Reviews for Biology

The average rating for Biology based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-08-10 00:00:00 Kathi Shepard Andre Brink wrote this book in a raw and earthy style that mirrors the life in the Cape of Good Hope during the early years, when the Dutch and the British were vying for control of this strategic colony. The story is written from the points of view of all of the various characters in many different voices, so that the inner thoughts of all are laid bare. It is a tale frought with the personal miseries, dreams, aspirations and sufferings of the characters, each at their own level, according to their social status. The message being that we cannot escape what is our due and that your own personal suffering is no better or worse than the most or least privileged of our species. Brink has achieved the seemingly impossible: an in depth glimpse at what white men did to each other and to the indigenous peoples of South Africa. Yet the reader is unable to identify the antagonist(s) in the story since all of the characters are victims of their own station, each paying their dues in suffering at equal levels of intensity.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-09-02 00:00:00 Brandon Hwang Run right out and buy A Chain of Voices. It is a stream of consciousness book about apartheid in South Africa and it is unrelenting. As a writer myself, I know how difficult it is to let horrifying circumstances stay horrifying and to not sentimentalize them with a couple of pony tricks. Andre Brink does not water down hideous circumstances. Maybe that's why he has been banned on and off.