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A Tokoloshe seems to be the (South) African version of what we in the north would call a troll. Not the internet troll of the 21st century, but the original troublemaker from legends and fairy tales. In Salomon's novel »Tokoloshe Song«, tokoloshe’s do really exist, but of course all the legends lead to prejudice and fear which in their turn lead to public discrimination and even violence against the really quite loveable little creatures.
Fortunateley there are heroes like Richard or Phakama who do volunteerwork protecting and caring for tokoloshes. However, there are also villains like Mamron or Kras who abuse tokoloshes and any number of innocent people in pursuit of their dark and fiendish goals. And then there is the strange order of midwives sidelining in protecting peace and justice and order with the help of martial arts; guess whose side they are on in the conflict of criminal interest against protection of cuddly little troll-babies.
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After the death of his wife from cancer, Max goes on holiday in a village at the sea where he used to spent his holidays as a child. After some time his daughter takes him back home.
This is about the plot of The Sea. Not much action there, one could say, although, to be fair, I must add that a lot of the novel is written as flashbacks – to Max’s final year with his wife and, more prominently, to one particular childhood holiday on the sea. Especially the latter storyline has at least some action and tension, it also lays the foundations for an unexpected ending.
Still: The main value lies not in what happens or what Max remembers but in Banville’s detailed and empathic descriptions of how the protagonist feels, how the scenery feels, how feelings and ideas are tested and changed. This is prose that is a pleasure to read and pulls you inside – not the action, because there is none – but inside a slow-moving world in a different life and time. Max remembers and considers, he compares and tries to rediscover places and persons from childhood memories. There are implicit comparisons between different phases of his life and a whole lot of stabs at life’s general futility. You do not learn anything from this book, but it may offer some interesting food for thought.
Contemplative.
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Der demokratische Rechtsstaat ermöglicht allen Bürger*innen Partizipation und damit Mit-Gestaltung ihres Gemeinwesens. Konflikte zwischen verschiedenen Bevölkerungsgruppen werden so gewaltlos und produktiv gelöst.
Falsch!, sagt Agnoli. Das sei vielleicht der ursprüngliche Anspruch der Demokratie, der aber schon lange nicht mehr erfüllt werde. Er beschreibt die Entwicklung bzw. Transformation der Demokratie als »Involution« und meint damit das Gegenteil von »Evolution«. Will sagen: Die Demokratie entwickele sich nicht vorwärts, entfalte nicht immer mehr ihr inhärentes Potenzial, sondern sie schrumpfe in sich zusammen und werde immer schwächer. Dies geschehe im Wesentlichen nicht durch Verfassungsänderungen (obwohl auch die eine Rolle spielen können), sonder vor allem durch ein Kapern demokratischer Institutionen durch Interessengruppen, die qua materialer Macht immer schon die Geschicke des Staatswesens beeinflusst haben. Es etabliert sich in den Institutionen ein Konsens dessen, was gesagt und was nicht gesagt werden darf, und die Spielräume demokratischer Gestaltung reduzieren sich auf die Ausfüllung dieses Konsens.
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Margo, nach Israel ausgewandertes Kind der südafrikanischen Provinz, kehrt nach Winburg im Freistaat zurück, um ihrer schwer erkrankten Mutter beizustehen. Sie erlebt dort das neue Südafrika aus der Sicht weißer Farmer*innen, das bedeutet vor allem: plaasmoorde, also mörderische Angriffe auf die häufig sehr abgelegenen Farmen weißer Familien.
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One day, highschool stundent Clay receives a box of 7 audio tapes. Each side tells us about one person and his or her involvement in the events leading to Hannah’s death. The tapes were recorded and posted by Hannah herself before her suicide.
As we read Asher’s novel, we follow Clay around his town, visiting the places that were important to Hannah and, of course, listening to Hannah’s story. This is a clever move of the author because it gives us two first-person narrators with whom we can identify. We hear the same story from two different perspectives which sometimes complement, sometimes challenge each other. The author develops the idea of a snowball effect or a vicious circle where Hannah’s compromised reputation leads others to think and act in certain ways, thereby even further destroying her reputation. Sooner or later a point is reached where Hannah can do nothing to control the damage, making her a tragic figure in the classical sense.
The novel is structured along the 13 tape sides which gives it a clear structure – easy to read in small portions, very youth-friendly. Because, after the general plot and setp has been established, the chapters can be read and understood and discussed independent from each other, this structure is also very teacher- and TV-friendly.
The characters could have been given a bit more depth, the plot might have allowed for a bit less predictability but altogether the novel is certainly worth reading and sleeping over.
Almost all the pupils in my course said they liked the book and thought it an important book. However, there seems to be quite a flood of teenage-suicide related books and TV-shows. And maybe some of the likes really related to the Netflix show, not the book.
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