this book. I had to conduct some research while i read this book because im not very familiar with history of any kind in general. The story is set in South Africa during WWII/1940s ( i think), a time in which race and racism was prevelant. Courtenay uses a lot of words & references that arent used today or outside of south africa & a bit of help from wikipedia cured that. Im not going to retell the storyline simply becase its one of those stories that just has so much going on and spans quite a number of years and happens in so many different locations involving so many different people, i"ll let wikipedia take care of that for me, again.

There is so much to get out of reading this book. In a way i feel that Peekay changed the world, even without meaning to. He had a goal, which never left the back of his mind. I feel that this story shows that anything is possible, even for the little guy. Being a petite lady, i find myself getting intimadated in certain situations, but I've been known to stand up for myself when the time calls for it. I love a story where the little guy wins! I knew this book had been made into a movie but I thought it was a more recent movie. it was released in 1992 which isnt ancient but yet again, i would happily watch the film adapatation of this book. Maybe because i didnt fully understand all the little details of the book. i understood the story just not the history.

SO the next book i have begun to read is "The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas" by John Boyne, recommended to me by my bookworm buddy who has her own readers bookclub, so i'll trust her judgment. AGAIN this book has been turned into a movie, not sure if i will watch this one though. Its a short read, hopefully will finish it by tonight. Its a nice recovery to the everest book, that was The Power of One.