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A Chain of Voices
It is 1825 and high in the mountains of South Africa a group of slaves stand accused of the murder of their owner, Nicolass van der Merwe, a wealthy Afrikaner farmer. Galant, the van der Merwe family's chief hand, is held leader of the murderous band. Raised with the two sons of the house, it was not until adulthood and rivalry over Hester, orphaned daughter of a tenant farmer, that he realised their different roles, their unequal futures and opposed stations in life. A CHAIN OF VOICES stands as a prophetic lesson—when hopes of freedom from slavery are dashed, and when promises of equal treatment are broken, an escalating spiral of bitterness, resentment, and finally, explosive violence is inevitable.
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
17 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
André Brink
116 books259 followersAndré Philippus Brink was a South African novelist. He wrote in Afrikaans and English and was until his retirement a Professor of English Literature at the University of Cape Town.
In the 1960s, he and Breyten Breytenbach were key figures in the Afrikaans literary movement known as Die Sestigers ("The Sixty-ers"). These writers sought to use Afrikaans as a language to speak against the apartheid government, and also to bring into Afrikaans literature the influence of contemporary English and French trends. His novel Kennis van die aand (1973) was the first Afrikaans book to be banned by the South African government.
Brink's early novels were often concerned with the apartheid policy. His final works engaged new issues raised by life in postapartheid South Africa.
In the 1960s, he and Breyten Breytenbach were key figures in the Afrikaans literary movement known as Die Sestigers ("The Sixty-ers"). These writers sought to use Afrikaans as a language to speak against the apartheid government, and also to bring into Afrikaans literature the influence of contemporary English and French trends. His novel Kennis van die aand (1973) was the first Afrikaans book to be banned by the South African government.
Brink's early novels were often concerned with the apartheid policy. His final works engaged new issues raised by life in postapartheid South Africa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
October 27, 2012
Andre Brink wrote this book in a raw and earthy style that mirrors the life in the Cape of Good Hope during the early years, when the Dutch and the British were vying for control of this strategic colony. The story is written from the points of view of all of the various characters in many different voices, so that the inner thoughts of all are laid bare. It is a tale frought with the personal miseries, dreams, aspirations and sufferings of the characters, each at their own level, according to their social status. The message being that we cannot escape what is our due and that your own personal suffering is no better or worse than the most or least privileged of our species. Brink has achieved the seemingly impossible: an in depth glimpse at what white men did to each other and to the indigenous peoples of South Africa. Yet the reader is unable to identify the antagonist(s) in the story since all of the characters are victims of their own station, each paying their dues in suffering at equal levels of intensity.
November 14, 2009
Run right out and buy A Chain of Voices. It is a stream of consciousness book about apartheid in South Africa and it is unrelenting. As a writer myself, I know how difficult it is to let horrifying circumstances stay horrifying and to not sentimentalize them with a couple of pony tricks. Andre Brink does not water down hideous circumstances. Maybe that's why he has been banned on and off.
February 23, 2017
'A triumph of storytelling.' - The Times
'A major novel.' - The Observer
'A powerful novel.' - The Sunday Times
With such praise why only 1 *?
... I must have missed something...
This book could have been great, 4*'s even.
It touches on very human issues, in a dark period of South African history. It is based on actual events (although we do not know from the novel where fiction starts or stops and where history really begins).
There was a slave revolt in 1825, led by a real Galant. Nicolaas van der Merwe and two others were really slain in the revolt. This offers a rich background and setting for exploring this period.
This is the first book I have read by Brink. (If this was ANYTHING to go by, I will avoid his other works like some kind of pox). He clearly had a political axe to grind, it shows in his work.
Where did things go so horribly wrong in the book? Oh... let me consider the ways...
Was it really needed to subject the readers to an in depth description of a woman urinating in the field?
Was it really needed to delve at length on the sexual inclinations and episodes in the characters' lives?
Or how the Farmers (Boers) would 'visit' the slave women?
The book started off in my estimation as a 4*. Throughout the novel there were some really well written prose and beautiful description of the land, I really enjoyed those parts. The author can obviously write well. I had high hopes.
Then after some really unnecessary crudeness and lewd behaviour and description, it dropped to 3*.
Unrealistic characterisation, slaves not able to read having some AMAZING vocabulary and thought patterns for instance. Repeated introduction of new POV characters even after the halfway mark in the book dropped it another *.
Then with the 'resolution' see the spoiler section, it really unraveled.
At some point it does not matter how picturesque you can describe a steaming pile of dung.
It remains crap.
'A major novel.' - The Observer
'A powerful novel.' - The Sunday Times
With such praise why only 1 *?
... I must have missed something...
This book could have been great, 4*'s even.
It touches on very human issues, in a dark period of South African history. It is based on actual events (although we do not know from the novel where fiction starts or stops and where history really begins).
There was a slave revolt in 1825, led by a real Galant. Nicolaas van der Merwe and two others were really slain in the revolt. This offers a rich background and setting for exploring this period.
This is the first book I have read by Brink. (If this was ANYTHING to go by, I will avoid his other works like some kind of pox). He clearly had a political axe to grind, it shows in his work.
Where did things go so horribly wrong in the book? Oh... let me consider the ways...
Was it really needed to subject the readers to an in depth description of a woman urinating in the field?
Was it really needed to delve at length on the sexual inclinations and episodes in the characters' lives?
Or how the Farmers (Boers) would 'visit' the slave women?
The book started off in my estimation as a 4*. Throughout the novel there were some really well written prose and beautiful description of the land, I really enjoyed those parts. The author can obviously write well. I had high hopes.
Then after some really unnecessary crudeness and lewd behaviour and description, it dropped to 3*.
Unrealistic characterisation, slaves not able to read having some AMAZING vocabulary and thought patterns for instance. Repeated introduction of new POV characters even after the halfway mark in the book dropped it another *.
Then with the 'resolution' see the spoiler section, it really unraveled.
At some point it does not matter how picturesque you can describe a steaming pile of dung.
It remains crap.
August 16, 2015
Mid 4. The structure of this novel, in analysing one incident from the perspective of various eyewitnesses, provides an insightful account of the origins of apartheid, the slavery system employed on early nineteenth century Afrikaaner homesteads. Set in 1825 and based on real events, Brink's novel relates the heightening tension which builds on this rural outpost as the childhood friendship between Nicholas van der Merwe and Galant disintegrates along racial lines as their adult roles of master and slave polarise. The subsequent slave revolt headed by Galsnt is interpreted by various eyewitnesses and protagonists - the 'chain of voices' of the title - and reveals the author's gifts as social analyst and storyteller.
December 31, 2012
What a tremendous work this is. Ostensibly a story explaining the actions of a group of slaves in South Africa in the early 19th century, this tale of oppression, blindness, hypocrisy, injustice, love and prejudice is a startling and moving key to the lives of all those involved in the drama.
Each character has his or her own voice, expressing emotion and action in terms that bring that person to life on the page. The book is divided into 4 parts without chapters but with each section presented through the words of one of the many individuals who make up the cast. Everyone from the lowliest slave to the most self-congratulatory owner is allowed their say. There is no bias here. The actions of each character are described through the eyes of many as well as through the words of the individual involved in those actions. This technique, whilst making for a lengthy work, ensures that a fully rounded picture of the reality is received by the reader.
I’ve never read a work of fiction in which the people are so real, so varied, so open to examination. We’re exposed to honourable men, devious people, complicated women, thieves, scoundrels, heroes, wicked hypocrites, murderers, bullies, mothers, wantons; in fact, the entire panoply of human life. We experience evil, intense goodness, anger, love, hate, lust, usage, deep and unacknowledged hypocrisy, prejudice, ignorance, sacrifice, and every other emotion that can be imagined.
The 516 pages of the edition I read are packed with incident, emotion, information; all presented in styles to suit the specific narrators, without ever making the reader feel that even the lowliest, uneducated speaker does other than express the truth as he or she is convinced is the reality. Nothing so simple as the ‘unreliable narrator’ here. Everyone has a secret, some flaws, a view that’s not always in line with actual events. But this concentration on reality has the effect of making all but the most despicable of the characters more accessible, easier to empathise with, rather than alienating the reader.
Much is made of the position of the Bible and Christian values as promoted by the Boer farmers to their pagan slaves. Regular readers will know that I’m a passionate agnostic (if that doesn’t seem too close to an oxymoron for you) and I’m aware that this must colour my reading of this aspect of the story. But it’s difficult to see how the author could have had anything in mind other than the debunking of the utter hypocrisy of these supposedly devout people. He has them spouting texts that encourage fellow-feeling whilst they beat their unfortunate slaves almost to death. The masters take the women as and when they wish and then express disgust and surprise at the relationships developing between slaves.
