Bryce Courtenay has always seemed like a bit of a ‘wild-card’ to me. Some people read his books and rave about them; others say that his books lack pizzazz and that his writing leaves a lot to be desired. I could never comment on these musings, as I had never gotten around to picking up one of his books, despite having at least five or six of his more notable titles floating around the house.
For my first Bryce Courtenay read, I decided to go with The Power of One. This was the novel that Courtenay fans always seemed to love the most, and even those people who didn’t fancy Matthew Flinders’ Cat and Jessica would always begrudgingly admit that it was a good read. At 629 pages (of reasonably small print) I was somewhat intimidated, but resolved that I would get through it, no matter how long it took.
The Power of One is set in South Africa during the 1940s and 1950s, and is told from the perspective of Peekay, a man who is reflecting on the events of his youth. The book examines the racism that was rife throughout South Africa throughout the 1940s and 1950s in great detail and repeatedly brings up themes such as tolerance, courage, and perseverance. The novel charts Peekay’s life, from his ghastly experiences as a six year old at boarding school, to his chance meeting with Hoppie Gronewald, who instills in him an unquenchable desire to be a world champion boxer; from his untraditional, yet incredibly effective education with Doc, Miss Boxall, and Miss Bornstein, to his experiences at a prestigious high school and a final meeting with his childhood tormentor.
Overall, The Power of One is an incredible book. It is inspirational, beautifully written, and features one of the most incredible protagonists I have ever had the privilege of reading. The idea of fighting for the greater good and of perseverance, even in the face of hardship is one which I think every reader would find enlightening. However, I found that this book took a while to pick up momentum, and I didn’t find myself totally invested in the characters and the story for around 200 pages. This was — in my opinion — the biggest weakness of The Power of One. This is interesting, because throughout the first 200 pages, many important events occur, which are present throughout the rest of the book. These events are thoroughly intriguing, yet I didn’t feel intrigued whilst reading them. They seemed to lack the emotional punch that many of the later scenes featured. Whilst being happy that I did persevere and finish the novel, I can imagine that many readers would not have the patience to plough through 200 pages of so-so storytelling, in order to get to the life-changing stuff. But, who knows? Maybe other readers were hooked from page one.
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