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Orgie
106 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
39 people want to read
About the author
André Brink
116 books261 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 20, 2016
I borrowed the library's (autographed) copy, but definitely want to read it again sometime. I award five stars only to "life-changing" books. Orgie is a rather strange book: it is structured as a dialogue (of thoughts) between him and her; set simultaneously in the present, the past, and the eternal, and often modernistically switching between them mid-sentence; rich with allusions to literature and mythology and full of symbolism and metaphor.
What this changing between narrators allows, is that you get a really in-depth look into the internal dialogue of each of the two characters. They see and remember the same things from different perspective, and each also has his own memories and experiences to contend with. In one of my favourite parts, he thinks, "Jy sit so stil en kyk na my asof jy alles raai wat in my is..." and immediately afterwards follows her thought, "... en agter jou geslote oë al jou onbereikbare verhale." Each wants, desperately, to be happy, and neither knows how to get what they want. And you're left wondering whether they could be happy if only... or not?
Perhaps my favourite aspect of the book is the parallels with his and Ingrid Jonker's life (such as the references to his marriage, her grandmother and mother, the sea and seaweed in particular, as well as more obviously the book's dedication to her).
The characters' struggle with defining their relationship reflects Brink's own struggle with similar themes in real life. And the courage with which he explores this in writing - including the frightful resolution - is amazing. The book's title really comes into its own at the very end, in the last scene. Throughout the whole there is the drunken party, but it is only in the final act that the abandonment to lust suddenly and tragically crystallises.
What this changing between narrators allows, is that you get a really in-depth look into the internal dialogue of each of the two characters. They see and remember the same things from different perspective, and each also has his own memories and experiences to contend with. In one of my favourite parts, he thinks, "Jy sit so stil en kyk na my asof jy alles raai wat in my is..." and immediately afterwards follows her thought, "... en agter jou geslote oë al jou onbereikbare verhale." Each wants, desperately, to be happy, and neither knows how to get what they want. And you're left wondering whether they could be happy if only... or not?
Perhaps my favourite aspect of the book is the parallels with his and Ingrid Jonker's life (such as the references to his marriage, her grandmother and mother, the sea and seaweed in particular, as well as more obviously the book's dedication to her).
The characters' struggle with defining their relationship reflects Brink's own struggle with similar themes in real life. And the courage with which he explores this in writing - including the frightful resolution - is amazing. The book's title really comes into its own at the very end, in the last scene. Throughout the whole there is the drunken party, but it is only in the final act that the abandonment to lust suddenly and tragically crystallises.
January 13, 2009
This is a book that Brink wrote while things were still going well between himself and Ingrid Jonker. It's meant to be about her, but you'll find that the dialogue and story bring her to the reader as an enigma. The lay-out is very interesting: the text is set vertically, so that you have to hold the book the other way around to read it.
February 6, 2011
'n Lekker versamelstuk, maar literêr nogal twyfelagtig. Wel 'n moet hê.
August 20, 2020
Die beste orgie ooit - baie ordentlik en passievol mooi geskryf deur Andre P Brink. Hy het die boek geskryf terwyl dinge tussen hom en die fantastiese digteres Ingrid Jonker nog goed gegaan het.
Anders as meeste boeke is die teks vertikaal geskryf en dus moes jy die boek vanuit ‘n ander hoek lees. Dit is in ‘n kwasi-digvorm en dialoog geskryf.
Hierdie is my eulogie aan Andre P Brink aangesien sy boek Orgie een van my kosbaarste besittings is wat ek vir niemand sal leen nie. Nooit nie. Dis te skaars en kosbaar.
Hier is ‘n uittreksel uit Orgie:
“Die uiltjie het laasnag geskree
in die vyeboom naby die heining:
jy wou nie meer alleen wees nie
maar jy durf jou nie meer gee
want die uil het geskree in die bome
en die Tuin word leeg van ons-
dis die kleindood in die donker
dis die grootdood in die nag
en jy is nie van die donker nie
jy is vir die dag”
ook in die boek Orgie het Andre P Brink geskryf:”die wurm roer in die kokon en wag op ‘n wedergeboorte met vlerke”
vlieg hoog, Andre, jy word gemis….
Anders as meeste boeke is die teks vertikaal geskryf en dus moes jy die boek vanuit ‘n ander hoek lees. Dit is in ‘n kwasi-digvorm en dialoog geskryf.
Hierdie is my eulogie aan Andre P Brink aangesien sy boek Orgie een van my kosbaarste besittings is wat ek vir niemand sal leen nie. Nooit nie. Dis te skaars en kosbaar.
Hier is ‘n uittreksel uit Orgie:
“Die uiltjie het laasnag geskree
in die vyeboom naby die heining:
jy wou nie meer alleen wees nie
maar jy durf jou nie meer gee
want die uil het geskree in die bome
en die Tuin word leeg van ons-
dis die kleindood in die donker
dis die grootdood in die nag
en jy is nie van die donker nie
jy is vir die dag”
ook in die boek Orgie het Andre P Brink geskryf:”die wurm roer in die kokon en wag op ‘n wedergeboorte met vlerke”
vlieg hoog, Andre, jy word gemis….
May 30, 2019
Die besope gebrabbel van 'n verbode liefde.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews