A Story Like the Wind

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Summary: No...
Review: A Story Like the Wind is an amazing snapshot of africa told through the eyes of francois. The story can occasionally move slowly, weighed down by the beauty of Van Der Posts descriptions, but in general, this is one of those books that you become so deeply immersed in, you never want it to end. A Story Like the Wind is better than A Far Off Place, but read both of them if you like the first one.

Rating:
Summary: The book i go back to on rainy days
Review: A Story Like the Wind is an amazing snapshot of africa told through the eyes of francois. The story can occasionally move slowly, weighed down by the beauty of Van Der Posts descriptions, but in general, this is one of those books that you become so deeply immersed in, you never want it to end. A Story Like the Wind is better than A Far Off Place, but read both of them if you like the first one.

Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: Although I liked the STORY the book told, I found it a bit over-detailed. I would get to a part that held my interest for a bit, such as Francois watching elephants, but my interest was suddenly gone when the author gave a 15 page account of the myth of how the elephant got it's African name. Or, there would be five pages dedicated to the sunset. It got to be a little tedious, in my opinion. If the story did not have so much detail, I would have rather liked the book because many of the characters are interesting and well-defined. Also, many interesting conflicts happen to the main character, Francois. Another thing that I didn't really like was that the book ended rather abrubtly. And although I was glad to be finished, I felt that the author was getting bored of the story (I certainly was)and in a quick, easy way to finish, killed off all the characters but four or five.

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Summary: Informative and Highly Entertaining
Review: I enjoyed this book a million times more than the more famous "A Far off Place". The book is simply fantastic. VanDerPost writes as one who truly knows his subject. Reading this book is like taking a course in Anthropology.

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Summary: Not for babies
Review: I read this book 10 years ago, and went looking for it here because I have never seen it in a bookstore. I was very surprised to see it recommended for toddlers/children. It is a coming of age story, but it has a good deal of violence, and is also quite detailed about a spiritual search/quest which would be all but incomprehensible to the most mature pre-teen, let alone child. I remember it as one of the most beautiful books I ever read, both for the descriptions of Africa and her people, and also for his Junngian inspired use of strong emotional images.

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Summary: A white boy-man feels the soul and magic of Africa.
Review: I read this book because I am interested in the depth psychologist Carl Jung. Van der Post was a male friend, perhaps the only male friend, of Jung. It is clear from this book why this would be so. STORY LIKE THE WIND delves into the magic of the continent and its peoples though the story of a boy descended from three centuries of 'settlers'. In his life at Hunter's Drift, an agricultural oasis created by his father, Francois has become more a child of the bush than a European. The nearest telephone is miles away, but there is much to be learned from the bush. Even nature, through the birds, warns of great danger, and the boy and his 'uncle', Mopani the Hunter, share that secret. Soon a great black Seer senses the coming of an overwhelming evil. The next warning comes too late to help Hunter's Drift and what it represents. All this, especially the experience of the bush, is presented in a prose that at times turns into poetry.

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Summary: A white boy-man feels the soul and magic of Africa
Review: I submitted my review anonymously. I would like to lift that anonymity. Lawrence Walker Salt Lake City, Utah

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Summary: Beautiful and Spiritual
Review: I've always been a fan of the Disney movie "A Far Off Place" and recently decided to read the books that inspired the movie. I just finished the first one and it blew me away.

First off, it just shouldn't be this good. There is a lot the author does that normally irritates me to no end.

1) Paper thin plot - I could give a point for point plot summary in about 50 words, maybe 30.
2) Constant deviations from the story line to explain trivia about the characters
3) Totally explicit characterization and theme development - nothing is left for the reader; van der Post tells the reader everything.

And yet the book succeeds not only in spite of these things, but because of them.

A story like the wind (ASLtW) tells the story of 13 year old Francois as he grows up in interior Africa during the turbulent mid-20th century. His parents are educators who have run afoul of the colonial government for wanting a more equal relationship between Africans and Europeans. They set up a utopia-like community with the Africans and them partners in an enterprise rather than master and servants. Still, they retain some subtle Eurocentrism that eventually proves consequential. Francois, born late and the only child, doesn't really have the normal parent-child relationship with them (is there such a thing). He is raised by a bushman woman and Matebele tribesman with heavy influence from a white conservationist. As such, he comes to feel himself more part of the African world than the European.

The most obvious beauty of the book is the author's love for Africa. Details of the flora and fauna are told with such intricacy and personification that it is impossible not to fall in love with the place. The author really shows the complex life-death cycle of the African bush like no other. The only other novel I've read coming close to ASLtW in this aspect is Farley Mowat's "Never Cry Wolf" (also made into a Disney movie).

Surpassing the environmental detail, though, is van der Post's handling of sprituality. The book is a deeply spiritual book, though not in the classical sense. Van der Post weaves three entirely different world views throughout most of the novel. By the end two more are added. Details of the people and their values are treated with magnificent even-handedness and only the most callous of readers couldn't see the majesty in them all. Francois himself is is a wonderfully syncretic blend of Matebele, Bushman, French Huguenot and even Catholic by the end of the book. The only thing common among the beliefs is a deeply mystical approach to life. But even to class the book in the mystic tradition does it a disservice. Francois and his rolemodels are nothing if not pragmatic. There are sometimes when I was really expecting van der Post to venture into the realm of typical colonialist literature, but by the end of the book all this is resolved. For readers who feel any apprehensions in the beginning, remember, this is told from Francois' viewpoint. Characters and events that seem wrongly analysed in the beginning are reappraised in the end.

As I said, Disney made a movie from this book. Actually, only the last couple chapters had any part any the movie. Most of the movie came from the sequel "A Far Off Place." Anyways comparisons are obvious. I'll start off by saying that the Disney movie is still good and stands as one of my favorite family films. That being said, they took a very safe and simple approach. First, it isn't poachers that destroy Francois' and Nonie's families. This is a book about colonialism. Too avoid ruining the book for anyone, I won't say any more than that things aren't as clear cut, black and white when Francois and Nonie have to flee their home. The first couple chapters of A Far Off Place (AFOP) compound this even more.

Secondly, Nonnie isn't the expert on Africa. She is the newcomer. For the life of me, I can't figure why Disney felt they needed to flip-flop the roles. Nonnie isn't a stereotypical weak female in any sense of the word. Perhaps they were trying to be more PC, but they didn't have any problem totally elliminating Xhabbo's (the bushman's) wife Nuin-Tara from the story and she played a pretty big role in the end. I won't say I know what they were thinking, but it definitely appears that their cultural sensitivies extend only to Europeans.

All-in-all this is an outstanding book. While junior high could read it I think people with more life experience and refined concepts of spirituality would benefit a lot more from it. I've written lots of papers on mystic tradions and history of mystic thought in western religion for school. I'm fairly familiar with lots of different ideas, but this still blew my mind and made me think. I worry that younger people may focus on the details and miss the spirit of the message (explore the world, take nothing for granted, respect other ideas) and it's uniqueness. Ironically, one of the major themes of the book is mutual respect between old and young and I may be falling into this trap. At any rate, there isn't anyone I think is too old for the book. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Escape...
Review: If you are looking for an escape into another time and place, this book is for you. It's a well-written tale about a young boy descended from a European family and living in Africa during the early part of the 20th century. Van Der Post writes with such vivid detail that the story stayed with me long after I finished the book.

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Summary: A fascinating tale based on personal experience and history
Review: Laurens Van der Post has written a very insightful book based on his personal experience during the period of political upheaval in late colonial Africa. It details the transition of a boy into young adulthood at a pace not of his own choosing. The characters are well developed and the descriptions of the plant and animal life of the African veldt are intriguing. This is a book that is hard to put down. You may as well order the sequel, A Far-Off Place, at the same time. You will want to read it as well.