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Mine Boy
Xuma faces the complexities of urban life in Johannesburg.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
79 people are currently reading
1834 people want to read
About the author
Peter Abrahams
17 books57 followersPeter Abrahams was a South African-born Jamaican novelist, journalist and political commentator.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
October 6, 2017
The importance of this early novel from any black or coloured African in the pantheon of African literature can not be over emphasized. Pa Abrahams who sadly died this year after glimpsing becoming a Centenarian was a very good perceptive writer with sensitivity. Despite growing up in the hell of a racist enclave – where blacks were considered very inferior - he always managed to write from the “human” point of view with restraint and civility and great intelligence. This is obvious in this work as we zero in on Xuma and his metamorphosis into a man and thinker over the years. From a very simple, naïve country bumpkin he attains awareness late on in a way that would strike clanging chords among all readers…as it did over the decades, with the world realizing how “apartheid’ was a horrific ,unbearable thing in South Africa. And the work is a fine read too, right from the beginning as Xuma arrives at Malay camp, gets to mix with a medley of people…he gets a job in the Mines and is struck with the way the life of whites – with their many comforts and appurtenants – contrasts sordidly with the life of blacks. Why should whites be free and drink liberally whilst blacks were constrained to carry passes in the land of their birth? And also arrested for selling and drinking “local drink”? Leah, the powerful ‘Skokiaan queen’ is a splendid woman and somewhat takes the naïve Xuma under her wing. His initial naivety is charming, and his great strength very impressive too. Life would have been fairly okay if not for all the constrictive structures of racism in society. The descriptions are beguiling and unforgettable here, including the colourful weekends in the townships! Hark at the dancing sequences, coquetry, flirting and drinking. Xuma himself is not celibate as the story unfolds, and he is very much entranced and “in love” with Eliza who is presented as beautiful; but conflicted and eccentric as she “craves for the fine things of the whites” which she can never have. It is a haunting, somber aspect and we are happy for Xuma as things initially go well between him and Eliza - till she disappears! Eliza has gone…Yet the other woman, Maisy, is always there for Xuma and understands him and handles her own frustration with extraordinary selflessness and maturity. Xuma begins to think about things, and the irony is that it is a white man, Paddy, who conscientizes him and lets him fully realize that one should not believe in racial superiority or otherwise, and the “good things of life” should be for everybody, not only whites. That all men should be free and equal. If only it were so…the whole idea grips Xuma and he begins to think along these lines…man as man, never mind colour or race…goodness and fairness and freedom!. It is the making of Xuma, as a series of undesirable and tragic events unfold in the last part of the work. Xuma leads a rebellion in the mines at the end and is none the worse for it,; he is ready to settle down with Maisy at last (once he has left jail). This is grim and halcyon at the same time. A wonderful work indeed.
May 23, 2015
I first read this book as a child and I re-read it last year. The book shows the way black South Africans lived in the predominantly black parts of the cities in the 1940s.
Under the oppressive cloud of apartheid, the rich urban culture of black people is explored in the book. Particularly the clash between the rural communism, represented by Xuma (the protagonist), and the urban individualism that black people had to adopt to survive the discrimination. Through Eliza, the love interest of Xuma, we see the conflict that existed in the black community - the desire for the higher living standards of white South Africans and the resentment for the way of life of the people who had stolen from and oppressed them for so long.
A major part of the book focuses on the exploitative practices of the mining industry, where the greed for profit drives the management of the mine to disregard all safety precautions.
This is certainly a must read for anyone with interest in apartheid and South Africa. Reading it, you feel the claustrophobia of the oppressive regime on black people and you feel terrible knowing that this regime was nowhere near ending at the time the novel was set.
Under the oppressive cloud of apartheid, the rich urban culture of black people is explored in the book. Particularly the clash between the rural communism, represented by Xuma (the protagonist), and the urban individualism that black people had to adopt to survive the discrimination. Through Eliza, the love interest of Xuma, we see the conflict that existed in the black community - the desire for the higher living standards of white South Africans and the resentment for the way of life of the people who had stolen from and oppressed them for so long.
A major part of the book focuses on the exploitative practices of the mining industry, where the greed for profit drives the management of the mine to disregard all safety precautions.
This is certainly a must read for anyone with interest in apartheid and South Africa. Reading it, you feel the claustrophobia of the oppressive regime on black people and you feel terrible knowing that this regime was nowhere near ending at the time the novel was set.
April 1, 2012
Mine Boy was published in 1946 and is a seminal work of African fiction. While apartheid didn’t become official law of the land until 1948, Abrahams describes the brutalizing social and economic separatism that was already in effect. It chills as you read to know that the injustice will only get worse and endure for another half century. Written by a twenty-seven year old black South African who later emigrated to Jamaica, Mine Boy tells the story of a young man’s coming of age in Malay Camp, a Johannesburg slum.
Xuma left his rural home to find a way to make a living in the city. He is strong, naïve, and someone with a sense of self that shows through his rags and country ways. Xuma is taken under the wing of Leah, an enterprising businesswoman who runs a black club, a South African speakeasy of sorts—blacks are not allowed to sell alcohol, only whites. She has paid off local policemen to tip her off when raids are planned so she doesn’t open that day and buries her beer in drums in the dirt yard. Xuma is troubled that she doesn’t warn others but Leah, more worldly wise, knows that would be dangerous to her. Fairness? Let them bribe their own policemen. Xuma and Leah become friends despite their differences and her hangers-on and tenants become his extended family. He falls in love with one woman (Eliza) and another (Maisy) falls in love with him. He goes to work in the gold mines, where his strength and leadership makes him the crew leader for an Irish boss. Social and personal crises develop and Abrahams manages their emergence with skill and a prose that is as unadorned as Solzhenitsyn’s in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich or Hemingway in his earliest stories.
On a very human and quite personal scale the novel deals with issues of justice and identity. Are the things that Eliza wants from life “white” things? Can Xuma and his boss be friends without betraying their people? Is love so mysterious that it bewitches us or can we resist temptation and love those who love us and make us happy? Or to boil them all down to one question: can things be different than they are? Mine Boy, in an act of quixotic daring that ultimately proved true, suggests the answer is yes.
Xuma left his rural home to find a way to make a living in the city. He is strong, naïve, and someone with a sense of self that shows through his rags and country ways. Xuma is taken under the wing of Leah, an enterprising businesswoman who runs a black club, a South African speakeasy of sorts—blacks are not allowed to sell alcohol, only whites. She has paid off local policemen to tip her off when raids are planned so she doesn’t open that day and buries her beer in drums in the dirt yard. Xuma is troubled that she doesn’t warn others but Leah, more worldly wise, knows that would be dangerous to her. Fairness? Let them bribe their own policemen. Xuma and Leah become friends despite their differences and her hangers-on and tenants become his extended family. He falls in love with one woman (Eliza) and another (Maisy) falls in love with him. He goes to work in the gold mines, where his strength and leadership makes him the crew leader for an Irish boss. Social and personal crises develop and Abrahams manages their emergence with skill and a prose that is as unadorned as Solzhenitsyn’s in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich or Hemingway in his earliest stories.
On a very human and quite personal scale the novel deals with issues of justice and identity. Are the things that Eliza wants from life “white” things? Can Xuma and his boss be friends without betraying their people? Is love so mysterious that it bewitches us or can we resist temptation and love those who love us and make us happy? Or to boil them all down to one question: can things be different than they are? Mine Boy, in an act of quixotic daring that ultimately proved true, suggests the answer is yes.
September 10, 2015
A charming, early novel by Peter Abrahams, "conscientizing" the world about (erstwhile) discrimination in South Africa, and its ravages on society, blacks in particular. The protagonist, Xuma, grows in stature as this work unfolds. The series of unfortunate events (tragedies) that besieges him and those he loves (in Malay Camp) is devastating. Why couldn't human beings just be that - human, kindly, regardless of colour? A haunting, powerful work.
February 17, 2022
First published in 1946, Peter Abraham`s Mine Boy both exposes and explore Black South Africans life under a white regime which He chose to express through Xuma, a young naive country boy, who moves to Johannesburg seeking a job, yet it becomes the place where he is awaken by the harsh reality that city life introduces.
Except for the last two perfectly-put chapters, the rest of the novel is plain... Chinua Achebe`s Things Fall Apart plain.
Except for the last two perfectly-put chapters, the rest of the novel is plain... Chinua Achebe`s Things Fall Apart plain.
February 7, 2011
Mine Boy is an unsung gem, amazing and much more potent than Alan Paton's
Cry the Beloved Country
. In fact, the two do not necessarily warrant comparison except for the fact that of the two, Paton's book is one of the few classic South African novels that one might encounter in U.S. high schools and undergrad. Some readers have complained of the simplicity of Abraham's language or "cardboard" characters. For me, it's that very simplicity that makes the story such a dramatic tale; it's language that anyone can understand. It's primitive, if you will, or embryonic.
