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Islands Dan Sleigh Andre Brink 9780151011155 Books

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Islands Dan Sleigh Andre Brink 9780151011155 Books

This novel transcends the category of fiction (which tells a story) and deserves to be classified as literature (a story that yields profound insights into the human condition). Though told primarily from the Dutch viewpoint, there are a few key sympathetic indigenous characters here and Sleigh's contempt for the Dutch strategy of conquest by means of deliberately addicting native Africans to alcohol and tobacco (that they can only get by cooperating with the Europeans) is evident. The "Islands" of the title are both individual human beings and small outlying settlements of colonists struggling to survive and to gain economically. Looming over all these stories is the all-powerful Dutch East India Company a behemoth of unbending, beaucratic greed that grinds down employee and foe alike. Maps would have been very helpful. It's also true that the language of this book is at times demanding (there are too many untranslated terms), but even this adds a tang of authenticity and reminds us that this story could only have been told with such depth and understanding by a South African.


Tags : Islands [Dan Sleigh, Andre Brink] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div>This novel of epic proportions from South Africa, set between 1650 and 1710, covers the first fifty years of the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. Beautifully rendered,Dan Sleigh, Andre Brink,Islands,Harcourt,015101115X,Historical,Cape of Good Hope (South Africa);History;1795-1872;Fiction.,Dutch;South Africa;Cape of Good Hope;Fiction.,South Africa;History;Fiction.,1795-1872,Afrikaans Novel And Short Story,Cape of Good Hope,Cape of Good Hope (South Africa),Dutch,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction General,Fiction Historical,Fiction Literary,Historical - General,History,Literary,Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie,South Africa,Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Co

Islands Dan Sleigh Andre Brink 9780151011155 Books Reviews

A prize-winner in its native Afrikaans language, this edition has been translated by Andre Brink. Dense, rich prose (very hard to read but worth the effort) and detailed historical facts are crammed into this book (the author worked in the National Archives in Cape Town). Recommended.
This is essentially a history of South Africa from the first Dutch outpost built to service their ships in post. It is a familiar story civilization is rife with such tales, the indigenous lands overtaken by a superior force with the tools to outlast those who have depended on the land for their livelihood. When the Hollanders first arrive on the shores of South Africa in 1650, the natives are guided by their English-speaking Chief Harry (Herri), who interfaces with the Dutch for the benefit of the tribe, the Goringhaicona. The natives expecting the Dutch to sail away; instead they plant their flag, designating this place a Dutch port. The natives are expected to abide by the same law as the settlers, Haerlem's Law work first, then eat.

The pivotal character in the novel is Pieternella, daughter of a Dutch surgeon and a Hottentot woman, Eva (Krotoa), who lost the allegiance of her tribe by working for the newcomers on what was formerly grazing land. The surgeon, Peter Havgard, was attracted to Eva, renamed by the Hollanders. When Eva becomes pregnant with their child, she loses her place in both worlds, belonging fully to neither. In an effort to supplement their income, Peter goes on a series of expeditions to explore the South African land the Dutch are determined to make their own. The Dutch overcome the more primitive Hottentots after a few cruel winters, gradually wearing away their opposition, reducing their numbers by attrition, the usual manner one civilization usurps the lands of another.

It falls to Pieternella to monitor the story of the following years, via her tangential relationship with various characters, contrasting the devastation of her own country with the success of the burghers, who continue to build upon the land, cultivate, breed cattle and establish a presence that overwhelms the few scattered tribes left to oppose the occupation.

In excess of 700 pages, what begins as an interesting turn of history's pages is flattened by detail, in the retelling of a history that is devoid of passion. Perhaps it is the weight of the Dutch personality. With stubborn obsession, the Dutch, once determined upon a course, simply flattens anything that stands in the way. With typical European hubris, it is assumed that the settlers are superior to the natives, that one way of life must dissolve under the onslaught of another. There is a kind of avid brutality in these pages, the determination by the Dutch immutable and unchallenged by an inferior scattering of natives who lived in a simple societal structure. Instead, God and the Company rule this land from the first.

As the various characters evolve in the novel, their voices are eerily similar, the Dutch determined, the natives bewildered and depressed, no one to challenge the might of God or Company. It is hardly shocking that this continent should suffer such violence and political upheaval in later years, finally raising up to challenge the first settlers who claimed the land, denying the rights of indigenous peoples. Luan Gaines/ 2005.
The epic novel Islands, by Dan Sleigh is an ambitious first novel covering the first fifty years of the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It is a fascinating novel thoroughly researched by Sleigh and constructed from factual accounts, official records and personal letters.

Islands is the life stories of seven men who are all connected in one way or another to the beautiful Pieternella, the daughter of a Dutch surgeon Peter Havgard and Eva, a Hottentot woman. Pieternella is the offspring of the first mixed marriage in the new colony.

Islands is a haunting drama filled with excitement, greed, power, intrigue, war and individual courage. At times the novel is absolutely spectacular and at other times the story seems to drag a bit. The book is well over 700 pages so it takes commitment to begin the story. But overall it is a mesmerizing saga; one that will keep you turning the pages and have you considering the story and history long after you've finished it. This is a novel that will be appreciated by those who particularly enjoy historical writings.
not well written
This novel transcends the category of fiction (which tells a story) and deserves to be classified as literature (a story that yields profound insights into the human condition). Though told primarily from the Dutch viewpoint, there are a few key sympathetic indigenous characters here and Sleigh's contempt for the Dutch strategy of conquest by means of deliberately addicting native Africans to alcohol and tobacco (that they can only get by cooperating with the Europeans) is evident. The "Islands" of the title are both individual human beings and small outlying settlements of colonists struggling to survive and to gain economically. Looming over all these stories is the all-powerful Dutch East India Company a behemoth of unbending, beaucratic greed that grinds down employee and foe alike. Maps would have been very helpful. It's also true that the language of this book is at times demanding (there are too many untranslated terms), but even this adds a tang of authenticity and reminds us that this story could only have been told with such depth and understanding by a South African.