Reviews for Waiting for the rain

The average rating for Waiting for the rain based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-22 00:00:00 John Caldwell I first read this book when I was in the fifth grade, and I've never forgotten it. It tells the story of two boys in apartheid-era South Africa, Tengo and Frikkie. The two boys are the best of friends; Tengo is the black son of the "boss boy" on a large, prosperous farm, while Frikkie is the nephew of the farm owner, who comes to visit every summer. Since the boys were little, they've been inseparable, but as they enter young adulthood, apartheid's rules and expectations take hold. This hits Tengo especially hard. He's extremely intelligent and perceptive, and begins to question why whites are always the rulers while blacks are always the servants. As the inequalities between black and white become more real to him, Tengo becomes angry, no longer able to accept the role laid out for him When he goes off to Johannesburg for an education, Frikkie becomes upset that his friend has gone. Frikkie doesn't like change; he cannot understand why there is a rift between the two, or why Tengo would be insulted to inherit his father's position of boss boy when they get older. Once they separate, they each mature in different ways, until they meet once again as men, and realize just how much the other has changed. Along with the glaring racism behind apartheid, Gordon also highlights the system's ironies. Frikkie is a poor student who hates school, and wants nothing more than to run his uncle's farm. Yet he doesn't have to pay school fees. Tengo, on the other hand, actively pursues an education, yet must scrimp and save to buy books, and enter an inferior educational system. The book also provides insight into how apartheid started in the first place and highlights the Europeans' misunderstanding and disdain for the Africans' culture. The book succeeds in that the audience understands the thought processes of Tengo and Frikkie, why they feel the way they feel, their goals for the future, etc. One feels sorry for these two boys whose lives were dictated by such an oppressive system, and the friendship that was destroyed. The family scenes are drawn well, as are the contrasts between farm and city life. One sections that stands out occurs when Frikkie's uncle tells the two boys about the Boer Great Trek, and the "accomplishments" of their ancestors, while highlighting the "savagery" of Tengo's people. Not only does Frikkie get excited about the story (which also reveals his unknowing internalization of societal rules), but both of them are inconsiderate of Tengo, and how he might feel hearing his ancestors talked about in such a way. Afterward, Tengo muses about stories he heard from his family, who remember the taking of their land. It's a poignant moment, one that underscores the deep resentment and hatred that informed apartheid's policies. The pacing of the book is slow at times, but it never veers into tedium. I wanted more of was Frikkie's life at home with his parents; his aunt and uncle love him as their own, but it would have been interesting to contrast his life in the suburbs with the farm. I also wanted to hear more from Tengo and Frikkie's younger sisters. The book does not have a traditionally happy ending, nor are all of the conflicts resolved. This may disappoint some readers, but given the reality of the situation, it makes perfect sense. While much has been written about apartheid-era South Africa, I haven't been able to find much in the way of literature aimed at young adults (Beverley Naidoo is a notable exception; if anyone knows any others, please let me know). I recommend this book to them (older ones), as well as to others who want to learn more about life during apartheid. It's heartbreaking at times, but it does make one think deeply about friendship, as well as seeing the world as it really is.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-10-19 00:00:00 Fred Herrman What interests me most about Waiting for the Rain is not the plot (serviceable, but predictable) or the characters (again serviceable, but leaning towards cardboard) but the original publication date: 1987, several years before apartheid fell. Gordon was raised in South Africa but, at the time of publication, had lived elsewhere for quite some time. She was in a better position than many to write about apartheid (e.g., in a better position than someone who had never seen its effects firsthand), but given the scorn that some of the characters heap on 'white liberals', I wonder if that is how she viewed herself. Or did she view herself as something more akin to the whites who left South Africa rather than be conscripted into the army? (Does it matter?) I mentioned that the characters sometimes feel a bit like cardboard. Gordon was writing for an American audience, youth who were unlikely to know much about South Africa, and as such these characters are very clearly made for their roles. Tengo is the studious character who has been trapped his whole life by apartheid; Frikkie is the well-off Afrikaner destined to run a farm (and hold power over numerous black farmworkers). Tengo's cousin Joseph is interesting—I thought at first that he would be the 'bad' counterpoint to Tengo, the person who rebels violently to show the reader that rebelling quietly, through books, is better. He does end up being a more balanced character than that, but I wonder if the book ends on the uncertain note that it does because Gordon could not—of course—predict the exact timeline or structure of the end of apartheid. Plenty of good things here. Frikkie is not depicted as a bad person, but it's clear from the very beginning that he and Tengo are on different planes, that their lives (and expectations for their lives) are very different and that Frikkie has never questioned this. He really doesn't question this as the book goes on, and in a way I appreciate that: it doesn't make me like Frikkie, particularly, but it seems realistic. Why would he want to question a system that has always given him everything he wanted? The ending was quite predictable (not the exact details but that that kind of interaction was coming), but I'd rather have this more ambiguous, neither-character-wins-over-the-other ending than one in which good triumphs unilaterally (see again re: realistic).