As for the characters being underdeveloped, again, I think this adds to the effectiveness of this particular story. Caste systems, apartheid, and other types of sanctioned discrimination force people to come across as stereotypes. When we view our neighbors as "other," we're not seeing them as fully human. This is effectively dramatized in Mine Boy. It put me in a time and place that I would not have experienced otherwise, despite the universality of feeling that comes with the hardships of life. This is the knife's edge of thinking only in terms of black and white.
As for the characters being underdeveloped, again, I think this adds to the effectiveness of this particular story. Caste systems, apartheid, and other types of sanctioned discrimination force people to come across as stereotypes. When we view our neighbors as "other," we're not seeing them as fully human. This is effectively dramatized in Mine Boy. It put me in a time and place that I would not have experienced otherwise, despite the universality of feeling that comes with the hardships of life. This is the knife's edge of thinking only in terms of black and white.
October 21, 2015
عن تجربة زوما القادم من الشمال في المدينة ، ويبدو انه اول احتكاك له بالناس البيض ، يعمل في المنجم رئيساً للعمال وقد اكتسب حب عماله واحترام رئيسه الأبيض ، وخلال هذه التجربة يبدأ زوما بالتحول من رجل
أسود الى انسان حر..
الرواية خفيفة وممتعة وكثيرة التفاصيل .
أسود الى انسان حر..
الرواية خفيفة وممتعة وكثيرة التفاصيل .
March 8, 2025
I yearn for the mines. I dream of the rise and fall of pick axes. I am mine boy.
March 3, 2025
Reminded me of the mini golf episode of Gravity Falls
November 30, 2014
This was the second of four books assigned for my African Lit class, and honestly, it wasn't at all what I'd expected. As a white American, the stories I've absorbed about apartheid focused on injustice and racialized oppression, and don't get me wrong: those are major factors in this book. However, Mine Boy wasn't just about suffering; it was, in the main, about overcoming and the endurance of humanity and community. The bulk of the story takes place within the black township of Vrededorp and focuses on the life within it - a life riddled with hardship, but also full of heart.
That duality is, I think, one of the most important messages of the book: that in the face of oppression, people find ways to survive. They're often moral compromises, like Leah's decision to bargain with the police for herself but warn no one else, but they allow for survival as much as possible. People don't stop living when they're oppressed - and just because someone laughs doesn't mean their daily life isn't under constant threat.
I don't want to make it sound like this book downplays apartheid, because it doesn't; it focuses mostly on quieter dramas (especially internalized racism, through the character of Eliza), but it does also show some of the more explosive aspects of racism, especially the casual disregard for black lives in the mines. But - the quieter dramas are the ones that are harder to see, especially from a position of privilege, so they stand out to me as the most important parts of this book, because they demand that others sit up and take notice.
That duality is, I think, one of the most important messages of the book: that in the face of oppression, people find ways to survive. They're often moral compromises, like Leah's decision to bargain with the police for herself but warn no one else, but they allow for survival as much as possible. People don't stop living when they're oppressed - and just because someone laughs doesn't mean their daily life isn't under constant threat.
I don't want to make it sound like this book downplays apartheid, because it doesn't; it focuses mostly on quieter dramas (especially internalized racism, through the character of Eliza), but it does also show some of the more explosive aspects of racism, especially the casual disregard for black lives in the mines. But - the quieter dramas are the ones that are harder to see, especially from a position of privilege, so they stand out to me as the most important parts of this book, because they demand that others sit up and take notice.
June 2, 2018
This was an interesting perspective - harrowing, and uplifting at turns - on life in pre Apartheid South Africa, which the author himself lived through. Apartheid is already shaping up, but is yet to morph into a formalised system - a Black man can still walk in downtown Johannesburg at night, but must make way for White passers-by. Opportunities are limited for non-White South Africans, but they carve out rich, full lives for themselves in the shanty towns that predate the townships that were a product of formal apartheid. We can see the beginnings of the fight for freedom, and the place of White progressives in it, even then. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in how South Africa came to be.
December 12, 2016
Three stars for historical importance, but I found this artistically flat and philosophically stale. Artistically: lots of online reviewers compare Abrahams to Hemingway, but that is a superficial comparison. Abrahams does use a very straightforward style, but for very different purposes and to different ends than Hemingway. Philosophy: "the future will be color-blind!" conclusion is sudden, unsupported, and unconvincing. And given that in this century, the only people who still say things like "I don't see color" are racist douchebags, Abrahams' well-meaning ending really does not age well at all.
February 12, 2011
I'd give this one 4.5 stars if I could. It's an accessible narrative of a working-class south african man discovering his needs and his place in society (namely that his place in society should not be dictated by his race). While similar in content to "The Life and Times of Michael K" or "Master Harold and the Boys," it tells the story sans the obnoxious whining and preaching (especially of the former).
June 4, 2025
Peter Abrahams' first novel, "Mine Boy," starts out as a typical country vs. city narrative, where a man moves from his village into Johannesburg and must adjust to a new way of life. However, Abrahams' expands on this theme by introducing several colorful and compelling characters who all work in their own ways to lead Xuma, the book's main character, towards an awakening of his political consciousness.
August 15, 2017
Not bad! Simple prose, solid commentary. The "lesson" may feel a little rushed at the end, but I think this is by design. I would certainly recommend this book for a Black Lit class or a unit dealing with apartheid. It only took me about 4 hours to read, and yet it generates the same sort of debates as something like a WEB Du Bois or Frantz Fanon piece would.
September 19, 2014
Very good piece of literature of South Africa and describing apartheid. (Junior year world history)
February 22, 2022
so sad bro
April 25, 2022
ซูม่า ชายผิวดำผู้ละทิ้งผืนนาจากทางเหนือของแอฟริกาใต้ มุ่งหน้าสู่เมืองโจฮันเนสเบิร์ก เพื่อหางานในเหมือง ณ ที่นั่น ในเมืองโจฮันเนสเบิร์กในที่ที่เรียกว่า "สลัมมาเลย์แคมป์" สถานที่รวมตัวของชุมชนผิวดำ ซูม่าได้รู้จัก เลียห์ หญิงผิวดำขายเหล้าเถื่อน 'ราชินีแห่งสโกวาเกียน' ผู้เป็นเหมือนมารดาที่นำทางให้เขารู้จักชีวิตในเมืองและเข้าทำงานในเหมืองทองคำ ซูม่าได้เผชิญชีวิตทั้งสุข-เศร้า สมหวัง-ผิดหวัง ได้พอเจอความรักและถูกพรากจาก ทั้งมวลล้วนเป็นชีวิตแบบเดียวกับที่คนผิวสีอีกเป็นหมื่นเคยพบเจอ
'คนเหมือง' คือหนังสือที่เขียนโดยนักเขียยนชาวแอฟริกาใต้ ที่ใช้ภาษาอย่างเรียบง่ายการดำเนินเรื่องเป็นเส้นตรง ในหนังสือแม้เราอาจจะได้ยินน้ำเสียงวิเคาาะห์วิจารณ์บ้าง แต่ตัวผู้เขียนเองก็ไม่ได้ชี้นำอารมณ์ของผู้อ่านแต่อย่างใด ผู้เขียนเพียงเล่าอารมณ์ความรู้สึก และสิ่งที่ตัวละครประสพพบเจออย่างตรงไปตรงมา แต่อย่างไรก็ตามในความราบเรียบเป็นเส้นตรง เรายังได้พบประกายแห่งความแข็งขืน ความไม่พอใจและความรู้สึกถึงสิ่งที่ดีกว่า เหมือนเช่นสองบทสุดท้าย "ทำไมกัน เลือดของคนดำไม่ได้ไหลเป็นสีแดงเหมือนคนขาวหรือ..." "เราควรเป็นคน ก่อนเป็นคนผิวดำ หรือขาว"
'คนเหมือง' คือหนังสือที่เขียนโดยนักเขียยนชาวแอฟริกาใต้ ที่ใช้ภาษาอย่างเรียบง่ายการดำเนินเรื่องเป็นเส้นตรง ในหนังสือแม้เราอาจจะได้ยินน้ำเสียงวิเคาาะห์วิจารณ์บ้าง แต่ตัวผู้เขียนเองก็ไม่ได้ชี้นำอารมณ์ของผู้อ่านแต่อย่างใด ผู้เขียนเพียงเล่าอารมณ์ความรู้สึก และสิ่งที่ตัวละครประสพพบเจออย่างตรงไปตรงมา แต่อย่างไรก็ตามในความราบเรียบเป็นเส้นตรง เรายังได้พบประกายแห่งความแข็งขืน ความไม่พอใจและความรู้สึกถึงสิ่งที่ดีกว่า เหมือนเช่นสองบทสุดท้าย "ทำไมกัน เลือดของคนดำไม่ได้ไหลเป็นสีแดงเหมือนคนขาวหรือ..." "เราควรเป็นคน ก่อนเป็นคนผิวดำ หรือขาว"
October 19, 2024
Must read.
April 21, 2022
Sposób pisania był dla mnie czasem really confusing ale to chyba jedna z lepszych rzeczy, jaką czytałam na tych studiach.
December 28, 2018
Brilliant, with truths stated simply and poignantly throughout, while drawing characters that crawl immediately into one’s heart. An easy, very worthwhile read.
September 28, 2011
Written very much in the Hemingway-esque plain style - dialog predominates, knitted together with short, almost disjoint sentences; plus the all-purpose understated adjective "good" ("it was...", "she was..."). A rural black South African comes down to Johannesburg in the mid 1940s to work in the mines and we are treated to a picture of township life, with details of its social class structure and the quotable phrase "Skokiaan Queens" to describe female operators of shebeens (itself a wonderful word). ["Quotable" in this context means, "possible rock band name"].
The grimness of the overall situation and particularly the treatment of all blacks by the police and the workers by the white bosses, ends in an ephemeral glimmer of hope as one of the Irish foremen stands with the workers in a labor dispute. We know retroactively this is futile as a few years after the book's 1946 publication, the actual Apartheid regime (in which things got worse) clamped down for the next few decades.
Also noteworthy is that Abrahams is still alive at age 92!
The grimness of the overall situation and particularly the treatment of all blacks by the police and the workers by the white bosses, ends in an ephemeral glimmer of hope as one of the Irish foremen stands with the workers in a labor dispute. We know retroactively this is futile as a few years after the book's 1946 publication, the actual Apartheid regime (in which things got worse) clamped down for the next few decades.
Also noteworthy is that Abrahams is still alive at age 92!
Read
April 20, 2012This book i read it on 2007 when i was doing matric at Tshivhase high School, On that time i was not having a picture of how joburg it was during apartheid but this book Mine Boy it makes me to have pictures about how life it was on that.Now i hv 5 years when i passed matric i dont know were i could find this book again. I realy loves this book more than my girl friend wish if i can get it again.
Thanks
Peter Abrahams
Thanks
Peter Abrahams
February 29, 2016
Probably the first book I read seriously. Peter Abrahams gave me an insight into a culture hitherto unknown. I was spell bound. I admired the characters even where I did not love them and through their eyes I experienced a myriad of emotions. It began my passion for books which addressed racial issues and historical acts that heavily impacted on society and cultural norms. Looking forward to reading this book again.
January 5, 2015
Although the book is written in short sentences it somehow lacks on readability. But it is just maybe it was my first book from an African writer and I just have to get accustomed to the style. The story itself was good and the last few chapters even very good, when Xuma started to think about a world without colors and behave like a man.
August 14, 2015
Back in Lit class, this was one of the books we covered indepth on the syllabus. Though it has been a number of years since last I read it, the plot and twists are fresh in my mind. The decadence in apartheid South Africa is so well depicted in Mine Boy, I swear I could rip it out the page and sniff it. Among the stars of African Literature, Peter Abraham and Mine Boy shine bright
January 29, 2016
We had this book as a set piece during high school and can still recall Xuma from the north almost 20 years later. The characters have a way of being present to date.. Leah, srong in body and character..Eliza fragile, beautiful and lost....Maisy, poor Maisy..Dladla, Daddy, Johannes....... Beautiful book and worth reading.
April 11, 2019
This was an interesting read, as I journeyed into the apartheid era in South Africa through the eyes of a boy that moves from the village to the city to experience a better living; instead faces racial discrimination in his daily experiences with his lover, friends and the lady who accommodates him on his first day.
August 9, 2025
This was good all the way through but the last couple of chapters really blew me away and made me understand why it's considered so highly. Abrahams is so perceptive in his portrayal of race relations that the book both feels ahead of its time and like it understands things that are often lost in the contemporary discourse.
July 21, 2007
Strangely I had never heard of this book until a Kenyan friend recommended it last year. I don't know how Peter Abrahams does it (and I'm not an authority to say), but I think he really "gets" a black South African mine worker.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews