Au plus noir de la nuit

by André Brink

Banned for many years in the author's native South Africa, Looking On Darkness tells the story of black actor Joseph Malan as he awaits execution for the murder of his white lover.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, South Africa, Novels, Book Club, African Literature, Contemporary

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

André 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.

Reviews

[Tanja Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was included in the literature program in highschool. I found it a fascinating read, with a wealth of allusions to other works. I annoyed my class mates by knowing the literature references in this book too well, I was well-read already by that age. Despite this, I don't think I really understood where this book came from them. I should read it again.

[Minnie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was prescribed reading for us in my third year at varsity but because of the highly critical nature of the book on the Apartheid government as well as it's fairly explicit sexual scenes (across the colour line as well, a mortal sin then), it was banned. So we could only read it in a little glass enclave in the library with the highly suspicious librarian peering over your shoulder. I remember being very upset by parts of the book and the daring sexual exploits were enough to turn any young Afrikaans "meisie's" mind into a fertile ground for terrorist activity! When we attended lectures on this book we were all very focussed because it was the last in the series of his books that we were dealing with. So while the lecturer droned on, most of us were scribbling furiously. Suddenly he stopped and said in a shocked voice, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm dealing with the most intimate part of humanity's life and none of you even has the grace to blush!" We all looked up, pens poised with expressions of total confusion as if to say "get over your embarrassment and get on with the lecture, we have an exam to write! "
Somehow I feel that Brink never quite got over his obsession with sex and his writing has suffered because of this.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book - powerful, moving, intelligent, beautifully written. About 40 years since it was written, and with the apartheid regime gone, it stills hits you in the guts.

[Suketus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyvin, hyvin raskas kirja lukea, mutta vaikuttava, ahdistava ja suututtava. Apartheidin ja rakenteellisen rasismin mielettömyys, historian taakka ja yhteiskunnan kieroutuneisuus iskevät päälle valtavalla voimalla. Luen ehdottomasti vielä lisää Brinkiä.

[Tiah]

I adore Brink. But do confess I liked this book the least of the ones I've read thus far.

It is interesting to see what time does to a piece of "contemporary literature." The ability to shock, as he himself illustrates in this very book, lessens unless the horrors have increased. I picked this book up because it still has the warning pasted in the inside that no persons under 18 can check it out. Now, with the TRC committee and all the stories pouring out since - the book, while still horrifying, no longer shocks. You sigh, "That's how it was."

A brave book of the past that still challenges.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this very difficult to read and read it very slowly in small chunks. It was extremely grim. Not only does it describe the terrible things that happened in South Africa, but it also shows how a wicked society affects the development of the main protagonist. The intensity and inevitability are hard to take. It would be worth re-reading.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well done, taught me details of history that I only have fuzzy knowledge of, but it was a heavy slog to get through and I had force myself to keep picking it up.

[ML Downie · Rating 4 out of 5]

'If this is art then a brothel is Sunday school.' JD Vorster, Moderator of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church

Harrowing love story

[Tarmo Syvapuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elämää Etelä-Afrikassa, apartheidia, mustat ja valkoiset, köyhyys ja rikkaus, orjuus ja vapaus. Hienoa, todenmukaista kerrontaa eteläisestä Afrikasta. Vaikuttava romaani.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

He’s a fine, fine writer. I also really enjoyed Rumours of Rain. Looking on Darkness is harrowing, hard to ignore, and the impression it’s left on me will linger on.

[Kirjavaras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luin tätä tasan kuukauden, mutta hidasta edistymistä ei voi selittää kirjan huonoudella tai tylsyydellä. Katson pimeään on vaikuttava kertomus apartheidin aikaisesta Etelä-Afrikasta, mahdottomasta rakkaudesta ja intohimosta teatteriin. En yhtään ihmettele, miksi Brink on ollut kolmesti ehdolla Nobelin kirjallisuuspalkinnon saajaksi - enkä myöskään sitä, että Katson pimeään kiellettiin Etelä-Afrikassa vuonna 1973.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the biggest Brink Fan on the planet. He is my favourite author so I am biased with all of his work. Don't expect a balanced review from me.As with all Brinks work the backdrop is apartheid South Africa and the stuggles of white and black alike.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic. Was banned in South Africa, it is the story of a black actor who killed his white lover and is now awaiting trial. The story has a political viewpoint, a tragic tale.

[Derek Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is in fact Looking ON Darkness. I've nothing particular to add as I can't quite remember which one this is!

[Amyem]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7...

[Randomerde · Rating 5 out of 5]

bleak sun presses down
on all afro mien kith
& kin ; a small cell

[Jessica Lethin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful if a bit on the long side, towards the end the story got a bit repetitive.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half was excellent indeed, but the second lagged. Set in South Africa under apartheid, we start out with a black man, Joseph, in jail convicted of murdering his white girlfriend. Joseph tells his story melding his family history with his life story and parts of his murder trial. Over the course of the novel his story catches up with the present, in his jail cell. As mentioned, the last half was less good. The dialog was a bit stilted (a common theme with me of late), and the concept of revolution, or at least resistance and protest, through theatre of the kind described didn't really ring true. Why wouldn't they just leave was also a constant refrain. The love Jessica had for Joseph also came across as questionable... why? The ending was a surprise, which is good.
The monstrous story of life under apartheid, even though this is I think my 4th Brink novel and the 2nd set in that era, is one of the most powerful elements, it's a shame the dialog and the theatre part let it down.

[Loene · Rating 2 out of 5]

It really dragged. For my taste, there was too much reference to plays, scenes within plays... OK, so I may have read the Shakespeare plays, and some of the others, but the detail and emotional connection on the part of the protagonist with these,left me bored. Not so with the descriptions of coloured South Africa, and the worsening treatement of 'Coloureds' and 'Blacks' as time went on: gripping and familiar.

[Wayne Jordaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I read this book, during the late '70s as a teenager, I was motivated by the verboten subject of sex. About 5 decades later and after my first reread, I am able to acknowledge a great book, and the bravery of the author to expose the evil that was Apartheid, and the continued tribalism and racism that still plague modern society.

[Radhika · Rating 4 out of 5]

moving.

[Trevor McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sure other have said it better, but I'm going to use a quote from one of my favorite bands when they introduce the song Hollis Brown: it starts sad and gets worse from there.

[Jacqui · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gah. Breast obsessed and self important but the worst thing about it is it is a white man writing about apartheid from a black man’s perspective. I know in its time it was possibly important for someone to get the stories out there but if you want to read about apartheid, I wouldn’t do it here.

[Dan O'Meara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Afrikaans original is much better.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastating epic of apartheid S Africa, rife with raw lyrical beauty and love and loss.