The position of women in this society is wound through the story as a comment on inequality, paralleling that of the slaves. But the situation of the masters, farmers, traders, is described in terms that make it easier to understand how and why they should be capable of blindness and inhumanity in a savage land badly governed by distant authority. There are echoes here of the early days of the USA, when pioneers used the Bible, very selectively of course, to justify their cruelty and self-imposed superiority over their women and slaves. That such attitudes persist in such quantity today simply illustrates the self-perpetuating nature of the type of brain-washing that closed communities impose on their offspring. The South African situation of this book is such an accurate reflection of that persisting in the USA that the astute reader is forced to conclude that it was deliberate on the part of the author.
I’d like to see this piece of powerful, truthful and instructive fiction made widely available in all lands where prejudice, ignorance and religious extremism hold sway over the population. Any reading of this story must demand a re-examination of the views held by bigots, evangelical missionaries and those who continue to believe that colour is a rightful basis for prejudice.
I could go on at length but I’d much rather you read the book and came to your own conclusions. I found myself absorbed and involved in the story throughout, never feeling apart from events but always an integral part of what the author conveys with some of the finest writing I’ve come across. I think it’s redundant to say I recommend this. But, sometimes, a statement of the bleeding obvious is a necessary emphasis.
Each character has his or her own voice, expressing emotion and action in terms that bring that person to life on the page. The book is divided into 4 parts without chapters but with each section presented through the words of one of the many individuals who make up the cast. Everyone from the lowliest slave to the most self-congratulatory owner is allowed their say. There is no bias here. The actions of each character are described through the eyes of many as well as through the words of the individual involved in those actions. This technique, whilst making for a lengthy work, ensures that a fully rounded picture of the reality is received by the reader.
I’ve never read a work of fiction in which the people are so real, so varied, so open to examination. We’re exposed to honourable men, devious people, complicated women, thieves, scoundrels, heroes, wicked hypocrites, murderers, bullies, mothers, wantons; in fact, the entire panoply of human life. We experience evil, intense goodness, anger, love, hate, lust, usage, deep and unacknowledged hypocrisy, prejudice, ignorance, sacrifice, and every other emotion that can be imagined.
The 516 pages of the edition I read are packed with incident, emotion, information; all presented in styles to suit the specific narrators, without ever making the reader feel that even the lowliest, uneducated speaker does other than express the truth as he or she is convinced is the reality. Nothing so simple as the ‘unreliable narrator’ here. Everyone has a secret, some flaws, a view that’s not always in line with actual events. But this concentration on reality has the effect of making all but the most despicable of the characters more accessible, easier to empathise with, rather than alienating the reader.
Much is made of the position of the Bible and Christian values as promoted by the Boer farmers to their pagan slaves. Regular readers will know that I’m a passionate agnostic (if that doesn’t seem too close to an oxymoron for you) and I’m aware that this must colour my reading of this aspect of the story. But it’s difficult to see how the author could have had anything in mind other than the debunking of the utter hypocrisy of these supposedly devout people. He has them spouting texts that encourage fellow-feeling whilst they beat their unfortunate slaves almost to death. The masters take the women as and when they wish and then express disgust and surprise at the relationships developing between slaves.
The position of women in this society is wound through the story as a comment on inequality, paralleling that of the slaves. But the situation of the masters, farmers, traders, is described in terms that make it easier to understand how and why they should be capable of blindness and inhumanity in a savage land badly governed by distant authority. There are echoes here of the early days of the USA, when pioneers used the Bible, very selectively of course, to justify their cruelty and self-imposed superiority over their women and slaves. That such attitudes persist in such quantity today simply illustrates the self-perpetuating nature of the type of brain-washing that closed communities impose on their offspring. The South African situation of this book is such an accurate reflection of that persisting in the USA that the astute reader is forced to conclude that it was deliberate on the part of the author.
I’d like to see this piece of powerful, truthful and instructive fiction made widely available in all lands where prejudice, ignorance and religious extremism hold sway over the population. Any reading of this story must demand a re-examination of the views held by bigots, evangelical missionaries and those who continue to believe that colour is a rightful basis for prejudice.
I could go on at length but I’d much rather you read the book and came to your own conclusions. I found myself absorbed and involved in the story throughout, never feeling apart from events but always an integral part of what the author conveys with some of the finest writing I’ve come across. I think it’s redundant to say I recommend this. But, sometimes, a statement of the bleeding obvious is a necessary emphasis.
February 15, 2014
Based on actual incident of an 1825 slave uprising in South Africa. As with the other books I've read by this author, this is not a light read, yet I found it a very interesting and, dare I say, enjoyable read. How can human rebellion and mistreatment and brutality be enjoyable? Maybe it was the way that Brink crafted the story. The opening is the court document of the charges against the slaves. The ending is the verdict (no, I'm not spoiling anything). In between is the events leading up to the actual uprising as told by each of the individuals (slave and free) who was there. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one individual and they dovetail on each other so that you get a sense of daily life events from multiple points of view. It's a format that works very well, in my opinion.
According to Goodreads, the Afrikaans version of this book is Houd-den-Bek which is the name of the farm where the events occurred. The English version translates that when it first appears in the story as Shut-your-trap. I struggled with that in terms of why the title is A Chain of Voices. Admittedly, I can't see a book called Shut Your Trap selling very well in the States so maybe that was part of it. A Chain of Voices makes sense in terms of the interlinking of the chapters being each voice in the story. But I wondered about the translation and if it was fair. Towards the end of the book, I felt like I got the resolution I was looking for. "We go on talking and talking, an endless chain of voices, all together yet all apart, all different yet all the same; and the separate links might lie but the chain is the truth. And the name of the chain is Houd-den-Bek."
According to Goodreads, the Afrikaans version of this book is Houd-den-Bek which is the name of the farm where the events occurred. The English version translates that when it first appears in the story as Shut-your-trap. I struggled with that in terms of why the title is A Chain of Voices. Admittedly, I can't see a book called Shut Your Trap selling very well in the States so maybe that was part of it. A Chain of Voices makes sense in terms of the interlinking of the chapters being each voice in the story. But I wondered about the translation and if it was fair. Towards the end of the book, I felt like I got the resolution I was looking for. "We go on talking and talking, an endless chain of voices, all together yet all apart, all different yet all the same; and the separate links might lie but the chain is the truth. And the name of the chain is Houd-den-Bek."
October 1, 2014
Bit of a curate's egg, this one. The idea and the structure is great, but the writing didn't always sustain it. Clearly the author was providing an implicit criticism of apartheid-era South Africa, which was a brave thing to do at the time, but the worthiness of the intention undermined the book a bit. It took me a long while to really get going with the book and it could easily have lost 100 or so pages. Still, I'm glad I read it.
October 10, 2014
Lots of realism in this book. A bit shocking n places but it does tell the story of early Dutch settlers in South Africa and the extremely tough life for both them and the blacks and coloured's of their time.
December 27, 2016
I could not finish this book. An intriguing premise: a look back at the lives of a number of Africans during the 1820s before some of the black characters killed some of the white characters. The story is told from different points of view, the various characters narrating different chapters. The book fell apart for me because several narrators did not sound realistic and their thoughts were implausible, given their circumstances. A shame, since some of the narrative voices and stories rang true.
January 31, 2010
Set in the early 1800's the the narrative is told by different characters thereby giving the reader the character's point of view. The story follows the lives of a settler and his family as they farm near Cape Town. The settler's sons and the slave's are friends as they are growing up, but as they grow to adulthood, they become master and slave. While this situation is accepted as normal for most of the slaves, not all share the same view....
April 5, 2017
André P Brink maak die leser weer eens daarvan bewus hoe 'n ongelooflike skat van woorde in Afrikaans ingespan kan word om 'n ongewone verhaal te vertel en dit dan met soveel empatie en eerlikheid bekend te stel aan 'n niksvermoedende leser. Brink is bekend vir sy ongewone onderwerpe wat telkens uit die geskiedenis geskep word om koue feite in boeiende stories te omskep.
'n Mens het tyd nodig om die boek te herkou.
'n Mens het tyd nodig om die boek te herkou.
May 22, 2017
This is a powerfully, interwoven story about slavery with a large cast of characters in South Africa. The story is told by multiple points of view, and I'm a sucker for narratives that show just how differently people can perceive and react to the same event. As well, I've read books about slavery before, but they had always been about slavery in America, not South Africa, so it was interesting to note the differences.
March 24, 2008
I loved the structure of this book. It's about an event that happened in the past but instead of one narrator the story is told by all those involved - they form a chain of voices. By listening to a range of subjective voices we get an objective view and are left to make up our own minds about what happened. It would be great if history books could be written like this.
May 27, 2014
Amazing - literally a chain of voices, many points of view during a harrowing period in South Africa. The bursting need for freedom and the relationship between white and black stemming from a childhood but constrained by the pressures of adulthood. So well written, felt I was there and inside the characters. Shall be reading more Brinks.
January 6, 2017
This was a required read in my Social Psychology course in university and still years later, is one I recommend! What is fact and what is perception? In reading through the characters views of themselves and others, the reader, too, finds themselves changing perspectives and feelings about the characters and situations!
December 28, 2007
One of his earliest books published in English. I found it hard going at first - far too many narrators, but it is worth the struggle.
Want to read
January 2, 2009Reid and Becky say it is awesome
March 16, 2012
Totally wonderful. As usual from brink.
March 5, 2014
complicated,compelling look at South Africa.
August 12, 2016
Anything by Andre Brink is worth reading, even if his books can be very depressing at times
February 10, 2017
A brilliant book.
Read
May 3, 2024Read for an assignment, so you can imagine my enthusiasm going into this book. Because my initial outlook might colour my bias, I won’t rate it.
Only two standout scenes made reading the novel worth it to me. They were: the breaking of the horse and the newspaper scenes.
It’s been a minute, but my general recollection of the book (apart from those two strikingly poignant moments) was a dull experience indeed. Also, the repeated graphic raping of women in this novel, while indicative of the horrific treatment of female slaves, was particularly stomach churning while simultaneously regaled with a bizarre apathy that only upset me further.
All in all, I shelve this book under the long list of classics I read with long teeth. You know, the books that are like medicine: ultimately good for you, but not something you’d swallow for the joy of it.
Only two standout scenes made reading the novel worth it to me. They were: the breaking of the horse and the newspaper scenes.
It’s been a minute, but my general recollection of the book (apart from those two strikingly poignant moments) was a dull experience indeed. Also, the repeated graphic raping of women in this novel, while indicative of the horrific treatment of female slaves, was particularly stomach churning while simultaneously regaled with a bizarre apathy that only upset me further.
All in all, I shelve this book under the long list of classics I read with long teeth. You know, the books that are like medicine: ultimately good for you, but not something you’d swallow for the joy of it.
Read
November 11, 2025Brutal. Yet another book about slavery (this time in 1800s South Africa) for my book club. Lyrically written by a male author, it is misogynistic at times....though was that just a reflection of the times he is writing about? As I get older, certain books that involve horrific acts done by people to other people or animals (slavery, the Holocaust, etc.) stay with me for longer than is good for my mental health. So I couldn't finish reading it.
March 21, 2021
This was a very hard read, Brink writes about slaves rising up, planning to take their freedom, by force and by murder. He touches on hard truths of all countries where slavery was a reality, even though this novel plays of in Southern Africa.
At some point it got to be serious work to keep up with the narrative from so many points of view.
At some point it got to be serious work to keep up with the narrative from so many points of view.
June 9, 2020
A CHAIN OF VOICES stands as a prophetic lesson—when hopes of freedom from slavery are dashed, and when promises of equal treatment are broken, an escalating spiral of bitterness, resentment, and finally, explosive violence is inevitable.
July 9, 2025
"Let me tell you one thing, Ontong: if a baas tries to keep me under the yoke - fine, that's his job, that's what he's baas for. But if I let him put that yoke on me, that's unforgivable. Then it's I who turn myself into an ox."
Read
February 7, 20221001 böcker
Sid 42, mening 1:
”Det är alla mina vandringar genom Bokkeveld man kan se här, sommar och vinter och torka och frost.”
Sid 42, mening 1:
”Det är alla mina vandringar genom Bokkeveld man kan se här, sommar och vinter och torka och frost.”
April 11, 2022
J'avoue ne pas avoir accroché. J'ai abandonné après 150 pages.
April 26, 2023
Best book i've ever read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews