Strange Days Indeed: Tales from the Old and the Nearly New South Africa

by Shaun Johnson, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert (Foreword)

This is just a book of journalism, made interesting - hopefully - by the extraordinary period, people and places it chronicles.

Genres: History

367 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Shaun Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally bought this book because the author has the same name as me. Outside of practicing Zulu on DuoLingo, I had little to no knowledge on South Africa.

I enjoyed the book as a learning experience. This is not a reference book though so the author will not stop to define the errant non-English word, term, or politician. There is a simplified glossary but no foot notes. If you are like me, going in with no context, you may feel lost.

This is not a negative in my opinion, because I believe that anything that inspires you to seek information out on your own is still educational. I found myself searching for info on Botha, de Klerk, Stompie Seipei, the Boer war, etcetera. It led to poring over many articles and watching YouTube videos on such subjects. While learning these things by exposure and research elsewhere, I became grateful for the book itself for the inspiration to do so.

In all fairness, this book never claimed to be an educational account. It is a collection of articles by the author across the late, late 80s and early 90s. Johnson’s voice is easy to follow, appropriately dramatic at times with the occasional dose of humor, sometimes dry and sometimes restrained. Appropriately so. There are some heartbreaking matters here in the historical and human context.

You will learn and be inspired to learn elsewhere some things you will be glad to have discovered, and some things you’ll never wish you knew.

[Ray Hartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

First class writing by a journalist close to the transition.